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LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
SAMUEL JOHNSON, D. D.
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
SAMUEL JOHNSON, D. D
MISSIONARY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN CONNECTICUT,
AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF KING'S COLLEGE,
NEW YORK.
BT
E. EDWARDS BEARDSLEY, D. D.,
RECTOR OF ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH, NEW HAVEN.
BBCOJO) KDITIOS.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON.
Conbon: U it) ing tons.
1874.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
£. EDWARDS BBARDSLET,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
m
•Ci
WVEK8IDK, CAMBRIDOB:
•TBRKOTYPKD AMP FRINTBD BT
H. O. HOUOHTON AMD COMPAXT.
PREFACE.
THE materials for a volume of this kind are rarely
accessible after the lapse of a century. Letters and
papers of historic value are so often scattered and de-
stroyed, that unless the biographer attends to his task
in season, he may find it difficult to gather the infor-
mation that he needs for writing with fullness and
satisfaction. " If a life," said Dr. Johnson, the great
name which is the pride and glory of English liter-
ature, " be delayed till interest and envy are at an
end, we may hope for impartiality, but must expect
little intelligence."
Though this work is published one hundred years
after the death of its distinguished subject, yet I trust
it will be found that besides being impartial, I have
escaped the caustic criticism of giving " little intelli-
gence." In writing the History of the Church in
Connecticut, I fell upon original sources of informa-
tion, which seemed never to have been carefully ex-
plored. Chandler's " Life of Johnson," brief and un-
satisfactory as it may be, was very well for the day in
which it appeared, and I should not have attempted
an ampler biography, if I had not felt that it was now
vi PREFACE.
due to the memory of one of the most important names
in American history.
The Johnson MSS., not a tithe of which could
have passed under the inspection of Chandler, have
all been kindly placed in my hands, and unless I had
been familiar with them by previous acquaintance,
the preparation of this work would have been much
more laborious, and. its publication longer delayed.
As it is, the hours of leisure during a period of three
years, if the busy Rector of a city parish may be sup-
posed to have any leisure, have been devoted to it,
and nothing has been overlooked which was calcu-
lated to shed any new light upon the character of
Johnson, and the times in which he lived.
By introducing large portions of his correspondence
with eminent men in this country, and with Bishops
and leading minds in the Church of England, I have
made him in a measure his own biographer, and at
the same time rescued from oblivion faded manuscripts
which the accidents of another generation might have
put quite beyond our reach. One gets a better idea of
a man from seeing him in his letters and writings than
from the estimates of those who weigh him in their
own scales, and describe him in their own language.
It was a remark of Bishop Jebb that " the lives of
good men are an invaluable portion of a clergyman's
library ; " but it is to be hoped that these pages will
not be limited to readers of this class. All who are
interested in Yale College, its early struggles and
PREFACE. vii
first endowments, the gifts of Berkeley and the influ-
ence of his Philosophy, all who would know anything
of the origin of King's (now Columbia) College, New
York, and of the progress of liberal education in this
country, and all who would thoroughly understand
the efforts to secure the American Episcopate, the
strange opposition to it, and the movements which
led to the Revolution and the Independence of the
Colonies, will find many fresh historical facts in this
volume, and wonder why they were not before given
to the public.
The engraving which forms the frontispiece is made
from a portrait in the possession of his great grand-
son, Mr. William Samuel Johnson of Stratford. The
painting, though there is nothing but a tradition in
the family to support the statement, is without doubt
from the pencil of Smibert, the artist who accompa-
nied Dean Berkeley to America, and remained in
Boston after the return of his friend and patron to
England. It has the touch of Berkeley's own por-
trait by the same painter, which is among the treas-
ures of Art that adorn the walls of Yale College.
NEW HAVEN, December, 1873.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND PARENTAGE ; EARLY EDUCATION AND STATE OF
LEARNING IN THE COUNTRY J BACHELOR'S DEGREE FROM THE
COLLEGE AT SAYBROOK; THE COLLEGE REMOVED TO NEW
HAVEN, AND JOHNSON APPOINTED ONE OF THE TUTORS. HIS
SETTLEMENT AT WEST HAVEN AND THE INFLUENCE OF A
PRAYER-BOOK AND WORKS IN ENGLISH THEOLOGY ... 1
A. D. 1696-1722.
CHAPTER H.
THE DECLARATION OF JOHNSON AND HIS FRIENDS ; STRUGGLE
BETWEEN FEELINGS AND DUTY; DEBATE BEFORE GOVERNOR
8ALTONSTALL AND ITS RESULTS; EXTRACTS FROM NOTES OF
DAYS ; VOYAGE TO ENGLAND FOR ORDINATION ; ARRIVAL AND
RECEPTION; PRIVATE JOURNAL 18
A. D. 1722, 1723.
CHAPTER HI.
SICKNESS AND DEATH OF BROWN ; FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM
PRIVATE JOURNAL; VISITS TO OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE; AR-
RIVAL OF MR. WETMORE; DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND, AND
VOYAGE HOME ; SETTLEMENT AT STRATFORD J LETTERS TO THE
BISHOP OF LONDON; MARRIAGE 38
A. D. 1723-1727.
CHAPTER IV.
POLEMICS AND INFIDELITY; BIRTH OF A SON; PERSONAL AC-
QUAINTANCE WITH DEAN BERKELEY J VISITS TO HIM AT NEW-
PORT, AND A CONVERT TO HIS VIEWS ; ALCIPHRON, OR THE
MINUTE PHILOSOPHER; RETURN OF BERKELEY TO ENGLAND,
x CONTENTS.
AND BENEFACTIONS TO YALE COLLEGE ; RELIGIOUS CONTRO-
VERSY, AND PUBLICATION OF PAMPHLETS 60
A. D. 1727-1736.
CHAPTER V.
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE ; MEMORIAL TO THE GENERAL AS-
SEMBLY OF CONNECTICUT ; LETTERS TO BERKELEY | WHITE-
FIELD IN NEW ENGLAND AND RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM; COM-
PLAINT TO THE COMMISSARY; THE CLERGY OF CONNECTICUT
PETITIONING FOR A RESIDENT COMMISSARY, AND ASKING THAT
JOHNSON BE APPOINTED; DOCTOR'S DEGREE FROM THE UNI-
VERSITY OF OXFORD . . .'.'.' 92
A. D. 1736-1743.
CHAPTER VI.
INCREASE OF HIS PARISH AND NEW CHURCH AT STRATFORD;
MORE CONTROVERSY; SYSTEM OF MORALITY; STUDY OF HE-
BREW, AND HUTCHINSON'S PRINCIPLES ; PHILOSOPHICAL COR-
RESPONDENCE; EDUCATION OF SONS, AND LETTERS TO THK
ELDER ; PROJECT OF A COLLEGE AT PHILADELPHIA, AND
JOHNSON INVITED TO ITS CHARGE . . . '• i'J l* .119
A. D. 1743-1750.
CHAPTER VIE.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRANKLIN ; DECLINES PHILADELPHIA J
" ELEMENTA PHILOSOPHICA " J DEATH OF BERKELEY AND LET-
TER FROM HIS SON J ENGLISH EDITION OF " ELEMENTS OF PHI-
LOSOPHY "; SPECULATIVE INQUIRIES, AND NOTIONS ABOUT
EDUCATION 157
A. D. 1750-1754.
CHAPTER VHL
PROPOSED COLLEGE AT NEW YORK; JOHNSON INVITED TO THE
PRESIDENCY ; OBSTACLES TO A CHARTER, AND FINALLY GRANT-
ED ; LETTERS TO PRESIDENT CLAP ; REMOVAL TO NEW YORK
AND LECTURER IN TRINITY CHURCH ; HIS YOUNGER SON
CHOSEN TUTOR IN KING'S COLLEGE ; GOES TO ENGLAND FOR OR-
DINATION AND DIES THERE OF THE SMALL-POX . . .189
A. D. 1754-1756.
CONTENTS. 3d
CHAPTER IX.
GRIEF FOR THE DEATH OF HIS SON AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH
FRIENDS ; PROGRESS OF THE COLLEGE AND ERECTION OF A
BUILDING; LEAVES THE CITY ON ACCOUNT OF THE SMALL-
POX ; DEATH OF HIS WIFE J FIRST COMMENCEMENT J AND IN-
CLINATIONS TO RESIGN 225
A. D. 1756-1759.
CHAPTER X.
tMALL-POX AGAIN IN NEW YORK, AND RETIREMENT TO STRAT-
FORD ; MORE AFFLICTION ; THIRD COMMENCEMENT ; LETTERS
TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY ; PUBLICATIONS ON
PRAYER, AND DEFENCE OF THE LITURGY 247
A. D. 1759-1761.
CHAPTER XL
FOURTH COMMENCEMENT ; SECOND MARRIAGE ; BENEFACTIONS
TO THE COLLEGE J DR. JAY AUTHORIZED TO MAKE COLLECTIONS
IN ENGLAND ; ARRIVAL OF REV. MYLES COOPER ; RELIGIOUS
CONTROVERSY; AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . . . 265
A. D. 1761-1763.
CHAPTER XH.
THE SMALL-POX IN NEW YORK ; DEATH OF HIS WIFE ; RESIGNA-
TION OF THE PRESIDENCY AND RETIREMENT TO STRATFORD J
CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRIENDS IN ENGLAND ; RE-APPOINT-
MENT TO HIS FORMER MISSION ; ADDRESS TO THE BISHOP OF
LONDON J THE STAMP ACT ; CONTINUED INTEREST IN THE COL-
LEGE ; AND CLERICAL CONVENTION 286
A. D. 1763-1766.
CHAPTER XHI.
.REVIEW OF HUTCHINSON'S PHILOSOPHY ; STUDY OF HEBREW AND
PUBLICATION OF GRAMMAR; INDIAN SCHOOL; DEPARTURE OF
HIS SON FOR ENGLAND; CHANDLER'S APPEAL; CORRESPON-
DENCE WITH HIS SON ; ENGLISH ANCESTRY ; AND DEATH OF
ARCHBISHOP BECKER 305
A. D. 1766-1768.
xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN BISHOPS CONTINUED; FOREIGN COR-
RESPONDENCE; BISHOP LOWTH AND HEBREW GRAMMAR; AS-
SISTANT MINISTER; MARRIAGE OF GRANDDAUGHTER; AND
PROLONGED ABSENCE OF HIS SON . 324
A. D. 1768-1770.
CHAPTER XV.
DESIRE FOR AMERICAN BISHOPS UNQUENCHED ; LETTERS FROM
DR. BERKELEY AND THE BISHOP OF LONDON ; JOY AT THE RE-
TURN OF HIS SON J WISH FOR A PEACEFUL EXIT ; DEATH AND
BURIAL; CONCLUSION 341
A. D. 1770-1772.
APPENDIX A 361
APPENDIX B . . 361
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
SAMUEL JOHNSON.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND PARENTAGE ; EARLY EDUCATION AND STATE OF LEARN-
ING IN THE COUNTRY; BACHELOR'S DEGREE FROM THE COL-
LEGE AT SAYBROOK; THE COLLEGE REMOVED TO NEW HAVEN,
AND JOHNSON APPOINTED ONE OF THE TUTORS. HIS SETTLE-
MENT AT WEST HAVEN AND THE INFLUENCE OF A PRAYER-
BOOK AND WORKS IN ENGLISH THEOLOGY.
A. D. 1696-1722.
IT would not have been worth while to write the
life of Samuel Johnson, had it been as barren of inci-
dent and historic interest as the lives of most clergy-
men. But he lived in eventful times, and the part
which he bore in the literary, ecclesiastical, and edu-
cational affairs of the country will warrant the publi-
cation of fuller memorials than those hitherto given
to the public.
He was born in Guilford, Connecticut, on the 14th
of October, 1696, 0. S., and was the great grandson of
Robert Johnson, who with his wife Adaline and four
sons, Robert, Thomas, John, and William, came from
i
2 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, and first appeared at
New Haven in 1641. Robert, the eldest of these sons,
finished his academic education at Harvard College,
and graduated in the class of 1645. He went to
Rowley, in Massachusetts, where a brother of his fa-
ther had settled, and was pursuing his studies with a
view to the sacred ministry, when he sickened and
died. In his will, dated " 13th of the 7th mo. 1649,"
and probated at Ipswich " the 26th of the 1st mo.
1650," he directed his executors to distribute a por-
tion of his goods to the poor of Rowley, and to return
the remainder to his father, Robert Johnson, at New
Haven. Thomas, the second son, died a bachelor. John
married, and his descendants settled in Wallingford
and Middletown.
William, the grandfather of Samuel Johnson, and
who was twelve years old when the family emigrated
from England, removed to Guilford, and became one
of the leading men in that town and a deacon in the
Congregational Church. He married July 2, 1651,
Elizabeth Bushnell, daughter of Francis Bushnell of
Saybrook, and had eight daughters and two sons —
the youngest, Nathaniel, dying not long after his
birth, and surviving his mother but a few weeks.
Samuel, the father of the subject of this volume, was
born in 1670, and at twenty-six married Mary,
daughter of David Sage of Middletown, by whom he
had eleven children, six sons and five daughters. He
was a successor to his father in the office of a Congre-
gational de&con at Guilford, and the distinguished son,
late in life, speaking of them both, and giving some
account of their character to one of his own children,
said, they were " well esteemed for men of good sense
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 3
and piety, but neither of them had much more of a
turn for worldly wisdom than I have."
Samuel, though not the first-born of his parents,
was the eldest child that lived beyond infancy, and
he appears to have been a pet of his grandfather,
William, who taught him to read and commit to mem-
ory not only passages of Scripture, but the Lord's
Prayer and the Creed. He was very proud of his
progress, and occasionally took the boy with him in
visiting his neighbors, and made him repeat for their
entertainment specimens of the knowledge which he
had acquired. Among his earliest recollections, Sam-
uel mentions finding in a book of his grandfather's
several Hebrew words which excited his curiosity, but
no one could tell him their meaning, or explain them
further than to say they belonged to the original
language in which the Old Testament was written.
This but increased his desire for learning, and as the
project of establishing a college in the colony at Say-
brook, in the neighborhood of Guilford, had just then
taken shape, he was marked out in the mind of the
household as a future candidate for its course of in-
struction. Upon the death of his grandfather, how-
ever, which happened when he was six years old, the
design was relinquished, and it might not have been
renewed had not his fondness for books continued and
the prospect of bringing him up to other business be-
come discouraging.
In the eleventh year of his age, he was sent to a
school, in his native place, kept at that time by Jared
Eliot, a young man who had graduated at the new
college, a son of the then recently deceased minister
of Guilford, and whose affection for his pupil ripened
4 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
into friendly relations in after life. But he was not
long to enjoy the happiness of such an instructor.
Before the year expired, Mr. Eliot relinquished the
school to prepare for his settlement in the ministry
at Killingworth, now Clinton, and the lad, impatient
to learn, was finally sent from home and placed under
the care of Joseph Smith, pastor of a newly organized
church in Upper Middletown, now Cromwell. Though
a graduate of Harvard College, Mr. Smith was not a
scholar who inspired his pupil with much respect for
his attainments, and after trying in vain for six
months to make progress in his studies, he left his
poorly qualified master and returned to Guilford.
Here he fell first into the hands of Daniel Chap-
man, another graduate of the new college, who was
an improvement upon his last instructor, and with
whom he continued for -nearly two years. At length
he found in the person of Mr. James, who had been
educated in England, a respectable classical scholar,
and notwithstanding some eccentricities of character,
a very good teacher. Under his tuition he made
rapid advancement in Latin and Greek, and by the
time he had attained the age of fourteen years, he
was pronounced fit to join the College at Saybrook.
There was not much to be proud of at this period
in the state of learning throughout the country. The
old scholars and Puritan divines of the Connecticut
and Massachusetts colonies, who came with the early
emigrants, had descended to their graves, and the
generation that succeeded them, not having had the
advantages of the Universities in England, fell behind
the fathers, and was greatly deficient, if tested by a
high standard of education. The course of studies
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 5
prescribed in the new college was brief, for " the ut-
most as to classical learning that was now generally
aimed at, " says Johnson in his Autobiography,1 " and
indeed for twenty or thirty years after, was no more
than to construe five or six of Tully's Orations, and as
many books of Virgil poorly, and most of the Greek
Testament," with a portion of the Hebrew Psalter.
His first tutor at college was Joseph Noyes, one of
the nine graduates of the institution in 1709, and af-
terwards for forty-five years pastor of the First Ec-
clesiastical Society in New Haven. His " tutorial re-
nown " according to President Stiles, " was then great
and excellent," and having some knowledge of He-
brew, he encouraged his pupil to devote the little
leisure he might have, to the study of a language
which he was chiefly desirous to understand, and
which soon became his favorite branch of philology.
The tutor in the department of mathematics and
mental and moral philosophy, was Phineas Fisk, and
his instructions, like those of his colleague in the
classics, had a limited range, and were confined to
the imperfect systems not yet brushed away by the
scientific discoveries of Descartes, Boyle, Locke, and
Newton. When Johnson graduated in 1714, some-
thing had been heard of these great names, as well
as of a new philosophy that was attracting attention in
England, but the young men were cautioned against
receiving it, and told that it would corrupt the pure
religion of the country and bring in another system of
divinity. Ames's " Medulla Theologiae " and " Cases of
Conscience " and " Wollebius," had been established as
the standard of orthodoxy, and no variation from these
was admissible. The trustees of the institution, at the
i MS.
6 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
outset, made a fundamental rule that special care
should be taken to "ground the students well in
theoretical divinity," and the Rector was forbidden to
teach or allow others to teach any system contrary to
their order.
It was less difficult to confine attention to the old
scholastic systems, for the reason that books of learn-
ing in the land were rare, and opportunities for im-
provement small. The few works brought over from
England by the first settlers were treatises published a
century before ; and Johnson early acquired a repu-
tation for skill by making a synopsis of them, and re-
ducing to some method all parts of learning then
known, — " a curious cobweb of distributions and def-
initions " as he himself termed it, — "which only
served to blow him up with a great conceit that he
was now an adept." But his pride of opinion was
afterwards thoroughly humbled. He accidentally fell
in with a copy of Lord Bacon's "Instauratio Magna,"
or "Advancement of Learning," — possibly the only
one then in the country — and purchasing it immedi-
ately, he lost no time in devouring its contents. It
opened to him a new world of thought. With an
unprejudiced mind he read its pages, and considered
and reconsidered the whole circle of sciences as they
had been investigated and arranged by this remark-
able man. He was thus led to see his own littleness
in comparison with Lord Bacon's greatness, and to
use his own words, he " found himself like one at
once emerging out of the glimmer of twilight into
the full sunshine of open day."
After completing his collegiate course and receiv-
ing the degree of Bachelor of Arts, he followed the
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 7
example of Eliot, and entered upon the labor of teach-
ing a school of the higher order in Guilford. His
classmate and intimate friend, Daniel Brown, acted in
the like capacity at New Haven, and the correspond-
ence carried on between them at this period was
full of affection, and bore upon theology, and ques-
tions that related to " philosophy in general and
logic in particular." The concerns of the College,
too, were much in their thoughts. Brown, in one of
his letters dated August 3, 1716, wrote : " As to
domestic affairs, please to be informed, that July 18,
Mr. Moss, Hemingway, and Noyes, went to conse-
crate your chapel at the North Village. . . . This
town hath given eight acres of land hard joining to
the town plot, for the use of the College, if it comes
here. Considerable of money is subscribed also."
The beginning of the institution was a contribution
of about forty folio volumes, almost all theological,
and given by different ministers of the colony " for
founding a college in Connecticut." The next year,
1701, this library was increased by another private
donation, and in 1714, Jeremiah Dummer, the agent
of the colony in England, sent over a valuable collec-
tion of eight hundred volumes, some of which were
his own gift, and the remainder had been obtained at
his solicitation from various English gentlemen and
authors. The whole number of books was now about
one thousand, and among them were works of emi-
nent writers of the Church of England, both clergy-
men and laymen. Johnson and his literary friends
eagerly embraced opportunities of becoming ac-
quainted with the new collection, and read for the
first time the works of some of the best English di-
8 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
vines and philosophers. The library was placed at
Saybrook, where the instruction was carried on by
two tutors, and where the private commencements
were held. But no college building had been erected
there ; and as the original charter gave to the trustees
the right of selecting the town in which the institu-
tion should be permanently fixed, a diversity of opin-
ion arose on the subject, and sharp controversies
sprung up which led to disorder and dissatisfaction
among the students. They complained of the want of
proper accommodations at Saybrook, and entertained
so little respect for their tutors as to break out into
open rebellion towards the end of the year 1715.
Those from towns on the Connecticut River, acting un-
der the guidance of Timothy Woodbridge and Thomas
Buckingham, ministers at Hartford and trustees of the
College, collected together at Wethersfield, where in-
struction was set up in a collegiate way by two tutors,
and in which place or in Hartford these trustees
wished the institution to be finally located. Other
students from the sea-side towns put themselves un-
der the care and tuition of Mr. Johnson at Guilford,
while Mr. Andrew, the rector pro tern., who resided at
Milford, appears to have taken upon himself the in-
struction and oversight of the senior class.
The breach thus made in the colony could not be
readily healed, and the Collegiate School, for so it was
denominated at that time, continued in a disordered
state till September, 1716, when a majority of the
trustees, of which number was Governor Saltonstall,
voted to remove it to New Haven. The sanction
of the General Assembly, which met the following
month, was asked and obtained for the removal, and
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 9
then the trustees proceeded to elect Mr. Johnson one
of the tutors ; and with a view of conciliating the
opposition, they chose Samuel Smith, who was of the
Wethersfield party, to be the other. But the dis-
satisfaction was not appeased, and at Saybrook
forcible resistance was made to the removal of the
library, so that the Governor and Council deemed it
expedient to convene there, and aid the sheriff in the
performance of his duty. Besides other lawless acts,
the carts provided for transporting the books were
destroyed in the night time, the bridges between
Saybrook and New Haven were rendered impassable,
and during the week in which the library was upon
the road, many valuable books and papers were lost.
An attempt to supersede Governor Saltonstall at the
next election, for his activity in the matter, was well-
nigh successful,1 and the feud in the government was
not diminished when a subscription was set on foot in
New Haven, " and in all the neighboring towns, for
building a college ; and one Mr. Caner of Boston was
procured to undertake the work, who directly applied
himself to the business." 2 Mr. Johnson, under a com-
mission from the trustees, waited on Mr. Smith to
induce him to accept the office of tutor and bring his
scholars with him to New Haven, but he and his
party were inexorable, and resolved to maintain their
ground and carry on their design. Johnson, there-
fore, was obliged to enter upon the tutorship alone,
and with about fifteen students from the sea-side
began his course of instruction at New Haven, being
assisted by Mr. Noyes, the minister of the town.
In 1718 the trustees appointed Daniel Brown to be
1 Prof. Kingsley's Sketch of Yale College, p. 7. 2 Johnson MSS.
10 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
his colleague, — the classmate whose turn of mind
and thirst for knowledge not only made him an agree-
able companion, but a hearty supporter of new studies
in the line of philosophy and mathematics. By the
autumn of that year several apartments were finished
in the college building, and Johnson first lodged and
set up housekeeping therein, and shortly his colleague
followed his example. The institution was now gain-
ing friends and a good reputation. The General
Assembly had hitherto, for the sake of peace, con-
nived at the faction in "Wethersfield, hoping it would
die out of itself; but at the October session in 1718,
an act was passed requiring all the students to repair
to the established college. " They made an appear-
ance of submission, and came all at once in a caravan ;
but it soon appeared that they had no good intention ;
they found fault with everything, and made all the
mischief they could, as they were doubtless instructed
to do ; " 1 and after six weeks they withdrew and
rejoined the old faction. At the next session of the
General Assembly measures were concerted to recon-
cile the conflicting interests, and finally the difference
was compromised in this way : the scholars should
return to their duty and abide at New Haven ; and
in case they did, the degrees which had been given
at Wethersfield should be allowed good, " and a State
House should be built at the public expense at Hart-
ford." Thus the unhappy controversy — a manu-
script history of which by Johnson has been pre-
served — was terminated, and liberal donations of
money and of books by Governor Yale gave to the
college a new impulse, and the name which it now
i Johnson MSS.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 11
dears was then conferred on it in honor of him for
his timely benefactions.
The state of the institution demanded a resident
rector, and as Mr. Andrew was advanced in life and
disinclined to remove from Milford, the trustees chose
Timothy Cutler, who had been for ten years the
pastor in Stratford and a popular preacher in the
colony, to be his successor. He was a native of
Charlestown in Massachusetts, and graduated at Har-
vard College in 1701. His learning and superior
talents qualified him for the station ; but the thought
of his separation from them grieved his parishioners,
and they resisted it for some time with much firm-
ness. At length, however, it was accomplished, and
Mr. Cutler established himself with his family at New
Haven in the autumn of 1719, after which Johnson
retired from the office of tutor, though not from
association with his literary friends — the Rector and
Mr. Brown. Theology was the study to which he
had always intended to devote himself; and as the
people of West Haven — a village only four miles
from the college, and at that time a part of New
Haven — earnestly desired him to settle among them,
he yielded to their solicitations, and was ordained
there in the Congregational way on the 20th of March,
1720, " having been," according to his own account,
" a preacher occasionally ever since he was eighteen." 1
He might have found other fields of pastoral labor in
many respects more inviting, but his desire to be near
the college and the library, as well as near those
for whose society he had the keenest relish, led him
to forego the acceptance of better offers, and give
12 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
the preference to a situation of comparatively little
promise.
The books most frequently in his hands at this
period were not calculated to strengthen his faith in
Independency, and some time before his ordination,
for the purpose of " methodizing his thoughts," and
assisting his memory, he drew up a scheme of relig-
ion, embracing its doctrines and duties, and following
the plan of John Scott in his " Christian Life," a
work which he greatly admired and pronounced to
be the best and most compendious that had yet fallen
in his way. His inquisitive mind would not allow
him to rest contented in hasty conclusions, and so
early as 1715- he met with the discourse of Arch-
bishop King on " the Inventions of Men in the Wor-
ship of God," — the reading of which helped to in-
crease his dislike of extempore prayers, and to confirm
him in the opinion that the use of pre-composed forms
of public worship was more devotional, and showed
much greater reverence for the Divine Majesty. He
had been bred up in prejudice against the Church of
England, but a good, religious man in Guilford placed
in his hands a copy of the Book of Common Prayer,
and this, with the treatise of Archbishop King, perused
the year before, caused all his prejudices to vanish,
and inspired him with a love of the Liturgy, which,
contrary to his former belief, he found to be collected
for the most part out of the Holy Scriptures.
The direction of his thoughts may be learned from
the books which he read after retiring from his tutor-
ship in the college. About the time of his settlement
at West Haven he began a catalogue of those, which
he perused with evident care, and curiously enough,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 13
at the head of this list stands the Liturgy of the
Church of England, followed immediately by Potter on
"Church Government/' and Patrick's "Devotions;"
and a little later, by "The Whole Duty of Man."
Wall on "Infant Baptism," Echard's "Church His-
tory," and Hooker's "Ecclesiastical Polity." The
shelves of the well-selected library contained other
books in English theology — among them the works
of such eminent divines as Barrow, Beveridge, Bull,
Burnet, Hoadly, Pearson, Sharp, Sherlock, South,
Taylor, Tillotson, Wake, and Whitby, and all were
included in the list of those which passed under his
review and consideration during the brief period of
his residence at West Haven. So much was he
opposed to extempore prayers in public that he pro-
vided himself with forms drawn chiefly from the
Liturgy of the Church of England, and repeated
them with a fervor which won the admiration not
only of his own flock but of persons connected with
the adjoining parishes. It was his ordinary practice
to compose carefully one discourse a month ; but he
read attentively the sermons of Barrow and other
celebrated preachers, and so charged his mind with
their thoughts that, by the help of a few notes, he
delivered the substance of them in language of his
own, and thus acquired a facility of expression which
became of service to him in after life.
It is easy to foresee the influence which such a course
of reading would have upon a candid and inquiring
mind like that of Johnson. It threw new light over
subjects that had long embarrassed him, and he was
unable to find any sufficient support for the Congre-
gational form of church government or for the rigid
14 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Calvinistic tenets in which he had been educated.
He spoke his doubts to his literary friends, and they
shared them with him ; so that from first meeting in
a fraternal way at the residences of each other or in
the college library, and examining the doctrines and
practices of the Primitive Church, they had begun to
be uneasy and anxious about the form and authority
of their own discipline and worship. How to conduct
themselves under the circumstances was a delicate
question. There were six of these earnest inquirers
besides Johnson, and they occupied responsible posi-
tions in and around New Haven. Cutler and Brown
carried on the college ; John Hart was the minister at
East Guilford, now Madison ; Jared Eliot was the
minister at Killingworth ; Samuel Whittelsey at Wall-
ingford ; and James Wetmore at North Haven. With
the exception of Cutler, all were graduates of the
college, and three of them were classmates, who had
been brought into very intimate association with each
other. Their conferences and readings led them to the
conclusion that the Church of England was the near-
est to the apostolic model, and if conformity to it had
been an easy thing, they would most likely have re-
linquished at once their positions and made the change.
Johnson wrote in his private journal, on the 3d of
January, 1722, these honest and touching words : —
I hoped when I was ordained that I had sufficiently sat-
isfied myself of the validity of Presbyterian ordination under
my circumstances.1 But alas ! I have ever since had growing
1 A manuscript of Johnson "written at Westhaven, Dec. 20, A. D. 1719," entitled,
"My present Thoughts of Episcopacy with what I conceive may justifie me in accept-
ing Presbyterial Ordination," gives the state of his mind three months before he was
formally set apart to the work of the ministry. In this paper he first sets down his
apprehensions formed from the best light he could obtain, which were entirely favor^
able to Episcopacy, and then considers the circumstances under which he was called
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 15
suspicions that it is not right, and that I am an usurper in the
house of God, which sometimes I must confess fills my mind
with a great deal of perplexity, and I know not what to do ;
my case is very unhappy. Oh that I could either gain satis-
faction that I may lawfully proceed in the execution of the
ministerial function, or that Providence would make my way
plain for the obtaining of Episcopal orders. O my God, di-
rect my steps ; lead and guide me and my friends in thy way
everlasting.
The Church of England scarcely had a foothold in
Connecticut at this time. The Rev. George Pigot, a
Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, arrived at Stratford in the
spring of 1722, and was as much surprised as gratified
to receive from Johnson an early visit, and learn from
him the direction in which some of the leading minds
in the colony were drifting. He was pleased to accept
an invitation to hold a private conference with the
inquirers at New Haven, and the result was too good
to be kept from his parishioners and from the knowl-
edge of the Society at home. Writing to the Secre-
tary in August, he said : " The leading people of this
colony are generally prejudiced against their mother
church, but yet I have great expectations of a glo-
rious revolution of the ecclesiastics of this country,
because the most distinguished gentlemen among
to proceed. Among the reasons that led him to accept Presby terial ordination —
•were "the passionate entreaties of a tender mother," the effect upon the College, if
he publicly declared for Episcopacy, his "want of that politeness and those quali-
fications which would be requisite in making such an appearance," and the not
understanding sufficiently what was needed to take Episcopal orders. "Although I
seem," he adds in conclusion, "tolerably well satisfied in these my thoughts of
the right of Episcopacy, yet, considering the meanness of my advantages and the
scantiness of my time hitherto, I have reason to be very jealous whether I have not
too much precipitated into those opinions, and then finally perhaps I may in the
mean time be doing some service to promote the main interest of religion, though it
be not as a method so desirable."
16 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
them are resolvedly bent to promote her welfare and
embrace her baptism and discipline, and if the leaders
fall in, there is no doubt to be made of the people.
Those gentlemen who are ordained pastors among
the Independents, namely, Mr. Cutler, the president
of Yale College, and five more, have held a conference
with me, and are determined to declare themselves
professors of the Church of England, as soon as they
shall understand they will be supported at home;
they complain much, both of the necessity of going
home for orders, and of their inability for such an
undertaking ; they also surmise it to be entirely dis-
serviceable to our church, because, if they should
come to England, they must leave their flocks, and
thereby give the vigilant enemy an opportunity to
seize their cures and supply them with inveterate
schismatics; but if a bishop could be sent us, they
could secure their parishes now and hereafter, because
the people here are legally qualified to choose their
own ministers as often as a vacancy happens, and this
would lighten the Honorable Society's expenses to a
wonderful degree." l
Pigot read with too much hope what he regarded
as the signs of the times. He had only been in the
colony a few months, and his interview with these
gentlemen had made him sanguine that their declara-
tion for Episcopacy would be followed by the con-
version of other ministers of less note, as well as by
the conversion of large portions of their respective
flocks. He had not seen how the spirit of the old
Puritan opponents of the Church of England would
rise up against the movement, and the "glorious
* Documentary History, Conn., vol. i. p. 57.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 17
revolution of the ecclesiastics," if not a picture of his
imagination, was at least still in embryo. Johnson,
who was the leader of the van, and the most active
among them, appears to have kept his mind open to
conviction, for after making an entry in the catalogue
of books before referred to of the works of Cyprian,
he added immediately under it these words : " Which,
with other ancient and modern authors read for these
three last years, have proved so convincing of the
necessity of Episcopal Ordination to me and my
friends, that this Commencement, September 13, 1722,
we found it necessary to express our doubts to the
ministers, from whom, if we receive not satisfaction,
we shall be obliged to desist."
18 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER H.
THE DECLARATION OP JOHNSON AND HIS FRIENDS ; STRUGGLE
BETWEEN FEELINGS AND DUTY; DEBATE BEFORE GOVERNOR
SALTONSTALL AND ITS RESULTS ; EXTRACTS FROM NOTES OF
DAYS ; VOYAGE TO ENGLAND FOR ORDINATION ; ARRIVAL
AND RECEPTION ; PRIVATE JOURNAL.
A. D. 1722-1723.
THE formal declaration of Johnson and his friends,
made by request of the Trustees, recited that " some of
them doubted the validity, and the rest were more fully
persuaded of the invalidity of Presbyterian ordination .
in opposition to the Episcopal." They asked for
" satisfaction," and time was allowed for further in-
quiry and consultation, in the hope that they might
get rid of their scruples, or at least be quiet and
contented in their positions.
Johnson entered in his Notes of Days, September
17, immediately after the Commencement, this account
of his feelings : —
Being at length bro't to such scruples concerning the valid-
ity of my ordination, that I could not proceed in administra-
tion without intolerable uneasiness of mind, I have now at
length (after much study and prayer to God for direction),
together with my friends (Mr. T. Cutler, Mr. J. Hart, Mr.
S. Whittelsey, Mr. Jared Eliot, Mr. James Wetmore, Mr.
Daniel Brown), after some private conferences with minis-
ters, this Commencement made a public declaration of my
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 19
scruples and uneasiness, and am advised to suspend adminis-
tration for the present. It is with great sorrow of heart
that I am forced thus, by the uneasiness of my conscience,
to be an occasion of so much uneasiness to my dear friends,
my poor people, and indeed to the whole Colony. O God, I
beseech Thee grant that I may not, by an adherence to Thy
necessary truths and laws (as I profess in my conscience they
seem to me) be a stumbling-block or occasion of fall to any
soul. Let not our thus appearing for Thy Church be any
ways accessory, though accidentally to the hurt of religion
in general or any person in particular. Have mercy, Lord,
have mercy on the souls of men, and pity and enlighten those
that are grieved at this accident. Lead into the way of truth
all those that have erred and are deceived ; and if we in this
affair are misled, I beseech Thee show us our error before it
be too late, that we may repair the damage. Grant us Thy
illumination for Christ's sake. Amen.
The General Assembly was to meet in New Haven
the ensuing October, and at the suggestion of Gurdon
Saltonstall, the Governor of the Colony, a debate was
held in the College Library, the day after the session
commenced, for the purpose of discussing the whole
subject, and disposing of questions that had created
serious alarm in the public mind. "He moderated
very genteely " on the occasion ; but the " gentlemen
on the Dissenting side " had not directed their studies
this way, and hence when they came to the debate
they were not so well prepared to cope with their
opponents and answer their arguments. They rested
their chief objection to Episcopacy on the promiscuous
use of the words bishop and presbyter in the New
Testament ; but this objection was met by citing such
Scripture facts as the evident superintendency of
Timothy over the clergy and people at Ephesus,
20 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
of Titus in Crete, and of the angels of the seven
churches in Asia. The history of the first and purest
ages of Christianity was also appealed to, and " at
length," says Johnson in his Autobiography, " an old
minister got up and made an harangue against them
in the declamatory way to raise an odium, hut he had
not gone far before Mr. Saltonstall got up and said he
only designed a friendly argument, and so put an end
to the conference."
Eliot, Hart, and Whittelsey were unable to with-
stand the alternate fury and entreaties of their friends,
and leaving their scruples behind, they quietly settled
back into their former relations, and continued to the
end of their days in the service of the Congregational
ministry.1 But the others were more resolute, and
followed their convictions. Johnson made a private
record of the reasons which influenced him in the
step they were about to take. They are worth pro-
ducing here in full : —
Oct. 6, 1722. — In the fear of God setting myself now upon
the serious consideration of the great and urgent affair now
under my hand and a deliberate examination wherein my
duty lies, I now set down the motives which lie before me on
both sides of the question, whether I shall now go over to
England and offer myself to the service of the Churoh ?
1. That which I propound to govern myself in general in
this affair is the awful account which I expect to give of all
that I do in this world, before the dread tribunal of God,
where the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, and every-
one shall receive according to his work.
2. Though I have been a grievous sinner, and deserve to
* Chandler, in his Life, of Johnson, p. 31, says: "Amidst all the controversies in
irhich the Church waa engaged during their lives, they were never known to act or
•ay or insinuate anything to her disadvantage."
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 21
be left of God, yet as those instances wherein I have offended
bear no relation to any of these controversies, and therefore
cannot be supposed to have any influence, by way of tempta-
tion, to the present undertaking, but (if anything) the con-
trary ; so I do renounce and abhor them, judge and condemn
myself for them, and humbly purpose to continue forever in
watchfulness against, and war with them, — and to make
business of mortification, by God's grace, imploring his par-
don and mercy in Jesus Christ, and therefore I hope in God
He does not, and will not abandon me to err in anything of
great consequence.
3. God's glory, the good of his Church in general and
the safety of precious souls in particular, are the ends I would
always and particularly in the present case have in my
eye.
4. Upon the most deliberate consideration I cannot find
that either the frowns or applauses, the pleasures or profits
of the world have any prevailing influence in the affair.
One week later, and three days before the discus-
sion in the College Library he made another record
thus : —
Oct. 13. — Now therefore to consider particularly what lies
I. In the first place, and here are several particulars.
1. Some few seeming texts of Scripture and a possibility
of interpreting all on the side of and in favor to Presbytery.
2. Breaking the peace of the country in general and my
own people in particular, which are great things.
3. Danger of the stumbling of weak brethren and the
damage of precious and immortal souls, and grieving good
men. Now these considerations are indeed of great weight,
and it is not a little thing should be sufficient to balance them.
II. On the other hand I consider, —
1. Sundry texts of Scripture there are which seem to me
plainly to intimate that Episcopacy is of apostolical ap-
22 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
pointment, which together with the unanimous witness of
the Church immediately after the Apostles' times and down-
ward in the purest ages of Christianity, seem as much at least
(if not more) to oblige my conscience to submit to Episco-
pacy as a divine appointment, as to observe the first day of
the week, and therefore do as much oblige me to declare
in favor of Episcopacy in this country as for the Lord's day,
supposing I am in a seventh day country.
2. If this be therefore a divine or at least apostolical in-
stitution (as I am fully persuaded it is), fear of breaking
peace should not shut up my mouth in a matter of so much
consequence.
1. Considering first that this country is in such a misera-
ble state as to church government (let whatever hypothesis
will, be right), that it needs reformation and alteration in
that affair.
2. The least I can say is, that I was in so much doubt
whether my ordination was lawful, that it utterly hindered
my devotion in administration.
3. I am indeed forced to think (comparing my case with
what I find in ancient authors, and especially in S. Cyprian)
that had I lived and administered without and in opposition
to Episcopacy, I should have been excommunicated for a
schismatic in the purest ages.
4. That peace without one of Christ's institutions is a
false peace, and it is best being on the surest side.
5. There may be offense taken where there is none given.
If others are damnified by my doing my duty I cannot help
that, however I endeavor the contrary.
6. There may be more souls damnified for want of Episco-
pal government in the country and that by far at length,
than by my making this appearance.
7. If I am, by what ordination I have had, consecrated to
God, yet I am not on this account guilty of sacrilege for that
I design yet to devote myself, my whole life to the service of
Christ and his Church, and so promote the good of precious
souls, and this (if I might be allowed, and so far as I am
allowed) in this place [West Haven].
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 23
These considerations all laid together, it seems to be my
duty to venture myself in the arms of Almighty Providence
to cross the ocean for the sake of that excellent church, the
Church of England ; and God preserve me, and if I err, God
forgive me.
This transcript of his feelings is a proof that he did
not expect any new light to rise from the debate in
the College Library, and shine through his doubts.
His convictions had settled into a definite plan of ac-
tion, and the 23d day of October found him and his
two friends, Cutler and Brown, on their way to Bos-
ton to embark for England. It was a slow journey,
and reaching Bristol, in Rhode Island, on the 28th,
he made a note thus, — " We were most kindly enter-
tained at Bristol, at Colonel Mackintosh's. Here, being
Sunday, I first went to church. How amiable are thy
tabernacles, 0 Lord of hosts. Mr. Orem preached."
Taking with them a letter from this gentleman to the
Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, they proceeded to Boston
where they were warmly welcomed lay friends in-
terested in their movement, and spent a few days be-
fore embarking in the ship Mary, commanded by
Captain Thomas Lithered. These friends had engaged
their passage in this vessel, and very kindly at their
own expense they provided everything necessary for
the voyage. The last day in Boston is mentioned
by Johnson in his private journal as follows : —
November 4. — Sunday. Mr. Brown and I read the Earl of
Nottingham against Whiston. This day, by God's grace I
first communicated with the Church of England. How de-
vout, grand, and venerable was every part of the adminis-
tration, every way becoming so awful a mystery ! Mr. Cuth-
24 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
bert of Annapolis Royal, preached. To-morrow we venture
upon the great ocean for Great Britain. God Almighty pre-
serve us !•
The voyage across the Atlantic one hundred and
fifty years ago was a momentous and awful under-
taking. It was not attended with as many comforts
as now, and a sailing vessel was the only mode of con-
veying passengers. Business rather than pleasure
impelled men to attempt it, and strong health was
needed to bear its hardships. In these days of steam
navigation, when quick passages in large floating pal-
aces are confidently anticipated, we are apt to forget
the sacrifices and trials of those, who in the close and
narrow cabins of sailing ships, were tossed for weeks
and months on the ocean, and entirely dependent
upon favoring gales to waft them to the point of their
destination. Johnson in a fine hand, which it must
have required the sharpest eyesight to have written
as it does now to read, kept " a journal of his voyage
to, abode at, and return from England," and some idea
of his perils and of the manner in which he employed
his time, may be formed by liberally extracting from
its pages. His entries during the outward passage
are thus made : —
November 15. — We have been even ten days now upon the
great ocean, and have had much contrary wind, made small
progress, were once in danger. God preserved us. To whom
be glory. May He send us a good and prosperous gale of
wind for Christ's sake. I have just finished reading, since I
came on board, the Abp. of Cambray's demonstration of the
existence of God.
20th. — We are, through God's goodness, safe after an
other grievous storm.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 25
23d. — Just finished Mr. Kettlewell on the Sacrament,
now finished Mr. Herbert's " Temple."
26th. — We are safe, by God's goodness, after a storm.
Just finished Mr. Nelson's " Practice of True Devotion."
29£/L — Finished Dr. Taylor's " Golden Guide, or Guide
to Devotion and for the Penitent," and " Hudibras."
Dec. 3d. — Yesterday, Dec. 2, a grievous storm. Thanks
to God we are yet safe ! Three last week.
Finished Dr. Bray on the Baptismal Covenant.
5th. — This week tolerable weather, only the wind too
southerly.
Finished Osterwald's Catechism.
1 2th. — This day we came to soundings.
Finished reading " The Gentleman instructed in the con-
duct of a virtuous and happy Life." Truly an excellent
piece. Dedicated by Dr. Hicks.
14£A. — This day, blessed be God, we first came in sight of
land. The first we made was the Isle of Wight, having been
ten days without an observation. We were marvelously
conducted by the good hand of Providence through the fog
thus far up the channel : cui laus.
Read a short answer to a Popish Catechism. Anon.
Thus ends our boisterous and uncomfortable voyage, after
five weeks and four days.
N. B. — We read prayers Sundays, Wednesdays, and
Fridays.
It was purely for religious purposes that they en-
countered such perils on the sea. A conscientious
regard for what they believed to be the truth, and
not ambition or the spirit of adventure, led them to
great self-sacrifices. The cordiality of their reception
in England, where the knowledge of their affair had
preceded them, and the interest and enthusiasm with
which they viewed everything connected with the
strength and glory of the Church, are best shown by
extracts from Johnson's private journal.
26 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
December 15. — This day we arrived safe, by God's good-
ness, at Ramsgate, in the Isle of Thanet, were kindly enter-
tained at Capt. Lithered's house, whence we took horse and
came to Canterbury that night, being Saturday.
\Qth. — This day, being Sunday, we went to church (Dr.
Cumberland read service) at the magnificent Cathedral of
Canterbury, where we heard one Mr. Archer preach on the
story of the Ethiopian and S* Philip. In the afternoon we
were by mistake directed to a meeting. After which we
viewed the ancient magnificence of the Cathedral and heard
evening service there. 84 Ps. was sung.
Ylth. — This day we went to service again at the cathedral,
where we had opportunity for further view of that stately
building, 500 feet in length, and by 275 steps we ascended
the tower of it, where we left our names. In the afternoon
we waited on Dean Stanhope, who was pleased to take a
very gracious and friendly notice of us. After evening ser-
vice we viewed the walls of the city and other instances of
ancient magnificence.
~L8th. — This day we waited on Dr. Wilkins, one of the
Prebendaries, — after which we went to service ; which ended,
we took a further view of the city, especially the churches,
walls, and Tower, then dined with Dr. Grandorgh, who
showed us the Library of the Cathedral, etc. After evening
service we were invited by Mr. Norris to his house, and
spent the evening there in company with Mr. Hughes, Mr.
Gosling, Sen!" and Jun.r, who expressed great civility and
kindness.
19th. — This day we took coach and came to Rochester and
Chatham, and there lodged.
20th. — This day from thence by coach we came to
London.
21s£. — This day we provided our lodgings at Mrs. Wyld-
man's, in Fetter Lane, after which we were at the Exchange
and N. England Coffee House, after which we waited on
Mr. Hay.
23c?. — This day, being Sunday, in the forenoon we went
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 27
to service at the famous Cathedral of S* Paul, where we
heard Mr. Bramston on 21 Mat. 9 v. Hosanna. In the
afternoon we were at S* Mary's, Aldermary, where we heard
Mr. Jno. Berrirnan on 1 Tim. i. 15, with whom, after ser-
vice, we conversed at Mr. Buckridge's, from whence we went
to Mr. Hay's.
2±th. — This day we went to Mr. Hay's, where we had
opportunity with Dr. Wm. Berriman, the Bishop of Lon-
don's chaplain, from whom we had a letter to Dr. Ibbotson,
the Abp. of Canterbury's chaplain, wherewith we went to
Lambeth, but his Grace was indisposed. After which we
went over from Lambeth to Westminster and viewed the
Abbey and the Hall, and sundry ancient monuments.
25th. — This day, being Christmas, we went to church at
Sl Dunstan's, where we heard Dr. Jenks from 85 Ps., 10, 11,
— "Mercy and Truth," etc., — from whom we received the
Holy Eucharist, after which we took coach and went to dine
with Sir Edw'd Blacket (having been invited by the Lady
Blacket), from whence, in our return, we were at evening
service in S* Ann's church.
*2Qth. — This day we conversed with Mr. Th. Coram.
27th. — This day we were at service in the morning at
S* Andrew's, Undershaft. Dr. Wm. Berriman read service,
who after prayers informed us when to wait on the Abp.
Afternoon, went to Westminster and S* James's.
2Sth. — This day we went in the morning to Westminster,
where we conversed with Dr. Fr. Astry, Treasurer of S*
Paul's, from whence we came to the N. England Coffee
House, where we conferred with Mr. Bridger and others of
our acquaintance. I was at Evening Prayer. S1 Dunstan's.
30th. — This day in the morning we were at service at the
Cathedral of S4 Paul, where we heard one Mr. Seagrave
from Heb. ii. 16 — not the nature of angels. In the afternoon
we were at the Old Jewry, where Mr. Trapp preached from
Heb. iii. 13 — of the Deceitfulness of Sin — with whom we
conversed afterwards.
. — This day we went with Mr. Coram through S1
28 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
James's Park and Chelsea (where we viewed the fine Hos-
pital) to Parsons' Green at Fulham to dine with Mr. Hall,
who treated us very kindly and generously ; coming home,
we saw the place of K. Charles' execution.
January 3c?. — This day in the morning we were intro-
duced by Mr. Bridger to wait on Sir William Dawes, the
L'd Archbishop of York, who treated us with great kindness
and condescension, and took notice of our affair. After
which I went to Dr. Astry and conferred with him. In the
evening Mr. Checkley (just arrived from N. England) came
to our lodgings to visit us.1
4th. — This day I went in the morning to confer further
with Dr. Astry about going to Lambeth, after which I was
at Smithfield and S* Andrew's, Holborn, thence home, and
read the orders and papers of the Society and the Bp. of
Bristol's and Carlisle's sermons.
5th. — This day in the forenoon we (attended with Mr.
Bridger, Mr. Sanford, and other gentlemen) waited on
Dr. W. Wake, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, at
his Palace at Lambeth, introduced by Dr. Ibbotson. His
Grace treated us like a Father of the ch'h, very courteously,
and took notice of our affair ; we returned on foot round by
Southwark, where we viewed the most ancient church and
monastery of S* Mary Overie
6th. — This day (being Sunday) we were in the morning
at S? Martm-in-the-Fields, where we were entertained with
a most amiable and profitable sermon by Sir Wm. Dawes,
the most excellent Abp. of York, a most wonderful preacher !
His text, Gen. xviii. 19, — "For I know him that he will
command," etc. In the afternoon I was at the Cathedral of
S* Paul, where one Mr. Bowers preached. Jno. i. 14. —
" Full of," etc.
*lth. — This day we were at Dr. Level's at Westminster.
1 Johnson wrote on the fly-leaf of his private journal thus: — " N. B. I speak in
the plural number to comprehend Mr. T. Cutler and Mr. D. Brown, who were con-
stantly iny fellow-travellers; and after Mr. Brown's death, Mr. Checkley ; and after
his arrival, Mr. Wetmore."
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 29
Sth. — This day we waited on Dr. Willis, the Bishop of
Sarum. After which we were to visit Mr. Rawlins, and dined
at Dr. Lovel's in company with Mr. Cummin. In the even-
ing we received Mr. Hony man's letters, and after Evening
Prayer conferred with Mr. Hay.
. — This day we went in the morning to wait on Dr.
Nicholson, the Bishop of Londonderry ; after which we were
with Mr. Humphreys, the Secretary to the Society, thence
to Mr. Massey's, from thence in the afternoon we went to
wait on Dr. King, the Master of the Charter House, with
whom we conferred on our affairs ; after which we viewed
Guildhall, and spent the evening with Mr. Massey.
~L5th. — This day, after walking about the city and con-
versing at the N. E. Coffee House with Mr. Sanford, etc.,
we went in the afternoon (having been invited) to visit Mr.
Dommer, a Printer by Gray's Inn (which we took a view
of, and of the fields and walks by the way), where were Mr.
Cambel and Mr. Whiston (Arians with whom we had a
great deal of talk and dispute), as also Mr. Massey and Mr.
Rawlins.
18th. — This day in the morning we were first with Dr.
Astry, with whom we went (by him introduced) before the
Hon. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts. Sir William Dawes, Abp. of York, was in the chair,
who with the whole body of the clergy present received us
with a most benign aspect, and treated us with all imaginable
kindness. From thence we went with Dr. Berriman, chap-
lain, before Dr. Jno. Robinson, Bp. of London, who received
us very graciously, and took a kind notice of our affair.
20th. — This day (being Sunday) in the morning we were
at S* Bride's, where we had a charity sermon from Deut.
xv. 11, 12, preached by Dr. Th. Biss ; in the afternoon we
were at S* Mary le Bow, where we heard Mr. Smith on
30 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Death, from Job xvii. 13 ; in the evening we conversed at
home first with Dr. King, Master of the Chapter House
(who gave us a kind visit), after that with Mr. Checkley
and Dr. Jones.
21«£. — This day Mr. Brown and I were with the Bishop
of London, with whom we conferred further upon our affair ;
he treated us with great benignity ; from thence we went to
dine with Dr. Astry, who after dinner took coach with us
and came to the Chapter House by S* Paul's, where we were
kindly treated by the Committee of the Society, who granted
our desire ; we spent the evening with Mr. Massey, Lewis,
and Humphreys.
22d.— This day, alas! Mr. Cutler falling sick of the
small-pox, Mr. Brown and I thought best to remove, and we
took up our lodgings at Mr. Gregson's at the Two White
Fryars by the Bolt and Tun in Fleet Street ; after which we
were at the Coffee House and Mr. More's.
23 d. — This day we were in the morning with Mr. Hay
for his advice, from whom we went directly to the Bp. of
London to Fulham (to his Palace), where we were kindly
entertained by Dr. W. Berriman, with whom we had a very
free conversation.
i. — This day in the morning we were at Dr. Astry's,
with whom and Dr. Berriman we came to wait on the Society
at Bp. Tenison's Library, who granted our requests and
made way for our ordination. After which we were at Mr.
Bridger's and at evening service at S* Paul's Cathedral.
. — This day (being Sunday) we were in the morning
at S* Paul's, where were present, besides the Lord Mayor
and Aldermen, Sir Peter King and the rest of the Judges ;
one Mr. Wheatly preached from 1 Tim. iii. 16. The mys-
tery of godliness. In the afternoon we were at Westminster
Abbey, where were present Sundry Bishops. One Mr.
Mandevil preached from Matt. v. 8. Pure in heart, etc.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 31
. — This day in the morning we went to wait on Dr.
Grandorgh, upon whose invitation we took coach with him
and went to Westminster Hall (it being Term time), where
we saw the several courts and judges sitting. We viewed
likewise the Houses both of Lords and Commons. In the
afternoon we, with Mr. Checkley, were in company with Mr.
Hendley and Mr. Lewis, two clergymen, and Mr. Wood and
others.
February ~Lst. — This day in the afternoon we were at Mr.
Hay's, and spent the evening at the Sun Tavern with Messrs.
Lewis, Humphrey, Vaughan, Powel, Vincent, Wait, Scul-
lard, etc., clergymen.
4th. — This day we were to dine with Mr. Hendley at
Islington, in company with Mr. Lewis, Mr. Checkley, and
Mr. Wood. After we came home we were in company with
Philips and Calwel, and read Irene, a play.
5th. — This day we were at Sion College, where we had
the benefit of two or three hours' use of the Library to
examine commentators on our texts.
6th. — This day we were not out, but at the Theatre in
Drury Lane in the evening, where we had a Tragedy.
1th. — This day in the morning we were at service at S*
Paul's Cathedral, where Dr. Chishul preached in defense of the
Trinity against the Arians from Matt, xxviii. 19, — " Go ye
therefore," etc. ; after which, with Mr. Checkley, we took a
view of that stupendous fabric, ascended to the top of the
dome by five hundred and fifty steps, which with the Cupola
and Cross make four hundred feet in height. We were in
the Library also, and sundry other parts ; viewed the- cells,
etc. It is perhaps one of the finest buildings in the world —
an amazing mass of stones ! In the evening also we were at
service there, and afterward waited 011 Mr. Jennings.
9th. — This day in the morning we were first with Mr.
Dummer, the agent ; after that we went to wait on Dr.
Grandorgh, who presented us from an unknown hand1 (whom
1 Farl Thatiet.
32 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
God bless) with ten guineas apiece ; in the afternoon
finished reading a book called the " Scotch Presbyterian
Eloquence," and after that I finished composing my sermon
for probation.
IQth. — This day, being Sunday, in the morning I heard
at S* Mary's, Aldermary, Dr. Kennet, Bp. of Peterborough,
preach from 1 Thess. iii. 11,12, — " Now God and the Father,"
etc. After which I saw him ordain Mr. Usher and another
man. We dined with Mr. Negus ; in the afternoon we heard
Dr. Watson from John i. 11, — " He came unto his own," etc.
\\th. — This day we were not out. I read Dr. Hoadly's
Sermon on the " Kingdom of Christ," and his " Preserva-
tive Against Non-jurors," with Snape's and Law's answer.
12th. — This day in the morning we were at service at the
church of S* Lawrence Jewry, where Dr. Moss, Dean of Ely,
preached a Lecture from Rom. iii. 8, — " Let us do evil," etc.
Afternoon we were at the Coffee House N. E., and in the
evening we were at the Theatre at Lincoln's Inn, where we
had a Comedy — The Drummer. N. B. — This same day
after dinner we visited the good people of Bedlam.
13£A. — This day we were not out, but I read Dr. Wood-
ward's " Young Man's Monitor," and wrote letters to my
friends in N. England.
15th. — This day we were at the anniversary meeting of
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at S* Mary le
Bow, where Dr. J. Waugh, Dean of Gloucester, preached
from 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20, — The spirits in prison, etc. We
were at evening service at S* Paul's, and in the evening I
was at the Sun Tavern Club, where, besides those who were
there before, were Messrs. Hill, Bridger, Lewis, and another
or two.
20th. — This day in the morning we were at service at
Westminster Abbey, after which we went to visit Mr. More,
a young clergyman, on the affair of Baptism ; he was very
courteous.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 33
24£ h. — This day, being Sunday, we were at service all
day at Sfc Dunstan's, West ; in the morning Dr. John Wilcox,
Bishop of Gloucester, preached from 1 Pet. iv. 10, — " As
every man hath received," etc. Afternoon, Dr. Nath. Mar-
shall preached on Matt. xix. 14, — " For of such," etc.
27th. — This day (being Ash Wednesday) we were at
service at S* James', Clerkenwell, where Dr. Jno. Potter,
Bishop of Oxford, preached from 2 Cor. i. 12, — "For our
rejoicing is this," etc. We dined with Dr. Massey.
March 2. — This day not out but to buy books. We saw
a wondrous clock that performed all sorts of music.
Sd. — This day (being Sunday) we were in the morning
at S* Andrew's, Undershaft, or S* Mary Ax, where Dr.
Win. Berriman preached from Jer. xiii. 23, — " Can the
Ethiopian," etc. ; in the afternoon at S* Martins, Ludgate,
where Mr. Crow preached from Luke xiii. 5, — "I tell you,
Nay ; but, except," etc.
4th. — This day we heard Esquire Boyle's Lecture at S*
Mary le Bow preached by Dr. Burrough from Phil. iii. 8, —
" Yea, doubtless, and I count," etc. After that we took a
walk with Mr. Jno. Berriman, Mr. Scullard, and Mr. Wats,
through Moorfields out to Ash Hospital, and so out of town
through the pleasant meadows. In the evening received a
visit from Mr. David Yale.
5th. — This day we went to Kensington to confer with
Dr. Berriman ; we were admitted to my Lord of London ;
there we dined ; after which we drank a bottle with the
Doctor and Secretary, and then viewed the Royal Palace and
Gardens.
In the evening at S* Paul's, at Sir Christopher Wren's
funeral. Statues.
1th. — This day we were at service at S* Paul's, where
Dr. Chishul preached again against the Arians in defense of
the Holy Trinity from Matt, xxviii. 19. It was his fourth
3
34 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Lecture. After that we waited on Dr. Knight to confer on
the affair of Baptism. He treated us very kindly. We vis-
ited Buckridge.
g^. — Xhis day in the morning we were at service at S*
Paul's, where one Mr. Bearcroft preached from 2 Pet. i. 10,
— Calling and election, etc. I came home and read Dr.
Delaune's sermon on Original Sin, Whiston's argument about
the validity of ministries and the appendices, and the spirit
of some late writers about the Bishop of Rochester's com-
mitment.
9th. — This day we were at service in the morning at
Westminster Abbey with Mr. Checkley, with whom after-
wards we went to confer with Dr. Knight on the affair of
Baptism, and (nobis tribus an legitimum sit apud Presby-
terianos Baptisma susceptum graviter dubitantibus) hora 4
pomeridiand in ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, Testibus Dom.
Johanne Jones, Isaaco Cardel, et Dom. Dorothea Nightingale
et ministrante Jeremia Nicholsono, Doctor! Knight curato,
privatum, Baptisma hypotheticum recepimus. Si rectum
hoc, Deus agnoscat, et si alitercum sit simpliciter actum
ignoscat. l
\\th. — This day we heard Mr. Usher at St. Antholin's,
after which Mr. Lazingby invited us to his house with Mr.
Oliver and Mr. Scullard, etc., clergymen ; then we with Mr.
Checkley took coach and went to Hampstead to wait on, Mr.
Cutler home, who (I thank God) is recovered. We walked
about to view that town, and then returned arid went to
the Theatre at Lincoln's Inn, where we had the comedy of
the Merchant.
13th. — This day we went to Mr. Bridger's, and from
thence to Kensington to confer with my Lord of London on
1 We three, having grave doubts whether Baptism received among the Presby-
terians is valid, at 4 o'clock P.M. in the church of St. Sepulchre — Mr. John Jones,
Isaac Curdel, and Mrs. Dorothy Nightingale being witnesses, and Jeremiah Nichol-
son, curate to Dr. Knight, ministering — received private hypothetical baptism. If
this be right, may God approve it; and if otherwise than sincerely done, may He
pardon it.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 35
the affair of ordination. We drank a bottle with Dr. Berri-
man, Mr. Sherlock, etc., and had letters to the Archbishop
of Canterbury ; in our return were in the Royal Gardens.
14th. — This day in the morning we first waited on Gov-
ernor Shute and then on the Earl of Clarendon at Somerset
House. After that we were at prayers at S* Stephen's,
Coloman Street, where Mr. Hay catechised and preached a
lecture on the Catechism ; in the afternoon we were at Mr.
Bowyer's, the Bookseller, with whom we drank a bottle;
after that we went up to the top of the glorious Cathedral
of S* Paul and viewed the town.
18th. — This day I was at Kensington to confer with Dr.
Berriman on the affair of ordination, by whose application
to the Bishop of London, and by order from William, Lord
Apb. of Canterbury, we had letters dimissory to Thomas,
Lord Bp. of Norwich. In the evening I read the " Modern
Protestant."
19th. — This day in the morning we went to wait on the
Right Reverend Dr. Thomas Green, the Bishop of Norwich,
for ordination, who received us favorably. Thence we went
to see Mr. Raw! ins and Lady Blacket. After that we were
at the N. England Coffee House.
20th. — This day in the morning we were to wait on Mr.
Jennings to discourse on our affairs ; from thence we went
to wait on the Bishop of Norwich, who examined us in order
for ordination, which also did Mr. Ellotson, the gentleman
who is to present us ; then we signed the Articles. After-
noon we were at Si Sepulchre, where Mr. Brown and I with
Mrs. Dorothy were witnesses for Mr. Cutler at his baptism.
After that we were about town to provide robes, etc., for
ordination.
21st. — This day we were before the Society at the Arch-
bishop's Library at S* Martin's upon our affairs, and were in
the evening at the Half-moon Tavern, Cheapside, with the
gentlemen of the club before mentioned, besides whom were
others.
36 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
. — This day in the morning, 10 of the clock, we
waited on the Right Revd Thomas, Lord Bishop of Norwich,
and at the parish church of S* Martin-in-the-Fields, after
morning Prayer, we were first confirmed and then ordained
Deacons. In the afternoon I was at Prayers at S* Paul's,
and then at Mr. Jonah Bowyer's, Bookseller.
24th. — This day (being Sunday) we were all day at Sl
James's Church, where in the morning Dr. Samuel Clark
preached from Heb. xii. 16, 17, — of Esau's selling his birth-
right. Afternoon, Dr. Ibbotson preached from Luke ix. 23, —
" Let him deny himself," etc. In the evening I finished
Abp. Dawes, etc., sermons.
26th. — This day we had the honor to dine again with
Dr. Francis Astry, and spent the afternoon at his house, with
Mr. Carter, a clergyman, our benefactor. After that we
waited on Dr. Nath. Marshall, with whom we drank a bottle
in company with Dr. Grey and Mr. Wheatly, clergymen,
and Mr. Martin and Dr. Walker, in both which conversa-
tions we had great kindness.
28th. — This day we were in the morning to wait on the
Bishop of Norwich. Afternoon we were at Clerkenwell ;
from thence we went with Mr. Checkley to see the Tower,
where we viewed the armory, both horse and foot, the artil-
lery and regalia, and the trophies of Sir Francis Drake, and
everything to be seen there; after that we ascended the
monument, one hundred and two feet high, by three hun-
dred and forty-five steps. Glorious things !
29£A. — This day in the morning I was at service at S'
Clement Danes, where Mr. R. Leybourn preached from Job
vii. 16, — "I would not live alway," etc. Otherwise not out.
30£A. — This day in the morning we were to wait on the
Bishop of Norwich, whose chaplain, Mr. Clark, examined
us. The Bishop gave us his fatherly advice, and we sub-
scribed the XXXIX. Articles, in order for ordination. We
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 37
dined and spent the day with Mr. Dummer in company
with Mr. Massey and Mr. Low.
31s£. — This day at 6 in the morning, Sunday, at the
church of S* Martin-iii-the-Fields, at the continued appoint-
ment and desire of William, Lord Abp. of Canterbury, and
John, Lord Bishop of London, we were ordained Priests
most gravely by the Right Revd Thomas, Lord Bp. of Nor-
wich, who afterwards preached an excellent sermon from
Rom. ii. 4, — " Or despisest thou," etc. I dined with Mr.
Massey in company with Mr. Godly and Mr. Bull, clergy-
men. Afternoon I preached for Mr. Massey at S* Alban's.,
Wood Street, on Phil. i. 27. We all spent the evening with
Mr. Low.
April 1. — This day in the morning we were at the
Bishop of Norwich's house with the Secretary for our orders.
Afternoon we were at S* Paul's Chapter House and the
Chapter Coffee House.
3c?. — This day we dined with Mr. Carter (our benefactor),
with whom we took coach and came into town. We spent
the evening at Mr. Massey's with Mr. Price.
The errand on which Johnson and his associates
appeared in England served as an introduction to
remarkable persons and places. Wherever they went
they were sure to be welcomed; and the interest
evinced in their entertainment was only exceeded by
the desire to send them back to their country pre-
pared to meet the new responsibilities laid upon them,
and to engage in a struggle which they could hardly
hope to avoid with the steady foes of Episcopacy.
38 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER IE.
SICKNESS AND DEATH OF MR. BROWN; FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM
PRIVATE JOURNAL; VISITS TO OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE;
ARRIVAL OF MR. WETMORE ; DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND, AND
VOYAGE HOME ; SETTLEMENT AT STRATFORD ; LETTERS TO
THE BISHOP OF LONDON ; MARRIAGE.
A. D. 1723-1727.
THE dreadful malady from which Mr. Cutler had
just recovered now fell upon another member of the
party. On Thursday, the 4th of April, Brown com-
plained of being ill; and two days later his disease
was pronounced to be the small-pox. " God grant
him," entered Johnson in his diary, " a safe deliver-
ance ; " and the same day he removed his own quar-
ters to an apothecary in the next door. He does not
appear to have thought it imprudent to remain so
near, or he was so anxious to learn each day the
progress of the disease, and the signs of its yielding
to treatment, that he could not think of, being at a
distance from his friend. Edward Jenner was not yet
born, and hence his great discovery of vaccination
as a preventive of the small-pox was unknown to the
medical profession. Individuals were then subject
to it in its worst form in the natural way, and inocu-
lation was sometimes resorted to as a means of escap-
ing its virulence, and securing a more speedy and
perfect recovery.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 39
For nearly a week Johnson went in and out of his
new quarters visiting noted places, and mingling with
his clerical friends. On the 7th of April, it being
Palm Sunday, he was at the Royal Chapel, S* James's
Palace, where he saw the King, George the Prince,
the Princess, and sundry bishops and persons of the
nobility. Dr. W. Wake, Abp. of Canterbury, preached
from Luke xiii. 6-9, — The barren fig-tree. He ap-
plied it to the present state of the nation. It is
evident that the symptoms in the case of Brown had
not become alarming. A few quotations from the
journal of Johnson will best tell the story : —
April 9. — This day I was first at Child's Coffee House.
We dined at the Cross Keys in Holborn with Mr. Ham-
mond, in company with Mr. Massey and thirty English
gentlemen. I wrote to my friends in the evening.
~LQth. — This day we were at S* James's, Clerkenwell,
where we heard Dr. Sherlock, Dean of Chichester, preach
from Isaiah liii. 3, on " Christ's sufferings." Afternoon I
was at the N. E. Coffee House with Mr. Sandford, and spent
the evening (after evening service at S* Foster's) 1 with Mr.
Berriman and Mr. Scullard at Coach Makers' Hall.
Hth. — This day we were at Whitehall Chapel at service,
to see the ceremony of washing the disciples' feet performed,
being Maundy Thursday. Afterwards we met Mr. Oliver at
the New England Coffee House, who went with us to wait
on Mr. Try on, the Treasurer, where we saw Mr. More. In
the evening I removed my lodgings to Mr. Skinner's.
12th. — This day being Good Friday, we were at service
at the Royal Chapel at S* James's, where Dr. Stanhope,
Dean of Canterbury, preached an excellent sermon from
John i. 29, — 4< Behold the Lamb of God," etc. I was at
evening prayers at S1 Martin's, Ludgate.
1 In another place Johnson speaks of " S* Foster's, alias Vedast." The reference
is to S' Vedast's Church, Foster Lane, built by Wren, with a three storied spire,
and still in use as a parish church.
40 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
13th. — This day, thinking Mr. Brown a little better, Mr.
Cutler, Mr. Manning, and I, went to Greenwich, where we
were on board the Royal Carolina ; there viewed the glorious
Hospital, then the Palace, the Park, and Royal Observatory,
and after that Mr. Crawley's Iron Ware House. But woe
is me ! alas ! alas ! on our return we are accosted with the
sorrowful news of Mr. Brown's death. O Father, not my
will, but thine be done ! O my grief ! I have lost in him
the best friend in the world, — a fine scholar, and a brave
Christian. It is thy will, O God ; let me be silent, and shut
my mouth. But my flesh trembles for fear of Thee, and I
am afraid of thy righteous judgments. O give me grace to
be resigned, and to get good by it. O prepare his friends
for the news, and comfort them. O save and spare me, if it
may be thy will, for Christ's sake.
1.4th. — This day being Easter Sunday, Mr. Checkley and
I were at S* Paul's Cathedral, where we had a sermon from
Rev. i. 17-18, — "I am he that was dead, and am alive,"
etc. We received the Holy Communion from the hands of
Dean Younger, Mr. Baker, and Mr. Carleton. Afternoon
we were at Sfc Alban's, Wood Street, where Mr. Massey
preached from Is. liii. 10, — " When thou shalt make his soul
an offering," etc. With him we went home, and there I
lodged that night.
1.5th. — This day I was at service at Sfc John's Chapel,
Clerkenwell ; thence to Lady Blaket's and Dr. Astry's.
After that I went to Mr. Berriman's, who with Mr. Scullard,
and Mr. Wats and other lay gentlemen, went with me to
divert me out into the fields and meadows to the new bury-
ing place, where I saw Mr. Nelson's tomb ; thence to Dr.
Marshall's and Dr. Astry's ; thence to Whitehall, whence
we went by water to Mr. Scullard's, where we spent the
evening. There I lodged.
1.6th. — This morning Mr. Scullard went with me to see
the wine vaults and water works. After that I was at
S* Bride's to hear the Spital sermon preached by Dean
Waugh from 1 Cor. xiii. 13, — The greatest, charity. The
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 41
children sang wonderfully. This evening my dear friend,
Mr. Brown, was interred in Sfc Dunstan in the West, at-
tended by about thirty of the clergy of the town.
These extracts show the depth of Johnson's sorrow
at the death of his classmate and companion. The
constantly changing scenes through which he passed
could not put it from his mind. It was the one great
disappointment of his journey, and he often referred
to it afterwards with feelings of affectionate sadness.
When human props fall from under us it is a comfort
to be able to lean upon divine supports, and to do
what is imposed upon us with increased faith and
diligence. This was the privilege of the survivor who
mourned so deeply the loss of his gentle and loving
friend.
The private journal of Johnson carries us back a
century and a half, and brings to view now and then
manners and customs which seem strange to many at
the present day. The frequent gathering of clergy-
men at coffee houses and clubs was among the social
habits of the time, and as little was thought of ac-
quaintances meeting at the " Vine Tavern " for a
literary feast, as would now be thought of a party of
travellers stopping at an inn and asking for refresh-
ment and lodgings for the night. The reader will be
glad to have introduced more of the notes of the sub-
ject of this volume. They are brief, and written
without any attempt at rhetoric or fine description ;
but the simple words are graphic, and present a
lively picture of what the writer saw and heard : —
April 21. — This day being Sunday I preached my proba-
tion sermon on Phil. i. 27, at Sfc Dionis Back Church, in
Fenchurch Street, before Dr. Smith and Mr. Hay, members
of the Society. We dined at Mr. Bridger's with the clergy-
42 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
man, his brother. After dinner we took coach to Trinity
Chapel, in Hanover Square, where I preached the same be-
fore sundry persons of quality. We spent the evening at the
Dean of Ely's, Dr. Moss, with the two Finches, Mr. Finch
and the Dean of York, and Mr. Massey and Mr. Collens.
22d. — This day I read Morning Prayers for Dr. Polling
at S* Ann's ; in the afternoon we walked in Lincoln's Inn
Fields, were a considerable time in the Library, and at
Evening Prayers in the Chapel, and after that at Sl
Foster's ; thence to Moorfields, where we saw a remarkable
gun which went off eleven times in a minute ; spent the
evening with Mr. Wheatly, Berriman, Scullard, and the
other company, at Mr. Kodden's.
23 d. — This day in the morning we went to drink a dish
of tea with Mr. Collens, a very worthy clergyman ; after
that we were at Lincoln's Inn, thence to John's Coffee
House in Swithin's Lane, with sundry clergymen; then at
N. England Coffee House with Mr. Harrison ; after that we
waited on Dr. Barrowby, a worthy gentleman, our physician ;
we spent the evening at the Vine Tavern with Messrs. Ber-
riman, Lewis, Scullard, Higgot, Champion, Brigen, Wait,
Vaughan, Rice, and Bp. Bradford's son.
24th. — This day in the morning we visited Mrs. Kitty
Lockwood, and then Mr. Rawden ; after that we were at
Morning Prayers at Lincoln's Inn ; thence we took a walk
in Sl James's Park, and dined with Dr. Astry. We were at
Evening Prayers at S* Foster's, and spent the evening at Mr.
Jno. Berriman's with Mr. Wheatly, Mr. Wait, and the other
gentlemen.
29th. — This day in the morning we waited on Dr. Ed-
mund Gibson, Lord Bishop of London, lately advanced, who
treated us very kindly ; thence we were at Court
30£/i. — This morning we were at Westminster Abbey,
where we viewed the cloisters and monuments, and by Mr.
Church's means saw the school and dormitory, as also Abp.
Laud's own handwriting, and the original names and war-
rant of the Regicides. We dined with Mr. Truby and Mr.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 43
Bowyer ; then we were at Mr. Downing's, thence to wait on
Dr. Bennet, with whom we spent the evening.
May 1. — This day in the morning we were at Mr.
Scullard's, with whom we went to Mr. Clondon's, who con-
ducted us to Gresham College to Dr. Woodward's, thence to
the work house, thence we went to prayers at S* Mildred's,
Poultry. Mr. Scullard read prayers. Thence we went to
John's Coffee House in company with sundry clergymen.
We dined at Mr* Tryon's; after that we were at Mr.
Bowyer's with Dr. Snape and Dr. Colebatch, and waited on
Sub-Dean Gosling ; were at Chapter Coffee House with Dr.
Grey and Mr. Wheatly. Supped at the Old Devil Tavern
with Mr. Manning and Mr. Wood.
2d. — This day I was at Mr. Checkley's ; then we were all
at Dr. Grey's and Dr. Marshall's, with whom we spent the
evening. Read Dr. Woodward's remarks on the ancient and
present state of London.
3^7. — This day we dined with Dr. Woodward at Gresham
College, who showed us his fine collection of rarities, of
animals, minerals, antediluvian shells, Roman urns, and other
antiquities of 2 or 3000 years. After that Mr. Wilmer
showed us his collection of plants. We spent the evening at
Mr. Berriinan's ; I finished Dr. Berriman's sermon at Induc-
tion.
4£ fa. — This day I was at my Lord Mayor's with Messrs.
Rawden, Chapman, and Pope, thence to S* Mary-le-Bow, at
the confirmation of Dr. Edmund Gibson, Bp. of London ; we
dined at Mr. Carter's with Dr. Moss, Dean of Ely, who took
us into his coach and brought us to Holborn, and thence we
went to Mr. Jenks', with whom we conversed, and after that
with Mr. Middleton.
5th. — This day being Sunday I read prayers at S*
Michael, Queenhithe. Mr. Estwick preached from 1 Pet. ii.
21, on " Christ's example." I assisted in the administration
of the Sacrament. We dined at Mr. Scullard's ; for him I
preached at S* Antholin's ; afterwards we were .... at
Dr. Baile's ; thence we went to S* Ann's, where Mr. Cutler
44 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
preached for Mr. Wheatly on Eccl. xii. 13, 14, — " Fear
God," etc. With him we dined.
6th. — This day I was at Mr. Bowyer's, where I saw the
Bishop of Rochester as he came from the Tower to the House
of Lords ; thence we went to Dr. Grey's, and we dined with
Mr. Rawden in company with Mr. Abbot and Mr. Jenner.
fth. — This day we heard Dr. Roderick preach a Latin
sermon at Sion College from these words : " He that endureth
to the end shall be saved." After which we dined there in
company with about fifty of the clergy convened on that
occasion. After that we went over the river with Mr. Scul-
lard and viewed Sfc Saviour's Church, i. e. S* Mary Overie's,
and then the water works, and spent the evening at the
Vine with our former acquaintances.
%th. — This day we took horses and went in company
with Mr. Waterman to Harrow-on-the-Hill, to wait on Mr.
Cox, with whom we dined, and after that we went to Eton
and Windsor.
Qth. — This day we visited the Castle and Palace at
Windsor, and after that we went to Hampton Court, and
saw the fine palaces there, in both which glorious places we
saw everything curious, magnificent, or entertaining, and then
returned this evening to London.
llth. — This day we were first at Mr. Bowyer's to see the
Bishop of Rochester go by ; thence we went to Court, thence
to Dr. Grey's, and spent the evening with Mr. Berriman,
Scullard, East, etc.
12th. — This day, Sunday, I heard Dr. Thomas Wilson,
the Bishop of Sodor and Man, preach from Mar. xii. 32-34, —
Of the love of God, — at S* Vedast Foster's. We dined at
Mr. Scate's. Afternoon I preached before that Bishop for
Mr. Berriman at Sl Mary's, Aldermary. After service we
were at Mr. Scate's again with the Bishop. After that Mr.
Berriman and I went to the Tower, and we spent the evening
at Mrs. Parker's.
13th. — This day we went with Dr. Grey to view Sion
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 45
College Library, where we saw John Wickliff's Bible, original
manuscript, then we went to Moorfields. After dinner we
were at 'Change, we were at the Chapter House and Coffee
House with Dr. Lang and Mr. Oliver, we spent the evening
in visiting Walter Newbury, a Quaker countryman ; finished
Mr. Wheatly's Tract of " Bidding Prayer."
14:th. — This day we heard Dr. Moss, Dean of Ely, at S*
Lawrence Jewry, preach on the Eternity of Hell Torments,
— Matt. x.xv. ult., — with whom and about twenty clergy-
men we were at the Coffee House afterwards ; we spent the
afternoon at Mr. Truby's with Mr. Oliver, Dr. Jones, and
one or two clergymen.
15th. — This day we were first to wait on Dr. Marshall,
who (being the King's chaplain) introduced us into the
Palace of S* James, where we were at prayers with the
young Princesses, and had the honor to kiss their hands.
We dined there with the King's chaplain, and after that went
home with Dr. Marshall, and waited on the Dean of Ely and
Dr. Grey.
16th. — This day we were at S* Paul's Cathedral, at the
Installation of Edmund, Bishop of London, performed by
Dr. Bowers, Bp. of Chichester, and the whole chapter. Af-
ternoon we were there again at service, after that with Mr.
Negus, after that at S* Foster's, and went with Mr. Berri-
man to the Tower, and spent the evening with him and Mr.
Garden.
17th. — This day in the morning we waited on Dr. Astry ;
thence we went to Tyburn to see Counselor Layer hanged.
12th. — This day I read prayers in the morning at S*
Magnus for Mr. Scullard, with whom I dined. Afternoon
I preached before Dr. Waddington [afterwards Bishop of
Chichester] at All Hallows the Great for Dr. Berriman.
After service we were at Mr. Shaler's with Mr. Berriman
and Mr. Scullard ; thence to Mr. Checkley's, and spent the
evening with Mr. Webster.
2Qth. — This day we took coach and came to Oxford, and
lodged at the Angel Inn.
46 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
. — This day first we waited on Dr. Shippen, the Vice-
Chancellor at Brasen Nose College ; thence we went to Trin-
ity College, where Mr. Stockwell showed us the fine gardens
and Chapel of the College. We dined with Dr. Shippen,
V. C., and thence we waited on Mr. Trognair, Green, and
Atkinson of Queen's College, with whom and the rest of the
Fellows we supped in the Hall and saw the Chapel and
Library, and spent the rest of the evening.
22d. — This day we went first to Pembroke College to
wait on Dr. Painting and Mr. Lockton, who showed us the
gardens ; thence we went to Magdalen College, where we
dined with Mr. Warton (and the Fellows), who after a little
conversation went with us to the famous Bodleyan library,
which we viewed, and the Antiquity and Picture Galleries ;
thence to the glorious Theatre and Printing House ; thence
to Trinity College to wait on Dr. Dobson, Mr. Ball, and Mr.
Stockwell ; here we were at Evening Prayers ; thence we
went to Corpus Christi College to wait on Mr. Bar. Smith,
who showed us the gardens, library, manuscripts, and chapel
of that College ; after, removed lodgings to Mr. Barnes.
23c?. — This day (being Ascension day) we went to wait
on Mr. Conybeare of Exeter College, who went with us to
Christ Church, the Cathedral, where Mr. Wyat preached
before the University.
24th. — This day we were first at Queen's College with
Mr. Trognair; thence we went to Merton to wait on Mr.
Moseley ; thence to Trinity College to dine with Dr. Dob-
son, President, who brought us into the schools where Dr.
Potter, Bp. of Oxford, was Moderator to a Theological Dis-
pute on Baptism and Prayers for the Dead; thence we
went with Mr. Atkinson to the Printing House and the
Museum, where we saw all the curiosities of the air-pump
and other engines, the skeletons, mummies, medals, jewels,
antiquities, etc .....
25th. — This day in the morning we were at prayers at
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 47
Queen's College ; thence, accompanied by Mr. Smith of S*
John's, we went first to Oriel College, thence to Corpus
Ohristi, thence to Christ's Church, where we saw the ancient
monuments, painting on the glass, etc.
26th. — This day (being Sunday) we were at service at
Queen's College Chapel, and thence to S* Mary's Church,
where Mr. Owen preached on Christ's Ascension, — S*
Mar. ult., — " He was received up into heaven," etc. We
dined at Dr. Shippen's, V. Ch., with Dr. Delaune and Mr.
Leybourne, etc., where we received our Diplomas for the
Degrees. After that we walked in the fields, and were at
evening service at S* John's College, where cxxxix. Ps. was
sung. We spent the evening at Corpus Christ! College in
company with Mr. Smith, Aylmer, Burton, etc.
21 1 h. — This day we went with Mr. B. Smith to see the
Bodleyan Library, the medals and antiquities, the manu-
scripts and curiosities of that glorious structure ; thence we
went to the Vice-Chancellor's, whence we had the honor to
ride in his coach in company with Dr. Delaune, President of
Sfc John's College, and Dr. Dobson, President of Trinity, to
Cuddesdon, to wait on Dr. Jno. Potter, Bishop of Oxford,
who treated us with the utmost civility. With him we had
the honor to dine and spend the afternoon, and after our
return we spent the evening with Dr. Delaune.
28th. — This day we first waited on Dr. Francis Gastrel,
Bp. of Chester ; then we dined with Mr. Conybeare at Exeter
College ; thence we took horses and rode out to see the
famous seat of the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim, in
company with Mr. Burton and Mr. Greenaway — a most
magnificent structure, gardens, and bridge. We spent the
evening with Burton.
29th. — This day being Restauration, we were at church at
Sl Mary's, where Dr. Felton, Principal of Edmund Hall,
preached on Ps. 50, — Offer unto God thanksgiving, — an
excellent sermon ; then we had the honor to dine with Dr.
Gastrel, Bp. of Chester. Afternoon we were with our ac-
48 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
quaintance at Corpus Christi, where we supped with the
Fellows in the Hall ; with them we walked in the fields,
and spent the evening with Mr. Greenaway at Hart Hall,
having been before at Queen's.
3Qth. — This day we went first to wait on the learned Mr.
Sam1 Parker ; thence to Sfc M. Magdalene, where Mr. Dud-
ley Woodbridge showed us the Park, President's garden,
.... etc. ; thence we went to Edmund Hall and took our
leave of Dr. Felton ; thence to the public Schools and Con-
vocation House, where was a congregation, and the Vice-
Chan cellor gave degrees to some gentlemen ; we dined with
the Fellows of Queen's College and took our leave of them ;
then of Dr. Dobson and the Fellows of Trinity, then of the
Vice-Chancellor, and then of Dr. Delaune and Dr. Haywood
at Sfc John's. We spent our evening with sundry gentlemen
at Mr. Blath wait's, and thus we take our leave of Oxford.
31s£. — This day we took coach and came to London.
Their return to the metropolis, after an absence of
ten days, was followed by the renewal of civilities
to their friends, and preparations for a visit to Cam-
bridge.
June 3. — This day we were first at Westminster to wait
on Edmund, Bp. of London, who treated us very kindly;
thence at Whitehall, now Banqueting House ; thence I went
to Mr. Downing's, thence to N. E. Coffee House and wrote
home. We dined with Mrs. Cardel, were at Evening Prayers
at S* Foster's, and spent the evening at the Queen's Head
with Messrs. Wheatly, Ryan, Berriman, Jebb, and Wag-
staff a nonjuring clergyman.
6th. — This day (being Thursday in Whitsun week) we
first drank a dish -of tea with Mr. Berriman, with whom we
went to Gresham College, where the charity children meet,
whence, in company with a great number of the clergy, we
went in procession before the children to S* Sepulchre's,
where there was a sermon preached on the occasion by Dr.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 49
Waterland, from Prov. xxii. 7, — " Train up," etc. The chil-
dren, to the number of 4 or 5,000, sung gloriously — the
finest emblem of heaven in the world.
7th. — This day we took coach and came to Cambridge.
Here the same kind attentions were bestowed upon
them as in Oxford. They first paid their respects to
the heads of several of the colleges, and visited King
Henry's Chapel and the Library of Trinity. Johnson
continues his notes : —
9th. — This day (being Trinity Sunday) we were in the
morning to drink a dish of tea with Dr. Laney at Pembroke,
with whom we went to service at S* Mary's Church, where
Mr. Trotter preached from Luke xxi. 15, — " Give a mouth
and wisdom," etc. We dined with Dr. Ashton at Jesus Col-
lege, were afternoon at S* Mary's again, where Mr. Pearce
preached from S* John xiv. 16, — "I will pray," etc. W
were at evening service at Trinity College Chapel, where
was fine music ; we supped at Trinity Hall
1.0th. — This day we first drank a dish of tea with Dr.
R. Jenkins, Master of S* John's College ; after that we were
to see the Pictures, Library, and curiosities there ; thence we
waited on Dr. Middleton, Prof, bibliothecarum, who showed
us the Royal Library given by K. George ; thence we went
to dine with Dr. Dickens, in company with Dr. Warren, Mr.
Oldsworth, and Dr. Berriman ; thence we all went to Em-
anuel College, were there at evening service, and in the gal-
lery and library and gardens. We supped and spent the
evening with Mr. Marshall.
"Llth. — This day we went in the morning to wait on Mr.
Mickleborough of Bennet or Corpus Christi, whence we went
to church at S* Mary's, where Mr. Fosset preached a Latin
sermon on Church discipline from 1 Cor. v! 2. We went to
the congregation where the Vice-chancellor, Dr. Cross (in
the room of Dr. Snape, absent), with the rest of the Doctors
and Masters sat, and we with others received our Degrees,
pro forma. After that we dined with the Vice-chancellor
4
50 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
in company with Dr. Laney, the two Proctors, and Mr
Beadle ; thence we were at congregation again, where sun-
dry others were graduated. After that we went to Trin-
ity College, and were there at evening service and in the
Library, and waited on Mr. Pilgrim, Greek Professor ; we
spent the evening at Jesus College with Mr. Lucas and
Harding.
12th. — This day we went first to Bennet College Library,
where we saw Abp. Parker's donation to that College, his
plate, ancient manuscripts, and particularly the instrument
of his consecration and the handwriting of the first Reform-
ers, etc. We dined at S* John's with Dr. Jenkins, and then
went to Caius College to wait on Mr. Symson, and conversed
there with sundry gentlemen ; saw the Chapel and library ;
thence we went to the Coffee House, and conversed with Mr.
Baker and Dr. Middleton, etc. We spent the evening at
Mr. Symson's in company with Mr. Burroughs and Mr. San-
derson, the Blind Mathematical Professor — a prodigy.
. — This day we went in the morning to C. C. C. C.
to drink a dish of tea with Mr. Mickleborough, thence to
church to S* Mary's, where we had a sermon in Latin by
Dr. Hall on the text, — " The disciples were first called Chris-
tians," etc. We dined at Jesus with Mr. Harding ; thence
we went to Magdalen and Peterhouse, and to wait on Mr.
Marshall at Emanuel, and to take our leave of Dr. Laney, Dr.
Cross, Mr. Pilgrim, and Mr. Lawson, and spent the evening
with Dr. Dickens, Dr. Warren, Mr. Nichols, and Mr. Mar-
shall, and thus we take our leave of Cambridge.
~L5th. — This day we took coach and came up to London
in company with Dr. Bentley.
The journeys to Oxford and Cambridge were the
longest which they made out of London, after their
arrival in that city. It was no part of their plan to
travel into other counties of England, and they saw
nothing of Scotland or Ireland. Besides the four
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 51
days at Canterbury, the ten at Oxford, and the seven
at Cambridge, the whole time of their sojourn was
passed in London. The little book of private notes
is nearly ended, and the entries now begin to show
preparations for the homeward voyage.
June 16th. — This day (being Sunday) we were in the
morning at S4 Foster's, where the Bp. of Man preached on
Mar. xii. 32-3, — " The love of our neighbor." Afternoon I
was at S* Austin's.
11th. — This day we waited first on the Bp. of London,
then after dinner took a walk to Islington with Mr. Clendon,
Berriman, and Champion ; on our return we went to see the
great fire that happened that day, and spent the evening
with Mr. Wheatly.
18th. — This day we first waited on Dr. Snape, Vice-
chancellor of Cambridge; then on Dr. Knight. We spent
the afternoon with Mr. Phillips in seeing Sir John Parsons'
Brewhouse and the Tower, and in company with Capt.
Ruggles and Mr. Hooper at N. E. Coffee House. N. B. — I
lodge now at Mr. Manning's — apothecary.
19th. — This day we were first to drink a dish of tea with
Dr. Berriman and his brother, then about sundry private
affairs, and at John's Coffee House with sundry clergymen.
21st. — This day we were first to wait on Mr. Jennings,
then before the Society de Propaganda at S* Martin's
Library, then before the Bp. of London with Dr. Berriman.
We spent the evening with the good Dean of Ely and Dr.
Grey.
22cZ. — .... I moved lodgings to Mr. Budd's, the
Rising Sun, on Fleet Street. We spent our evening with
Dr. Bennet after Evening Prayers at S* Giles'.
23 d. — This day being Sunday I .was in the morning at
S* Paul's. Dr. Skirret preached from Matt. vii. 21, — " Not
every one," etc. There I received the communion. Dean
52 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Godolphin, Dean Younger, and Sub-dean Gosling adminis-
tered. Afternoon I heard Mr. Oliver from Rom. xii. 2, —
"Be not conformed," etc. It was at S* Austin's. After
that I was at Chapter Coffee House with Mr. Higgot and
Mr. Norton. Spent the evening with Mrs. Humphreys and
another pretty gentlewoman.
26th. — This day we went in the morning to wait on
Edmund Bp. of London, who gave us his License certificate
and benediction by imposition of hands. Then we waited
on Dr. Lovel. We dined with Dr. Grey, where were Dr.
Marshall and Mr. Hains. We spent the evening at Dr.
Bennet's ; were at service there.
..... •• ••«••
Wth. — This day being Sunday I preached at S* Nicholas,
Cole Abbey, in the morning, from Phil. i. 27, — " Only let
your conversation be," etc. We dined at Dr. Bennet's with
sundry gentlemen. Afternoon I preached the same sermon
at the Cathedral Church of Sfc Paul, for Dean Younger, with
whom I went home, and he was very kind. We spent the
evening with Dr. King, master of the Charter House, in
company with the Bishop of Man, etc.
July 4. — This morning we were first surprised with the
arrival of our friend Mr. Wetmore from New England. 1 We
went with him to Westminster ; thence at Morning Service at
Lincoln's Inn, and waited on Dr. Lupton ; thence at sundry
places, and at Evening Service at S* Foster's with Mr.
Berriman.
5th. — This day we went to Dr. Berriman's and Mr.
Oliver's, then to Westminster ; waited on Mr. Sherlock,
and dined with Dr. Lovel. Then came to Evening Service
at S* Foster's, and Dr. Cutler and I stood witnesses for Mr.
Wetmore at the font. We spent the evening at Mr. Trubj's
with Dr. Dawson, Mr. Oliver, Newhouse, etc.
1 Dr. Chandler, in his Life of Johnson, p. 37, states that Mr. Wetmore ac-
companied them in the tour " to Cambridge; bat this is a mistake,, as it was made
prior to his arrival in England.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 53
6th. — This day I was first to wait on Dr. King, Master
of the Charter House ; after that at S* John's, then at Mrs.
Cardel's, then we were at Mr. Hay's, and spent the evening
at Pratt's with Dr. and Mr. Berriman.
1th. — This day I preached and assisted in administering
the Sacrament for Mr. Wheatly at Sfc Swithin, and afternoon
for Dr. Berriman at All Hallows the Great. We spent the
evening with Mr. Newman.
l~Lth. — This day we were at Lambeth to take our leave
of the Abp. of Canterbury, who after sundry civilities gave
us his solemn Apostolical Benediction by imposition of hands.
We spent the evening at Mr. Manning's.
14:th. — This day I heard Mr. Barrel (formerly a Papist)
at S* Bottolph's, Aldergate, on " Charity." Afternoon I
heard Mr. Vernon at St. Paul's, — " God and Mammon."
We spent the evening with Mr. Newman at the Temple.
18th. — This day we were at the Abbey at Westminster
at the Bp. of Man's Tryal, and spent the afternoon with Mr.
Jones, Salmon, and Yale.
~L9th. — This day we were at service at Westminster
Abbey, then at the Treasury, took our leave of sundry
friends, and spent the evening with Mr. Oliver and Dr.
Warren.
This day I was at service at the Royal Chapel,
at S* James's, at Mr. Wetmore's ordination, and received
the Sacrament of the Bp. of London ; the rest of the day
spent in taking leave of our friends.
2Qth. — This day we took our leave of London and came
down to Graveseiid, Mr. Manning and Mr. Wetmore with us.
They sailed down the river Thames on the 28th,
and were ashore at Deal, and afterwards in " a bad
storm." Being windbound they had an opportunity
54 LIFE AXD CORRESPONDENCE
of landing at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, and went
to Newport and Carisbrook Castle — the latter places
associated with the memory of the unfortunate King
Charles I. "Farewell to England ! " said Johnson as
the vessel carried them out of sight of land. They
encountered storm after storm on the passage, in one
of which a man was washed overboard and lost. On
the 22d of September he wrote in his journal: —
"This day finished Father le Compte's ' History of
China/ and Dr. Goodman's ' Winter Evening Confes-
sions/ and (God be praised) this day, after 8 weeks
from London and above 6 from the Lizard, we made
Piscataqua, and landed there. And so ends my voy-
age for England. We go hence for Boston by land."
He was now to be separated from the companion-
ship of Dr. Cutler, though for many years afterwards
they had frequent interviews and a constant corre-
spondence. He passed a few days with Mr. Hony-
man in Rhode Island, and then proceeded to the
paternal roof in Guilford from which he had been so
long absent. His arrival at Stratford in the begin-
ning of November was joyfully welcomed by his little
flock; and Mr. Pigot, who had been waiting to be
relieved, hastened to his new charge in Providence.
Johnson felt the responsibility of his situation, and
was alive with the work of organizing and settling the
Church of England in Connecticut. At this time there
was no house of public worship for Episcopalians in
the Colony, but one had been commenced in Stratford,
and was opened for religious services on Christmas
Day, nearly fourteen months after his establishment
in that town. His predecessor had communicated to
the Society that he would "find it a most difficult
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 55
task to answer the expectations of the towns around
him, there being work enough for Sunday laborers in
the Lord's harvest;" and his own letters to the
Bishop of London and others, written after a cursory
survey of the field, are full of solicitude for the
" necessitous state " of the Church. Their replies are
equally earnest. One dated February 17, 1725, from
the Kev. J. Berriman, so frequently mentioned in his
private journal, contains the first intimation which
Johnson received of the scheme of Berkeley : —
DEAR SIR, — I received yours of October last, and cannot
let slip the present opportunity of writing, though I have
little time to write in, and less business to write about.
I am glad you continue to remember me among your
other friends in these parts, though you are so far removed
from us. You may assure yourself nothing will ever blot you
out of my remembrance, and as I shall always find a peculiar
pleasure in reading your letters, so I shall be diligent in
answering you, if it will give you any satisfaction.
It is with regret I hear of the difficulties Dr. Cutler labors
under, and the hard usage Mr. Checkleyhas met with. May
it please God to make it all turn to the benefit of yours and
of the whole Church in general, and I beseech Him to succeed
your labors, and to send more laborers into your harvest. A
very pious Dean in Ireland is quitting his preferment there
to go and settle in the Bermuda Islands, where he proposes
to erect a College — to bring up the natives of America to
do the office of Missionaries, etc. Several friends of his go
with him upon this expedition.
We hear of two Nonjuring Bishops (Dr. Welton for one)
who are gone into America ; and it is said the Bishop of
London will send one or more of a different stamp as an
antidote against them. God Almighty prevent the bad
effects of the one, and in his due time accomplish the other,
and furnish you with a plentiful supply for all your wants.
56 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
The good Bishop of Man continues to be persecuted by
those stiff-necked rulers that have given him so much dis-
turbance. The Deputy-governor lately put a man into a
captain's commission who was under the censure of the
Church on purpose to affront and provoke the Bishop, and
throw contempt upon his authority, pretending the Bishop
has nothing to do with military men. It is hoped and
expected the insults he daily meets with will occasion some
good law to be made to curb the exorbitant and almost
independent power of the King of Man.
Dr. Waddington is made Bp. of Chichester, Dr. Clavering
of Landaff, Dr. Bradshaw of Bristol, etc. My brother is
married, and I am moved to his lodgings in Bow Lane, and
Mr. Scullard boards with us. Mr. Chas. Wheatly has buried
his wife. Lord Chancellor is turned out of office and fallen
into great disgrace.
I am your very affectionate friend and serv't.
Johnson urged the importance of bishops in this
country, not only to ordain the men who were in-
clined to the Episcopal ministry, but to exercise
proper supervision in ecclesiastical matters. In a
letter written twelve months after his arrival at
Stratford, he said to Dr. Gibson, the Bishop of
London : — " It is a great satisfaction to us to under-
stand that one of your Lordship's powerful interest
and influence is engaged in so good a work as that of
sending bishops into America, and that there is noth-
ing you desire more or would be at greater pains to
compass. This gives us the greatest hopes that by
your Lordship's pious endeavors, under the bless-
ing of God and the benign influence of our most
gracious King, it may at length be accomplished.
And we humbly hope that the address and repre-
sentation of the state of religion here which we have
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 57
lately presumed to offer, may, in your Lordship's
hands, be of some service in this affair. I pray God
give it success."
The position of Johnson now made him influential
among the friends of the Church throughout New
England. He was the only Episcopal clergyman in
Connecticut, and had strong adversaries around him
in those from whose fellowship he had withdrawn.
They did much in conformity with the narrow spirit
of the age to thwart his plans, and drive him from
the Colony, by rendering his situation uncomfortable
and embarrassing. But he had prepared himself for
all such opposition, and nothing helped more to
wear off its edge and win for him the respect and
confidence of many who were at first suspicious of
the purity of his motives, than his constantly cheer-
ful and benevolent temper, and the frankness and
courtesy with which he defended his opinions.
For nearly two years he had lived among his poor
people and been content with such provision as their
humble circumstances allowed. But on the 26th of
September, 1725, he married Mrs. Charity Nicoll,
widow of Benjamin Nicoll, Esq., and daughter of
Colonel Richard Floyd l of Brookhaven, Long Island.
She had three children by her former husband — two
sons and a daughter — and no sooner had the step-
father established himself in his own house than he
1 Writing to his son in 1757, Johnson gave this account to him of his mother's
ancestors: — "Floyd is doubtless originally Lloyd, LI being pronounced in Wales,
whence they came, like Fl. All I can learn is that your grandfather was born at
New Castle on the Delaware, that his father and mother came from Wales, and that
when he came and settled at Long Island they came with him, and lived to be old.
His wife was Margaret Woodhull, whose father was an English gentleman of a con-
siderable family, cousin-german by his mother to Lord Care^v, father to the late
Bishop of Durham, whose niece was mother to the present Earl of Wallgrave or
Wald grave."
58 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
undertook to instruct the sons in a preliminary course
of education, and prepare them for Yale College,
where they both graduated in 1734. The father of
Johnson wrote him a congratulatory letter on his
happy marriage, and informed him at the same tune
that his mother 'was in a languishing condition,
with little prospect of recovery. Her death, which
occurred in the succeeding March, preceded a sick-
ness of his own that brought him nigh to the grave,
and of which he made this entry in his private
journal, under date of June 13, 1726 : " Blessed be
thy goodness, adored be thy kindness, patience, and
forbearance, 0 good and gracious God, who hast
preserved me from the danger I have been exposed
to in my late sickness at Boston, and granted me
so successful, so speedy a relief and recovery from
so dangerous a distemper. What shall I render to
the Lord for all his benefits? Let my soul praise
Thee while I live, and all that is within me bless
his holy name. Thou forgivest all my iniquities,
and healest all my diseases. Thou savest my life
from destruction, and crownest me with loving-kind-
ness and tender mercy. May I never forget thy ben-
efits ! but remember my recovery from this sickness
as a fresh motive to lay out the life and powers which
are yet lent and continued to me, with greater zeal
and engagedness for God's glory, the advancement
of his Church, and the good of the souls of men ; and
may it be as a warning to me to walk with more
watchfulness and circumspection all my days, that I
may be ready to depart whenever my last summons
shall arrive."
Before the year had rolled round, another severe
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 59
affliction befell him in the decease of his father, —
" a man remarkable for a friendly temper, and de-
lighting much in hospitality to strangers." Accord-
ing to the son's account, he was favorably impressed
with the Church of England, " entirely brought off
from most of the fanatical and predestination prin-
ciples, .... and would have communicated with
us, if he had lived." The bitter and uncharitable
spirit of the times had served to deter him from this,
and he was not so thoroughly persuaded as to " think
it necessary to leave the Dissenting Communion."
60 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER IV.
POLEMICS AND INFIDELITY; BIRTH OP A SON; PERSONAL AC-
QUAINTANCE WITH DEAN BERKELEY ; VISITS TO HIM AT NEW-
PORT, AND A CONVERT TO HIS VIEWS ; ALCIPHRON, OR THE
MINUTE PHILOSOPHER ; RETURN OF BERKELEY TO ENGLAND,
AND BENEFACTIONS TO YALE COLLEGE; RELIGIOUS CONTRO-
VERSY, AND PUBLICATION OF PAMPHLETS.
A. D. 1727-1736.
THE inquiring mind of Johnson led him to seek
the society of scholars, and his thirst for knowledge
was so great that he neglected no opportunity of
intellectual improvement. William Burnet was now
the Governor of New York, " a very bookish man,
and much of a scholar," as the subject of this memoir
described him, who had a large library, and whose
taste for learning might have come from his father,
for he was the eldest son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop
of Salisbury, and the celebrated historian of "His
Own Time."
Johnson, in his frequent visits to New York, culti-
vated the friendship of Governor Burnet, with whom
he became a great favorite. He was furnished with
some of the best books that his library contained,
and in this way was drawn into the thorny thicket
of the Bangorian controversy, which involved the
doctrine of the Trinity, and questions of ecclesiastical
authority, and the proper province of the civil mag-
istrate. The Governor was a zealous champion on
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 61
the side of Clark, Whiston, and Hoadly, and attempted
dexterously to bring over his young friend to his
own views.
Here is one of the letters which he wrote to
him : —
NEW YORK, August 14, 1727.
REVEREND SIR, — It is so rare a thing in this country to
find one that reads books with care and impartiality, that you
need no apology for borrowing, but you give me pleasure in
doing it. I hate to have them lie idle upon a shelf ; but
when I lend them to such readers, I reckon they bring me in
good interest.
There is no need in reading a controversy to be of one side
of the question — it is rather better to be of neither ; and, in
points which are not capable of demonstration, perhaps those
who never entirely determine, but still are in some suspense,
act most rationally. Candor and temper are sufficient bonds
of unity, without sameness of opinion.
The thing that always hung most in my mind out of Dr.
Clark's book was, that there were but three possible opinions
upon the subject, and that whoever has any opinion fixed,
has one of the three, and that all other opinions are mere
self-delusion and mere nothing, however plausibly disguised.
As to the style and decency of writing which you commend
in the Doctor, it is certainly very taking ; and it is commonly
the lot of the most unpopular to write so, whereas those who
are backed by numbers are apt to swagger. I remember my
father was called a Socinian, because in one of his books he
commends the serious, modest way of controversy. But this
is no proof of people's being right ; and accordingly, I re-
member an able member of the House of Commons, speaking
of a very rising young member, said, what a pity he had
not been of the side of the minority, for then he would have
had a complete finishing, but as he was on the winning side,
it was a great chance but he would be spoiled. So much a
better school is adversity than prosperity in every stage and
62 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
profession of life. As to the three opinions, I take the
fashionable one -to be Sabellianism, as I have often found by
conversation, of which Socinianism ought to be a conse-
quence, though seldom drawn, and therefore not fairly charge-
able ; the most uncommon one Tritheism, which people are
oftener driven to by dispute than that they choose it ; and
the most obvious one that of the inequality, which would be
more universal if it did not seem to lead to Polytheism,
though not so much as Tritheism does. I send the books,
and am, sir,
Your most humble servant,
W. BUENET.
To this Johnson replied : —
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY, — Dr. Clark's writ-
ings are so very agreeable and instructive that I cannot
presently be disengaged from them, when I have once got
them under my eye ; however, I now at last return those of
them which I had last, with my humble thanks for them and
those kind lines which accompanied them from your Excel-
lency, full of very wise and true observations.
But as to the last of them, relating to the three opinions :
if Sabellianism do indeed necessarily include and infer Socin-
ianism ; and if, at the same time, the common orthodoxy
were not really different from Sabellianism, provided there
were but three possible opinions on this subject, I should
readily enough subscribe to that of the inequality ; for I can-
not conceive how a great many texts of Scripture can be
fairly accounted for upon the Socinian hypothesis ; and as
for Tritheism, that is demonstrably and utterly inconsistent
with reason as well as Scripture. But that of the inequal-
ity, though reasonable and intelligible enough, and very well
accounting for most texts of Scripture relating to this subject,
yet there are some texts which I wish I could, but cannot
find reconcilable to it, without too great a violence done to
them, and too great a deviation from the most obvious sense
and meaning of them. It seems to me, therefore, there must
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 63
be a fourth hypothesis possible, though it may not be com-
prehensible or explicable ; and yet, so far as it is discovered
to us, it is intelligible, and because it is divinely revealed,
must be credible. But I shall gladly embrace any further
light on this subject.
If your Excellency removes to Boston, as the people there
will no doubt think themselves very happy, so I shall be
very glad in particular that you remove no further from us,
and that it will yet remain practicable for me to enjoy the
advantages of that condescending goodness you have hitherto
expressed towards me. And therefore, if I may yet presume,
I shall be very much obliged to your Excellency if you will
please to lend me any other good book, and particularly an
Italian Grammar, after the manner of Boyer for the French,
for I have a curiosity to look into the nature of that language.
I am,
May it please your Excellency,
Your most humble, etc.,
S. J.
Thus he found him indisposed to adopt conclusions
until he had examined and approved the basis on
which they rested. The cause of truth demanded an
impartial study of the matters in dispute, and there-
fore Johnson turned to the writings of those who had
arrayed themselves in opposition to the principles of
these men, — to such authors as Bull, Pearson and
Waterland, Sherlock, Snape and Law, — and very soon
he was more convinced than ever that the modus of
the Trinity was not to be accounted for on any phil-
osophical hypothesis ; that it is beyond the reach of
our faculties, and to be received as taught in the
Scriptures, and believed in the Church for ages imme-
diately succeeding the Apostolic. Thus he rejected
human speculation in Divine things, and settled down
in the conviction, as he himself states in his autobi-
64 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
ography, — " That we must be content chiefly, if not
only, both in nature and revelation, with the knowl-
edge of facts and their design and connections, without
speculating much further ; that one great end of all
God's discoveries, both in nature and grace, is to
mortify our pride and self-sufficiency, to make us
deeply sensible of our entire dependence, and chiefly
to engage us to live by faith and not by sight."
A club of free-thinkers in England about this tune
startled the nation with their bold attacks on Chris-
tianity. Included in the members of this club were
Anthony Collins, Thomas Woolston, and Matthew
Tindall, all of whom, as if by concert, openly engaged
in an effort to bring discredit upon the religion of the
Bible, and weaken the faith of the disciples of Christ.
They issued their publications in succession, and at-
tacked Christianity from different points, claiming,
among other things, that the miracles of Christ were
susceptible of a mystical interpretation, and at the
same time asserting that they were never actually
wrought.
These infidel writers were attended and followed
by others in the same abandoned cause, so that, as
Johnson says, " it seemed as if hell itself was broke
loose at once to undermine and demolish Christianity."
He read very carefully the books that were prepared
in defense of the truth and in confutation of the
principles of the free-thinkers, and thus became a
scholar armed and ready to do battle in his Master's
service. " I remember," says Chandler in his Life,1
" to have heard him in conversation give an account
of the various attacks upon revelation, and of the
l P. 143.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 65
defenses which they occasioned, similar to that given
by Leland in his ' View of the Deistical Writers,' J:
and this too before that valuable work was published.
The loss of his parents, referred to in the previous
chapter, was supplied to him in a measure by the
birth of a child. On the 14th day of October, 1727,
he made an entry in his private journal in these
words, — "This day I am 31 years old, and this
sevennight (October 7) it hath pleased God of his
goodness to give me the great blessing of a very
likely son, for which, and in my wife's comfortable
deliverance, I adore his goodness.
" Thus I am no sooner deprived of a father but I
am provided for with a son to supply the demands of
our mortal condition in this world. My only hope in
Thee, 0 God, who hast been my father's God, and
who art my God, is, that Thou wilt be his God and
portion in the land of the living, and forever. I have
dedicated him to Thee ; sanctify him by thy grace,
that he may be serviceable unto Thee in the world,
and be fitted for and made partaker of thy glory."
The pleasant letters which follow touch upon his
domestic relations, and revive the recollection of
friendships formed while he was sojourning in Lon-
don:—
Bow LANE, Sept. 25, 1727.
REV. SIR, — I have a long time wished and hoped for a
letter from you, but not being so happy as to receive one, I
am resolved to force myself into your acquaintance, hoping
the distance cannot hinder our good wishes to each other.
I heard from Dr. Cutler success attends your labors in the
ministry. I pray God continue health to you, and pros-
perity to your endeavors. I cannot but wish you all
happiness in the change of your condition, and doubt not a
5
66 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
man of your zeal and goodness will meet with all the bless-
ings a married estate can allow. I should be pleased to
divert you with a little news, but we have none fresher than
the death of the good Bp. of Bath and Wells, and hope to
have some good man his successor. Our new King seems
everybody's favorite, and his Government so equitable that
we flatter ourselves all things will be managed to universal
satisfaction.
I am, dear sir, your affectionate brother,
And very humble servant,
J. . SCULLARD.
Dr. Waterland is made a Prebend of Windsor.
Immediately on its reception Johnson replied to
this letter as follows : —
REV. SIR, — I have received yours of the 25th of Septem-
ber, and am very much obliged to you for retaining me still
in your remembrance, and for this kind testimony of it, for
indeed I was almost afraid you had quite forgot me. But I
am surprised if you never received any letter from me, 'for
I have written to you once and again, and I was afraid I
should never have the happiness of receiving one from you.
But the distance makes correspondence uncertain ; however,
I shall be glad, and not only esteem it an happiness but an
honor, to receive now and then a letter from you, and you
may depend upon it that I shall not be wanting on my part.
I thank you for your kind congratulations upon my new
condition, not so new now indeed, but that I have a son, I
thank God, as well as a wife. I hope I shall have occasion
before long to congratulate you upon the like occasion, and
that you will be as happy in such a state as you can wish me,
and as happy, I thank heaven, I am as this fading world
and this poor country will admit of.
I am glad to hear you are all so well pleased with our new
King, and that we have so good a prospect of the welfare of
the Church under his auspicious reign. I pray God we may
feel the benign influences of it in these distant regions. I am
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 67
glad so good a man as Dr. Waterland is taken notice of, and
sorry for the good Bp. of Bath and Wells' death. I shall be
glad to be informed who succeeds, and what other altera-
tions and preferments occur. In hopes of which, my Lumble
and affectionate regards to Mr. Berriman, Wheatly, and all
friends.
I remain your most humble brother,
S. JOHNSON.
I have not heard who is the Rector since good Mr. Laz-
inby's death.
One of the most interesting portions of Johnson's
life was from the beginning of 1729 to the autumn of
1731, — the period covered by the residence of Dean
Berkeley at Newport in Rhode Island. Before that
dignitary came to America, he had read his "Prin-
ciples of Human Knowledge/' and had not only
formed a high estimate of the ability and character
of the author, but had become in a measure a convert
to his metaphysical opinions. Desirous of conversing
with so extraordinary a genius and so distinguished
a scholar, he made a visit to Newport soon after
his arrival, and through his friend, the Rev. Mr.
Honyman, Missionary of the Church of England in
that place, he was introduced to the Dean, and
admitted to a free and full discussion of his philo-
sophical works, and of the benevolent scheme which
brought him to this country. It was gratifying to
Johnson that in this first interview he was received
with such marked kindness and confidence, besides
being presented with those of the Dean's publications
which had not fallen under his eye. The personal
acquaintance thus begun laid the foundation of a life-
long friendship and correspondence between two great
thinkers.
68 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
There are glimpses of Berkeley among the wits of
the Court of Queen Anne, and he was intimate with
Steele and Addison, and a companion of Swift and
Pope. He had been Senior Fellow of Trinity College,
Dublin, in official employment as Lecturer in Divinity,
and preacher for the University, but resigned his
Fellowship in 1724 on being preferred to the Deanery
of Derry, — an important living in the Irish Church,
with an annual income of about eleven hundred
pounds. A romance connected with Dean Swift
caused him to be remembered in the will of a lady
of Dutch descent (Miss Vanhomrigh),1 but as he was
an " absolute philosopher in regard to money, titles,
and power," the fortune which came to him so unex-
pectedly appears to have only ripened his conception
of the plan of erecting a college at Bermuda for
better supplying the plantations with clergymen, and
converting the savage Americans to Christianity.
It was about this time that he published a tract in
defense of the enterprise. It%had taken such shape
in his mind, that he pleaded for it with wonderful
power, and was resolved to dedicate his life and
fortune and energies to its prosecution. An extract
from the humorous letter of Dean Swift to Carteret,
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, dated September 3, 1724,
may furnish the best account of his enthusiasm : —
For three years past he has been struck with a notion of
founding a University at Bermudas by a charter from the
Crown. He has seduced several of the hopefullest young
clergymen and others here, many of them well provided for,
and all in the fairest way of preferment ; but in England his
conquests are greater, and I doubt will spread very far this
1 See Eraser's Life and Letters of Berkeley, Oxford, 1871, ch. iv.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 69
winter. He showed me a little Tract which he designs to
publish, and there your Excellency will see his whole scheme
of a life academico-philosophical (I shall make you remember
what you were) of a college founded for Indian .scholars and
missionaries, where he most exorbitantly proposes a whole
hundred pounds a year for himself, forty pounds for a Fel-
low, and ten for a Student. His heart will break if his
Deanery be not taken from him and left to your Excellency's
disposal. I discouraged him by the coldness of courts and
ministers who will interpret all this as impossible and a vision ;
but nothing will do. And, therefore, I humbly entreat your
Excellency either to use such persuasions as will keep one of
the first men in the kingdom for learning and virtue quiet
at home, or assist him by your credit to compass his romantic
design.1
No discouragements checked the efforts of Berke-
ley. By his persuasive eloquence he converted
ridiculers into friends and supporters, and obtained
towards the furtherance of his object private sub-
scriptions of more than five thousand pounds. He
approached the throne for a charter, which was
finally granted, and then his influence at Court
secured the promise of .an endowment of £20,000 —
a fraction of the value of certain lands which the
French, by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, had ceded
to the British Crown, and the proceeds of which, to
the amount of £80,000, the good Queen Anne had
designed as a fund for the support of four bishops in
America. Her death, the next year, prevented the
execution of her charitable design, and Berkeley felt
that he had a moral claim upon it for his own kindred
scheme.
Preparations for his voyage across the Atlantic
* Works, vol. xvi. p. 469.
70 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
were at last completed, and a business letter to his
friend, Thomas Prior, dated Gravesend, September 5,
1728, opens with a paragraph which has fixed his-
torically several matters, — " To-morrow, with God's
blessing, I set sail for Rhode Island with my wife and
a friend of hers, my Lady Handcock's daughter, who
bears us company. I am married since I saw you
to Miss Forster, daughter of the late Chief Justice,1
whose humor and turn of mind pleases me beyond
anything that I know in her whole sex. Mr. James,
Mr. Dalton, and Mr. Smibert go with us on this
voyage. We are now altogether at Gravesend, and
are engaged in one view."
Berkeley was in middle life when he landed at
Newport on the 23d of January, nearly five months
after sailing from Gravesend, and " was ushered into
the town with a great number of gentlemen, to whom
he behaved himself after a very complaisant manner."
Here he rested to think over, under new circum-
stances, the romantic enterprise which had absorbed
his energies for seven long years, and purchasing a
tract of land in a sequestered spot, he built a com-
modious house, which, in loyal remembrance of the
English palace, he named Whitehall, and waited the
tardy movements of Sir Robert Walpole, the prime
minister, to send him the funds which had been
promised by the Government.
It was in this retreat that he continued his philo-
sophical investigations, and received the successive
visits of Johnson. The date of the first personal in-
terview between them has not been discovered, but
1 John Forster, also Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the Irish House of Com-
The marriage took place August 1, 1728.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. VI
as early as June 25, 1729, Berkeley wrote to him at
much length, in answer to objections or inquiries
which he had been moved to make in reference to
his Philosophy. Judging from its tenor it is thought
to have been his first letter to Johnson. He began
thus : —
REV. SIR, — The ingenious letter you favored me with
found me very much indisposed with a gathering or impost-
hum ation in my head which confined me several weeks, and
is now, I thank God, relieved. The objections of a candid
thinking man to what I have written will always be welcome,
and I shall not fail to give all the satisfaction I am able, not
without hopes either of convincing or being convinced. It is
a common fault for men to hate opposition, and be too much
wedded to their own opinions. I am so sensible of this in
others that I could not pardon it to myself, if I considered
mine any further than they seem to me to be true, which I
shall the better be able to judge of when they have passed
the scrutiny of persons so well qualified to examine them as
you and your friends appear to be, to whom my illness must
be an apology for not sending this answer sooner.
He proceeded briefly to explain or defend under
eleven heads the philosophic ideas which he had
published, and then closed his letter with words
which show his high respect for the intellectual force
and clearness of Johnson : —
And now, Sir, I submit these hints (which I have hastily
thrown together as soon as my illness gave me leave) to your
own maturer thoughts, which after all you will find the best
instructors. What you have seen of mine was published
when I was very young, and without doubt hath many
defects. For though the notions should be true (as I verily
think they are), yet it is difficult to express them clearly
and consistently, language being framed to common use and
72 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
received prejudices. I do not therefore pretend that my
books can teach truth. All I hope for is that they may be
an occasion to inquisitive men of discovering truth by consult-
ing their own minds and looking into their own thoughts.
As to the Second part of my treatise concerning the principles
of Human Knowledge, the fact is that I had made a con-
siderable progress in it, but the manuscript was lost about
fourteen years ago during my travels in Italy ; and I never
had leisure since to do so disagreeable a thing as writing
twice on the same subject.
Objections passing through your hands have their fall
force and clearness. I like them the better. This inter-
course with a man of parts -and a philosophic genius is very
agreeable. I sincerely wish we were nearer neighbors.1 In
the mean time whenever either you or your friends favor me
with your thoughts, you may be sure of a punctual corre-
spondence on my part. Before I have done I will venture to
recommend three points : 1. To consider well the answers I
have already given in my books to several objections. 2. To
consider whether any new objection that shall occur doth not
suppose the doctrine of abstract general ideas. 3. Whether
the difficulties proposed in objection to my scheme can be
solved by the contrary, for if they cannot, it is plain they
can be no objection to mine.
I know not whether you have got my treatise concerning
the principles of Human Knowledge. I intend to send it
with my tract De Motu. If you know of a safe hand favor
me with a line, and I will make use of that opportunity to
send them. My humble service to your friends, to whom I
•understand myself indebted for some part of your letter.
I am, your very faithful, humble serv't,
GEOE. BERKELEY.
The correspondence thus begun was continued, and
the following letter, written after Berkeley was well
settled in his own house, indicates that the two had
1 The distance from Stratford to Newport is about 120 miles.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 73
been brought face to face in the discussion of great
metaphysical questions, and that further conversation
was needed to " set several things in a fuller and
clearer light : " —
REV. SIR, — Yours of Feb. 5th came not to my hands
before yesterday ; and this afternoon being informed that a
sloop is ready to sail towards your town, I would not let
slip the opportunity of returning you an answer, though
wrote in a hurry.
1. I have no objection against calling the ideas in the mind
of God, archetypes of ours. But I object against those arche-
types by philosophers supposed to be real things, and to
have an absolute rational existence distinct from their being
perceived by any mind whatsoever, it being the opinion of
all materialists that an ideal existence in the divine mind is
one thing, and the real existence of material things another.
2. As to space, I have no notion of any but that which
is relative. I know some late philosophers have attributed
extension to God, particularly mathematicians ; one of whom,
in a treatise de Spatio reali, pretends to find out fifteen of
the incommunicable attributes of God in space. But it
seems to me that, they being all negative, he might as well
have found them in nothing ; and that it would have been
as justly inferred from space being impassive, increated, in-
divisible, etc., that it was nothing, as that it was God.
Sir Isaac Newton supposeth an absolute space different
from relative, and consequent thereto, absolute motion dif-
ferent from relative motion; and with all other mathema-
ticians, he supposeth the infinite divisibility of the finite
parts of this absolute space; he also supposeth material
bodies to drift therein. Now, though I do acknowledge Sir
Isaac to have been an extraordinary man, and most profound
mathematician, yet I cannot agree with him in these particu-
lars. I make no scruple to use the word space, as well as all
>Dther words in common use, but I do not mean thereby a
distinct absolute being. For my meaning I refer you to what
I have published.
74 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
By the TO vvv I suppose to be implied that all things past and
to come are actually present to the mind of God, and that
there is in Him no change, variation, or succession. A suc-
cession of ideas I take to constitute time, and not to be only
the sensible measure thereof, as Mr. Locke and others think.
But in these matters every man is to think for himself, and
speak as he finds. One of my earliest inquiries was about
time, which led me into several paradoxes that I did not
think fit or necessary to publish, particularly into the notion
that the resurrection follows next moment to death. We
are confounded and perplexed about time. (1.) Supposing
a succession in God. (2.) Conceiving that we have an
abstract idea of time. (3.) Supposing that the time in one
mind is to be measured by the succession of ideas in another.
(4.) Not considering the true use and end of words, which
as often terminate in the will as the understanding, being
employed rather to excite, influence, and direct action than
to produce clear and distinct ideas.
3. That the soul of man is passive as well as active I
make no doubt. Abstract general ideas was a notion that
Mr. Locke held in common with the Schoolmen, and I think
all other philosophers ; it runs through his whole book of
Human Understanding. He holds an abstract idea of exist-
ence exclusive of perceiving and being perceived. I cannot
find I have any such idea, and this is my reason against it.
Descartes proceeds upon other principles. One square foot
of snow is as white as one thousand yards ; one single per-
ception is as truly a perception as one hundred. Now any
degree of perception being sufficient to existence, it will not
follow that we should say one existed more at one time than
another, any more than we should say one thousand yards of
snow are whiter than one yard. But after all, this comes to
a verbal dispute. I think it might prevent a good deal of
obscurity and dispute to examine well what I have said about
abstraction, and about the true use of sense and significancy
of words, in several parts of these things that I have pub-
lished, though much remains to be said on that subject.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 75
You say you agree with me that there is nothing within
your mind but God and other spirits, with the attributes
or properties belonging to them, and the ideas contained
in them. This is a principle or main point from which, and
from what I had laid down about abstract ideas, much may
be deduced. But if in every inference we should not agree,
so long as the main points are settled and well understood,
I should be less solicitous about particular conjectures. I
could wish that all the things I have published on these
philosophical subjects were read in the order wherein I pub-
lished them, once to take the design and connection of them,
and a second time with a critical eye, adding your own
thought and observation upon every part as you went along.
I send you herewith ten bound books and one unbound.
You will take yourself what you have not already. You
will give the principles, the theory, the dialogue, one of each,
with my service to the gentleman who is Fellow of New
Haven College, whose compliments you brought to me.
What remains you will give as you please.
If at any time your affairs should draw you into these
parts, you shall be very welcome to pass as many days as
you can spend at my house. Four or five days' conversation
would set several things in a fuller and clearer light than
writing could do in as many months. In the mean time I
shall be glad to hear from you or your friends whenever you
please to favor, Rev. Sir,
Your very humble serv't,
GEOR. BERKELEY.
Pray let me know whether they would admit the writings
of Hooker and Chillingworth into the library of the College
in New Haven.
RHODE ISLAND, March 24, 1729-30.
Johnson was at Newport and preached November 1,
1730, and he may have taken an earlier opportunity
for the "four or five days' conversation." Whenever
76 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
the interview was held, other subjects besides phil-
osophy must have entered into their discussions. For
Berkeley had already begun to realize the painful un-
certainty which hung over his prospects, and to feel
that the crisis of the Bermuda College was approach-
ing. The money promised by the Government had
not been sent, and he wrote a letter to Prior on the
7th of May, 1730, manifesting much solicitude about
the Ministerial delays, and intimating that he had no
intention of continuing in these parts, if the grant
of £20,000 was in the end to be positively refused.
At one time he entertained the thought of applying
for permission to change the original plan and trans-
fer the College to Khode Island, where he had ex-
pended largely for lands and buildings, and where the
chief objections raised against placing it in Bermuda
would be obviated. But he quickly relinquished this
idea, and at length his hopes were entirely crushed
when the conclusive answer came from Walpole,
" advising him by all means to return home to Eu-
rope, and give up his present expectations." He
bore his great disappointment like a philosopher, and
a good picture of his feelings is given in the work l
which he wrote " in this distant retreat, far beyond
the verge of that great whirlpool of business, faction,
and pleasure, which is called the world : " —
I flattered myself, Theages, that before this time I might
have been able to have sent you an agreeable account of the
success of the affair which brought me into this remote corner
of the country. But instead of this, I should now give you
the detail of its miscarriage, if I did not rather choose to
entertain you with some amusing incidents which have
1 Alciphron ; or, the Minute Philosopher, in Seven Dialogues. Two vols. Printed
in London, 1732. A second edition appeared in the same year.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 77
helped to make me easy under a circumstance I could neither
obviate nor foresee. Events are not in our power ; but it
always is, to make a good use even of the very worst. And
I must needs own, the course and event of this affair gave
opportunity for reflections that make me some amends for
a great loss of time, pains, and expense. A life of action,
which takes its issue from the counsels, passions, and views
of other men, if it doth not draw a man to imitate, will at
least teach him to observe. And a mind at liberty to reflect
on its own observations, if it produce nothing useful to the
world, seldom fails of entertainment to itself.1
It is due to Johnson that the self-sacrificing and
missionary enterprise of Berkeley was not wholly a
failure, or rather that his name was held in grateful
remembrance in America after his return to England.
When it had been decided to break up and leave
Whitehall and the country, he paid him a final visit
and received from him many valuable books, and to
use his own words, they " parted very affectionately."
Nor was this all. Both were deeply interested in the
cause of learning, and Johnson took the liberty of
commending to his friendly notice the institution
where he had himself been educated, notwithstand-
ing the continued hostility of the authorities to the
Church of England. He was in Rhode Island, July,
1731, and on the 4th day of that month, according
to his own note, preached " before the Dean," a ser-
mon from the text, — " For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature." This was undoubtedly his final
visit when they " agreed " together about the books,
and discussed the matters of the College ; but letters
passed between them afterwards, and Berkeley, on the
i P. 2, vol. i. 2d ed.
78 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
eve of his departure, wrote his great American friend
as follows : —
REV. SIR, — I am now upon the point of setting out for
Boston in order to embark for England. But the hurry I
am in could not excuse my neglecting to acknowledge the
favor of your letter. In answer to the obliging things in
it, I can only say I wish I might deserve them.
My endeavors shall not be wanting, some way or other, to
be useful ; and I should be very glad to be so in particular
to the College at New Haven, and the more as you were
once a member of it, and have still an influence there. Pray
return my service to those gentlemen who sent .their com-
pliments by you.
I have left a box of books with Mr. Kay, to be given away
by you, — the small English books where they may be most
serviceable among the people, the others as we agreed to-
gether. The Greek and Latin books I would have given to
such lads as you think will make the best use of them in the
College, or to the school at New Haven.
I pray God to bless you and your endeavors to promote
religion and learning in this uncultivated part of the world,
and desire you to accept mine and my wife's best wishes and
services, being very truly, Rev. Sir,
Your most humble servant,
GEOR. BERKELEY.
RHODE ISLAND, Sept. 7, 1731.
Berkeley's gifts to Yale College were through the
agency of Johnson. To him was transmitted from Eng-
land the instrument by which he conveyed to the cor-
poration his farm at Whitehall of ninety-six acres, —
the annual proceeds to be used for the purpose of
encouraging Greek and Latin scholarship : and he
so interested some of his Bermuda subscribers in the
American College, that with their assistance he was
enabled to send over in 1733 a donation to the library
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 79
of nearly one thousand volumes, valued at about
£500 : " The finest collection of books" according to
President Clap, " which had then ever been brought
to America."
The letter to Johnson which accompanied " the in-
strument of conveyance," has not been published, or
even referred to in any sketch of his life and bene-
factions; and that to Eector Williams is not to be
found among the archives of Yale College. A little
doubt has been raised about Johnson's sole agency in
the matter, and the motive which actuated him and
the Dean ; 1 but this letter removes it, and at the same
time shows the singleness of the donor's intentions
and the forecast of his mind as to a course after
graduation. He appears to have been the first to
suggest its advantages : —
LONDON, July 25, 1732.
REV. SIR, — Some part of the benefactions to the College
of Bermuda, which I could not return, the benefactors being
deceased, joined with the assistance of some living friends,
1 President Stiles, in his Diary, says Johnson " persuaded the Dean 'to believe that
Yale College would soon become Episcopal, and that they had received his immaterial
philosophy. This or some other motive influenced the Dean to make a donation of
his Rhode Island farm, ninety-six acres, with a library of about a thousand vol-
umes, to Yale College, in 1733. This donation was certainly procured verv much
through the instrumentality of Rev. Dr. Jared Eliot and Rev. Dr. Johnson."
The latter writing to Abp. Seeker, March, 1759, and referring to efforts of the Con-
gregational ministers to depreciate the work of the missionaries, said : "I main-
tained all along a very friendly correspondence with the chief men among them,
and endeavored to do them all the good offices I could, and in particular I procured a
noble donation from Bishop Berkeley for their College in land and books to the value
of nigh £2,000 sterling. But behold the gratitude of these men. At the same time
that I was doing them these good offices, they were contriving and did send to the
Bishop of London a long letter, full of gross falsehoods and misrepresentations, of
complaint against us with a view to get all the church people deprived of their min-
isters, and then of their subsistence, which he laid before the Society, and which I be-
lieve your Grace may find among papers of the year 1735. In reply to which the
Society gave them leave to produce evidence to make good their complaints against
as, which they endeavored to do, but could make nothing of it."
80 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
has enabled me without any great loss to myself, to dispose
of my farm in Rhode Island in favor of the College in Con-
necticut. It is my opinion that as human learning and the
improvements of Reason are of no small use in Religion, so
it would very much forward those ends, if some of your stu-
dents were enabled to subsist longer at their studies, and if
by a public tryal and premium an Emulation were inspired
into all. This method of encouragement hath been found
useful in other learned societies, and I think it cannot fail
of being so in one where a person so well qualified as yourself
has such influence, and will bear a share in the elections.
I have been a long time indisposed with a great disorder in
my head ; this makes any application hurtful to me, which
must excuse my not writing a longer letter on this occasion.
The letter you sent by Mr. Beach1 I received and did
him all the service I could with the Bishop of London and
the Society. He promised to call on me before his return,
but have not heard of him, so am obliged to recommend
this pacquet to Mr. Newman's care. It contains the in-
strument of conveyance 2 in form of law, together with a let-
1 Rev. John Beach of Newtown.
a The farm contained ninety-six acres more or less, and was worth at the time,
one hundred pounds sterling. It was leased March 25th, 1763, to John Whiting for
nine hundred and ninety-nine years. The President and Fellows of Yale College
recited in the agreement, that they had " found upon the experience of thirty years
past that by leasing said farm on short leases, the housing and fences have greatly
gone to decay, the wood destroyed, and the farm not improved to so good an advan-
tage as land cultivated by freeholders, which is likely to be the case for some cen-
turies while land is so plenty in this country ; upon mature consideration whereof
and the advice of Rev. George Berkeley, the son of the generous donor, and sundry
other gentlemen learned in the law, and skilled in the best economy," the annual
rent, from March 25th, 1763, to March 25th, 1769, was fixed at 72 ounces of silver
money, besides requiring about 300 rods of stone wall to be made upon the prem-
ises ; from 1769 to 1810, 144 ounces of silver money ; and from 1810, to the termi-
nation of the lease 240 bushels of good merchantable wheat or its value. '
Whiting assigned his lease to other parties, and subsequently a new one was given
for the remainder of the period, fixing the annual rent from 1769 to 1789 at 100
ounces of silver money ; from 1789 to 1810 at 126 ounces of silver money ; and after
1810 at 210 bushels of wheat.
A party wishing to buy the lease, wrote March 2d, 1799, that the rent was too
great after 1810 ; and the corporation therefore voted the next year that the tenant
should pay $130 annually for ten years, and after that $140.
The latest lease was executed May 18th, 1801, by Timothy Dwight, President of
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 81
ter for Mr. President Williams, which you will deliver to
him. I shall make it my endeavor to procure a benefaction
of books for the College library, and am not without hopes
of success. There hath of late been published here a treatise
against those who are called Free Thinkers, which I intended
to have sent to you and some other friends in those parts, but
on second thoughts suspect it might do mischief to have it
known in that part of the world what pernicious opinions
are boldly espoused here at home. My little family, I thank
God, are well. My best wishes attend you and yours.
My wife joins her services with mine. I shall be glad to
hear from you by the first opportunity after this hath come
to your hands. Direct your letter to Lord Percival, at his
house in Pall-Mail, London, and it will be sure to find me
wherever I am. On all occasions I shall be glad to show
that I am very truly, Rev. Sir,
Your faithful humble serv*.,
GEOR. BERKELEY.
Johnson, in his autobiography, mentions that " the
Trustees, though they made an appearance of much
thankfulness, were almost afraid to accept the noble
donation," — suspecting a proselytizing design, and
remembering the effect in previous years of Anglican
divinity upon the minds of some of their leading
scholars. But wiser counsels prevailed, the books
and lands were received, and Berkeley maintained a
friendly correspondence with the authorities of the
College to the end of his life.
His well-known philosophical work, published the
year after his return to England, attracted the atten-
tion of learned men, and while many rejected his
Yale College, in favor of Paul Wightman, his heirs and assigns forever, fixing the rent
at $140 per annum from March 25th, 1810, to March 25th, 2761. See Records of T. C.
The Farm is now estimated to be worth $100,000, and if it had been kept in
possession of the College, Berkeley's gift would have been a vastly greater stimulus
to classical scholarship.
6
82 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
speculative spirit, none denied the greatness of his
intellect and the purity of his Christian character.
It was some compensation for the disappointment of
his cherished hopes that so far from being overlooked
at Court, he was promoted to the See of Cloyne, —
a secluded bishopric in the southern part of his na-
tive Ireland, to which he was consecrated on Sunday,
the 19th of May, 1734. In this retired spot, where
he was almost as much out of the world as he had
been at Newport, he found leisure to pursue his fa-
vorite studies, and to keep up by letter a tolerably
frequent intercourse with his congenial friend on this
side of the Atlantic.
Johnson became a thorough convert to his system,
and owned his obligations to Berkeley in removing
many difficulties that had hitherto attended his phil-
osophical and theological inquiries. As he himself
says in his autobiography, " he found the Dean's way
of thinking and explaining things, utterly precluded
skepticism, and left no room for endless doubts and un-
certainties. His denying matter at first seemed shock-
ing ; but it was only for the want of giving a thorough
attention to his meaning. It was only the unintelli-
gible scholastic notion of matter he disputed, and not
anything either sensible, imaginable, or intelligible ;
and it was attended with this vast advantage, that it
not only gave new incontestible proofs of a Deity, but
moreover, the most striking apprehensions of his
constant presence with us and inspection over us.
and of our entire dependence on Him and infinite
obligations to his most wise and almighty benevo-
lence."
The history of philosophic thought was blended to
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 83
some extent with the infidelity of the times, but
Berkeley went a great deal deeper and wider than
those who treated his theories roughly and pro-
nounced them fallacious and bewildering. It was his
design in " Alciphron ; or, the Minute Philosopher/'
to vindicate the Christian religion, and overcome the
various objections of atheists, fatalists, enthusiasts, lib-
ertines, scorners, critics, metaphysicians, and skeptics.
Years before, while present at one of the deistical
clubs in London, he had heard a " noted writer l
against Christianity declare that he had found out
a demonstration against the being of a God ; " and
though the thing was palpably false, he was ready
to disprove it, and thereby to encourage a religious
faith in the constancy of a Divine and superintending
Power. Johnson was doubly careful to guard the
truth, for he had under his eye at this time, and
directed in their theological studies, young men, who,
having finished their collegiate course, declared for
Episcopacy, and were preparing to proceed to Eng-
land for ordination. The following letter, otherwise
interesting, mentions two, Isaac Browne and John
Pierson, graduates of Yale Collge in 1729 : —
DEAR SIR, — I am obliged to you for introducing me into
the company of such worthy gentlemen as Mr. Browne and
Mr. Pierson, and doubt not but they will ever be a credit
to their Tutor, and a light and ornament to the Church in
your parts ; and I hope their success will prove an encour-
agement to others.
I might now send you a long account of the bustle we
have had here about laying an excise on wine and tobacco,
which has put the whole nation in a flame that .will not
presently be quenched, — of the divided state we have been
in as to peace and war, by the affairs of Poland, where we
1 Anthony Collins.
84 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
suppose a king is chosen by this time, but as yet know not
who is the person, — of the death of that infamous author
Tindal, etc., etc., — but you will have a better and more
particular account by word of mouth, to which therefore I
refer you, and am
Your hearty friend and servant,
J. BERRIMAN.
SCOTCH YARD, August 31, 1738.
Another letter from the same clergyman, written
six months later, reveals the uneasiness which was
then felt about the nomination to a vacant see of one
who was accused of unsound theology, especially of
Arianism, and of giving to portions of the Old Testa-
ment an allegorical interpretation : —
DEAR SIR, — .... Dean Berkeley was lately made
a bishop in Ireland. There is a great bustle with us about
the nomination of a new bishop to the See of Gloucester, the
like to which I know not whether any history can parallel.
There is one Dr. Rundle named by our new Lord Chancellor,
son to the late Bishop of Durham (Talbot), to whom the
Doctor was Chaplain. The Bishop of London makes a vigor-
ous stand against him, and it is said twenty of the bishops
have declared they will have no hand in his consecration. It
is objected against him, that he has said these words, or to
this effect, that Abraham was an old dotard, and that no
man in his senses could believe that God would command him
to sacrifice his son. There are two clergymen, one of which
is (Dr. Stebbing) preacher at Gray's Inn, and chaplain to
the King, who will make good this charge against him upon
oath, to prevent his confirmation ; though if the court will
have it so, we reckon all opposition will be in vain. This
matter has been a good while in suspense, and God only
knows how it will end. He knows how to bring good out of
evil, and may He order all for good.
I am very heartily, yours, etc.,
Feb. 15, 1734. J. BERRIMAN.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 85
And Johnson replied as follows : —
August 18, 1734.
DEAR SIR, — I very thankfully received yours of February
15, and am deeply affected with the story you tell me about
Dr. Rundle. It seems the enemies of Christianity are re-
solved to leave no stone unturned in order to demolish it.
This contrivance of endeavoring to furnish out the bench
of bishops with infidels, is a notable step, which I doubt not
but they will further pursue as the times will bear it. I
conclude the favorite doctor is consecrated before now, for
I have since heard that all the foundation of the outcry
against him, was only that he said there were some allego-
ries in the Old Testament, and that he was horridly abused,
and so it was likely to be hushed up. I shall be much obliged
to you to let me know what is the true event of this affair,
and who succeeds at York and Winchester, and is likely to
succeed at Canterbury ; and what other events occur ; espe-
cially about the progress of infidelity, which, with many other
things, seems to have a most ominous aspect on our poor
Church and nation. Notwithstanding infidelity, I hope the
Church of England will yet more and more take root down-
ward, and bear fruit upward in these American parts, where
several dissenting ministers are, and many people have been
hastening into her bosom. A worthy gentleman, one Mr.
Arnold, has lately left them and come over to us ; he had
been my successor ; he only wants to be encouraged by the
Society (with whom things at present, I perceive, run pretty
low) to come over for ordination ; in the mean time will do
all the good he can in a lay capacity. My very humble
service to the Doctor, Mr. ScullarcT, and all friends.
I am, dear Sir,
Your most affectionate friend and humble servant,
S. J.
A second letter from his friend touching the case of
Dr. Kundle gives a fuller explanation of it, and has
a postscript which shows the extent to which an in-
fidel moralist in that age dared to proceed : —
86 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
DEAR SIR, — Yours of Aug. last came safely to me by
the post ; and since that I have had a packet from Dr.
Cutler, in which came your second letter to a Dissenter,
which I read over with great pleasure, and for which I now
return you many thanks. You have had, I find, wrong ac-
counts of Dr. Rundle's promotion, though before this you
may have been set right by the public news. He did not
get the Bishopric of Gloucester, at last, but since that dis-
pute has got one of more than three times the value of that,
which is Londonderry, Ireland. The great Sir R said he
could not do without the Ch — 1 — r, and he must be obliged.
I forgot whether I told you that Dr. R. had been charged
with saying that Abraham was an old dotard and that no man
could believe God should command him to sacrifice his son,
and that Dr. Stebbing, chaplain to the King, and Mr. Venn,
minister of S* Antholin's, were his accusers ; but besides this,
the opposition he met with from the Bishop of London was
grounded on strong suspicions of his being in the Arian
scheme.
The Abp. of York (Dr. Blackburn) is still living. Bp.
Hoadly is translated from Sarum to Winchester, and 'tis
thought as matters now stand, if Abp. Wake should die, the
Bp. of London will go to Canterbury, though an alteration
at Court may possibly give Dr. Sherlock the advantage. Dr.
Benson is promoted to the See of Gloucester, and Dr. Seeker,
who succeeded Dr. Clark at St. James's, is made Bp. of Bris-
tol, the late Bp. Herring being translated to Bangor in the
room of Bp. Sherlock, translated to Salisbury, and Dr. Flem-
ing, late Dean of Carlisle, is made Bp. of that See in the room
of Bp. Waugh, deceased. Benson and Seeker were Preben-
daries of Durham, and both ('tis said) promoted to appease
the Ch — 1 — r, but nothing would do till Rundle was made
a bishop.
I am, dear Sir,
Your affectionate friend and humble servant,
J. BERRIMAN.
SCOTCH YARD, Apr. 5, 1735.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 87
There has been lately published a book here which strikes
a note higher in the scheme of infidel morality than perhaps
you ever heard of, and that is to show fornication to be a
necessary duty. Increase and multiply is the duty ; and
adultery itself is justified to promote this end, but besides all
this the book is wrote in the grave way with prayers and
praises and other instances of blasphemy. The bookseller
is taken up by the King's messenger. The author is said in
the title page to be a clergyman. I hear he is one of the
Kirk of Scotland.
The Church of England in Connecticut was sur-
rounded from the beginning with bitter opponents.
By this time others had followed the example of
Johnson in leaving the Congregational ministry and
conforming to Episcopacy, and among the people a
spirit of religious inquiry had been awakened which
it was not easy to check. The case of John Beach,
born in Stratford and graduated at Yale College in
1721, attracted much attention. For eight years he
had been settled over the Independents or Congre-
gationalists at Newtown, about twenty miles distant
from the place of his nativity, and was a " popular
and insinuating young man," but early in 1732, he
publicly informed his people of a change in his views,
and declared his determination to cross the Atlantic
and receive holy orders in the Church of England.
At the instance of his friends, he was sent back by the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel with the
appointment of a missionary in the town and vicin-
ity where he had lately ministered and was so well
known, beloved, and respected. The following extract
from a letter of Johnson to the Bishop of London
dated April 5, 1732, refers to his character and con-
version : —
88 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
.... My Lord, as the Church here has been very unfor-
tunate in the defeat of the noble design of the Reverend the
Dean of Londonderry, which, especially if it had been exe-
cuted on the Continent, would have been of great advantage
to the interest of religion and learning in America, so it has,
on the other hand, been happy since in the conversion (be-
sides a number of other good people) of the worthy persons
who have all had a public education in the neighboring Col-
lege, and two of them have been dissenting teachers ; two of
them will go into other business, and one of them is Mr.
Beach, the bearer hereof, whom I know, by long experience
of him (he having been heretofore my pupil, and ever since
my neighbor) to be a very ingenuous and studious person,
and a truly serious and conscientious Christian ; but I forbear
to say anything further of his case, and refer your Lordship
to our joint recommendation of him.
The conformity of Mr. Beach to Episcopacy, not-
withstanding the admitted excellence of his character,
stirred up his " congregationalist neighbors " more
than any former defections from their ranks, and a
sharp controversy arose which reached on through
many years. There was much in the prevalent teach-
ing of the day that savored of bigotry. The sin of
covenant breaking was charged upon those who left
the Congregational order, and Johnson drew up and
published, partly at the instance of William Beach, a
brother of the above named clergyman, a tract to meet
this charge, and give plain reasons for conforming to
the Church. He was answered by John Graham, a
Presbyterian minister in Southbury, and a reply and
rejoinder followed. The tracts of Johnson were in the
form of " Letters from a Minister of the Church of
England to his Dissenting Parishioners," and he wrote
three of them, the second of which he began with
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 89
paragraphs that outline the history of the move-
ment : - —
My writing my former letter to take off the aspersions
which have been injuriously cast upon the Church, was
principally occasioned by this very J. G., who, without any
manner of provocation, had (as some of his friends have
owned) written a scurrilous paper or verses which did most
abominably misrepresent and abuse the Church, and tend to
beget in people a very wrong notion of it, and a bitter un-
charitable temper towards it ; and now, in spite of all the
caution and tenderness wherewith I endeavored to conduct
myself, both in my conversation and letter, is still resolved
to go on reproaching and misrepresenting us, and setting us
in all the odious and ridiculous lights he can invent. For
my part, I sincerely aimed at reconciling the difference be-
tween you and us, and composing our spirits as far as I was
able, that if possible we might come at a right understanding
of each other, and a good agreement ; or at least if we could
not attain to think alike, that we might not think hardly,
censoriously, or injuriously of each other, and might live in
tolerable good peace and charity one with another. But
this man is resolved to set and keep us still at variance, and
to blow up the fire of contention and uncharitableness, and
all, forsooth, under the pretense of doing justice ! though
you will find by what follows, that his remarks are in truth
one continued piece of injustice.
As Johnson was the leading spirit among the Epis-
copal clergy in the New England and northern col-
onies, the defense of the Church fell to his pen, and
it is surprising that he found time with all his mis-
sionary duties to write so much and so ably. The
people read the publications with avidity, and many
who had hitherto believed the Church to be full of
" Popery, Arminianism, and the inventions of men/'
became acquainted with the Liturgy, and were so
DO LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
persuaded of its Scriptural character, that they with-
drew from their former connections and attached
themselves to the Anglican Communion. His ability
as a controversialist was early recognized on the other
side, and the following curious letter from one of his
friends pays him a compliment and gives a scrap of
history worth preserving : —
ETON COLLEGE, Sept. 29, 1735.
DEAR, Sm, — Dr. Cutler lately communicated to me your
2d controversial letter, for which I am obliged to him and
the author. It were to be wished, that a clergyman's atten-
tion were not called off from the work of the ministry by the
opposition of unreasonable men ; but I am glad the cause
has found so able a defender.
I send these lines by my friends who accompany Mr.
Oglethorpe to Georgia; they go purely out of a religious
motive ; a circumstance not so common among our American
Missionaries. They all are members of the University of
Oxford, men of piety, learning, and zeal. Mr. John Wesley,
Fellow of Lincoln College, Mr. Charles Wesley, student of
Ch. Ch., Mr. Hall of Lincoln, and Mr. Salmon of Brasenose
— all clergymen. We promise to ourselves much good from
their pious endeavors under the assistance and influence of
Mr. Oglethorpe, and that with regard both [to] the Indians
to whom two of them go as missionaries, and to the colony
itself. Your good offices in corresponding with them, and
advising and assisting them in any respect, would be kindly
accepted by them and me.
I continue still a member of the University, though not
Fellow of C. C. C. I am Fellow of Eton Coll : near Wind-
sor, and have a good living between that place and Oxford.
If in any respect I can be serviceable to you, my best offices
are at your command.
Your affectionate friend.
JOHN BUBTON.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 91
In answering this letter which reached him about
a year after its date, Johnson said it would be " a
mighty pleasure " to him, indeed, if he were so sit-
uated as to converse or hold any correspondence with
"gentlemen of so worthy a character;" but as the
distance from New England to Georgia was not much
short of a thousand miles, and no trade as yet settled
between the colonies, there was little prospect that he
could render them essential service. He added at the
close of his letter : " I thank you also for the candor
you express towards the poor performance Dr. Cutler
sent you. Controversy is what I have neither tal-
ents nor inclination for, but the most abusive mis-
representations of the Church which our adversaries
disseminate among the people has made something
of this kind in a manner necessary."
92 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER V.
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE ; MEMORIAL TO THE GENERAL AS-
SEMBLY OF CONNECTICUT; LETTERS TO BERKELEY; WHITE-
FIELD IN NEW ENGLAND AND RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM; COM-
PLAINT TO THE COMMISSARY ; THE CLERGY OF CONNECTICUT
PETITIONING FOR A RESIDENT COMMISSARY, AND ASKING THAT
JOHNSON BE APPOINTED ; DOCTOR'S DEGREE FROM THE UNI-
VERSITY OF OXFORD.
A. D. 1736-1743.
BESIDES his extensive correspondence in this coun-
try, upon Johnson devolved the chief duty of com-
municating with friends at home, and keeping them
informed of everything here that concerned the gen-
eral prosperity of the Church. His letters1 to the
Bishops and to the Secretary of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel are numerous, and, for that
period, minute in their details. He watched every
movement that bore hardly upon the labors of the
missionaries, and promptly suggested means of redress
and encouragement. He advocated without ceasing
the appointment of bishops for America, as the best
plan of settling the Church upon a sure foundation,
and saving it from the reproach of enemies. This
thought was so constantly in his mind that he some-
times felt obliged to apologize for referring to it, as
the following letter from the Bishop of Gloucester
will show, written under date of —
1 See Church Documents, Connecticut, yols. i. and ii., and author's History of Epis-
copal Church in Connecticut, vol. i.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 93
LONDON, March 9, 173|.
Sm, — You needed no apology for any application you
could make to me in relation to anything wherein you might
think me capable of serving the Church in America. I wish
my capacity were equal to my desire of doing it. No one
is more sensible of the difficulties in general you labor
under in those parts, and in particular of those you complain
of for want of a bishop residing among you. My own interest
to be sure is inconsiderable ; but the united interests of the
bishops here is not powerful enough to effect so reasonable
and right a thing as the sending some bishops into America.
The person whom you have sent hither to be ordained is
a very sensible, and seems to be a serious man, and it is
plain that he came over with no view to his private inter-
ests ; his only motive could be to embrace what he thought to
be right, and his only desire now seems to be to be rendered
as serviceable as possible to the Church of Christ. I wish we
could have sent him back to you in a post arid with a salary
better suited to his deserts ; but however small the salary
may seem, the income of the Society is so very low at pres-
ent, that we were forced to break through some of our
rules and regulations to allot this salary small as it is. I
wrote a letter to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford to recom-
mend these gentlemen 1 to the University for the favor of a
Degree, and I have since received a letter from him to ac-
quaint me that the degree of Master of Arts is by Diploma
conferred upon each of them. I wish Mr. Caner, who has the
character from you and every one of a very deserving man,
might acquire a better state of health by his journey hither.
The Bishop of Cloyne has for some time been in a very
bad state of health, but by a letter I have just received
from him I have the pleasure to hear he is better than he
was.
I am, Sir,
Your faithful servant and affectionate Brother,
M. GLOUCESTER.
1 Jonathan Arnold and Rev. Henry Caner.
94 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
The plea was early set up, and it had its influence
with the home government, that the establishment of
bishops in America would lead to an independence
of the Colonies. Allusion is made to this, and the
idea spurned in a letter of Johnson to the Bishop of
London, written —
Nov. 3, 1738.
MY LORD, — I most humbly thank your Lordship for your
kind letter of February 3d, and in answer to it can only la-
ment the unhappiness of the times, and that it is not even in
your Lordship's power to do those great and good services
to the Church in general and here in America in particu-
lar, which you would gladly and have faithfully labored to
do. All I can say is, that though it is a most unaccounta-
ble way of reasoning to conclude in us Americans any dis-
position towards an independency on our mother country
from our general desire of bishops to preside over us, — the
reverse of which is the truth, — yet since it is thus (and
doubtless there are many more instances as strange as this
in the reasoning of this desperate age), we must patiently
submit and wait upon Providence till it shall please God
to enlighten the minds of men, and send us better times.
I have delayed the longer to acknowledge your Lordship's
kind letter, because I was willing to wait the issue of an
affair that has been in agitation among us, which I expected
to have given your Lordship an account of myself, but
since Mr. Arnold l is obliged to go home this fall on that
1 Jonathan Arnold, the successor of Samuel Johnson in the Congregational minis-
try at West Haven, conformed to Episcopacy in 1734, and afterwards went to Eng-
land where he received holy orders, as may be learned from the Bishop of Glouces-
ter's letter on the preceding page. He was not lost, as has been sometimes stated, on
a second voyage to England in 1739. He did not go home on the " affairs " referred
to above, but removed to Staten Island, N. Y., where he became the Society's mis-
sionary in charge of St. Andrew's Church. See History of Episcopal Church in
Connecticut, vol. i. c. viii. Complaints against Mr. Arnold by the wardens and ves-
trymen were transmitted to the Society, and by an order bearing date June 21,
1745, he was " dismissed from being their missionary to the Church of St. Andrew."
The Rev. T. B. Chandler writing to the Rev. Dr. Johnson from Elizabethtown,
February 2fi, 1753, said: "I had the pleasure of receiving your favor of January
29, and am sorry to tell you that Mr. Arnold did nothing in his will for his children
in New England. Mrs. Arnold was left sole executrix, and everything her bus-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 95
and some other affairs, I beg leave to refer your Lordship
to our joint address to your Lordship, and remain — may it
please your Lordship — yours, etc., S. J.
Any letter from Johnson to a friend in London,
was sure to be welcomed, and few young men went
over for holy orders, who did not deem it necessary
to take from him a note of introduction. His old as-
sociate in the first struggle for Episcopacy in Con-
necticut — Dr. Cutler — solicited his good offices,
when he was about to send his son, a graduate of
Harvard College in 1732, on the same errand which
had carried them to England many years before.
The answer which one of his correspondents returned
is a matter of historic interest : —
DEAR Sm, — I had the favor of yours of September last
by Mr. Cutler ; who intends to make a longer stay with us
than you thought of. He has had the good fortune to get a
curacy of <£50 per annum in Essex, about 30 miles from Lon-
don, where he may live cheap and save money to buy books,
and he will have a very great advantage in conversing a
good part of the year with his Rector, Dr. Walker, a very
ingenious and learned man, who will assist him vastly in
critical learning, and furnish him for the present with all
sorts of books he has occasion for. Dr. MacSparran has
been honored with a Degree by the University of Oxford,
and might to be sure go on it ad eundem at Cambridge, but
I believe he will scarce have time to go thither. I hear
with much pleasure that he has prevailed with the Bp. of
London to appoint Mr. Checkley a missionary, and hope we
shall soon see him here in London.
band died possessed of was left to her disposal. However, she says she is willing
that his children in New England should come in for shares with her own child in
whatsoever he left in your parts; and I believe she will not recall it. As to the tem-
per of mind in which Mr. Arnold left the world, I find that he had his reason for
some months before his death, which he retained to the last. But I have not heard
what remarks or reflections he made on his past life, and what was the moral dispo-
sition of his mind." — MS. Letter.
96 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Your good friend the Bp. of Oxford is translated to Can-
terbury, to the universal satisfaction of almost everybody.
Dr. Lisle at Bow might have succeeded him, but declined it,
and the general expectation is that Dr. Seeker, Bp. of Bris-
tol, will be removed to Oxford, to make way for Dr. Gooch
to go to Bristol, who (according to custom) could not be Bp.
of Oxford as being a Cambridge man. Dr. Gooch is brother-
in-law to Bp. Sherlock (of Salisbury), whom now in con-
junction with the Abp. of Canterbury we reckon to be at the
head of ecclesiastical affairs, — perhaps I should add here
with us, for with you to be sure the Bp. of London is and
must be at the head.
I am, dear Sir,
Your assured friend and humble servant.
J. BEEBIMAN.
SCOTCH YARD, Apr. 14, 1737.
Johnson was a great reader, and no new publica-
tion of any merit appeared in England which he did
not immediately send for. In one of his letters to
Mr. Berriman he said : " I am particularly thankful
for the intelligence you have given me about books,
a subject I shall always be glad our correspondence
may turn upon, for I want very much to know what
passes among the learned world." Intelligent people
at that period read solid works, and he was ever ready
to lend anything that he possessed to those who
were earnest seekers of the truth. In the following
note to Mr. Berriman, there is an allusion for the
first time to one whose movements in this country
were soon to fill him with watchfulness and anx-
iety : —
Sept. 10, 1739.
DEAR SIB, — Your kind letter of January 10, 1739, came
not to my hands till some time this summer. I am very
much obliged to you for it, and for your care in procuring
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 97
and sending Parker's " Eusebius," which I desired Mr. Cut-
ler to get for me to make up my set, having had the first
volume burnt in a house where I had lent it.
I have not seen Mr. Checkley 1 since his arrival, but hear
he is like to be very useful at Providence. I have nothing
remarkable to tell you from hence. Though the Church here
is very ill-treated by these dissenting governments, yet it
daily increases. I should be glad to know from you what is
the general sense of the clergy about Mr. Whitefield and his
proceedings, of which our newspapers are generally filled.
1 John Checkley, born of English parents in the city of Boston, 1680, finished his
studies at the University of Oxford, and afterwards travelled over the greatest part
of Europe. As the reader has already seen, he was with Johnson in London in 1723,
and upon returning to this country published a pamphlet entitled : A Modest Proof
of the Order and Government settled by Christ and his Apostles in the Church." It
was the forerunner of the controversy upon Episcopacy on this continent, and un-
doubtedly had the approval and encouragement of Cutler and Johnson. The author
of a reply, Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, observed that it was said to be reprinted at
Boston, but he did not remember that he had ever seen any former edition.
A second edition of the reply together with an appendix, called, Remarks on some
part of Mr. P. Barclay's Persuasive, soon, appeared. The latter was by the Rev.
Thomas Foxcroft, a Presbyterian divine of Boston, who invited Johnson to a friendly
discussion of the claims of Episcopacy, and wrote him two long letters, one in June
and the other in August, 1726, besides sending him books and a pamphlet, entitled
A Vindication, etc. Careful answers were returned to these letters, and in one of
them, referring to the Vindication, Johnson said: " If you could not be satisfied with-
out seeing some remarks upon this performance, — there is a gentleman in your neigh-
borhood, far more able than I am, who if he were addressed in that gentlemanly and
friendly Christian manner, wherewith you seem to aim at treating me, would, I doubt
not, do it to your satisfaction, and with as much Christian friendly temper, modera-
tion, and forbearance, as you can wish for from me ; notwithstanding that he is so
injuriously dressed up like a morose furioso, in the imaginations of your people, and
notwithstanding the ungentlemanly, unchristian treatment he meets with among
you."
The pamphlet, A Modest Proof, etc., was followed by a republication of Leslie's
" Short and Easy Method with the Deists, to which was annexed a Discourse concerning
Episcopacy, sold by John Checkley." For this he was arrested as a libeler, tried be-
fore a jury, and mulcted in fifty pounds to the king, and costs of prosecution, with
securities for his good behavior for six months. Checkley reprinted his Discourst
Concerning Episcopacy in 1728, in London, whither he went for holy orders — but
obstacles were thrown in his way, and he returned without accomplishing his pur-
pose. His desire to serve God in the ministry of the Church was unquenched, and
again, when he was on the verge of threescore years, he crossed the ocean, and was
ordained by the Bishop of Exeter, and appointed a missionary to Providence, R. I.,
where he officiated till his death, which occurred in 1753. His son John graduated at
Harvard College, in 1738, an$ went to England for ordination ; but fell a victim to
the small-pox, and died during his sojourn abroad, in 1743.
7
98 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
There has been very much such a stir among the Dissenters
in some parts of this country as he makes in England.
I am, sir, yours, etc.
S. J.
The members and professors of the Church of Eng-
land living in Connecticut were aggrieved by an act
of the Colonial legislature, whereby the proceeds aris-
ing from the sale of certain lands were designated for
the sole benefit of the Congregational ministers and
people. They complained of the injustice of denying
them a share in the public moneys for the support
of their ministers, and a memorial w^as sent to the
General Assembly, signed by nearly seven hundred
males attached to the Church of England, and asking
for themselves equal privileges and protection. This
memorial, which carefully recited no less than seven
reasons why the legislative action should be amended,
was drawn up by Johnson as were all similar memo-
rials prepared during his lifetime, and having refer-
ence to the rights of Churchmen in Connecticut. He
apprised his friends in England of these movements,
and sought their advice whenever he was in any per-
plexity. The College at New Haven continued to in-
terest him, and not only his affection for it, but his
agency in securing important donations, led him to
watch its progress and attend the public examinations
in Greek and Latin, to which he was invited as the
senior Episcopal Missionary in the colony, according
to the terms of Berkeley's gift. So early as 1735, the
Bishop of Cloyne wrote him, expressing great pleasure
to find that a member of his own family, Benjamin
Nicoll, had won distinction as a " scholar of the house,"
and he added a few words to indicate something of his
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 99
design in founding the scholarship : " One principal
end proposed by me was to promote a better under-
standing with the Dissenters, and so by degrees to les-
sen their dislike to our communion ; to which end me-
thought the improving their minds with liberal studies
might greatly conduce, as I am very sensible that your
own discreet behavior and manner of living towards
them, hath very much forwarded the same effect."
The subject of the memorial was the "affair" upon
which the Connecticut Clergy jointly addressed the
Bishop of London ; and Johnson wrote to Berkeley
about it, and about the treatment of Mr. Arnold, more
pointedly, when in the following letter he reported " a
good struggle for the scholarship : " —
May 14, 1739.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP, — I humbly thank
your Lordship for your very obliging letter of May 11, 1738,
which came not to my hands till precisely that day twelve
months after it was written, and in the very interim when
(having lately attended on the examination of the scholars at
Yale College for your Lordship's premium) T was meditat-
ing to write to your Lordship and give you some account of
the condition of things among us ; which is as follows : We
had a good struggle this year for the scholarship, and it is
very agreeable to see to what perfection classical learning
is advanced in comparison with what it was before your
Lordship's donation to this College, though I cannot say it
has much increased for these two years past, and I doubt it
is got to something of a stand. Another son of Mr. Williams
has got it this year, who had manifestly the advantage of the
rest ; but I think none have 'ever performed to so great per-
fection as one Whittelsey last year, who is son of a neighbor-
ing minister, whose performance was very extraordinary, not
only for the scholarship, but also for books purchased with
some money that had been forfeited by the resignation of
Leonard.
100 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
I am very sorry to tell your Lordship how ungrateful
New Haven people have been to the Church after so many
benefactions their College hath received from that quarter, in
raising a mob and keeping Mr. Arnold vi et armis from tak-
ing possession of the land, which, as I told your Lordship in
my last, one Mr. Gregson of London had given him to build
a church on near the College.1
Another instance of injurious treatment the Church has
lately met with from this ungrateful country has been in the
General Assembly denying a most reasonable petition as laid
before them last year. The case was this : all the lands with-
in the bounds of this Government [Connecticut] were by
charter alike granted to all the inhabitants, without limita-
tion to those of any particular denomination in matters of
religion. Now of these lands there remained a sufficient
quantity for seven new townships, which were lately laid out
and ordered to be sold, and the money (amounting to about
£70,000) to be considered as the common right of the whole
community. When it was considered how to dispose of it, it
was at length concluded that it should be divided proportion-
ally to each town, according to their estates, for the support
of dissenting teachers ; whereby the Church people, who had
manifestly -a right to their proportion of it, were excluded.
Whereupon we presented our humble address to the Assem-
bly, signed by every male of the Church in the Government
1 In a pamphlet entitled A Vindication of the Bishop of Landaff's Sermon from
the Gross Misrepresentations and Abusive Reflections contained in Mr. Wm. Living-
tton's Letter to his Lordship, published in 1768, the author, after speaking, page 40, of
the treatment of the Society's Missionaries in New England, says: " Perhaps Mr.
Livingston may remember some instances of this himself; once especially in a gal-
lant exploit performed by the students of Yale College, in which he was more than a
Spectator. The scene of this noble action was a lot of ground in the town of New
Haven, which had been bequeathed to the CHURCH for the use of a missionary.
There these magnanimous champions signalized themselves ; for once upon a time,
quitting soft dalliance with the muses, they roughened into sons of Mars, and issu-
ing forth in deep and firm array, with courage bold and undaunted, they not only at-
tacked, but bravely routed a YOKE OF OXEN and a poor Plowman, which had been
sent by the then Missionary of New Haven, to occupy and plow up the said lot of
ground. An exploit truly worthy of the renowned Hudibras himself ! " The pam-
phlet, though published anonymously, was written by Dr. Inglis of New York,
afterwards first Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 101
above sixteen, to the number of about seven hundred, praying
we might have our proportion in these public moneys. But
they were pleased to pass a negative upon it ; and I should be
very thankful for your Lordship's advice whether it be worth
our while to apply to the King and Council on this affair.
I heartily rejoice with your Lordship in the health and
prosperity of your lady and family, and am no less grieved
for the illness you labor under, in your own person. I sin-
cerely pray, God remove it, and give you health.
Good Dr. Cutler is in great grief, having lately lost a
very hopeful son, nigh of age for Orders. Mr. Honyman
has been till lately very much indisposed with grief for the
loss of his spouse, but is within these few months recovered
and married again to one Mrs. Brown, an elderly gentle-
woman, mother to Capt. Brown of Newport. With our
humble duty to your lady,
I remain, may it please your Lordship, etc.
S. J.
All letters to his English correspondents at this
period allude to the action of the General Assembly,
and in some of them, he speaks of the fickleness of
Mr. Arnold and his removal to Staten Island. In
writing to Dr. Astry, April 10, 1740, he said : " I am
sorry the Society found themselves under a necessity
of removing him to any other mission, though I con-
fess he has not conducted so discreetly of late, espe-
cially since he had an intimation of it, as I could wish,
and I fear the Church in these parts will much suf-
fer on this occasion. At least his people falling of
course again under my care will be a very great ad-
dition to my burden."
The memorialists were not disheartened by the re-
fusal to grant their petition, and the clergy renewed
it so earnestly that at last, rather than let the Church
102 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
have its share, a proposition to repeal was adopted,
and the proceeds of the sale of the lands by a former
act went to the maintenance of popular education.
Johnson writing to the Bishop of Cloyne shortly
before the repeal took place, referred to the me-
morial once more, but seemed to be hopeless of any
redress : —
June 20, 1740.
MY LOBD, — I did myself the honor to write to you
about a year ago, and ackowledged yours of May 11, 1738,
and gave you some account of the condition of things among
us in this Colony, and especially the College, which is so much
indebted to your Lordship, that I think it is but fit that your
Lordship should, at least once a year, have some account of
the success of your generous donation to it ; and this I hope
will apologize for my troubling your Lordship once in a while
with some account of our affairs which otherwise would not
deserve your notice.
Our College has been in a very unsettled position this
last year, which perhaps may be the reason that there has
not this May appeared quite so good a proficiency in clas-
sical learning as heretofore (though very considerable com-
pared with what used to be), there having been an interreg-
num of seven or eight months wherein it has had no Rector.
Mr. Williams had been much out of health for some months,
and last fall was persuaded it was owing to his sedentary life
and the sea-side air, and accordingly took up a resolution,
from which he would not be dissuaded, to retire up into the
country, where he has lived ever since, and where, indeed, he
seems to have enjoyed his health better ; though some people
are so censorious as to judge that, considering the age and de-
clining state of our Governor, his chief aim was to put him-
self in the way of being chosen into that post. But if this
was his view, it is not unlikely that he may be disappointed,
for upon a considerable struggle last election for a new Gov-
ernor, he had but few votes, and Mr. Eliot had a vast many
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 103
more than all other competitors put together, and will doubt-
less succeed whenever there is a new choice. However, Mr.
Williams was a Representative and Speaker in their Assembly,
and was made one of the Judges of the Superior Court, and
may possibly get to be one of the Council or Assistants, which
is, I believe, the utmost he will attain to.
Upon his leaving the College the Trustees have ap-
pointed one Mr. Clap, late minister of Windham, to succeed,
who seems to be a well tempered gentleman and of good
sense and much of a mathematician, and though he is not so
well acquainted with the classics as might be wished, I hope
he will improve much in that and all other points of learn-
ing, and prove a good governor to the College.
We have again applied to the Assembly about the seven
new townships, that I mentioned to your Lordship in my last,
and nothing has yet been done. Next October will be the
last time of asking, but I do not expect they will finally grant
our petition. However, the Church greatly increases, espe-
cially in the town. But I grow tedious, and will not add
any further save my earnest prayers for your lady and family,
to whom my very humble duty. I beg your prayers, and re-
main, my Lord, your Lordship's, etc. S. J.
The arrival in New England in the autumn of 1740
of the Kev. George Whitefield was followed by an out-
burst of great religious enthusiasm. He had been
ordained by the Bishop of Gloucester, and, before
coming to this country, had given specimens of the
extraordinary power and erratic zeal for which he was
afterwards so celebrated. There had been "very
much such a stir among the Dissenters " in some of
the Colonies as he had made in England, and the
people, therefore, were ripe for his extravagances,
and crowded around him when he preached in the
open air or in the meeting-houses. He soon put
himself beyond the sympathy and sanction of the
104 LTFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
bishops and clergy of the Church, whose doctrines,
worship, and discipline he was ordained to defend ; and
the more bitter his invectives against them became,
the more earnestly did his adherents among the Inde-
pendent or Congregational ministers encourage his
work and promote his irregularities. No doubt many
of them regarded him as an angel of light in human
form, raised up by Divine Providence to awaken sin-
ners to repentance, to seriousness of life, and the prac-
tice of virtue ; and there is reason to believe that his
preaching in several instances was attended with
blessed results. But those who welcomed and caressed
him with the idea that his course was calculated to
check among their people a growing attachment to
the doctrines and worship of the Church, discovered
at length that so far from this, it shattered and divided
their own churches, and in the end rapidly increased
and strengthened the communion which they ex-
pected to see dwindle and die.
Whitefield had his imitators as well as his followers
— preachers who undertook to adopt his style and
imitate his dramatic action, and who travelled about
from place to place seeking to make converts, and
disregarding all ecclesiastical rights and regulations.
Then came a set of lay-exhorters who added to the
popular confusions and fomented the flames which had
been kindled. Johnson carefully watched the progress
of things and was at the head of his clerical brethren
in guiding and steadying the Church through such
great and manifold perils. He wrote to the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of Gloucester,
London, and Cloyne to acquaint them with the
strange commotions in Connecticut, growing out of
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 105
Whitefield's itinerancy. It will be sufficient to quote
only his letter to Berkeley, which contains other ref-
erences, and is dated : —
Oct. 3, 1741.
MY LORD, — This comes to your Lordship upon occa-
sion of our recommending to the Society, Mr. Richard Caner
(brother to my good neighbor Mr. Henry Caner, Missionary
to Fairfield, of whom you may possibly retain some remem-
brance), who well deserves the Society's notice on this oc-
casion. I have the pleasure to inform your Lordship that
upon the occasion of our new Rector, Mr. Clap, and his ap-
plication to the business of the College, we have the satis-
faction to see classical as well as mathematical learning im-
prove among us ; there having been a better appearance the
last May than what I gave your Lordship an account of be-
fore ; for this gentleman proves a solid, rational, good man,
and much freer from bigotry than his predecessor.
But this new enthusiasm, in consequence of Whitefield's
preaching through the country and his disciples', has got
great footing in the College as well as throughout the coun-
try. Many of the scholars have been possessed of it, and two
of this year's candidates were denied their degrees for their
disorderly and restless endeavors to propagate it. Indeed
Whitefield's disciples have in this country much improved
upon the foundation which he laid ; so that we have now
prevailing among us the most odd and unaccountable enthu-
siasm that perhaps ever obtained in any age or nation. For
not only the minds of many people are at once struck with
prodigious distresses upon their hearing the hideous outcry of
our itinerant preachers, but even their bodies are frequently
in a moment affected with the strangest convulsions and
involuntary agitations and cramps, which also have some-
times happened to those who came as mere spectators, and
are no friends to their new methods, and even without their
minds being at all affected. The Church, indeed, has not,
as yet, much suffered, but rather gained by these commo-
tions, which no men of sense of either denomination have
106 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
at all given in to, but it has required great care and pains
in our clergy to prevent the mischief. How far God may
permit this madness of the people to proceed, He only
knows. But I hope that neither religion nor learning will
in the whole event of things much suffer by it.
I humbly beg an interest in your Lordship's prayers and
blessing, and remain, etc.,
S. J.
In a similar strain he wrote to his friend, Dr. Astry,
two days before, and spoke of the necessity, if pos-
sible, of an increase in the number of missionaries, at
the same time that he entreated him to be present
at the meeting of the Society when the application
of Mr. Caner was presented. The reply of Dr. Astry
deserves a place in this connection : —
REV. SIR, — I had the favor of your letter by Mr. Caner,
and have out of regard to your recommendation of him at-
tended the Board whilst his business was depending. I
hope and believe that you will find him satisfied with what
has been done there in compliance with his request ; and
that he will do me the justice with you to bear testimony
that he found me disposed to help him what I could. It
would have been agreeable to my inclinations to have had
more of his company. But the hurry of his affairs and
haste to return to you, have been a bar to that satisfaction.
As to his going to Oxford, he mentioned it not to me, and
indeed I declined entering into it with him, for that I have
very little acquaintance left in the University, and accord-
ingly had little prospect -of being instrumental in getting
him a degree there, had he attempted it.
I lament the vexations you have had by means of that
strange fellow Whitefield, and his successors. But as I find
by you that the Church has not in the main suffered so
much as might have been apprehended, and was designed
by those who maliciously set them to work, one has reason
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 107
to be content and to thank God that things are no worse.
And I have the pleasure to think that among my friends in
your parts, there are men capable of dealing with them so
as to stop their progress, if not to bring good out of evil.
I heartily pray that your endeavors may have that effect,
the rather because the Society is very little in a condition
to send you more fellow-helpers at present, however your
occasions may require more. That they have added one
in Mr. Caner l I am very glad, as I see in him all good dis-
positions to answer the ends of his mission. My wife re-
turns her compliments to you and yours, and I am with grat-
itude, Sir,
Your affectionate friend and servant,
FE. ASTRY.
ST. JAMES'S PLACE, Feb. 8, 1741-2.
A bitter and uncharitable spirit grew out of the
religious enthusiasm consequent upon the intinerancy
of Whitefield. Divines of the standing order were
divided — part sympathizing with the new light, and
part stoutly maintaining a continuance in the old
ways and opposing innovations. The odium theolog-
icum was never more fierce, and any attempt to
restrain it proved unavailing. Large numbers of
sober and thoughtful persons in Connecticut, dis-
gusted with the extravagances of the time and finding
in Congregationalism no rest from strife and dissen-
sion, broke away from their former associations, and
fled for comfort and quietness to the bosom of the
Church of England. This excited in an unhappy de-
gree the displeasure of her opponents, and harsh judg-
ments and irritating reflections fell upon the mission-
aries and upon the doctrines of the communion which
they were appointed to teach and maintain.
1 He was appointed a missionary to Norwalk, Ct, and transferred to the charge of
St. Andrew's Ch. Staten Island, 1745, upon the dismission of Mr. Arnold, but died
of small-pox in New York, Dec. 14, 1745.
108 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Johnson was brought into sharp conflict with Mr,
Gold, the dissenting minister in Stratford, and a cor-
respondence was carried on between them which in-
volved very important principles as well as dangerous
precedents. It had been said of him that he was
not converted, nor any of the Church of England
people in Stratford ; that he was a thief, and robber
of churches, and had no business in the place ; that
his church doors stood open to all mischief and wick-
edness, and other words of like import, which could
only be uttered in the heats of angry passion or re-
ligious excitement. He was not willing to rest under
these charges without calling the author to account,
and so he addressed him a letter, which speaks for
itself, dated, —
July 6, 1741.
SIR, — .... I thought it my duty to write a few lines to
you, in the spirit of Christian meekness, on this subject. And
I assure you I am nothing exasperated at these hard censures,
much less will I return them upon you. No Sir ! God for-
bid I should censure you as you censure me ! I have not
so learned Christ ! I will rather use the words of my dear
Saviour concerning those that censure so, and say, " Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do."
As to my having no business here, I will only say that
to me it appears most evident that I have as much business
here at least as you have, — being appointed by a Society
in England incorporated by Royal Charter to provide min-
isters for the Church people in America ; nor does his Maj-
esty allow of any establishment here, exclusive of the Church,
much less of anything that should preclude the Society he
has incorporated from providing and sending ministers to
the Church people in these countries. And as to my being
a robber of churches, I appeal to God and all his people,
of both denominations, whether I have ever uncharitably
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 109
censured you, or said or done anything to disaffect or disunite
your people from you, as on many occasions I might have
done ; on the other hand, whether I have not on all occasions
put people upon making the kindest constructions possible
upon your proceedings, and whether there has ever been
anything in mine or my people's conduct that could be
justly interpreted to savor of spite or malice, though we
have met with much of it from some of our neighbors.
If any of your people have left you, I appeal to them
whether it has been owing to any insinuations of mine, and
whether it has not been many times owing to your own
conducting otherwise than in prudence you might have done,
that they have been led to inquire, and upon inquiring to
conform to this Church. And pray why have not Dissent-
ers here as much liberty to go to church, if they see good
reason for it (as they will soon do if they seriously inquire),
as Church people to go to meeting if they see fit, as some
have done, without my charging you so highly ? In short,
all I have done which could be the occasion of any people
leaving you, has been to vindicate our best of churches from
the injurious misrepresentations she has labored under from
you and others ; and this it was my bounden duty to do.
And indeed I shall think myself obliged in conscience to
take yet more pains with Dissenters as well as Church people
than I have ever yet done, if I see them in danger of being
misled by doctrines so contrary to the very truth and spirit
of the Gospel as have lately been preached among us up
and down in this country.
And as to my Church being open to all wickedness, I ap-
peal to God and all that know me and my proceedings
whether I have not as constantly borne witness against all
kinds of wickedness as you have, and been as far from pat-
ronizing it as you have been, and must think my people are
generally as serious and virtuous as yours. And lastly as
to your censuring me and my people as being unconverted,
etc., I will only beg you to consider whether you act the
truly Christian part in thus endeavoring to disaffect my peo-
110 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
pie towards my ministrations, and weaken and render abor-
tive my endeavors for the good of their souls, when I know
not that I have given you any occasion to judge me uncon-
verted,— much less to set me out in such a formidable
light to them. However, I leave these things, Sir, to your se-
rious consideration, and beg you will either take an opportu-
nity to converse with me where and when you please, or
rather return me a few lines, wherein (as you have judged
me unconverted, etc.) I entreat you will plainly give me your
reasons why you think me so ; for as bad as I am, I hope I
am open to conviction, and earnestly desirous not to be mis-
taken in an affair of so great importance, and the rather
because I have not only my own, but many other souls to
answer for, whom I shall doubtless mislead if I am misled
myself. In compassion, therefore, to them and me, pray be
so kind as to give us your reasons why you think us in such
a deplorable condition.
In hopes of which I remain, Sir, your real well-wisher and
humble servant, S. J.
Replies and rejoinders followed in quick succes-
sion, and though Mr. Gold denied having used the
severe language attributed to him, yet he appears to
have retained his uncharitable feelings, and to have
been as far as ever from understanding the true
teachings and doctrines of the Church of England.
His last letter to Johnson should be quoted, if for no
other reason, at least to show the spirit which pos-
sessed the most ardent and enthusiastic followers of
Whitefield : —
SIR, — I don't wonder that a man is not afraid of sin-
ning that believes he has power in himself to repent when-
ever he pleases, nor is it strange for one who dares to utter
falsehoods of others to be ready at any time to confirm them
with the solemnity of an oath, — especially since he adheres
to a minister whom he believes has power to wash him from
OF SAMUEL JOHNSOK HI
all his sins by a full and final absolution upon his saying he
is sorry for them, etc. ; and as for the pleas which you make
for Col. Lewis, and others that have broke away disorderly
from our Church, I think there's neither weight nor truth in
them ; nor do I believe such poor shifts will stand them nor
you in any stead in the awful day of account ; and as for
your saying that as bad as ^ou are yet you lie open to convic-
tion, — for my part I find no reason to think you do, seeing
you are so free and full in denying plain matters of fact ;
and as for your notion about charity from that 1 Cor.
xiii., my opinion is that a man may abound with love to God
and man, and yet bear testimony against disorderly walkers,
without being in the least guilty of the want of charity to-
wards you. What ! must a man be judged uncharitable
because he don't think well nor uphold the willful miscar-
riages and evil doings of others ? This is surely a perverse
interpretation of the Apostle's meaning. I don't think it
worth my while to say anything further in the affair, and as
you began the controversy against rule or justice, so I hope
modesty will induce you to desist ; and do assure you that
if you see cause to make any more replies, my purpose is,
without reading of them, to put them under the pot among
my other thorns and there let one flame quench the matter.
These, Sir, from your sincere friend and servant in all things
lawful and laudable, HEZ. GOLD.
STRATFORD, July 21, 1741.
Johnson waited ten days, and then concluded to
" venture the sacrifice of one letter more/' in vindi-
cation of himself and his people. He would not
bear the imputation of having opened a controversy
thus closed upon him, but he was chiefly anxious, for
the sake of the truth, to disabuse the mind of his
neighbor of the idea that the Church of England
holds and teaches that a man has power in himself
to repent when he pleases, and that the minister has
J12 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
power to wash him from all his sins by a full and
final absolution upon his only saying he is sorry for
them. These two propositions he regarded as so
false and mischievous to the souls of men, that if the
Church taught or practiced according to them he
owned he would " abhor and fly from her as from the
face of a serpent." " As our absolution," he added,
" is nothing else but the declaration of God's pardon
to all true penitents, so we hold no absolution in any
other sense than you do yourself. Pray, Sir, where
did you learn these dreadful notions of the Church ?
Have you lived nigh twenty years so near the Church
and all this while understood us no better ? "
He wrote to Dr. Bearcroft, the Secretary of the So-
ciety, in March, 1742, that the raging enthusiam in
this country was " like a kind of epidemical frenzy,"
and in order to prevent mischief and take advantage
of the popular excitement, the clergy were obliged
to be continually riding and preaching. He himself
had scarcely failed all the previous winter to officiate
three times, and frequently six times in a week, go-
ing to different parts of the Colony and directing the
minds of people to the true plan of salvation and the
Scriptural doctrines of the Church. While he was
thus fulfilling his ministerial duty with a diligence
and prudence equaled only by his learning and firm-
ness, a complaint was brought against him which is
best explained in the following note from the Rev.
Roger Price, the Commissary for all New England,
holding his office under the appointment of the Bishop
of London : —
REV. SIB, — Mr. Morris a made a complaint to me and
1 The Rev. Theophil us Morris — an Englishman by birth — who succeeded Mr
Arnold at West Haven as an itinerant missionary.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 113
the clergy convened at Boston relating to your going to the
dissenting meeting, and suffering your son to do the same,
which gave some uneasiness to your brethren. I hope your
prudence will always direct you to avoid anything that may
show such a favorable disposition towards the separation as
will obstruct the growth of the Episcopal Church.
I am your affectionate brother and humble servant,
ROG. PRICE.
BOSTON, June 18, 1742.
Johnson lost no time in replying to the reproof
thus administered, and the answer reveals the relig-
ious habits of his elder son, who was then a student
in Yale College : —
July 5, 1742.
REV. Sin, — I received yours of the 18th of June, and do
take in good part and with humble submission the tender
chastisement which you and my brethren have thought fit
to send me relating to my going myself and permitting my
son to go to meeting.
As to myself, I cannot think the charge is at all just, for
I never have been to meeting since the last convention at
Rhode Island that could with any propriety bear that name.
All the foundation of Mr. Morris' complaint is only this,
that on Commencement night, when Davenport was raving
among the people there, Mr. Wetmore and I went in the
dark, no mortal knowing us but our own company ; and stood
at the edge of the crowd and heard him rave about five min-
utes, and then went about our business ; this I humbly con-
ceive could not be called going to meeting any more than a
visit to Bedlam, — for we heard no prayers nor anything
that could be called preaching, any more than the ravings
of a man distracted.
As to my son, I am and so is he, as far as you can be
from approving his going to meeting, and would by no
means permit it, if it were possible to avoid it consistently
with his having a public education. But this is what I
must entirely deny him, or not forbid him once in a while to
114 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
go to meeting, and of two evils I think it my duty to choose
the least. He comes home once in a fortnight or three weeks,
and when Mr. Morris goes to West-side, he hears him, so
that he goes to meeting as little as possible. And in this
case I do not think it the unpardonable sin, though I have
as little opinion of the meeting as anybody can reasonably
have.
I look upon the worst part of going to meeting to be, be-
ing present and joining with extempore prayers, and yet this
is what Dr. Cutler and Mr. Usher permitted their sons to do
every day in the College Hall [Harvard] , without being ever
found fault with. Upon the whole I can truly say, and thank
God for it, my prudence has always directed me and always
shall, to avoid anything that could show the least favora-
ble disposition towards the separation as such, or to obstruct
the growth of the Episcopal Church. So far from this, that
I believe I may say without vanity that I have labored as
faithfully, and with as good success, as any of my brethren
in promoting that cause. I came alone into this colony a few
years ago, when there were but 70 or 80 adult Church people
in the whole Government, and now there are above 2000 ;
there are ten churches actually built and three more building,
and seven settled in the ministry. I have nigh 150 com-
municants, of whom there wanted but four of fourscore to-
gether and received the Communion last Sunday, and my
people are as regular and rubrical in our worship as any
congregation that I know of. Can it then be supposed that
I have obstructed our growth? In short, I have labored,
and studied, and wrote, and rid, and preached, and pleaded,
and lived all that was in my power to promote the growth of
the best of churches. I have neither farming nor merchan-
dise, nor do I suffer any other pursuit of either pleasure or
profit to embarrass or hinder me in promoting the growth
of the Church, which is the single point that I have in view.
If it would not savor of something like vanity, which I hope
may be excused on this occasion, I might almost venture
to say I have labored more abundantly than they all, and yet
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 115
I must, it seems, be, as it were, singled out by my brethren
to be censured as one from whom there is danger appre-
hended of obstructing the growth of the Episcopal Church.
No, Sir ; I trust the danger is not from any conduct of mine,
but from that spirit of indolence and negligence, of bigotry
and bitterness, which has called my conduct in question, and
let him that is without fault, or has less fault than I, cast
the first stone. For God's sake, Sir, is there nothing but
not forbidding a son to go to meeting when he can't help it
that can obstruct the Church? Could you find nothing
worse than this to except against in the conduct of any of
our brethren ? I fear you might ; if not, God be praised.
And particularly, my brother Morris, whom I have ever used
in the best and kindest manner, I must think had, of all men,
the least reason to complain, and I fear he has much more
deserved the censure of his brethren for his violent passion,
rashness, and inconsistency in his conversation, and his neg-
lecting his people again and again by such long and needless
journeys, especially at this important juncture. And I believe
he had better have gone twenty times to meeting, than once
have shown such a spirit of ingratitude and malevolence as
he has done. But I heartily pity and forgive him, and pray
that he, as well as I and all the rest of us, may live to better
purpose than to bring our order into contempt, and to dis-
grace the best Church and religion in the world.
I am, Rev. Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
S. JOHNSON.
This apology or explanation, which Johnson wished
the Commissary to communicate to as many of the
brethren as he had opportunity, was the end of the
matter, except that he gently remonstrated with Mr.
Morris, and asked what he meant by raising such a
" clamor against him both at New York and Boston."
He challenged further scrutiny of his conduct, and
was willing the complaint should be carried before
116 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
the Bp. of London and the Venerable Society ; but
Mr. Morris had misapprehended his intentions, and
finding himself unable, from the peculiarities of his
temperament, to secure a better living in the Colony,
he soon withdrew and returned to England.
The clergy of Connecticut felt the want of an
overseer in these critical times more than ever, and
as they had been repeatedly refused a Bishop, they
asked for a Commissary to reside among them, and
for this purpose sent a formal petition to the Bishop
of London. Their distance from Boston was such as to
render it inconvenient, if not impracticable, to attend
the Conventions there, and the growth of the Church
in the Colony had been so great that they anticipated
many advantages to come from the appointment.
They all signed or supported the petition except Mr.
Morris. Of their own free will, and without any in-
fluence on his part, they presumed to mention for
the office the Rev. Mr. Johnson of Stratford, as a per-
son in whose ability, virtue, and integrity they had
full confidence. But the Bishop of London was un-
willing to revoke or change any part of the commis-
sion which he had granted to Mr. Price without his
consent, or until his death or resignation, and so
no Commissary for Connecticut was appointed. The
petition was renewed six years later to Sherlock,
then Bishop of London, and the successor of Gibson ;
but he was so persuaded of his inability to do jus-
tice to the Church in the American Colonies, and so
bent on the establishment of one or two Bishops to
reside in proper parts of them, and to " have the con-
duct and direction of the whole," that he declined
to take a patent from the crown for the exercise of
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 117
0
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and only consented to or-
dain candidates and supervise the clergy till a better
provision could be made. " I should be tempted/'
said he " to throw off all this care quite, were it not
for the sake of preserving even the appearance of an
Episcopal Church in the plantations." But Johnson
without the appointment of Commissary continued to
be the prudent guide and adviser of his brethren, and
the calm watcher of all movements that related to the
peace and prosperity of the Church, not only in New
England but throughout the country.
It was a great gratification to him to receive from
the University of Oxford the degree of Doctor of
Divinity, which was conferred upon him by diploma
February, 1743. Twenty years before, when he vis-
ited that ancient seat of learning, his merits had
been recognized, and the hope expressed that by his
ministry the English Church might be revived on this
Continent : aliam et eandem olim nascituram JEJccle-
siam Anglicanam. The hope had been partly fulfilled,
and the second and higher distinction, due to his
learning and his labors, was spoken of by the Yice-
Chancellor, Dr. Hodges, when he resigned his office, as
one of the most agreeable things that had been done
during his administration. It was stated in the Di-
ploma, ut, incredibili Ecclesice incremento summam sui
expectationem sustinuerit plane et superaverit. John-
son thanked his friends, particularly Dr. Astry, and
Dr. Seeker Bishop of Oxford, for their agency in
the matter, and wrote to his son at Yale College,
April 23, 1744, that he might share in the joy of his
success : "I have the pleasure to let you know that
.my good friend Dr. Astry hath accomplished for me
118 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
what he so kindly undertook. Dr. Gardiner, lately
returned from England, writes to me that he has
brought my Diploma. I hope you, as well as I, shall
consider this great honor, which the University of
Oxford has done me, as a fresh motive to the use of
diligence in well-doing, that we may deserve the no-
tice you see they are so ready to take of those that
faithfully endeavor to have true merit."
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 119
CHAPTER VI.
INCREASE OP HIS PARISH AND NEW CHURCH AT STRATFORD;
MORE CONTROVERSY; SYSTEM OP MORALITY; STUDY OP HE-
BREW, AND HUTCHINSON'S PRINCIPLES ; PHILOSOPHICAL
CORRESPONDENCE; EDUCATION OF SONS, AND LETTERS TO
THE ELDER ; PROJECT OF A COLLEGE AT PHILADELPHIA,
AND JOHNSON INVITED TO ITS CHARGE.
A. D. 1748-1750.
IT was no longer doubtful that the movement to-
wards the Church, in consequence of the extravagan-
cies of Whitefield and his followers, was an earnest and
important one. Many things conspired to give it
strength, and the growth of the parishes in Connec-
ticut necessitated the erection of larger houses of
worship to accommodate the congregations. This
was the case at Stratford, where there had been an
accession of several of the most influential families
of the place ; and Johnson was much occupied in
1743 with preparations to build a new edifice suited
to the wants of the people. Money was scarce in
those days, and contributions of labor, time, timber,
and other material were accepted in its place. The
subscription of the Rector was for a bell, and he had
the satisfaction of seeing the new church opened,
though not completed on the 8th of July 1744, when
he preached a sermon from Psalms xxvi. 8, on " the
great duty of loving and delighting in the public
worship of God." The discourse was afterwards
printed, with an appendix containing prayers for use
120 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
in the family and closet. In the same year a church
was begun at Rip ton (now Huntington), then a part
of the town of Stratford and under his pastoral care,
and it was this " growing disposition among the peo-
ple in many places to forsake the tenets of enthusiasm
and confusion," that added to the labors of Johnson,
and required his unceasing ministrations. Probably
no period of his life was filled with greater anxiety
than that which immediately followed the itinerancy
of Whitefield, and witnessed the results of his disor-
derly proceedings.
When the spirit that was rampant in the land placed
all in predestination and mere sovereignty, and denied
that there are any promises to our prayers and en-
deavors, another controversy arose which engaged his
own practiced pen and that of Jonathan Dickinson.1
He published towards the end of 1744 a pamphlet of
thirty-two pages, entitled " A Letter from Aristocles to
Authades concerning the sovereignty and the prom-
ises of God," and said in his advertisement that what
prevailed on him to consent to its publication " was a
sincere and firm persuasion, that it is really the cause
of God and his Christ that I here plead, and that the
eternal interest of the souls of men is very nearly con-
cerned in it. For it is manifest to me, that some
notions have of late been propagated and inculcated
1 So early as 1725, one of his parishioners was sharply attacked by this same gen-
tleman, a Presbyterian divine of Elizabethtown, N. J., upon the subject of Episco-
pacy, and not being able to cope with his antagonist, Johnson sketched, at his request,
the chief arguments in its favor which the parishioner sent in his own name to Mr.
Dickinson and soon had an answer. To this a reply was furnished him, and some
time after, Mr. Dickinson enlarged and printed his own papers in the dispute, which
involved the necessity of publishing what had been written on the other side with
the name of the real author. " On this occasion, Mr. Foxcroft, of Boston, took up
their cause " against the Church, " and wrote more largely, to whom Mr. Johnson re-
olied but was not answered."
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 121
in this country, that are equally destructive to the
right belief both of God and the Gospel. I have, in-
deed, that charity for those that have done it that I
do not believe they are sensible of these fatal conse-
quences of what they teach, though I very much
wonder they are not aware of them."
Johnson would not be understood to aim at under-
mining any of the soul-humbling doctrines of the
Gospel, for he insisted that his way of explaining the
Divine Sovereignty and promises was not a distortion
of the Scriptures ; but entirely agreeable to them, and
such as unprejudiced men of plain common sense might
accept and be saved with an everlasting salvation. It
was a controversy, as one of the pamphlets of the
day characterized it, between a Calvinist and a be-
liever of mere primitive Christianity ; and Mr. Dick-
inson published a first and second " Vindication of
God's Sovereign free grace," — the last appearing
just before his death ; but Dr. Johnson had already
issued another letter in defense of " Aristocles to Au-
thades," * and closed it thus : " I will add no more
but my earnest wishes that we may, on all sides, be
above all things careful, for the sake of the love of
God, which is my greatest motive in writing, that we
do by no means advance or inculcate any notions or
doctrines that may reflect dishonor upon the best of
Beings, and upon the Gospel of his grace, or be any
ways detrimental to any of the souls which He hath
made."
In a letter to a friend, he spoke with the warmest
feelings against those who represented the Deity as
1 Mr. Dickinson, in his first Vindication, interpreted these names to represent John-
eon, and the Rev. Mr. Cooke of Stratfield, who had printed a sermon in favor of his
own side.
122 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
consigning some persons to everlasting happiness and
others to everlasting misery, by an unconditional de-
cree. " In truth, if it were possible, I would rather
believe there is no God than to imagine Him to be
such a Being as these teachers not only represent
Him, but insist He is ; and you must believe so too
upon the pain of damnation/* l
" These controversies " says Johnson in his auto-
biography, " ended in 1744," but he mistook his own
dates ; for the pamphlets, which were all printed at
Boston, show that they were rather begun at this
time, and carried on for the next two years by the
principals, and then Mr. Beach of Newtown and " Mr.
Jedediah Mills, pastor of a church at Kip ton," en-
gaged in the contest and lengthened it out nearly a
lustrum.
Mills was an enthusiastic follower of Whitefield,
and had broken a lance with Johnson, on original
sin, several years before, by writing him letters and
calling in question his belief and doctrinal teachings.
In one of his replies, dated November, 1741, Johnson
said : " You talked about Dr. Clarke, but I never
undertook to justify his doctrine of original sin, which
I even allowed to be expressed too loosely and un-
guardedly : only I was willing to put a more favor-
able construction on it than you did; nor do I re-
member I ever advised Darby people to read his ser-
mons in public, but I am sure I advised them not to
do it, and lent them another book to read that they
might not read his."
With a view of counteracting the evil effects of the
spirit of the times, Johnson prepared and published in
2 Letter to C. Golden, April 22, 1746.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 123
1746 a " System of Morality/' in two parts ; one treat-
ing of Ethics in a speculative aspect, and the other of
the practical duties that result from established truths.1
It was a useful and seasonable work, and received the
approbation of sober and thoughtful men. The fol-
lowing letter was written by one who, though he had
no sympathy with him in ecclesiastical matters, yet
respected his learning, and was himself, in his day, a
guiding mind among the theologians of New Eng-
land : —
REV. SIR, — I have read your new " System of Morality"
with a pleasure which I cannot easily express. You have
honored our country by this production of the most perfect
piece of Ethics, and in the best form, that I have seen in
any language, and I like it most in our own. I hope the
tutors in our academies may even with the greater advan-
tage read it to their pupils, show them the connection and
strength of every part of it, and the force. with which it
should enter their souls and abide there. For I think it
is strongly adapted to inform the mind and affect the heart ;
and under the blessing of the Holy Spirit to form both into
all the emotions of virtue and piety, in its connection with
and submission to the Sacred Scriptures, and the revelation
of Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness
to us sinners.
1 In 1743, a small 18mo volume was published, entitled An Introduction to the
Study of Philosophy, exhibiting a general view of all the arts and sciences, with a
" Catalogue of the most valuable books in the Library of Yale College, disposed
under proper heads." It was written by Johnson "for young men at the College,"
and was the second edition enlarged, the first having been published at London in
the Republic of Letters for May, 1731. At the end of what must have been the
original draught, dated October 5, 1730, he made a note: " This system did not
please me well and I drew another." The Catalogue was prepared by Rector Clap,
and in his advertisement, addressed to the students, he said: " The Introduction to
Philosophy will give you a general idea or scheme of all the arts and sciences, and
the several things which are to be known and learnt ; and the Catalogue will direct
you to many of the best books to be read, in order to obtain the knowledge of them.
And I would advise you, my pupils, to pursue a regular course of Academical studies
in some measure according to the order of this Catalogue."
124 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Yet, sir, I also freely own to you that your words, page
64, " of God's sending a glorious person under the character
of his own Son, who had an inexpressible glory with Him
before the world was ; " although enforced by the following
Scripture expressions, " the express image of his person, and
the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in Him bodily in his
incarnate state ; " seem not enough to me in honor of re-
vealed religion, the Holy Scriptures ; by which it is, Sir, that
our reason is illuminated and raised to such a gracious height ;
as that you, my honored brother, after the diligent study of
them for many years, have by their help and the assistance
of the blessed Inspirer of them (I am willing to add), been
enabled to write this correct and exalted book of Ethics.
Your own modesty will not permit you to blame me, if I
freely say, that none of the learned Heathen ever wrote to
this height, with like perspicuity, method, and enforcement
on conscience. It is the Christian Divine, after a diligent
search into the religion of Jesus, together with what the
masters of morality had wrote before his manifestation in
the flesh, or since that blessed day, who exhibits himself in
your treatise. And though I am too much a stranger now
to Mr. Wollaston's delineation of the Religion of Nature to
give my opinion of it, yet I persuade myself also that his
performance, praised as it has been by those that I highly
esteem, may stand also much indebted to his improvements
by Christianity.
Upon all Sir, to lay my whole intention before you in this
latter part of my letter, I request you to consider whether
those words : " a glorious person under the character of his
own Son in our nature, who had an imperishable glory with
Him before the world was," with what follows of Scripture
expressions in that pious paragraph, is sufficient to answer
unto the doctrine of the eternal Godhead of Christ, as it is
explained to us in the Athanasian Creed, daily read in your
worshipping congregations ?
This is the defect that occurs to me in the close of your
excellent treatise ; which yet I have not observed to any one
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 125
but yourself. And I hope, Sir, that this freedom, after the
high brotherly regards I have been expressing, will be can-
didly taken by you.
I ask your prayers for me in my age ; and wishing you
always the presence of God with you in your holy studies
and ministrations,
I am, Rev. Sir,
Your affec. brother and servant,
BENJ. COLMAN.
BOSTON, June 2, 1 746.
The answer was worthy of the subject and of the
man : —
June 12.
REV. SIB, — You needed not to make any apology or
beseech my candor for so very kind and obliging a letter as
you did me the favor to write of the 2d instant. The favor-
able opinion you express of that small piece of morals I
wrote, I wish it would pretend to deserve, and I am highly
obliged to you for the candor wherewith you read it, and the
brotherly kindness you express towards me.
But what I am particularly obliged to you for is that you
was so good as to point out to me the passage you mention
as what you apprehended liable to exception. This I take as
a smgular act of friendship, and what the rather deserves my
thankful acknowledgment as it comes from a gentleman of
your venerable age and character, and one to whom I had
never had the honor of being known. I apprehend, therefore,
that as I had the presumption to appear in public, your
kind aim was that nothing that I offer should be either
liable to misconstruction, or of any mischievous tendency to
the disadvantage of our common faith.
In answer, therefore, to your kind suggestion, I beg leave
to say, that, as I am sincerely tenacious of the Athanasian
Faith, so I beg those expressions may not be understood to
be inconsistent with it, but rather expressive of it as they
appear to me to be, and that you will do me the favor to as-
sure any gentlemen of this who may be apt to suspect me.
126 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
The only reason of my expressing myself as I did was, be-
cause I was not willing to meddle with anything contro-
versial, and therefore chose to confine myself to the language
of the Sacred Scriptures. However, if it were not too late,
I could wish one word were inserted which would put the
matter out of all ambiguity. I would express it thus : " Who
was truly God of God, and had inexpressible glory with Him
from all Eternity, before the world was," and I should be
highly obliged to you, if you will desire the printer (provided
it be not too late) to insert those words, Was truly Grod of
Crodfrom all Eternity, in their proper place. ,
I readily agree with you that even such an imperfect
sketch of morals as this could never have been beat out with-
out the help of Revelation, to which no doubt but Mr. Wol-
laston was also very much beholden ; and indeed I am of
opinion that those noble pieces of Epictetus, Antoninus, and
Hierocles, though they were not professed Christians, were
notwithstanding the better for the light which Christianity
had brought into the world, though they had it at second
hand ; which indeed might be the case with Seneca and
Tully before, and even Plato and Pythagoras, who in their
travels might pick up many notions which originally came
from the inspired prophets.
I again repeat my humblest thanks for your kind letter,
and especially for your prayer for me with which it concludes,
and beg the continuance of it ; and I earnestly pray to God
for you that He will be your shield and the staff of your age
while you continue here, and your exceeding great reward in
a better world hereafter.
I am, Rev. Sir, your most obliged, etc.
S. J.
Colman died the next year, and too soon to know
the success of the little work, whose author he had
so gracefully complimented. Eeference will be made
to a second edition of it in a future chapter.
Hebrew had been a favorite study with Johnson,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 127
but about this time, his philosophical and theological
readings led him to take a new interest in it and to
refresh and improve his critical knowledge. Lord
President Forbes' " Thoughts on Keligion and Letter
to a Bishop " fell in his way, and opened to him a
scene of study and inquiry both novel and interesting.
He found in this author an abridgment or summary
of the works of John Hutchinson, then attracting the
attention of the learned world. These he procured
and read, and considered again and again with the
utmost care and with the best helps which he could
command ; and " though in many things," to use his
own words, " he seemed to overdo and go into ex-
tremes, and his language was obscure, yet no man in
these last ages, ever appeared to have so laboriously
studied, and so thoroughly understood the Hebrew
language and antiquities, as Mr. Hutchinson." Some
of his translations were forced and unnatural, and his
criticisms were not all just. It grieved Johnson that
he should hurt his own cause by censuring bitterly
the great name of Sir Isaac Newton, and representing
him and others as no better than atheists who re-
nounced Christianity ; and he could not be pleased
with his harsh treatment of the Jewish Rabbis, what-
ever defects in their character might be proved. But
still Hutchinson appeared to him to be a " prodigious
genius," little inferior, if not superior to Sir Isaac
himself, and to have established several very impor-
tant philosophical and theological principles. He
wrote to his friend John Berriman in London to know
more about him and the estimation in which he was
held, and the answer which he received was not very
flattering to his cultured mind : " Mr. Hutchinson, I
128 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
never saw in my life but once ; he had rather the ap-
pearance of a plowman than a philosopher. He was
not bred to learning ; but by the leisure he enjoyed,
while he was steward to the Duke of Richmond, he
found means to attain a good measure of knowledge in
the Hebrew tongue ; upon which he became so con-
ceited that he thought nobody knew anything of the
matter but himself; and those few that learned of him
to be so sharpsighted as to see in the Old Testament
the only true principles of philosophy, quite contrary
to the Newtonian, and clearer accounts of the Trinity
than are to be found in the New."
Johnson may have had the feeling to which Jones
of Nayland gave expression in the preface to the
second edition of his life of Bishop Home, when,
speaking of the Hutchinsonian principles, he said :
" These things came down to us under the name of
John Hutchinson, a character sui generis, such as the
common forms of education could never have pro-
duced ; and it seems to me not to have been well ex-
plained, how and by what means he fell upon things,
seemingly so new and uncommon ; but we do not in-
quire whose they are, but what they are, and what
they are good for. If the tide had brought them to
shore in a trunk, marked with the initials J. H., while
I was walking by the sea-side, I would have taken them
up, and kept them for use ; without being solicitous
to know what ship they came out of, or how far, and
how long they had been floating at the mercy of the
wind and the waves. If they should get from my
hands into better hands, I should rejoice ; being per-
suaded they would revive in others the dying flame
i MS. Letter, June 19, 1T47.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 129
of Christian faith, as they did in Bishop Home and
myself."
A correspondence, chiefly upon philosophical sub-
jects, was carried on for some time between Johnson
and Cadwallader Golden, afterwards Lieutenant-gov-
ernor of the Province of New York. Golden was the
son of a Scotch divine, and finished a course of studies
at the University of Edinburgh, and devoted himself
to medicine and mathematics. While yet a young
man, he emigrated to America and finally settled in
New York, where he was appointed the first surveyor-
general of the lands of the Colony, and at the same
time master in chancery. His botanical and medical
essays were numerous ; but the work upon which he
bestowed the most labor was first published under
the title of the " Cause of Gravitation," and then en-
larged and printed with the title of the " Principles
of Action in Matter," to which was added a " Trea-
tise on Fluxions." Among his correspondents were
such distinguished characters of the time as Linnaeus,
Gronovius, and Franklin. His letters to Johnson are
full of the principles involved in his chief work, and in
one of them he said : "I am now printing something
on the subject of material agents, which I hope may
be of use to enlarge our knowledge in moral philoso-
phy. I print only so many copies as may submit it to
the examination of the learned. As soon as it shall
be printed, it will kiss your hands for that purpose."
Johnson directed his attention to the philosophy of
Berkeley, and sent him some of his productions, as
the following letter will show : —
COLDENGHAM, March 26, 1744.
SIR, — I now take this opportunity, by Mr. Watkins, to
9
130 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
return you my hearty thanks with the books you were
pleased to send me. As to the Bishop's " New Theory of
Vision," I think he has explained some things better than
had been done before, but as to the main design he labors
at, I cannot say that I comprehend it. I allow that the
object which reflects light is not in a proper sense the ob-
ject of vision, no more than a bell or any other sounding body
is the object of the sense of hearing, and yet I think we may
without much impropriety say that we see or hear a bell
as well as that we feel it, though it be certain that the
bell is not the immediate object of the senses of seeing and
hearing, as it is of the sense of feeling, and that it is only
from reasoning and experience that we form the concep-
tion of the same objects affecting all the senses. If his
sentiments do not differ from this conception of the matter,
then I must look on a great part of his books to contain
a most subtle disputation about the use of words. If his
sentiments be different, I can form no conception of them.
His mistake in the " Analyst," in my opinion, may be made
very apparent, that he does not understand the doctrine of
Infinites or Fluxions, as received by mathematicians, and
this I think I can demonstrate. I formerly had illustrated
the principles of that doctrine in writing, in order to assist
my own imagination in forming a regular and true concep-
tion of it.
Since I received that book from you I have carefully re-
examined what I had formerly wrote, and am so far from
finding any defect in what was formerly clear to me, that I
think I clearly see his error, that he has no conception of the
principles of that doctrine. If you have a curiosity to be
satisfied in this, I will send you a copy of my paper. It is
contained in about two sheets of paper.
I assume the liberty always to be allowed in philosophi/-
ing to differ from any man without disrespect or disregard
to his character, as I now do with respect to Bishop Berke-
ley, whose merit is very conspicuous, and whom I highly
esteem. I am sir, your humble servant,
CADWALLADER GOLDEN.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 131
In replying, Johnson as usual defended his friend
and favorite author, and said : " I am much obliged
to you for the observations you have made upon
Bishop Berkeley's pieces that I sent you. I take it that
the great design of that gentleman in what he wrote
was to banish scholasticism, and all talk without any
meaning, out of philosophy, which, you very well
know, has been the bane of science in all other parts
of learning, as well as in religion and morality." He
did not claim to be competent to understand all his
reasonings : " As to his mathematical pieces," said he,
" I confess I am not versed enough in the sublime
mathematics to be a judge of them, and so cannot
pronounce on this subject. I am very loth to give
you the trouble of transcribing, otherwise I should
have a great curiosity to see what you have wrote
upon it, in order that I might make a better judg-
ment ; but this is too great a favor for me to ask."
In another letter of later date he showed his inde-
pendent thinking, and confessed : "• Your notions of
prescience and liberty are entirely agreeable to the
apprehensions I have of those matters ; nor could any-
thing have been expressed better, nor can the greatest
authority in the world induce me to think otherwise.
You knew good Dr. Turner's works. He takes for his
motto : Nullius in verba. It is a very good one ; and
for the same reason, though I have a profound vener-
ation for Mr. Locke and Sir Isaac Newton, yet I will
not be determined by their authority, nor by their
reasons, any further than I can see for myself. I am
not attached to Hutchinson. Sir Isaac was doubtless
very exact; but no wonder if even he, in matters
very abstruse, should sometimes be mistaken ; nor is
132 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
it less to be wondered at, if this should be the case
now with Bishop Berkeley, though I cannot but think
him one of the first men of the age. I have lately
read his " Siris," and have desired Mr. Nicholls to
send it you, if he can consistent with his engage-
ments with Mr. Franklin, of whom he was so obliging
as to borrow it for me. Be it so that there may be
some things in it that may be thought fictitious, yet I
cannot but wish I had your opinion upon the philo-
sophical part of it."
Golden paid his respects to Bishop Berkeley's
" Treatise on Tar Water," and published his reflec-
tions by themselves, " which " said he, " turned out
to the benefit of the printer." But in his corre-
spondence with Johnson his pen ran chiefly upon
mental and moral philosophy ; and the several letters
which passed between them serve to illustrate as
much the character of the one as the other : —
COLDENGHAM, June 2, 1746.
REVEREND Sra, — I now desire Mr. Nicholls to send
you a copy of the " Treatise " which I mentioned to you in
my last. In it you will find my thoughts on some things
which were the subject of your last to me by the Rev. Mr.
Watkins. One thing I am desirous to be more fully in-
formed of from you, how consciousness and intelligence be-
come essential to all agents that act from a power in them-
selves. As to my own part, I do not perceive the necessary
connection between power or force and intelligence or con-
sciousness. We may certainly in a thousand objects of our
senses discover power and force without perceiving any intel-
ligence in them. And though this power or force should be
only apparent and the consequence or effect of some other
primary cause, yet I am certainly to be excused in my think-
ing it real till it appear otherwise to me, as I believe every
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 133
man is to be excused who does not understand astronomy,
and thinks that the sun moves, and this opinion cannot in
any proper sense be called an absurdity in him.
In the next place I must beg you will give me a definition
of matter, or of any other being merely passive, without any
power or force or action. Such a being I cannot conceive,
and therefore as to me does not exist.
You will oblige me exceedingly by giving your opinion of
the printed " Treatise " or of any part of it without reserve.
For my design only is to discover and be assured of the truth.
You will find by some parts of that piece that though I have
the greatest esteem of Sir Isaac Newton's knowledge and
performances, I take the liberty to differ from him in some
points. That man never existed who never erred. As I
have a great esteem of your judgment, I am very desirous to
have your opinion of what I send as soon as may be with
your conveniency, and thereby you will very much oblige,
Sir, your most humble servant,
CADWALLADEB, GOLDEN.
June 19.
Sm, — I now return you my hearty thanks for yours of
the 2d instant, and especially for your kind present that ac-
companied it. It is my sincere opinion of it that it is a very
ingenious piece, and the result of much and deep thought.
There is one thing in it that I am much pleased with, which
is, that you make the resistance of what you call matter to
be an action deriving from a self-exerting principle. This I
take to be a point of very great importance and use, both in
physics and metaphysics as well as in religion. All the odds
between you and me is, that you imagine matter to be a self-
exerting principle, whereas I suppose matter to be a mere
passive thing, and if it is spirit pervading and agitating all
things, that is one principle of action according to Virgil's
philosophy : mens agitat molem, etc., which though it be the
most ancient notion, I believe is nevertheless true ; and that
elasticity and gravitation or attraction and repulsion as well
134 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
as resistance, or what Sir Isaac calls vis inertice, and perhaps
several others, are so many various exertions of the one self-
exerting active principle Who pervades all things, and in
Whom we live, move, and have our being.
Your attempt to assign the cause of gravitation appears
to me a curious dissertation, but I have hardly furniture and
force of mind enough to comprehend it, having for many
years discontinued these kind of studies, and indeed never
turned my thoughts that way so closely as I find you have
done. Your system seems to me pretty near of kin to Mr.
Hutchinson's, as far as I have had opportunity to be ac-
quainted with his from my Lord Forbes, but I believe you
have much outdone him in the exactness of your method and
methodical reasoning.
And now in answer to your candid inquiries, you ask me
how consciousness and intelligence become essential to all
agents that act from a power within themselves ? where, by a
power within themselves I take you to mean a principle of
activity belonging to their essence, and not either arbitrarily
annexed to them, or exerting itself in and by them. To
which I answer, a power of action without a principle of self-
exertion and activity, I can form no notion of, and a blind
power or principle of activity — were it possible — would be
so far from being of any use that it could be only mischiev-
ous in nature. In fact we find that all these motions and
consequently actions in nature are conformable to the wisest
laws and rules, ever aiming at some useful end or design, and
must therefore be under the management of a most wise and
designing principle, so that it seems to me repugnant to
place intelligence and activity in or derive them from different
principles ; for if you suppose a blind principle of action in
matter, you must still suppose it under the ever ruling force
of an intelligent and designing principle ; and as it is not the
part of a philosopher to multiply beings and causes without
necessity, it seems plain to me that we ought not to imagine
any other principle of action than the principle of intelli-
gence, which we know from our own soul in fact has, and in
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 135
nature must have, a power of self-exertion and activity. We
must come at it eventually in our inquiries, and I see not
how one can avoid admitting it immediately. I can find
nothing of activity in the idea of matter ; nothing but what
is merely passive, and therefore can only conceive it as a
mere passive instrument acted on by the one principle of in-
telligence and activity. Thus I say things appear to me, nor
can I with the utmost force of mind that my little capacity
will admit of, conceive of them any otherwise, but I submit
what I am about to advance on this subject to your better
judgment, and remain Sir,
Your most obliged friend and humble servant,
S. J.
A letter from Golden, dated November 19, 1746,
continued his speculative inquiries, and met very
emphatically the apprehension, reported to him by
Johnson, of one of the Fellows of Yale College, that
there was a " tendency in his system towards athe-
ism." This was a misfortune in his view which had
happened to all new discoveries in philosophy, and
after rejecting the thought that he was an enemy
to true religion, he proceeded to say : —
I shall add something on this occasion, in defense of my
system, that from it a certain proof may be given of the evi-
dence of spirits, or immaterial beings. For as in the idea of
all immaterial beings, quantity or shape or form is included,
and their actions are all divisible into degrees or quantities
of action ; the being from whence thinking proceeds cannot
be material, because no kind of quantity enters our concep-
tion thereof, neither can any kind of measure or division be
applied to it, so much as in imagination.
All allow that when God created matter, He gave it
some essential property ; otherwise there can be no essential
difference between matter and spirit, and why may not I say,
in my way of speaking, that God gave at the creation to dif-
136 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
ferent kinds of matter, different and distinct kinds of action.
As to my part, I can discover no kind of ill consequence in
the one more than in the other.
In answer to your demand of my opinion of Dr. Berkeley's
book " De Motu," I shall give it with the freedom requisite to
Philosophy. I think that the doctor has made the greatest
collection in this and his other performances, of indistinct
and indigested conceptions from the writings of both the an-
cients, and the moderns that I ever met with in any man's
performances ; that he has the art of puzzling and confound-
ing his readers in an elegant style not common to such kind
of writers ; and that he is as great an abuser of the use of
words as any one of those he blames most for that fault. I
hope you will pardon me for writing so freely of your friend,
and of so great a man. I do it with the less concern in
hopes thereby to provoke you to use the same freedom with
me. Compliments without sincerity spoil all philosophy.
I am so often interrupted at this time with business, and
which I wish I could avoid, that you must excuse the inco-
herence of this scrawl, and likewise that I say nothing on
the subject of your treatise. I will do it when I can apply
my thoughts to it in the manner you desire. I must still
stay some days on business in this place, which deprives me
of that pleasure which I had hoped to obtain in old age ; that
is, free thoughts and conversation with my friends on phi-
losophy.
The next letter contained the notice of the treatise
which Johnson had desired him to examine, and is
dated : —
COLDENGHAM, January, 27, 1746-7.
REV. Sin, — In my last I told you how much I had been
involved in the public affairs, that I had not been able to
consider your new System of Morality with the attention
which I designed to give to the reading of it, and which it
truly deserves. Nothing has been a greater injury to true
religion than the pretenses that some people have set up
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 137
that religion is not the object of the understanding, but is
merely founded on authority, for in such case it could not
with any propriety be designed for the use of an intelligent
being, and there are no means left to distinguish between
true and false Religion when we are not allowed to use our
understanding in forming our judgment, and the false may
set up as strong pretenses to authority as the true, and in
fact always does.
You have by your performance clearly evinced the con-
trary of this, that true religion is founded on the reason or
nature of things, and you have shown this in a manner
adapted to common capacities and the commonly received
conceptions, which makes it more generally useful and the
more valuable.
I have considered the same in my own Principles of Nat-
ural Philosophy, and I have done this for two reasons : viz.
thereby to remove some metaphysical objections which you
made to my principles, and which I hope by this method to
remove more easily than by a direct answer ; the other
reason is in hopes to give you some hints which may per-
haps be of use to you in reconsidering your subject, as you
tell me that you intend to publish a second edition of that
work. I hope you will give me your sentiments with the
same freedom that you see I write to you, and thereby I shall
judge that the freedom I take is not disagreeable to you.
I have no other view but truth, and for that reason I shall
myself be more obliged by having my mistakes shown to
me than by any applause. I am, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
CADWALLADER, GOLDEN.
Johnson waited nearly three months, and then re-
turned the following answer : —
April 15.
SIR, — I have been so much taken up of late in several
journeys and various other affairs, that this must be my
apology for not sooner answering your kind letter of Jan.
27. Your beautiful little draught of the first principles of
138 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
morality is what I have been very much pleased with ; I
have read it with attention three times, and every time with
a fresh increase of pleasure, and I now at length return my
hearty thanks for it, and for the candor you express towards
the piece I had the presumption to publish. You have in
this little piece of yours made such an easy, gradual, and nat-
ural progress from physics to metaphysics, and from thence
to morality, as is very pleasing to the mind ; and I think, if
I rightly apprehend, you have now so explained yourself that
we do not much differ, and what difference yet remains I be-
lieve is but merely verbal. My chief objection was against
your using the term action as expressing anything in matter,
which I take to be a mere passive thing, and that action
cannot in strict propriety of speaking be attributed to it ; for
which reason that expression still grated upon my mind till
I came to your 7th section, in which, when you come to ex-
plain the difference between spirit and body, you say " the
actions of the latter are altered by efficient causes always
external to themselves."
This seems evidently to conclude what I would be at, and
that at the bottom we think alike, viz. that when we speak
of matter and the action of it we use that word for want of
a better, in a sense rather figurative than literal, and un-
derstand it in a vulgar sense rather than a sense that is
strictly philosophical, [as we] do the rising and setting of
the sun. So we may call writing the action of the pen, when
it is only in reality merely acted [on] , and consequently that
by the action of matter you do not mean any exertion of its
own, much less a designed conscious self-exertion which al-
ways enters into my notion of efficient causes ; and that there-
fore when you say it is determined by the (exertion I would
say of) efficient causes always external to itself, those efficient
causes must always be self-exerting and intelligent beings
i. e., spirits, which therefore only are properly agents, and
consequently that all the actions in all nature that affect our
senses and excite ideas in our minds are really the actions
of that Great Supreme Almighty Being or Spirit whom you
call (25) the soul of the universe.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 139
I do not, with Sir Isaac in § 9, quite like that expres-
sion. It may however be admitted, if it means that He
animates and governs the world as the soul does the body,
which is merely passive to it : it is so far right, — He
being in this sense the natural Governor of the natural
world ; but this seems not sufficient unless you also conceive
Him as the moral Governor of the intelligent or moral world,
rewarding or punishing men according as they behave, —
which is what I would apprehend you to mean by the real
words.
You say very truly, § 9, We have no idea of matter ; by
which it is plain that by matter you mean something
that is not the object either of our senses or minds. Of
what use then is it in philosophy? Why may we not
wholly drop it, and do as well without it, perhaps much
better, and suppose what you call the action of it to be the
action of that Almighty Spirit in whom we live, move, and
have our being, and consider all nature as being the glorious
system of his incessant exertions and operations, with which
by his own action governed by fixed rules of his most wise
establishment called the laws of nature, He perpetually and
with endless variety of objects affects our senses and minds
This will sufficiently account for everything, whereas mattet
whereof we have no idea, can account for nothing.
You use the expression, §§ 20 and 21, During the time oj
our existence, which sounds as though it was to have a po
riod with this Vain life. This I cannot suppose your mean-
ing (and therefore might perhaps be better left out), because
I apprehend you must think it evident from the wisdom, jus
tice, and goodness of God, compared with that excellent nature
He has given us, that we must be designed for nobler ends
than can be answered by our existence only in this short, un-
certain, and troublesome life. Thus, Sir, I have used the free-
dom you desire, and which I doubt not you will take in the
same good part, and with the same pleasure as I do yours,
and always shall. I am glad to find by your " Gazette " that
you are at last resolved to have a College in your Gov-
140 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
eminent. This is what I doubt not you have much at heart,
and I heartily wish success to it, and shall be glad to cor-
respond with you in anything in my little power that may
tend to promote it, and wish it may take effect speedily
that you may not suffer the Jersey College (which will be a
fountain of nonsense) to get ahead of it.
I am, Sir, etc. S. J.
The business of his official position crowded upon
him, and Golden found little leisure to pursue his fa-
vorite speculations, but he wrote again to Johnson
in answer to the foregoing letter, and then there ap-
pears to have been for a short time a suspension of
their correspondence : —
NEW YORK, May 18th, 1747.
REV. SIR, — Yours of the 15th of last month, in which
you express some satisfaction in the little rude sketch I
sent you on the first principles of morality, gave me a good
deal of pleasure, though I cannot be fully clear that either
of us has received clear conceptions of the other's thoughts.
But in the first place I must thank you for your taking no-
tice of some expressions in my paper liable to exceptions. I
own they are justly so, but as what I wrote was only for
your private amusement, and to obtain your opinion on my
thoughts, I did not much attend to the accuracy of expres-
sion.
I did not think ot the old opinion of the soul of the world
when I wrote that paragraph. My design was only to avoid
all expressions which could raise any idea of matter or cor-
poreity, as the word spirit in its natural signification is apt
to do, and for that reason only I made use of the words soul
or mind. Please then to put in their place infinitely Intelli-
gent Being. It was by the same inadvertency the words, —
During the time of our existence, were made use of, and I
am obliged to you for the correction which you have made
of them.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 141
But now to come to the matter itself, I cannot have any
idea of anything merely passive or without any kind of
action. I can have no idea of a mere negative, and since,
as I observed, all our ideas of everything external to us must
arise from the actions of those things on our minds, every-
thing of which we have any idea must be active. This is
my fundamental argument, to which I suspect you have not
given sufficient attention ; and from whence I conclude that
all matter is active. You seem likewise not to have alluded
to the distinction which I make between the substance and
the action of that substance. We have no idea of the sub-
stance of intelligent Beings, as little as of material. We have
only ideas of their actions. Or the ideas are the effects of
their actions on our minds. But, Sir, if you attribute all
action immediately to that Almighty Spirit in whom we live,
move, and have our Being, all nature (as you say) being a sys-
tem of his incessant exertions, etc., I do not see how anything
or action can be morally evil in a proper sense, and the
foundation of morality seems merely to be sapped. It
seems to be a kind of Spinozism in other words. But as
this is inconsistent with the whole tenor and end of your
treatise I can only conclude that I have not been able to form
any conception of the first principles of your and Dr. Berke-
ley's system of Philosophy. I am afraid you will find me
of a much duller apprehension than you at first imagined,
and that if you are willing to make me understand your
system, it will give you more trouble than perhaps any-
thing, that can be expected from me on the subject, can de-
serve.
The public affairs have employed my time so much that
I cannot write more fully at this time on this or any other
subject, and I must desire that the same excuse may serve
for my not answering your letter sooner. But if you be at
more leisure, a line or two from you will be exceedingly
agreeable to me, that I may know whether I have been so
lucky as to explain anything to your satisfaction, or to free me
from my mistakes. I hope soon to be freed from these clogs
142 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
to the pleasantest amusement in old age, and to have time to
show how much I am, Sir,
Your most obliged humble servant,
CADWALLADER GOLDEN.
June 7.
SIR, — Could you be sensible of the manner of life I am
obliged to live, I should have little occasion to make any
apology for my being so long before I answer your obliging
letters, and especially your last of May 13, for which I now
return you my sincerest thanks ; or for my incorrectness of
expression when I do write, which doubtless is the chief occa-
sion of my not being clearly understood, as well as of my not
sufficiently attending to what you write. For my case is
not altogether dissimilar to that of the great Apostle, partic-
ularly in being in journeyings often and in perils among false
brethren.
I am entirely satisfied and well pleased with the amend-
ments you allow me to make in the ingenious draught you
were so good as to send me of your notion of the first princi-
ples of morality ; with which it now runs clearly to my mind
and is equally pleasing to my friends here, to whom I have
communicated it. As for the incidental turn I made upon
an expression of yours in favor of Bp. Berkeley's system,
I was little more than jocular on that occasion, being not
dogmatically tenacious of his peculiar sentiments, much less
zealous of making you a proselyte to them. I would how-
ever observe that you have made a considerable approach
towards them, at least as far as I am concerned to wish you
to do, particularly in your allowing that all our ideas of sen-
sible things are the effects of the actions of something ex-
ternal to our minds, and that even resistance is an action.
Your supposing an active medium which you call matter in-
tervening between the action of the Deity and our minds
perceiving, to which they are immediately passive, though I
am not clear in it, does not affect me so long as you allow
all action throughout all sensible nature to derive originally
from Him.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 143
I doubt I expressed myself sometimes uncouthly, at least
very incorrectly, otherwise you would not have inferred from
what I wrote that I attributed " all action immediately to
the Almighty Spirit." I meant only all the actions in sen-
sible nature only, or which produce in our minds the ideas of
sense and imagination ; but I was far from meaning that
there are no other actions besides those of the Deity. For
this would be in effect to deny or doubt whether there be
any other Beings besides Him and our ideas. This would
sap the foundation of morality sure enough, and would be at
least as bad as Spinozism. Bp. Berkeley any more than I,
never doubted of the existence or actions of other inferior
created spirits, free agents and subject to moral government.
All he contends for is that there are no other than two
sorts of beings, the one active the other passive, — that spirit,
the Deity, and created intelligence alone are the active beings,
and the objects of sense alone are merely passive ; and that
there is no active medium intervening between the actions of
the Deity and our minds whom He has made to be percep-
tive and self-active Beings. These I take to be the first
principles of his system. But however at a loss you may
be about his peculiar system, there is a very pretty book pub-
lished in England in 1745, called " Dialogues Concerning
Education," being a plan for training up the youth of both
sexes in learning and virtue, which I have lately seen, and
long to have you read ; and in which I don't doubt we should
perfectly agree. I have recommended it to Mr. Shatford of
New York to procure several copies, and do not think we
could put a better thing into the hands of our children. It
is the prettiest thing in its kind, and the best system both
in physical, metaphysical, and moral philosophy I have ever
seen.
Dr. Johnson had two sons ; the birth of the elder
has been already given, and that of the other — Wil-
liam— took place March 9, 1731. He saw as their
intellects opened, that if they had such an education
144 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
as he desired for them, it would be necessary for him
to give his personal attention to it, and carry them
through the preliminary course, and " that it might
be the more agreeable to them to have companions,
he took several gentlemen's sons of New York and
Albany." When the youngest was born he wrote in
his private diary : " 0 God, I give this child as well
as the other to Thee. Bless them both," and " let
me live to see them well educated and engaged in
Thy service." At the age of about thirteen they
were each admitted to the lowest class in Yale Col-
lege, but " it was a great damage to them," said the
father " that they entered so young, and that when
they were there, they had so little to do, their class-
mates being so far behind them." He regretted that
he had not taught them Hebrew before they entered ;
a study which they could not pursue in College, as
there was no competent teacher. William Samuel,
the eldest, received the degree of B. A. in 1744, and
was the single " scholar of the house," for that year,
to whom was adjudged the premium under the bounty
of Dean Berkeley. He chose the law for his profes-
sion, and in the last week of May, 1747, he took a
journey to Boston, that he might attend a few Lec-
tures, be present at the Commencement, and admitted
a Master of Arts in Harvard University.
Some external preparation for the occasion appears
to have been necessary, since he wrote to his father
from Cambridge that he had spoken for a wig and could
not have one under ,£10 ; everything being " mon-
strously dear." The cost of his degree exceeded his
expectations : " Commencement is now over " said he,
" and I have taken a Degree which cost me <£8 ; four
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 145
of which I was unwilling to pay, but the Corporation
appointed the charge when they granted my request,
and it was then too late to hesitate about it."
The letters which passed between the father and
the son at this time are full of affection, and because
it was the turning point in the son's life, the most
important of them deserve a place in this connection.
He had reported his pleasant journey and safe arrival,
and given some account of the old friends of his
father, — Dr. Cutler and Mr. Caner,1 — as well as his
inclinations about a profession and his desire to be
governed by the paternal counsels, before he penned
the following letter : —
HONORED SIR, — When I wrote last it was in great haste,
and only that you might just know that I was well. Since
which I have met with nothing very remarkable. The
small-pox, which, when I wrote first, I informed you was in
town, is now only in the pest-house, and there only one negro
has it, so that there is now no danger. The gentleman also,
I tjien mentioned, is since taken up and buried ; he was
found with his money and watch about him, and therefore 'tis
thought was not murdered as was suspected. It proved to
be the gentleman from London. He was son to a Deacon of
Dr. Guise's Church, of a fine fortune, and came recommended
to Dr. Colman, who never saw him but once. He preached
a sermon about it last Sunday, and told them that the last
was the most afflicting week that he ever endured.
About ,£40 of the money I brought with me was of the
Rhode Island last emission, and consequently of no use here,,
for it is ,£50 fine to tender it to any one. What I mention it for
is because I got Captain Prince to change it, and he expects
that you will indemnify him, if the law prohibiting the bills
of the neighboring colonies (which we hear our Assembly is
1 Rev. Henry Caner, long his neighbor over the Church at Fairfield, Conn., had
recently been made Rector of King's Chapel Boston.
10
146 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
about to enact) should take place before he gets home. If
it should, I believe you must repay him and send it down to
me if you have an opportunity, that I may exchange it at
Newport on my return home.
The precepts you gave me in your letter are excellent, and
the method you prescribe is no doubt the best ; for I find by
experience that vice is not to be reasoned with, but the temp-
tation to it to be avoided, and none is there greater than that
of bad company. It is almost impossible to associate with ill
men and not sometimes do as they do, and even though we do
not, yet their converse leaves a stain upon the mind which it
is very difficult to get rid of. For this reason it shall be, as
you advise, my greatest concern to avoid them, and chief care
not to consent with them in their wickedness.
It is the greatest desire of my soul to be useful to mankind,
but the difficulty is to determine in what way ; for as we
must necessarily be confined to some one kind of business or
profession for a subsistence, so I think every man ought to
choose that which is most agreeable to his dispositions and
abilities, for in that he is most likely to succeed ; and here it
seems that what is really the best profession, in itself con-
sidered, is out of the question, but the point is what is best
for this or that particular man. For as it is impossible that
all men can live by any one profession, though it be really
the best, so the Wisdom of Heaven has almost infinitely
diversified the dispositions and powers of men, that they may
not only follow but also delight in the different pursuits of
life ; and he I take it as much answers the end of his being
who adorns a lower as he who fills a higher station of life,
provided he is apparently calculated for it, and, therefore, it
seems I must consider not in what profession the greatest
good may be done to mankind, but in what station I, with
these dispositions, these abilities and acquirements which I
possess, am most likely to serve them ; for where there is one
that succeeds in an employment for which he is not calcu-
lated there are thousands that fail.
You may perhaps think from that warmth and eagerness of
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 147
temper which is natural to me, that I am for rushing into life
and business hand over head without due deliberation and
forecast. But in this you are really mistaken, for I am fully
sensible that all my future happiness in life depends upon
my taking a right course ; so I have employed my most seri-
ous and intense thought upon it for this long time past, and
have endeavored so far as I am able to consider everything
relating to it, and to view my case, in every possible light I
could place it. But I am resolved to do nothing rashly, yet I
think it is high time for me to have some particular business
in view, and to be qualifying myself for it. And as I chiefly
and above all (under the conduct of Heaven) depend upon
your advice, direction, and approbation in this most important
case, so I hope you will be prepared when I come home to
give me your last and best advice in the affair, that I may
earnestly apply myself more immediately to fit myself for
business. And pray, Sir, consider the distinction I mentioned
above, and consider not what profession is best in itself (for
if I am not fit for it, that must be the very worst of all for
me), but what is best for me such as I am. We cannot un-
make ourselves. "We may correct but can never eradicate
the first principles of our constitution either in body or mind.
I know and am fully persuaded you would do what to you
appears best for me in every case, and you know my temper,
dispositions, abilities, etc. as well, perhaps better than I do
myself ; therefore, Sir, consider these and direct me to a
course .of life that is suitable for me ; for by this means, and
by the practice of virtue in such a course, I apprehend it is
most likely I may become an instance of the generis humani
debitio, and an instrument of doing all the good I am capable
of among this degenerate race, and may best secure both my
temporal and eternal interest
I am, honored Sir,
Your most dutiful son and humble servant,
WM. SAML JOHNSON.
CAMBRIDGE, June 13, 1747.
148 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
STRATFORD, June 23, 1747.
DEAREST SON, — I thank you for yours of the 13th, and
am glad to find the small-pox is not likely to spread. That
is a very melancholy story you tell of the young gentleman,
and must come with a most shocking force to his poor
father's ears, whom every human breast must tenderly com-
passionate, though perhaps the less, if what I heard be true,
that that idle passion called love was the occasion of it, on
account of which, it being unequal, he forced him away. I
conclude the affair of the Rhode Island money need give us
no concern, since though Prince told me of his changing it,
he said nothing further about it.
I am extremely well pleased with the remarks you make
on the advice I gave you about the inf ectiousness of vice and
the great danger of bad company, and the resolution you ex-
press to be upon the strictest guard, which I pray God you
may steadfastly abide by ; and remember that that loose,
weak, inconstant humor, abusively called Free Thinking, is
equally infectious with vice, of which it is always either a
cause or an effect, or most commonly both. I hope, therefore,
you will be no less upon your guard against that, and any
conversations leading to it, especially those of the ludicrous
kind, which can be no more reasoned with than vice itself,
or the most violent temptation to it. And as I doubt not
but the infidelity of this wicked age is chiefly occasioned by
an unbounded self-conceit and the unconstrained indulgence
of lust, I would particularly recommend it to you above all
things to be clothed with humility and to flee youthful lust.
I am also equally well pleased with the reflections you
make upon the subject of making a wise choice of a course
of life wherein to be useful to mankind. They are very just.
If a man is not pleased with the business he follows, it cannot
.be expected he will succeed in it. For which reason I have
always resolved as far as possible to indulge your inclinations,
though at the expense of my own, for I am so much con-
cerned, if possible, that you may be happy, that I should
gladly undergo a great deal of uneasiness rather than stand
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 149
in the way of it : riay, I have said, though I could never en-
joy myself if you should follow war, yet I would rather sub-
rait to that, than that you should not be able to enjo.y your-
self well in some other calling.
But with regard to the question before us, I agree with
you, that in choosing a course of life much allowance must
be made to one's natural genius and inclination. Genuine
nature must always be consulted. Notwithstanding which, I
cannot quite agree with you in saying that what is really the
best profession in itself considered is out of the question.
Methinks it ought by all means to be taken into considera-
tion with other things, in order to make a just judgment how
to steer. If indeed it is plainly humoris impair, or one has
an unconquerable aversion to it as a business of life, as I
have for husbandry (though a great opinion of it), it must
be doubtless a duty to choose rather some other course. But
if I am equally qualified for that with another, perhaps better,
and have only some little reluctances and misgivings, I ought
in that case, for the sake of the superior intrinsic excellency
and usefulness, to set my reason to work to conquer those re-
luctances if possible. And I know by experience, agreeable
to what you allow, that the nature cannot be eradicated yet
it may be corrected ; that what one has no genius for, and
even a reluctance to, may by dint of resolution and applica-
tion be rendered not only tolerable but even delightful, as
was my case with regard to Mathematics.
You are, my son, and I bless God for it, by genius and
ability equally qualified to shine either in the pulpit, at the
bar, or at arms. As to the last, I hope that is now at least
in a great measure out of the question. And as to the two
former, I shall for my part be entirely easy whichsoever you
choose, though I prefer the first, for which you are already
so well qualified that you can well afford to spend a year or
two in making a trial of the study of Law, which would by
no means be lost time, if you should afterwards quit it for
Divinity. On the other hand, if you like it you may abide
by it.
150 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
You say well (as being so young you well may), that you
are not for rushing suddenly into life. And as you can spare
yet three or four years to consider and qualify yourself, I doubt
not but by that time you may begin in either of those profes-
sions with good advantage. Meantime assure yourself it is
my daily and earnest prayer both for you and your brother
not only that you may be duly qualified, but also directed to
such a choice of business for life as may enable you to do
God the greatest honor and mankind the greatest good you
are capable of, and at the same time, in the best manner to
enjoy yourselves here, and be qualified for the most ample re-
ward hereafter. And to my prayers I shall willingly add my
best advice and endeavors, and I am glad you have opened
the way to a particular and free correspondence and conver-
sation upon these subjects, and would wish you always to
converse with me in the freest and most unreserved manner
upon any subject that may be of importance to you, nay even
upon the choice of a companion as well as a business for life,
as occasion may offer. For there is nothing pleases me better
than a decent, open, and unreserved freedom. You will make
allowance for the extreme haste of my writing. It is now
half an hour past 12, and high time to break up, so I con-
clude. With our hearty love to you,
Dear son,
Your most tender and affectionate father,
S. JOHNSON.
The answer to this letter caused the father to write
another with more advice about plans %for the future ;
and he addressed it to his son at Guilford, where he
would stop on his return to visit relations. It closed
the correspondence, and nothing more was needed to
fix him in the choice of a profession : —
STRATFORD, July 7, 1747.
DEAR SON, — I do not now write to you as at Boston,
having been informed you was to leave it this week. How-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 151
ever as writing rather than speaking may be most agreeable
to you on some of the subjects of your letter, I send this to
meet you on the road.
Methinks you are rather too severe upon that instance of
human frailty which is called Love. I believe there are
few of us without some tincture of distraction, and I take
that to be a species of it, which, in some degrees, of which
there have been many instances, deserves as great a compas-
sion and tenderness as any other kind of distraction, it being
sometimes equally impossible even for a good genius to be
master of himself in that case, as in any other case of distrac-
tion, which makes it a matter of great importance with re-
gard to that, as well as other dangers, to think much of the
Apostle's aphorism, Let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall.
I am pleased with the declaration you make of your sense
and resolution about Free Thinking. Indeed I have thought
(nor am I yet secure) that you are in too much danger of it,
I mean in the bad sense ; instances of which, you complain
you have met with. But it is rather too cold an expression
you use, that the more you know of this humor the less you
esteem it. This seems to imply as if you had had too much of
a favor for it, and upon the experience and observations you
have had opportunity to make of it, I should hope you might
have said, the more you know of it the more you abhor it.
You suspect my tenderness may carry me too far. It may
have been so in some instances. It is a pardonable esteem,
for which I hope you know how to make allowances. But
give me leave to say, that there is at least as great a danger
in youth of being too secure and self -sufficient ; and, in con-
sequence of that, of thinking too hardly of the caution and
anxiety of age, and being not sufficiently sensible of the great
advantage which age has of youth, in having gone through a
long course of experience, and having had larger opportuni-
ties of trial, both of the treachery of a tempting world, and of
the instability and deceitfulness of the heart of man, — our
own as well as that of others ; and consequently of the great
152 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
dangers to which youth is particularly exposed, and of which
it is not sufficiently aware.
I did not allege the case of Mathematics, as being at all
concerned with choosing a course of life (as you seem to un-
derstand me), but only as a case, wherein a choice being made
of any pursuit, even though somewhat against the grain, a
resolute practice and application might, as I experienced, ren-
der it not only tolerable but even delightful.
Perhaps it is only the knowledge of yourself as you now
are, in the heat of youth, that makes you apprehensive that
you are not well calculated for Divinity (of which you give
so just an encomium). I doubt not but with a careful man-
agement of yourself, you will in a few years grow more se-
date, and your taste may much alter. However, as you pro-
fess that you have no notion of hurrying into life, you will
do well to study law industriously two or three years. I
would only observe, that so far as temper and disposition and
conduct in life are concerned, such a management of them as
is necessary to make a good Christian will be equally consist-
ent with being a divine ; and if you should not follow divin-
ity as your profession, I beg to depend that your conduct be
such as would be an ornament to it, and that you so order
your manner of life, as vastly more to serve than disserve
that cause ; much less would I fear as you seem to do, that
if you were a divine you should do more hurt than good
to it.
You abhor the thought of making a woman unhappy, i. 0.,
in matrimony, or a family miserable. You are very right in
this, and I hope I may take this as a good omen that you are
resolute (and then you will succeed in it) so to act your part
in life, as will not fail by God's blessing to make all those
happy in a good measure to whom you may ever be related.
And I would hope the same tenderness for that tender and
unwary sex will always make you equally careful while you
are in a state of celibacy to guard against anything that may
have the least tendency to make any of them miserable, which
often proves the effect of a frequent intercourse with them
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 153
when no thoughts of anything further than mere conversation
are intended. This is an affair of great tenderness, and has
occasioned in time past a great deal of grief to me, and were
I to go over life again I would never frequently or much con-
verse with a person I had not even remote thoughts of mak-
ing a partner in life, or when I was in no condition for it.
You say you are not worth a farthing, etc. It is true you
are not in possession, but whenever you are disposed to settle
yourself, I can spare you 2,000 pounds worth of lands to dis-
pose of for that purpose, and hope in God's time I may leave
you at least as much more. Meantime, I am,
Your most affectionate father,
S. JOHNSON.
In the year 1749 a project was set on foot to estab-
lish a college at Philadelphia, and several gentlemen
of the first rank in the province gave it their sup-
port. One of this number was the celebrated Benja-
min Franklin, who drew up and published the original
proposals for erecting the English, Latin, and Math-
ematical schools of the institution under the name of
an Academy, " which was considered as a very proper
foundation on which to raise something further at a
future period if these should be successful." He con-
sulted Dr. Johnson, for whose opinion on such mat-
ters he had the highest respect, about the plan of
education ; and was very urgent to get him to assume
the Presidency, and for this purpose, in company with
another gentleman, visited him at Stratford. A sim-
ilar movement was begun about the same time in
New York, and Johnson, in writing to his fast friend,
Bishop Berkeley, desired his good offices and " advice
upon the undertaking." The following letter in reply
was inclosed to Dr. Franklin, that he might have the
benefit of the suggestions and thoughts which it con-
tained : —
154 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
CLOYNE August 23, 1749.
REV. SIR, — I am obliged for the account you have sent
ine of the prosperous estate of learning in your College of
New Haven. I approve of the regulations made there, and
am particularly pleased to find your sons have made such a
progress as appears from their elegant address to me in the
Latin tongue. It must indeed give me a very sensible satis-
faction to hear that my weak endeavors have been of some
use and service to that part of the world. I have two letters
of yours at once on my hands to answer, for which business
of various kinds must be my apology. As to the first, wherein
you inclosed a small pamphlet relating to tar-water, I can
only say in behalf of those points in which the ingenious
author seems to dissent from me, that I adyance nothing
which is not grounded on experience, as may be seen at large
in Mr. Prior's narrative of the effects of tar-water, printed
three or four years ago, and which may be supposed to have
reached America.
For the rest, I am glad to find a spirit towards learning
prevail in those parts, particularly New York, where you say
a college is projected, which has my best wishes. At the
same time I am sorry that the condition of Ireland, contain-
ing such numbers of poor uneducated people, for whose sake
Charity Schools are erecting throughout the kingdom, oblig-
eth us to draw charities from England ; so far are we from
being able to extend our bounty to New York, a country in
proportion much richer than our own. But as you are
pleased to desire my advice upon this undertaking, I send the
following hints to be enlarged and improved by your own
judgment.
I would not advise the applying to England for charters
or statutes (which might cause great trouble, expense, and
delay), but to do the business quietly within themselves.
I believe it may suffice to begin with a President and two
Fellows. If they can procure but three fit persons, I doubt
not the college from the smallest beginnings would soon grow
considerable : I should conceive good hopes were you at the
head of it.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 155
Let them by all means supply themselves out of the semi-
naries in New England. For I am very apprehensive none
can be got in Old England (who are willing to go) worth
sending.
Let the Greek and Latin classics be well taught. Be
this the first care as to learning. But the principal care
must be good life and morals to which (as well as to study)
early hours and temperate meals will much conduce.
If the terms for degrees are the same as in Oxford and
Cambridge, this would give credit to the College, and pave
the way for admitting their graduates ad eundem in the
English universities.
Small premiums in books, or distinctions in habit, may
prove useful encouragements to the students.
I would advise that the building be regular, plain, and
cheap, and that each student have a small room (about ten
feet square) to himself.
I recommended this nascent seminary to an English bish-
op, to try what might be done there. But by his answer it
seems the colony is judged rich enough to educate its own
youth.
XDolleges from small beginnings grow great by subsequent
bequests and benefactions. A small matter will suffice to
set one a going. And when this is once well done, there is no
doubt it will go on and thrive. The chief concern must be
to set out in a good method, and introduce, from the very
first, a good taste into the society. For this end the princi-
pal expense should be in making a handsome provision for
the President and Fellows.
I have thrown together these few crude thoughts for you
to ruminate upon and digest in your own judgment, and
propose from yourself, as you see convenient.
My correspondence with patients who drink tar water,
obliges me to be less punctual in corresponding with my
friends. But I shall be always glad to hear from you. My
sincere good wishes and prayers attend you in all your laud-
able undertakings.
I am your faithful, humble servant, G. CLOYNE.
156 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
The Philadelphia gentlemen matured their plans,
and the subscriptions obtained for carrying them out
were a strong proof of the public spirit and generos-
ity of their fellow-citizens. The hints of Berkeley1
appear to have been carefully studied, and Johnson
was importuned to become the head of an institu-
tion which he showed himself so well qualified to
direct, and which promised to be such a nursery of
classic and Christian learning.
1 The memory of this distinguished prelate as interested in Christian Education is
perpetuated in Connecticut. His name designates one of its most useful and pros-
perous Institutions, — the "Berkeley Divinity School " at Middletown, incorporated
in 1854, and conducted, since its foundation, under the immediate charge of the
Bishop of the Diocese.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 167
CHAPTER VII.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRANKLIN ; DECLINES PHILADELPHIA ;
" ELEMENTA PHILOSOPHICA " J DEATH OF BERKELEY AND
LETTER FROM HIS SON; ENGLISH EDITION OF "ELEMENTS OF
PHILOSOPHY " ; SPECULATIVE INQUIRIES, AND NOTIONS ABOUT
EDUCATION.
A. D. 1750-1754.
THE fondness of Johnson for learning and colleges
induced him to take into serious consideration the
overtures from Philadelphia. They were urged upon
him in a way which made them somewhat attractive,
but his reluctance to leave the region of his nativity
and separate himself from the cherished associations
of his brethren formed a great obstacle to their ac-
ceptance. He spoke freely of his age as against the
change, and did not think it was warranted by the
prospect of increased usefulness and better pecun-
iary support. Dr. Franklin's letters to him present
the subject very fully, and show the points on which
Johnson dwelt in his replies. The first that has been
preserved is dated : —
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 9, 1750.
REV. Sin, — At my return home I found your favor of
June the 28th, with the Bishop of Cloyne's letter inclosed,
which I will take care of, and beg leave to keep a little
longer.
Mr. Francis, our Attorney General, who was with me
at your house, from the conversation then had with you,
and reading some of your pieces, has conceived an esteem
158 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
for you equal to mine. The character we have given of you
to the other trustees, and the sight of your letters relating
to the academy, has made them very desirous of engaging
you in that design, as a person whose experience and judg-
ment would be of great use in forming rules and establish-
ing good methods in the beginning, and whose name for
learning would give it a reputation. We only lament, that
in the infant state of our funds, we cannot make you an
offer equal to your merit. But as the view of being useful
has most .weight with generous and benevolent minds, and in
this affair you may do great service not only to the present
but to future generations, I flatter myself sometimes that
if you were here, and saw things as they -are, and con-
versed a little with our people, you might be prevailed with
to remove. I would therefore earnestly press you to make
us a visit as soon as you conveniently can ; and in the mean
time let me represent to you some of the circumstances as
they appear to me.
1. The Trustees of the Academy are applying for a char-
ter, which will give an opportunity of improving and mod-
eling our constitution in such a manner as, when we have
your advice, shall appear best. I suppose we shall have
power to form a regular college.
2. If you would undertake the management of the English
Education, I am satisfied the trustees would, on your ac-
count, make the salary ,£100 sterling, (they have already
voted £150 currency which is not far from it), and pay the
charge of your removal. Your son might also be employed
as tutor at £60 or perhaps .£70 per annum.
3. It has been long observed, that our church is not suf-
ficient to accommodate near the number of people who would
willingly have seats there. The buildings increase very fast
towards the south end of the town, and many of the princi-
pal merchants now live there ; which being at a considerable
distance from the present church, people begin to talk much
of building another, and ground has been offered as a gift
for that purpose. The Trustees of the Academy are three
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 159
fourths of them members of the Church of England, and the
rest men of moderate principles. They have reserved in the
building a large hall for occasional preaching, public lectures,
orations, etc. ; it is 70 feet by 60, furnished with a handsome
pulpit, seats, etc. In this Mr. Tennent collected his congre-
gation, who are now building him a meeting-house. In the
same place, by giving now and then a lecture, you might,
with equal ease, collect a congregation that would in a short
time build you a church, if it should be agreeable to you.
In the mean time, I imagine you will receive something
considerable yearly, arising from marriages and christenings
in the best families, etc., not to mention presents that are not
unfrequent from a wealthy people to a minister they like ;
and though the whole may not amount to more than a due
support, yet I think it will be a comfortable one. And
when you are well settled in a church of your own, your son
may be qualified by years and experience to succeed you in
the Academy ; or if you rather choose to continue in the
Academy, your son might probably be fixed in the Church.
These are my private sentiments which I have commu-
nicated only to Mr. Francis, who entirely agrees with me.
I acquainted the trustees that I would write to you, but
could give them no dependence that you would be prevailed
on to remove. They will, however, treat with no other till
I have your answer.
You will see by our newspaper, which I inclose, that the
Corporation of this city have voted £200 down and £100 a
year out of their revenues to the Trustees of the Academy.
As they are a perpetual body, choosing their own successors,
and so not subject to be changed by the caprice of a gov-
ernor or of the people, and as 18 of the members (some the
most leading) are of the trustees, we look on this donation to
be as good as so much real estate ; being confident it will be
continued as long as it is well applied, and even increased, if
there should be occasion. We have now near .£5,000 sub-
scribed, and expect some considerable sums besides may be
procured from the merchants of London trading hither. And
160 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
as we are in the centre of the Colonies, a healthy place, with
plenty of provisions, we suppose a good academy here may
draw numbers of youth for education from the neighbor-
ing Colonies, and even from the West Indies.
I will shortly print proposals for publishing your pieces
by subscription, and disperse them among my friends along
the continent. My compliments to Mrs. Johnson and your
son ; and Mr. and Mrs. Walker your good neighbors.
I am, with great esteem and respect, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
P. S. There are some other things best treated of when
we have the pleasure of seeing you. It begins now to be
pleasant travelling. I wish you would conclude to visit us
in the next month at farthest. Whether the journey pro-
duce the effect we desire or not, it shall be no expense to you.
The Rev. Richard Peters, though he had no per-
sonal acquaintance with him, wrote him on the same
day, and invited him to his house. Mr. Peters was
an Englishman of culture and good manners, who
came to this country in Holy Orders, with his young
wife, and served for a time as an assistant in Christ
Church, Philadelphia. He afterwards accepted the
appointment of Provincial Secretary, and acquired a
considerable fortune, but did not relinquish his minis-
terial character, and continued occasionally to per-
form clerical duty. The letter below has allusion to
his official position in the government which he still
held : —
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 9, 1750.
REVEREND SIR, — I am obliged to you for the honor you
did me in your compliments by Mr. Franklin and Mr. Fran-
cis. They said so many good things of your abilities and
inclinations to promote useful knowledge, and the Trustees
of the Academy are so much in want of your advice and
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 161
assistance, that, though personally unknown to you, I must
take the freedom, from a hint that such a journey would
not be disagreeable to you, to give you an invitation to my
house. Let me, good Sir, have the pleasure of conversing
with a gentleman whose character I have a long time es-
teemed, and provided your journey be not between the 20th
October and 1st November, when I am obliged to attend the
Governor and Assembly at New Castle, I will meet you at
Trenton or Brunswick, or any other place you shall appoint.
I will tell you beforehand, that can my friends or I find any
expedient to engage your residence among us, I will leave
nothing unattempted in the power of, Reverend Sir,
Your affectionate brother and humble servant,
RICHARD PETERS.
Johnson replied : —
Aug. 16.
SIR, — I am extremely obliged to you for the honor you
have done me in writing so kind and polite a letter to me,
who am a perfect stranger to you, and a person whose real
character I doubt you will find much below what the can-
dor of the openly friendly gentlemen have represented. You
will see by my letter to Mr. Franklin what difficulties lie in
my way with regard to my residence among you, which oth-
erwise would, doubtless, be vastly agreeable to me. How-
ever, as I do think in earnest, if practicable, to make a tour
to Philadelphia in acknowledgment of the great kindness you
express towards me, I shall most gratefully accept of your
kind invitation, and let you know beforehand when to ex-
pect me. If I can come at all it will be before the time
you mention, but I would first see my brethren here together
at our Commencement on the 2d week in Sept., by convers-
ing with whom I shall be the better able to make a judg-
ment whether a remove would be practicable. Meantime,
I remain, Sir, etc.,
S. J.
The next letter of Franklin, so characteristic of
the man, goes more deeply into the objections which
11
162 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Johnson had raised, and intimates to him that his " tal-
ents for the education of youth were the gift of God/'
and it was his duty to employ them for the public
service.1 It shows too the writer's practical wisdom
in regard to the extension of the Church : —
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 23, 1750.
DEAB SIR, — We received your favor of the 16th inst.
Mr. Peters will hardly have time to write to you per this
post, and I must be short. Mr. Francis spent the last even-
ing with me, and we were all glad to hear that you seriously
meditate a visit after the middle of next month, and that
you will inform us by a line when to expect you. We
drank your health and Mrs. Johnson's, remembering your
kind entertainment of us at Stratford.
I think, with you, that nothing is of more importance for
the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wis-
dom and virtue. Wise and good men are, in my opinion,
the strength of a state far more so than riches or arms, which,
under the management of ignorance and wickedness, often
draw on destruction, instead of promoting the safety of a
people. And though the culture bestowed on youth be suc-
cessful only with a few, yet the influence of those few, for
the service in their power, may be very great. Even a sin-
gle woman, that was wise, by her wisdom saved a city.
I think, also, that general virtue is more probably to be ex-
pected and obtained from the education of youth than from
the exhortation of adult persons ; bad habits and vices of the
mind being, like diseases of the body, more easily prevented
than cured.
I think, moreover, that talents for the education of youth
are the gift of God ; and that he on whom they are be-
stowed, whenever a way is opened for the use of them, is as
strongly called as if he heard a voice from heaven. Nothing
more surely pointing out duty, in a public service, than abil-
ity and opportunity of performing it.
1 This letter was first printed in the Port FoUo, 1809, and it also appears in Sparks'
Works of Franklin, vol. vii. pp. 47-50.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 163
I have not yet discoursed with Dr. Jenney concerning your
removal hither. You have reason, I own, to doubt whether
your coming on the foot I proposed would not be disagree-
able to him, though I think it ought not. For should his
particular interest be somewhat affected by it, that ought not
to stand in competition with the general good ; especially as
it cannot be much affected, he being old, and rich, and with-
out children. I will however learn his sentiments before the
next post. But whatever influence they might have on your
determinations about removing, they need have none on your
intention of visiting. And if you favor us with the visit, it
is not necessary that you should previously write to him to
learn his dispositions about your removal, since you will see
him, and when we are all together those things may be better
settled in conversation than by letters at a distance. Your
tenderness of the Church's peace is truly laudable ; but, me-
thinks, to build a new church in a growing place is not
properly dividing but multiplying ; and will really be a
means of increasing the number of those who worship God
in that way. Many who cannot now be accommodated in
the church go to other places or stay at home ; and if we
had another church, many, who go to other places or stay at
home, would go to church. I suppose the interest of the
Church has been far from suffering in Boston by the building
of two new churches there in my memory. I had for several
years nailed against the wall of my house, a pigeon-box that
would hold six pair ; and though they bred as fast as my
neighbor's pigeons, I never had more than six pair ; the old
and strong driving out the young and weak, and obliging
them to seek new habitations. At length I put up an addi-
tional box, with apartments for entertaining twelve pair more,
and it was soon filled with inhabitants, by the overflowings of
my first box and of others in the neighborhood. This I take
to be a parallel case with the building a new church here.
Your years, I think, are not so many as to be an objection
of any weight, especially considering the vigor of your con-
stitution. For the small-pox, if it should spread here, you
164 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
might inoculate with great probability of safety ; and I think
that distemper generally more favorable here than further
northward. Your objection about the politeness of Philadel-
phia, and your imagined rusticity, is mere compliment ; and
your diffidence of yourself absolutely groundless.
My humble respects, if you please, to your brethren at the
Commencement. I hope they will advise you to what is most
for the good of the whole, and then I think they will advise
you to move hither.
Please to tender my best respects and service to Mrs.
Johnson and your son.
I am, dear Sir,
Your obliged and affectionate, humble serv*,
B. FEANKLTNT.
Illness prevented Johnson from making his contem-
plated visit. Franklin wrote him again and gave up
all expectation of seeing him immediately, as the
small-pox was spreading in the city, and it would not
be prudent to expose himself to its dangers : —
DEAR SIB, — I am sorry to hear of your illness. If you
have not been used to the f ever-and-ague let me give you one
caution. Don't imagine yourself thoroughly cured, and so
omit the use of the bark too soon. Remember to take the
preventing doses faithfully. If you were to continue taking
a dose or two every day for two or three weeks after the fits
have left you, 'twould not be amiss. If you take the powder
mixed quick in a tea-cup of milk, 'tis no way disagreeable,
but looks and even tastes like chocolate. 'Tis an old saying:
That an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, — and
certainly a true one, with regard to the bark ; a little of
which will do more in preventing the fits than a great deal in
removing them.
But if your health would permit I should not expect the
pleasure of seeing you soon. The small-pox spreads apace,
and is now in all quarters ; yet as we have only children to
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 165
have it, and our Doctors inoculate apace, I believe they will
soon drive it through the town ; so that you may possibly
visit us with safety in the spring. In the mean time we
should be glad to know the result you came to after con-
sulting your brethren at the Commencement. Messrs. Peters
and Francis have directed me on all occasions to present their
compliments to you. Please to acquaint me if you propose
to make any considerable additions to the " Ethics," that I
may be able in the proposals to compute the bigness of the
book.
I am, with sincere esteem and respect, dear Sir,
Your most obliged humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN.
PHILADELPHIA, September 13, 1750.
Inclosed I return the good Bishop's letter with thanks.
Before this correspondence was begun, Dr. Johnson
received a second invitation to the Kectorship of
Trinity Church, Newport, made vacant by the death
of his friend, the Rev. James Honyman. But he felt
that his removal would prejudice the interests of the
Church in Connecticut, and he finally declined it, and
suggested to the Yestry whether it would not be ad-
visable to think of Dr. Cutler's son for the place. He
had been a long time officiating in England, and
was " doubtless," he said, " very well experienced and
accomplished." The same motive which led him to
decline Newport helped him to come to a determina-
tion about Philadelphia. He had been quite ready
to give his friends there the benefit of his counsels in
regard to their Institution ; but the following letters
were the last that related to the acceptance of their
proposals.
166 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
PHILADELPHIA, December 24, 1751.
DEAR Sin, — I received your favor of the llth inst. and
thank you for the hint you give of the omission in the
"Idea." The "Sacred Classics" are read in the English
school, though I forgot to mention them. And I shall pro-
pose at the meeting of the Schools, after the Holidays, that
the English master begin and continue to read select portions
of them daily with the prayers as you advise.
But if you can be thus useful to us at this distance, how
much more might you be so if you were present with us,
and had the immediate inspection and government of the
schools. I wrote to you in my last that Mr. Martin our
Rector died suddenly of a quinsy. His body was carried to
the Church, respectfully attended by the trustees, all the
masters and scholars in their order, and a great number of
the citizens. Mr. Peters preached his funeral sermon, and
gave him the just and honorable character he deserved.
The schools are now broke up for Christmas, and will not
meet again till the 7th of January. Mr. Peters took care
of the Latin and Greek School after Mr. Martin's death
till the breaking up. And Mr. Allison, a dissenting min-
ister, has promised to continue that care for a month after
their next meeting. Is it impossible for you to make us a
visit in that time ? I hope by the next post to know some-
thing of your sentiments, that I may be able to speak more
positively to the Trustees concerning the probability of your
being prevailed with to remove hither.
The English master is Mr. Dove, a gentleman about your
age, who formerly taught grammar sixteen years at Chiches-
ter in England. He is an excellent master, and his scholars
have made a surprising progress.
I shall send some of the " CEconomies " to Mr. Havens per
next post. If you have a spare one of your " Essays on the
Method of Study," the English edition, please to send it me.
My wife joins in the compliments of the season to you
and Mrs. Johnson, with, dear Sir,
Your affectionate humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 167
Answer : —
DEAR SIR, — I now write my most thankful acknowledg-
ments for your two kind letters of December 24 and January
8, and have received your most obliging letters of the sum-
mer before last, to which you refer me. There was one of
August 23, to which I did not make a particular reply by
reason of my illness at that time. In that you reasoned, I
own, in a very forcible manner upon the head of duty. You
argued that ability, with opportunity, manifestly pointed out
duty, as though it were a voice from Heaven. This, Sir, I
agree to, and therefore have always endeavored to use what
little ability I have that way in the best manner I could,
having never been without pupils of one sort or other half
a year at a time, and seldom that, for thirty-eight years.
And, thank God, I have the great satisfaction to see some of
them in the first pulpits, not only in Connecticut, but also in
Boston and New York, and others in some of the first places
in the land. But I am now plainly in the decline of life, both
as to activity of body and vigor of mind, and must, therefore,
consider myself as being an Emeritus, and unfit for any new
situation in the world or to enter on any new business, espe-
cially at such a distance from my hitherto sphere of action
and my present situation, where I have as much duty on my
hands as I am capable of and where my removal would make
too great a breach to be countervailed by any good I am ca-
pable of doing elsewhere, for which I have but a small chance
left for much opportunity. So that I must beg my good
friends at Philadelphia to excuse me, and I pray God they
may be directed to a better choice. And as Providence has
so unexpectedly provided so worthy a person as Mr. Dove
for your other purpose, I hope the same good Providence
will provide for this. I am not personally acquainted with
Mr. Winthrop, the Professor at Cambridge, but by what I
have heard of him, perhaps he might do. But I rather
think it would be your best way to try if you cannot get
some friend and faithful gentleman at home, of good judg-
168 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
ment and care, to inquire and try if some worthy Fellow of
one or other of the Universities could not be obtained. Per-
haps Mr. Peters or Mr. Dove may know of some acquaint-
ance of theirs, that might do likely: dulcius ex ipsis fortibus.
Your son intimated that you had thought of a voyage home
yourself ; if you should you might undoubtedly look out a
fit person to be had, and you had better do as you can for
some time than not be well provided. I could, however, wish
to make you a visit in the Spring, if the way were safe, but
it seems the small-pox is propagating at New York, and per-
haps you will be scarcely free of it. Meantime you have, in-
deed, my heart with you as though I were ever so much with
you in presence, and if there were any good office in my
power you might freely command it.
I thank you for sending the two sheets of my " Noetica "
which are done with much care. I find no defects worth
mentioning but what were probably my own. At page 62, 1.
19, there should have been a (;) after " universal," and 1. 21
a (;) after " affirmative." On reviewing the former sheets I
observe a neglect, p. 30, 1. 24, " on account of which," and p.
36, 1. 3, there should be a (,) after " is." 1
I am very much obliged to you for Short and the Almanac
and my wife for hers. I have had five parcels of the " (Econ-
omies " and Fisher. I think you told me they were a dollar
each parcel, besides that of Havens, who desires you to send
him another parcel, and begs you to send one or more of
your pieces on " Electricity," published in England. By your
son's account I am much charmed with this, and beg if you
have a spare copy to send it me. And as you desire a copy
of my " Introduction," since I had many sent me from home,
I send half a dozen, of which with my humble service to
Messrs. Peters and Francis and your son, pray them to accept
each a copy. My wife and son, with me, desire our service
may be acceptable to them and Mrs. Franklin and your son.
I am, Sir, etc.
S. J.
* In the copy before me there are pen corrections of these and other errors by
Johnson himself.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 169
The work referred to in the foregoing letter was
the " Elementa Philosophica : containing chiefly Noet-
ica, or Things relating to the Mind or Understanding ;
and Ethica, or Things relating to the Moral Beha-
viour. " This was the summary title, and three great
philosophers were grouped together in the issue of
the work. It was written by Johnson, dedicated,
"from the deepest sense of gratitude," to the Bishop
of Cloyne, and printed by Benjamin Franklin. The
first part, Noetica, was mainly new, prepared for
young beginners to show them the principles of knowl-
edge and the progress of the human mind towards its
highest perfection ; and in the advertisement, Johnson
said : " Though I would not be too much attached to
any one author or system, exclusive of any others ;
yet whoever is versed in the writings of Bishop
Berkeley will be sensible that I am in a particular
manner beholden to that excellent philosopher for
several thoughts that occur in the following Tract."
The remaining part was a second edition of his " Sys-
tem of Morality," described in the previous chapter.
The graceful dedication to Berkeley was too late to
be seen by that eminent man. The correspondence
between them had been kept up, and every opportu-
nity improved to communicate with each other, as the
following letters will show.
CLOYNE, July 17, 1750.
REV. SIR, — A few months ago I had an opportunity of
writing to you and Mr. Honyman by an inhabitant of the
Rhode Island Government. I would not, nevertheless, omit
the present occasion of saluting you, and letting you know
that it gave me great pleasure to hear from Mr. Bourk, a pas-
senger from those parts, that a late sermon of yours at New
Haven hath had a very good effect in reconciling several to
170 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
the Church. I find also by a letter from Mr. Clap, that
learning continues to make notable advances in Yale College.
This gives me great satisfaction, and that God may bless
your worthy endeavors and crown them with success, is the
sincere prayer of, Rev. Sir,
Your faithful brother and obedient servt,
G. CLOYNE.
P. S. I hope your ingenious sons are still an ornament to
Yale College, and tread in their father's footsteps.
Answer:—
MY LORD, — I yesterday received your Lordship's most
kind letter of July 17, from New Haven, and as there is a
vessel soon going from New York, I take the opportunity of
making my most humble acknowledgments to your Lordship,
though I lately wrote by the way of New York, my humble
thanks for your kind letter before received which came not
to hand till last summer. In that letter I informed you of
the death of good Mr. Honyman, and of the controversy be-
tween the Governor of New York and their Assembly, which
hath hindered their College from going forward, — since
which, things have been so far accommodated that they have
nominated the Trustees, and I hope they will proceed.
They are very thankful for the notice you so kindly took
of what I had mentioned to you in their behalf, and will
form their College upon the model you suggested to me. I
intended to have written by Mr. Bourk, but he was just going
when I saw him, and I had not time, nor had I then re-
ceived your Lordship's last kind letter.
We should soon have a flourishing Church at New Haven, if
we could get a minister, — but the Secretary of the Society
writes very discouragingly about expecting any more ministers
for these parts. Here is one of your Lordship's scholars, one
Colton,1 that is a worthy candidate, and another equally
deserving, one Camp,2 but we cannot yet have leave for their
1 Jonathan Colton was afterwards admitted to Holy Orders in England, and died
on his returning voyage to this country in 1752.
2 Ichabod Camp, his companion, a graduate of Yale College, 1743, was ordained at
the same time.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 171
going home for Orders. No endeavors of mine shall be
wanting, my Lord, while I live, to promote sound learning
and religion in these parts, and particularly your Lordship's
excellent system, in order to which I am preparing a short
draught for the use of pupils, but it will much want your
Lordship's correction.
I thank God my sons yet give me good hopes, and there
is scarce anything I want to hear of more than of Mr. Harry's
welfare and of your Lordship's family, for whom I most
ardently pray. I heartily thank your Lordship for your
prayers and good wishes for me and mine, and beg the con-
tinuance of them, and remain, my Lord, your Lordship's, etc.
S. J.
Berkeley wrote one more letter to Johnson, partly
in answer to the foregoing, and it is believed to have
been his last to the great American friend who never
ceased to love him for his virtues, and to honor him
for his learning and philosophy. It was dated : —
CLOYNE, July 25, 1751.
REV. SIR, — I would not let Mr. Hall depart without a
line from me in acknowledgment of your letter which he put
into my hands. As for Mr. Hutchinson's writings, I am not
acquainted with them. I live in a remote corner where
many modern things escape me. Only this I can say, that I
have observed that author to be mentioned as an enthusiast,
which gave me no prepossession in his favor.
I am glad to find by Mr. Clap's letter, and the speci-
mens of literature inclosed in his packet, that learning con-
tinues to make a progress in Yale College , and hope that
virtue and Christian charity may keep pace with it.
The letters which you and Mr. Clap say you had written,
in answer to my last, never came into my hands. I am glad
to hear, by Mr. Hall, of the good health and condition of
yourself and family. I pray God to bless you and yours,
and prosper your good endeavors. I am Rev. Sir,
Your faithful friend and humble serv*,
G. CLOYNE.
172 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
As soon as his " Elementa Philosophica " was pub-
lished, Johnson wrote to Berkeley and sent him a copy,
not knowing that he had broken up at Cloyne, and
exchanged its gloomy retirement and the life of a
recluse philosopher for the classic shades and ideal
beauty of Oxford. His son George had been entered
a student at Christ Church, and parental tenderness,
joined to other considerations,1 led him to follow him
with his family and make his future residence at the
seat of the venerable University in the " fair vale of
the Cherwell and the Isis." The issue of " Elementa
Philosophica " must have been about the time when he
was settling his affairs, preparatory to the final depar-
ture from Cloyne. The following letter shows this as
well as the use to which the work was put and the es-
timation in which it was held. It gives, moreover, a
sketch of the progress of the Institution of which
Johnson had declined the oversight.
PHILADELPHIA, July 2, — 52.
REV. SIR, — I have sent you, via New York, twenty-four
of your books bound as those I sent per post. The remainder
of the fifty are binding in a plainer manner, and shall be sent
as soon as done and left at Mr. Stuyvesant's as you order.
Our Academy, which you so kindly inquire after, goes on
well. Since Mr. Martin's death the Latin and Greek school
has been under the care of Mr. Allison, a Dissenting minis-
ter, well skilled in those languages and long practiced in
teaching. But he refused the Rectorship, or to have any-
thing to do with the government of the other schools. So
that remains vacant, and obliges the Trustees to more fre-
quent visits. We have now several young gentlemen desir-
ous of entering on the study of Philosophy, and Lectures
are to be opened this week. Mr. Allison undertakes Logic
1 See Eraser's Life of Berkeley, ch. ix.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 173
and Ethics, making your work his text to comment and
lecture upon. Mr. Peters and some other gentlemen under-
take the other branches, till we shall be provided with a
Rector capable of the whole, who may attend wholly to the
instructions of youth in the higher parts of learning as they
come out fitted from the lower schools. Our proprietors
have lately wrote that they are extremely well pleased with
the design, will take our Seminary under their patronage,
give us a charter, and, as an earnest of their benevolence,
Five Hundred Pounds sterling. And by our opening a
charity school, in which near one hundred poor children are
taught Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, with the rudi-
ments of religion, we have gained the general good will of all
sorts of people, from whence donations and bequests may
be reasonably expected to accrue from time to time. This is
our present situation, and we think it a promising one ; es-
pecially as the reputation of our schools increases, the masters
being all very capable and diligent and giving great satis-
faction to all concerned.
I have heard of no exceptions yet made to your work, nor
do I expect any, unless to those parts that savor of what is
called Berkeley anism, which is not well understood here.
When any occur I shall communicate them.
With great esteem and respect, I am, dear Sir,
Your obliged humble serv*,
B. FBANKLD*.
Berkeley had not long enjoyed the academic re-
pose of Oxford before his family and friends were
thrown into the deepest affliction by his sudden death.
He had received neither the book nor the letter
from Johnson when it occurred, on the evening of
Sunday, the 14th of January, 1753, but the author
had sent another copy of his work to Dr. Thos. Seeker,
then Bishop of Oxford and almost the only survivor
of the distinguished men in England with whom
174 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Berkeley corresponded in his later years. The funeral
solemnities were scarcely over when he wrote to his
son and apprized him of its reception and offered it to
his acceptance, and he in acknowledging the Bishop's
kindness said — " Dr. Johnson's book I have not
seen, but shall be greatly obliged to you for a copy
of it, as I suppose it is not reprinted in England, and
as my dear father had a great esteem for the author."
The best and most authentic account of Berkeley's
death is contained in the following letter to Dr. John-
son, written by this son, and dated : —
CHRIST CHURCH, October 16, 1753.
REV. SIB, — With inexpressible sorrow I repeat -the dis-
mal account (for I suppose you have heard it before) of my
dearest and ever honored father's removal to the enjoyment
of eternal rewards, which happened suddenly and without the
least previous notice or pain on Sunday evening, Jan. 14th,
as he was sitting with my mother, sister, and myself, and
although all possible means were instantly used, no symp-
tom of life ever appeared after, nor could the physicians as-
sign any cause for his death, as they were certain it was not
an apoplexy. He had made his will at Cloyne a few days
before he left it (which he did in the middle of August), and
has very wisely left us all entirely under the care, and in the
power of the best of mothers. He arrived at Oxford on the
25th of August and had received great benefit from the
change of air, and by God's blessing on Tar Water, insomuch
that for some years he had not been in better health than he
was the instant before he left us. He had been indeed much
out of order the whole summer at Cloyne, which prevented
his coming over with me in May, 1752. His remains are
interred in the Cathedral of Christ Church, and next week
a monument to his memory will be erected with an inscrip-
tion by Dr. Markham, a student of this College.1 A few
1 Berkeley provided in his will that his body should be buried in the Church-
yard of the parish where he died.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 175
days after this greatest of human misfortunes befell us I
received from Cloyne your letter to my dearest father, but
his agent there has not yet got an opportunity of sending
me the Book mentioned in it, but the Bishop of Oxford
has been so good as to send it to me, and you must give me
leave to say that (except those wrote by him to whom this
was dedicated) I never read any with equal pleasure, and
the more so as it shows that a person so very capable and
willing to spread his Philosophy, understands it so thor-
oughly. This little book contains and teaches the wisdom
of ages and numberless volumes, and I entreat you would ac-
cept my hearty thanks for the honor you have done my
dearest parent by choosing him for its patron, and also for
the improvement I have met with in it.
It is -now high time that I should apologize for the liberty
I have taken, and which nothing should have encouraged me
to but the great friendship that subsisted between you and
him whose image is ever fresh before me, and whose mem-
ory shall ever be most dear to me. I have inherited his high
esteem for you, Sir, and this will, I hope, plead my excuse for
giving you this trouble. My mother, who remembers you
with the truest regard, desires me to assure you of her most
sincere services. Your countryman, my brother,1 has been
near two years abroad in the south of France for his health,
which has been very bad ever since a violent fever which
he had some years ago. He is now, I thank God, much bet-
ter, and is lately returned to Dublin, from whence we expect
him here next summer. Not knowing any other way of
In the summer of 1870, in company with two friends, I spent a day at Cloyne,
and walked through its narrow streets, and under the ancient elms that overshad-
ow the dwellings of this thriftless village. I thought of Berkeley at every turn
and was disappointed when we entered the Cathedral to find no memorial of the
great name associated with it for nearly a score of years. The mysterious Round
Tower, the Cave, the See House and the Palace garden, were there as they were a
century ago, and the myrtle and the ivy grew in wonderful luxuriance, but there was
nothing to perpetuate the memory of the good Bishop, or to show that there had ever
been a people here who knew his intellectual greatness.
1 Henry, the eldest son, born at Newport. In Eraser's admirable Life, of Berke-
ley, p. 336, it is conjectured that he "had been left behind in Ireland," when the
removal to Oxford took place.
176 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
conveyance, I have taken the liberty of inclosing this to Dr.
Bearcroft, the Secretary of your Society (of which I have the
honor to be a member), to forward it. If ever you can think
of anything in which I can render you the least service, I as-
sure you that nothing will more highly oblige me than receiv-
ing any commands from one whom I so honor and esteem,, and
to whom I am a most dutiful and faithful humble servant.
GEO. BERKELEY.
A third edition of Dr. Johnson's " Elements of Phi-
losophy/' corrected and enlarged, was published in
London in the spring of 1754, under the editorship
of Rev. William Smith, afterwards Provost of the
College of Philadelphia. He sent by him letters to
several of his friends, and among the rest to Mr. Ber-
riman, who answered, —
February 7, 1754.
DEAR SIR, — .1 had the pleasure of yours by Mr. Smith,
but have as yet had but little of that gentleman's company ;
I once called at his lodgings, and found him at home ; but
having no time to stay then, he promised to favor me with
a visit, which promise he has not yet fulfilled : however, I
hope he will do it hereafter, as I understood by him he in-
tended to continue some time in England before he returned
to your parts.
Dr. Bearcroft is made Master of the Charter House, but
still holds his place of Secretary to the Society. There has
been some talk of Capt. Thomlinson for Treasurer. Per-
haps I may let you know more about it before I seal up this
letter.
Mr. Pollen is appointed Missionary to Rhode Island. He
is a worthy clergyman and esteemed a good scholar ; he was
contemporary at C. C. C. Oxon. with your friend Dr. Burton,
who is now Vice Provost of Eton College. I would beg
leave to recommend him to your favorable notice, and that
you would advise and assist him in any case that may need
your helping hand. He is a traveller, and has seen the
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 177
world ; and has been lately employed in an Episcopal chapel
at Glasgow, but never was in your parts, and being quite a
stranger to such a kind of settlement, may often have occa-
sion to consult you, who are so much known, and so well es-
teemed by all around you. We have had such bad accounts
of poor Mr. Checkley that we fear the next news will bring
an account of his death.
I thank God I am rather the better for the change of my
situation, and at this time in tolerable good health ; but I must
never expect to get free from my old companions, the cough
and shortness of breath, but God be praised, they are not by
many degrees so bad with me as with many others : and I
ought to be very thankful for the long intervals I have, and
the health and strength afforded me to attend my duty in the
Church. I quitted my Lecture at Aldermary at Lady-Day
last and have done scarce any duty in the Church but supply-
ing my own pulpit or desk on Sunday mornings, since mid-
summer. I find my strength somewhat decayed, and my
eyes begin to wax dim (though I can make no use of spec-
tacles), and I have this day completed my grand climacteric.
Feb. 15. — The choice of a Treasurer came on at the
anniversary meeting of the Society in the Vestry at Bow
Church. Mr. Pearson (recommended by the Bishops) was
elected, and nobody named in opposition to him.
I am affectionately yours,
J. BERRIMAN.
To the London edition of the " Elements of Philos-
ophy " was annexed " A Letter containing some Im-
partial Thoughts concerning the Settlement of Bish-
ops in America, by Dr. Johnson and some of his
Brethren." In this connection the following letter is
important, written by the Bishop of Oxford from the —
DEANERY OF ST. PAUL'S, March 19, 1754.
GOOD DR. JOHNSON, — I should have returned you my
hearty thanks before now, if extraordinary business had not
12
178 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
put it partly out of my power, and partly out of my thoughts,
for your favors by Mr. Smith. He is indeed a very ingen-
ious and able, and seems a very well disposed young man.
And if he had pursued his intention of residing a while at
Oxford, I should have hoped for more of his company and
acquaintance. Nor would he, I think, have failed to see
more fully, what I flatter myself he is convinced of without
it, that our Universities do not deserve the sentence which
is passed on them by the author whom he cites, and whose
words he adopts in page 84 of his " General Idea of the
College of Mirania." 1 He assures me they are effaced in
almost all the copies. I wish they had not been printed, or
that the leaf had been cancelled. But the many valuable
things which there are in that performance and in the pa-
pers which he published at New York, will atone for this
blemish with all candid persons. And there seems a fair
prospect of his doing great service in the place where he is
going to settle.
I am particularly obliged to you for sending me your Book;
of which I made a very acceptable present to the late excel*
lent Bishop of Cloyne's son, — a most serious, and sensible,
and prudent young man, whom his father placed at Christ
Church, and who, with his mother and sister, spent the last
summer with me in Oxfordshire. I have now lately received
from Mr. Smith another copy of it, printed here, and have
read several parts of it, and all with much pleasure. You
have taken very proper care to keep those who do not enter
into all the philosophy of the good and great man from being
shocked at it, and you have explained and recommended just
reasoning, virtue, and religion, so as to make them not only
well understood, but ardently loved.
Would God there were any present hopes of executing
what the concluding piece unanswerably proves to be harm-
l This was an imaginary scheme drawn up and published at the desire of some
gentlemen of New York, who were appointed to receive proposals relative to the
establishment of a college in that province, and it contained a pretty exact repre-
sentation of what the author endeavored to realize in the Institution over which he
afterwards presided at Philadelphia.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 179
useful, and requisite. But we have done all we can here
in vain ; and must wait for more favorable times ; which
I think it will contribute not a little to bring on, if the
ministry of our Church in America, by friendly converse with
the principal Dissenters, can satisfy them that nothing more
is intended or desired than that our Church may enjoy the
full benefit of its own institutions, as all others do. For so
long as they are uneasy and remonstrate, regard will be paid
to them and their friends here by our ministers of state.
And yet it will be a hard matter for you to prevent their
being uneasy, while they find you gaining ground upon
them. That so much of the money of the Society was em-
ployed in supporting Episcopal congregations amongst them,
was industriously made an argument against the late col-
lection. And though, God be thanked, the collection hath
notwithstanding proved a very good one, yet unless we be
cautious on that head, we shall have farther clamor ; and
one knows not what the effect of it may be. Our friends
in America will furnish us, I hope, from time to time, with
all such facts, books, observations, and reasonings, as may
enable us the better to defend our common cause.
I am with great regard and esteem, Sir,
Your loving brother and humble servant,
THO. OXFORD.
Johnson felt some disappointment that his work
was not more generally appreciated, and appeared
to regret that he had ventured on its publication.
The cost of printing it was likely to exceed the
amount of sales, — as it was not so well calculated for
popular reading as for use in educational institu-
tions. Franklin relieved him from any anxiety on
this subject, and wrote him a kind and encouraging
letter, offering to assume the loss, should there be
any: —
180 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
PHILADELPHIA, April 15, 1754.
DEAR SIR, — When I returned from Maryland in Febru-
ary last, I found your favor of Jan'y 1, but having mislaid
it soon after, I deferred answering till I should find it again,
which I have now done. I think you ought not to be, as
you say you are, vexed at yourself that you offered your
" Noetica "to be printed ; for though the demand for it
in this part of the world has not yet been equal to the
merit of the work, yet you will see by the inclosed news-
paper they are reprinting it in England, where good judges
being more plenty than with us, it will, I doubt not, acquire
a reputation that may not only make it extensively useful
there, but bring it more into notice in its native America.
As to the use of it in our Academy, you are to consider
that though our plan is large, we have as yet been able to
carry little more into execution than the grammatical and
mathematical parts : the rest must follow gradually, as the
youth come forward and we can provide suitable masters.
Some of the eldest scholars, who have now left us, did read
it ; but those at present in the Academy are chiefly engaged
in lower studies. For my own part, I know too well the
badness of our general taste, to expect any great profit in
printing it ; though I did think it might sell better than I
find it does, having struck off five hundred, and not disposed
of more than fifty in these parts. There were parcels sent to
New York, Rhode Island, and Boston, and advertised there,
though it seems you have not heard of it. How they sold I
have not learnt, and did not remember to inquire when I
was there last year. I am far from thinking it right that
the loss should fall on you, who took so much pains in the
composition. You gave me no other expectation than what
I might gather from your saying in your letter of May 10,
1750, you believed you could dispose of one hundred copies
in Connecticut, and perhaps another hundred might be dis-
posed of at Boston. All I would request of you is, that if
you think fit, you would take the trouble of writing to such
of the Ministers of your Church in New England and New
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 181
York as you are acquainted with, and desire them to recom-
mend the book to their friends ; and if, with those you have
had, all that shall be disposed of in those Colonies amount to
two hundred, I will cheerfully take my chance with the re-
mainder. And if you cannot procure the sale of so many,
make yourself easy nevertheless ; I shall be perfectly satis-
fied with your endeavor. With my best respects to good
Mrs. Johnson and your valuable sons,
I am, dear Sir, very affectionately,
Your most humble servant,
B. FRANKLIN,
Among the friends and correspondents of Dr. John-
son, Lieutenant-governor Golden was not forgotten in
the distribution of the spare copies of his "Noetica."
It has been seen how these two men discussed philo-
sophical subjects and exchanged publications, and the
following letters, after glancing at the points of their
disagreement, advert to matters of domestic interest,
and show the concurrence of their ideas upon the
subject of education : —
December 20, 1752.
SIB, — I sometime since received your book which Mr.
Nicholls told me you was pleased to send me. Since that
time my thoughts happened by several incidents to be so
much engaged that I could not write to you in the manner
I inclined to do, and they continued so when I sent you
the " Principles of Action in Matter," about ten days or a
fortnight since. I had at that time just received three copies
of it from England, and had only time to run it curso-
rily over to correct the most obvious errors in the press,
which happen to be numerous. I know we (you and I)
differ in the fundamentals of that Essay, and for that rea-
son I expect from you the strongest arguments that can
be brought against it, and therefore, if I am under an error,
you are the most capable to set me right, and I assure you
182 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
that I have that esteem of your judgment that I unwill-
ingly differ from you. Pray then, Sir, let me have your
objections to those principles with that freedom that ought
always to subsist in philosophical inquiries.
In the sixth page of your "Noetica," you say our per-
ceptions cannot be produced in our minds without a cause
(so far we agree) ; or, which is the same thing, by any im-
agined, unintelligent, inert, or unactive cause. I likewise agree
that an unactive cause and no cause are synonymous ; but I
am not convinced that intelligence is an essential concomitant
to all action, for then I could not conceive the action of a
mill without supposing it endowed with intelligence. You
seem likewise to think that the words inert and unactive
are synonymous. Sir Isaac Newton was certainly of a dif-
ferent opinion, as appears by the third definition in the be-
ginning of his " Principia," viz. : Materiae vis inerta est Po-
tentia resistendi, etc. We certainly can have no conception
of Force or Power devoid of all kind of action. Now, Sir,
these are fundamental differences. One of us must be
under a very great mistake, and if you incline to write with
the same freedom that I incline to think on these subjects,
I hope we shall not continue long of a different opinion.
Inert in common discourse is often synonymous with unactive,
but I take it in the sense that philosophers of late use the
word Inertia when they say vis inertice, which certainly can-
not mean mere inaction. I shall say nothing more on these
matters of speculation, that I may pass to a subject of more
immediate concern.
It gave me a great deal of pleasure when Mr. De Lancey
resolved to send his children to you for their education in
learning, as I am confident they will thereby imbibe prin-
ciples which will be of the greatest use to themselves and
to their neighbors in whatever course of life they shall
afterwards take to. I am under little concern as to their
learning languages, or as to their skill in what may be called
the learned sciences, but I am earnestly desirous that they
have the true principles of good manners early implanted in
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 183
their minds ; to have their affections always moved by uni-
versal benevolence, and to have a true sense of honor where-
in it really consists. It is from you that I hope they will
receive these great advantages, of which they will find the
benefits in every station of life and in all emergencies or
turns of fortune. These I beg you will again and again ex-
plain to them and never cease to inculcate upon their minds.
As it is not determined what course of life any of them shall
pursue, it may be best to instruct them in such parts of learn-
ing as will be of use in every station. I think knowledge in
geography as useful as any other part for these purposes,
especially the modern geography with an account of the
present state of the kingdoms and republics in Europe and
of the great monarchies in other parts of the world. Peter,
in a letter he wrote to me from West Chester, tells me that
he inclines to study Divinity and to fit himself for that study
with you. I shall be far from diverting these thoughts, be-
cause he may be as useful in that way as in any, and the
more so that few of any distinguished families in America
apply themselves to the Church. His applying to it may
(if others follow his example) prevent a contempt of the
character which otherwise may in time be produced. For
this reason I do not doubt but the bishops in England will
think it for the interest of the Church to encourage any
young gentlemen in America who shall turn their thoughts
that way from worthy principles.
I had thoughts of writing to my grandchildren,1 but 1
have said all to you that I had in my thoughts to write to
them, and therefore if you think proper you may communicate
it to them and remember me affectionately to them and tell
them that we are all in health. I hope to hear often from,
you. Mr. Nicholls will take care of your letters.
I am affectionately, Sir,
Your most humble servant,
CADWALLADER GOLDEN.
1 Elizabeth Golden, daughter of the Lieutenant-governor, married Peter De Lancey,
and was the mother of eleven children, six sons and five daughters. Peter, one of
184 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
January 29, 1753.
The river being full of ice has deprived me of any oppor-
tunity of sending this letter till now. We continue in health.
Remember us again to the children. Their grand-mamma,
uncles and aunts all join with me.
Yours, C. C.
Answer : —
February 19.
SIR, — I sent you that Book without any imagination of
its being worthy your perusal. I only meant it as a testi-
mony of my humble respect and gratitude, though not with-
out my wishes that so far as you should condescend [to] cast
your eye upon it, if you see anything that might much tend
to mislead youth in the entrance of their studies, for whose
use it was written, you would be so good as to intimate it
to me. I now return you my humble thanks for your very
ingenious performance and this kind letter upon it. I have
perused it with some care, though I have not yet had it
long enough to spend so much thought upon it as I intend.
I am glad to see the whole of it published, and doubt not
but it will be an acceptable present to the public, and must
own that now I see the whole of it together, it appears to
me in a much more advantageous light than that piece of
it did before, and do not think we differ so much in the
principles you set out with as you seem to imagine. I do not
differ with you at all, considered as a natural philosopher,
which is the light in which you are principally to be considered
in that Treatise. For it is evident there are those three dis-
tinct principles of action in nature you go upon, — media or
endings of action I should call them as a metaphysician, re-
ferring the same origin of them to the one great principle of
natural discovery and action ; but which you as a natural
philosopher, — as such going no higher, — do very well to
the sons, did not fulfill the promise of his boyhood in regard to the Church, — hav-
ing been killed in a duel at a comparatively early age ; but a grand-nephew of his
father, Wm. Heathcote De Lancey, was consecrated the first Bishop of Western New
Tork, May 9, 1839, and died April 5, 1865. — MS. Letter D. Golden Murray, Dec.
10, 1872.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 185
consider as distinct principles. The principle of resistance of
motion and of elasticity — and the contemporative (if I may
so speak) of those principles in their various exertions and
operations you seem to have happily demonstrated — will
well account for the phenomena, and as to what is metaphys-
ical in your Treatise, I think you have explained yourself to
my satisfaction in your chapter of the Intelligent Being, § 10
— where you allow the Intelligent Being to be the real author
of all material (I should call them sensible) beings, and to
govern or direct their actions in such a manner as is most
conducive to the advantage of the whole, which you rightly
deduce from the power of our minds over the ether in the
nerves which we observe to quiesce till put in action by
our hands. The reasons indeed we know not, but it is the
fact.
So that I believe what we seem to differ in, if at all, will
amount to little more than words. I agree with you in
saying " we can certainly have no conception of Force
or Power devoid of all kind of action," and when I do so,
it seems to me that you must with me allow that Sir Isaac's
vis inertice is a contradiction in terms, and that that great
man, in that definition and the explication of it, has some
expressions that have no meaning ; for I must think it is
plain that by Inertia (as in Ovid, pondus iners) the old
Romans meant an utter destitution of any principle of ac-
tivity in se, or power of self-exertion or action, terminating
on anything without, and I don't see what right he had to
use or define it in a quite contrary sense ; at best his expres-
sions are figurative.
As to that question whether the same Being that is the
principle of action must as such be also a principle of In-
telligence, I have nothing to say for it more than I said in
a former letter, that it seems to follow from that principle
"Non est philosophia extera multiplicare sine necessitate,''
and that a blind principle or power of action without Intelli-
gence seems repugnant and useless. However it seems a
question of little real consequence, or indeed of scarce any
186 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
meaning after what you allow in the chapter of the Intel-
ligent Being ; the action of what you call matter being ac-
cording to you derived originally from and directed by the
Intelligent Being. And so matter is no more than merely
His instrument, so that what you call the action of a mill or
watch is really only a successive series of passions till you
come to the principle of Intelligence, which will ultimately
prove to be also the principle of the action.
That expression of yours, page 164, " That perfect Intel-
ligence will not act in contradiction to the action of matter,"
I should have chosen to express thus: Will not in the set-
tled course of things act in contradiction to the Laws He
hath established according to which He wills matter to act.
For I cannot conceive you to imagine the action of matter
to be independent of the Divine will. I rather imagine
from other passages that you do with me conceive it to be
entirely dependent, as well as matter itself, on the constant
free exertion of the Divine will and power.
I don't deny, Sir, but that I am yet a little in the dark
about the operations of that elastic fluid by which you ac-
count for gravitation. I should scarce ever say that there
should be a perpetual return of the ethereal fluid to the
sun as well as a perpetual flow from it, agreeable to Mr.
Hutchinson's notion, who imagines a perpetual circulation
of it from the sun, and after a kind of condensation of it
at the utmost bounds of the system, a reverberation and re-
turn of it to the sun again ; so that according to that great
man the effects of gravitation, circular motion, and rotation,
will be the result of the struggle between those contrary
tendencies. This being supposed, you and he seem well to
coincide. I wish you had opportunity, if you have not had,
to read his system with some attention and exactness, if
not in his works, which are something tedious, at least in that
beautiful short sketch of them set forth by your excellently
great and good countryman, Lord President Forbes, in his
" Letter to a Bishop and Thoughts on Religion." But what
you call the different principles of Light and Ether, he sup-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 187
poses to be the one ethereal fluid or fire of the sun in the dif-
ferent conditions of Light and Spirit as it flies from or re-
turns to its fountain. Perhaps your notion and his may
come nearly to the same thing. The Abbe Pluche of France,
as well as he and Bp. Berkeley, agree that this ethereal fire
is the light and life of the whole sensible world, and grand
agent in all nature, or the immediate engine from whence
all the phenomena mechanically derive : and that this was
the original philosophy of Moses and in all the Hebrew
Scriptures, and taught mankind from the beginning. And
I am pleased in thinking that your demonstrations and
Mr. Franklin's experiments illustrate and confirm it to be
the only true and genuine philosophy. Pardon, Sir, my
incoherent and rambling way of writing. I hope you may
pick out my meaning. I would transcribe, but my care of
your grandchildren and other duties will not admit of time
for it.
As to your grandchildren, I have the same notion of
education with you (my plan you may see in my 6th chap-
ter), and do not fail, as you desire, to inculcate those prin-
ciples you mention as far as I am able. And besides the
moral and classical part (in which they have almost finished
" Cornelius Nepos " and two thirds of " Justin "), I have gone
over and explained a short History of England and a short
Geography you gave them, and am now going over a short
system of Universal History and Chronology, and point
out to them in maps the Ancient Geography of the Classics
as well as the modern. But they have (the eldest espe-
cially) such a violent impetuosity to their play that I find
it exceeding difficult to gain so strong an attention as I
could wish to their books and studies. They seem well
cut out for business, as farming and merchandise, but Peter
has an excellent turn for learning, and it is a pity but he
should go through an entire course of education. As to
what he wrote to you, I am exceeding glad his dispositions
are such and that you approve of them, and agree with you
and thank you for your remark of the vast importance
188
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
to religion and the public weal that any of distinguished
families should apply themselves to Divinity. Mrs. De
Lancey first mentioned it to me, and I ventured to encour-
age it, and shall henceforward encourage myself to hope
that your daughter has borne, and that I am educating one
who, in God's time, may become a bishop in America. I
communicated your letter to them and inculcated it. They
send their humblest thanks and duty to you and their grand-
mamma and uncles and aunts. They have had an uninter-
rupted course of perfect health.
I cannot take leave without giving you my humble thanks
for the favor you have done me in the good character you
gave of me in your account of Pokeweed, etc., which was
published in the " Gentleman's Magazine," and wish I may
deserve it. I have since heard of several others of the eat-
ing cancers cured by it, but a man in this town has a strange
sore on his legs they call a heaving or gnawing cancer, on
which it was tried without success ; and both cutting, burn-
ing, and several caustics have since been tried, which have
only made it grow the faster, and it is now larger than the
hand can cover, and is like to cost the poor man his life.
I am, Sir, your most obliged humble servant,
S. J.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 189
CHAPTER
PBOPOSED COLLEGE AT NEW YORK ; JOHNSON INVITED TO THE
PRESIDENCY ; OBSTACLES TO A CHARTER, AND FINALLY
GRANTED ; LETTERS TO PRESIDENT CLAP ; REMOVAL TO NEW
YORK AND LECTURER IN TRINITY CHURCH ; HIS YOUNGER
SON CHOSEN TUTOR IN KING'S COLLEGE ; GOES TO ENGLAND
FOR ORDINATION AND DIES THERE OF THE SMALL-POX.
A. D. 1754-1756.
THE proposition to establish a College in New York
was pursued with more vigor after the settlement of
the Institution at Philadelphia. A few gentlemen,
chiefly members of the Church of England, were lead-
ing spirits in the movement, and guided it so as to se-
cure the erection of the College on the broad grounds
of Christian liberality. It appears to have been the
intention in the original endowment of Trinity Church,
in the city of New York, to connect the promotion of
learning with the interests of religion, and a lot of
land in a favorable locality belonging to the Vestry
was given for the use of the proposed College, upon
condition, that the President thereof for the time be-
ing should be in communion with the Church of Eng-
land, and that the morning and evening service in the
College should be the Liturgy of the Church, or such
a collection of prayers out of the Liturgy as should be
" agreed upon by the President or Trustees or Gov-
ernors of the said College." This gift was accepted
by the Commissioners empowered to receive propo-
sals for the Trustees.
190 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
The Trustees, who had been appointed by an act
of the Colonial Legislature, consisted of " the eldest
Councilor of the Province, the Speaker of the As-
sembly, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Mayor
of the city of New York," ex officio (Churchmen),
and one more Churchman, together with the Treas-
urer of the Colony, and a " member of the Dutch
Church, and one of the Presbyterian congregation." l
The same act which fixed the appointment of Trus-
tees, vested in them the sum of " three thousand four
hundred and forty-three pounds, eighteen shillings,
raised by way of Lottery for erecting a College within
the Colony ;" and by a supplementary act passed on
the 4th of July, 1753, the Treasurer of the Colony
for the time being was enabled and directed to pay
unto the Trustees out of " the moneys arising from
the duty of excise, the annual sum of five hundred
pounds, for and during the term of seven years, to
commence from and after the first day of January
next ensuing ; " this annuity to be distributed by
them in salaries to the officers of instruction.
In pursuance of other powers granted by this act,
the Trustees invited Dr. Johnson, who from its incep-
tion had been consulted about perfecting the scheme
and carrying it into execution, to become the Pres-
ident, and to remove to New York and enter upon
his duties without delay. The position was congen^
ial to his tastes, for he loved learning and colleges ;
but there were two great obstacles in the way of his
acceptance. One was he had not had the small-pox,
and in New York he would be much more exposed
i See a Brief Vindication of the Proceeding$ of the Trtutee*, etc., by an Impar-
tial Hand, p. 4.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 191
to it than in Stratford ; and the other, which was
perhaps the greater, was the consideration of his ad-
vanced years. He was almost three-score, and on this
account was less inclined to sunder the happy pas-
toral relations which had subsisted between him and
his people for the best part of his life. And then
the social refinement, the bustle and stir, and de-
mands upon his time in a city did not contrast pleas-
antly in his mind with the studious retirement and
quiet repose of a rural parsonage. But his friends in
New York and the principal managers of the enter-
prise assured him they would abandon it, and it would
come to nothing if he declined the invitation. He
finally consented to make a trial, but would not ab-
solutely accept the office till the charter should be
obtained, and he could see what sort of an institution
he was to preside over. With this view he left Strat-
ford on the 15th of April, 1754, but neither removed
his family nor resigned his parish. The Vestry of
Trinity Church unanimously chose him an Assistant
Minister and voted him the sum of one hundred and
fifty pounds per annum ; but he replied, " My ad-
vanced years, verging towards the decline of life, are
great matters of discouragement to me, and render
me extremely fearful whether I shall be able to an-
swer your expectations." l
The design of the College underwent a violent
struggle before Dr. Johnson arrived in New York.
It was intended to be a common blessing to all de-
nominations, with no other preference for the Church
than that one of her communicants should be at the
head ; " but Mr. W. Livingston, a virulent Presby-
1 Berrian's Hist. Trinity Church, p. 106.
192 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
terian, joined with other leading Presbyterians and
Free-thinkers, violently opposed it, and raised a hide-
ous clamor against it, and printed a paper of Twenty
Reasons to disaffect the Assembly against granting
the money raised by lotteries." l This paper was
styled a Protest, and much was written and published
in reply. Johnson himself dipped into the contro-
versy, and even asked his elder son, who was then
rising into eminence in the legal profession, to try
his hand in an argument to demolish the Twenty
Reasons and vindicate the proceedings of the Trus-
tees. The opinion which he returned to his father
should not be omitted from these pages : —
I must add a word to what you say of an answer to the
Protest. You know I am generally averse to disputes of
this kind, as tending more to irritate the passions than to
convince the understandings of the people. What is wrote
in this way, is most generally read only by those persons
who are before prepossessed on one side or other of the ques-
tion. But especially averse am I towards engaging myself
in any controversial writings, as knowing myself to want
both ability and leisure to perform anything as it should be.
I never yet wrote anything but I was both sick and ashamed
of it before it was half done. In regard to the present case,
Mr. Wetmore on conference agrees with me that it is not,
as we can see, worth while to write or publish any answer,
most of what is here said having been already thrown out
in the " Reflector," or consisting of such far fetched reasons
and strained constructions of the act of Assembly and pur-
port of the petition and charter, that they demonstrate the
gentleman to be determined to oppose and find fault with
everything that does not coincide exactly with his favorite
scheme of absolute independency both in religion and gov-
ernment. And when men are resolved to wrangle and find
l M8. Autobiography.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 193
fault, what end is there in answering them ? But especially
I imagine that of all persons, you nor I nor any of the family
should be in the least concerned in any disputes with respect
to the College. For those in the opposition to have it in their
power once to suggest that you are at the head of a party, or
promoting any particular scheme, must be highly prejudi-
cial, and will give them great strength in their endeavors to
bias the Assembly. A very small matter in this way may
be magnified and improved to the most pernicious purposes.
Let us by all means at present stand perfectly neuter. If
they, whose business it is, form a college whose model you
approve, you can in this case accept the Presidentship with
cheerfulness. If they do not, you can retreat with honor.
Should I write anything, it would certainly be discovered by
them, and must in these circumstances do vastly more hurt
than in any case it would possibly do good. This I humbly
suggest as my opinion in the matter. However, if an answer
be finally thought necessary, Mr. Wetmore will doubtless
be ready to write, and I have suggested to him, what has oc-
curred to me in reading of it. The Protest I think goes upon
a wrong supposition, namely, that the charter petitioned for
is to establish a college without the approbation and almost
independent of the Assembly or Legislature, to the support
of which nevertheless the moneys granted by the two acts
of Assembly are to be applied, contrary to the intentions and
design of the Assembly in making the grant, which I take
it is by no means aimed at by anybody, nor indeed I con-
ceive can possibly be. The question I think truly is whether
it be advisable for the Trustees to recommend or the Legis-
lature to accept the generous offer of Trinity Church on the
condition they give, or not. In this light nothing I think
in the Protest can have any great weight. It would be
plainly unreasonable for the Church to make the offer with-
out the condition annexed. And TWENTY reasons, I think,
might be given why it would be advisable for the Legisla-
ture to accept it on those terms. What is said about the
establishment of the Church of England, and several other
13
194 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
things which are hinted at, are manifestly designed to raise
a clamor and excite jealousies, as they have not even the
remote resemblance of a reason pro or con. on any just or
reasonable state of the question. However, let us by all
means let them entirely alone. Let those whose proper busi-
ness it is exert themselves. 'Tis enough for us to say, ....
God speed ye. I know you will excuse my freedom, and
am, honored Sir,
Your obedient son and servt,
WM. SAML. JOHNSON.
June 13th, 1754.
In writing to him, June 17, 1754, the father said :
" I very much commend your prudence ; but even
caution, one of the best things in the world, may be
carried too far as well as humility itself. We must
have resolution to do good in spite of opposition, as
well as discretion to direct it to the best purposes.
As to the Protest, I hope there will be no occasion for
you or me to answer it." He may have known at
this time what was already contemplated, if not be-
gun ; for "A Brief Vindication of the Proceedings of
the Trustees relating to the College, containing a suf-
ficient Answer to the late famous Protest, with its
Twenty unanswerable Reasons," was written " by an
Impartial Hand," — this hand representing Mr. Ben-
jamin Nicoll, a son of Dr. Johnson's wife by her first
husband. He was a lawyer of distinction in New
York, one of the governors of the College, and " the
life and soul of the whole affair." While the contest
was going on, Dr. Johnson published his plan of edu-
cation, and appointed a day for examining and ad-
mitting candidates. He commenced with a class of
ten students, including two from other colleges, who
met him for the first time on the 17th of July in
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 195
the vestry-room of the school-house belonging to the
Corporation of Trinity Church. He continued his
instructions without intermission till September 1st,
when he was summoned to the sick-bed of his elder
son, whom he had little expectation of finding alive,
but who, after remaining a long time in a critical
state, finally recovered. During his absence, which
continued till November 10, the Koyal Charter passed
the seals, incorporating the Governors of King's
College in New York ; and thus what had been the
subject of such violent opposition became a fixed
provision of law. The time had now come for him
to make a decision whether he would remain in
Stratford or go to New York. The services of his
Church had been conducted in his absence by his
younger son, who was preparing for Holy Orders,
and with the aid of the neighboring clergy he had
managed to keep the people from much uneasiness
during the protracted struggle for settling the ques-
tion about a charter for the College. The following
letter from the Rector of Trinity Church sums up the
final contest, and puts before him the responsibility
of resigning his pastoral charge, and entering upon
the full duties of the Presidency : —
DEAR SIR, — Mr. Nicoll being obliged to go out of town,
communicated your letter to me in order that I might an-
swer it. On Thursday last the Charter passed the Governor
and Council, and was ordered to be forthwith engrossed.
On Friday, the Trustees appointed by act of Assembly, ac-
cording to order of the House, delivered in a report of their
proceedings conformable to the act, which report was signed
by all but Wilh'am Livingston, who objected to the report as
not being complete, because no notice was taken of the pro-
196 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
ceedings with regard to the Charter, which the Governor
and the rest of the gentlemen thought unnecessary. Where-
upon Livingston delivered in a separate report in full, con-
taining his famous Protest, etc. This occasioned a great
ferment in the House, and issued for that day in a resolve
that Livingston's Report should be printed at large, and
the affair postponed to farther consideration on Wednesday
next. They had a majority of fourteen to eight, but three
of our friends were absent, and it was with much difficulty
that they were prevented from censuring the conduct of the
Trustees and returning thanks to Livingston. We were all
afraid that this would have retarded the Sealing of the Char-
ter, and some well-wishers to the thing would have consented
to the retarding of it, had not the Governor appeared reso-
lute and come to town on Saturday and fixed the Seal to it ;
and to do him justice, he has given us a good majority of
Churchmen, no less than eleven of the Vestry being of the
number. There are but eight of the Dutch Church, most of
them good men and true, and two Dissenters. We are, how-
ever, puzzled what to advise you as to resigning your mission.
I have been with Mr. Chambers this morning, and though it
be the opinion of most of the gentlemen that you ought to
resign and trust to Providence for the issue of things and
come away immediately, yet we would rather choose if pos-
sible, that you should put off the resignation for a fortnight
or three weeks, and come down immediately, because some
are not so clear with regard to the .£500 support, though
others think we cannot be deprived of it. But since this
conversation with Mr. Chambers we have had some glim-
mering light. I went from Mr. Chambers' to Mr. Watts'
(who is unhappily confined with the rheumatism), and met
two Dutch members coming out of his house, who, as he told
me, came to make proposals for an accommodation, and all
they desired was a Dutch Professor of Divinity, which, 'if
granted, they would all join us, and give the money. This
I doubt not will be done unless the Governor should oppose
it, who is much incensed at the Dutch for petitioning the
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 197
Assembly on that head, but I make no doubt but he may be
pacified.
Upon the whole, it is the opinion of all that you must
come down as soon as possible, and the advice of Mr. Cham-
bers and myself, in which I believe Benny concurs, that you
defer the resignation of your mission a little longer, as it will
be a means of getting a good subscription for your support
in case this accommodation with the Assembly should fail,
which, however, I am inclined to think will not fail. In a
word, it seems you have put your hand to the plow, and I
know not how you can now look back. Providence, I trust,
is still on our side, and everybody is solicitous for your re-
turn.
I am, dear Sir, in the greatest hurry,
Yours, etc.
HEN. BARCLAY.
I have not time to give you a list of the Governors, nor
indeed can I recollect them all. The whole number is forty-
one : seventeen ex-officio and twenty -four private gentlemen,
in which number there are at present but eight of the Dutch
Church, the French, Lutheran, Presbyterian Ministers, and
Will. Livingston, — so that we have a majority of twenty-
nine to twelve, and in these twelve are included Mr. Rich-
ards, John Cruger, Leonard Lispenard, and the Treasurer,
all our good friends.
MONDAY, 10 o'clock, Nov. 4, 1754.
Dr. Johnson returned to New York to find the con-
troversy about the College not yet closed. The op-
position set their pens running to prevent the Assem-
bly from granting any more favors ; but he did not
heed them, and sent for some of his furniture and
books, and wrote to his son Wm. Samuel, December 2,
to say : " It is not doubted but the next session will
give us the money to build. Meantime it is resolved to
have a subscription to begin with, and doubtless money
198 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
enough will be got twice told to build a President's
house, which will begin early in the spring. And
as to my security, the Trustees resolve to meet this
week and confirm what they did before, nothing doubt-
ing but the £500 per annum is in their power, and
unalterably at their disposal for my support." By
the advice of his friends, he was to lodge during the
winter with his son, Mr. Benjamin Nicoll, with whom
he appears to have previously made his home ; and the
Vestry of Trinity Church voted to pay him the salary
as usual, and " in consideration of his advanced years
and the duties of the College," to require of him
" only to read prayers on Sunday, and to preach one
Sunday in a month at church and chapel," or as
might be agreed upon by the Rector and occasion
might demand.
His endeavors met with much embarrassment, and
" nothing," he wrote again to his son after the Holi-
days, " I assure you could have induced me to en-
dure it, but the hopes of rendering the little remain-
der of my life more useful to mankind, and especially
in laying a foundation for sound learning and true
religion in the rising and future generations." He
worked vigorously on to bring things into shape and
order, drew from the Liturgy a form for the daily
prayers, composed the Collect for the College, and had
them printed with the Psalter. It added to his anxi-
ety that his flock in Stratford was without a shepherd.
Both his sons acted as lay-readers, — the elder tak-
ing his place after the younger had joined the father
in New York to pursue his theological studies. Mr.
Beach of Newtown had been thought of for his suc-
cessor, and all would have welcomed him to the post,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 199
but he could not conscientiously leave his own church
vacant. In a letter to his son Wm. Samuel, January
20, 1755, Johnson said : " The melancholy condition
of my poor destitute people is very affecting to me.
I talked with Ogilvie and Chandler to no purpose ;
nor do I think there is the least probability that Mr.
Brown, or Mr. Seabury, Jun., would entertain the
least thoughts of a removal, and since there is no
hope of Stiles,1 I am sorry he should have had it in
his power to make a merit of his refusal. I am
very sorry Mr. Beach cannot be prevailed upon to
remove ; and what course you can now take, I cannot
conceive. Me thinks I should be for trying Mr. Lea-
rning, with the utmost endeavor to get him for Strat-
ford or Newtown. I confess from his talk to me,
there seems little hope, yet it seems to me worth
while to try. Who knows what may be done ? Can
there be no thoughts of Sam. Brown for Newtown ?
or is there no young man that would go for so valua-
ble a parish ? It is certainly much preferable to any-
thing the Dissenters can give. There was some talk
once of one Street, of Wallingford. What has come
of him ? "
The establishment of a separate religious society
and church in Yale College, at first unacceptable to
many of the Congregationalists, and the adoption
about this time of regulations which infringed upon
the rights of Episcopal students, gave importance
to the position of Dr. Johnson as the head of King's
College. It was the fault of the times to take a nar-
row view of Christian liberty ; but after a parish had
been formed, a church built, and a Missionary of the
1 Ezra Stiles, afterwards President of Yale College.
200 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel stationed in
New Haven, it was expected and claimed that Episco-
pal students should be allowed to prefer their own
mode of worship on the Lord's day, and not subjected
to a penalty for declining to attend those services in
the College Chapel, designed to guard and perpetuate
the Puritan faith. The two sons of the Missionary
(Punderson) were not exempted from the rigor of
the offensive statute. The separation and withdrawal
of all students from the First Ecclesiastical Society,
where with the officers of the College they had been
hitherto accustomed and required to worship, and
limiting them to the chapel, involved questions of
internal orthodoxy ; and the long and fierce con-
tention which sprung up and affected to some extent
the whole colony, was entirely outside the rights of
Episcopalians, and only concerned them so far that it
made them more desirous to keep their sons as much
as possible under the teaching of the Church.
President Clap defended the law in its full opera-
tion, and undertook to show that it was " inconsistent
with the original design of the founders," to grant
special favors to Episcopal students. Johnson, who
for many years had been on the most friendly terms
with him, replied warmly to his statements, and in-
sisted that the chief benefactors of the College and
the proportionate share of Churchmen in its yearly
support contemplated a common benefit, and forbid
the supposition that the children of Episcopal parents
should ever be required to "go out of their own
houses to meeting, when there was a church at their
doors." The following letter is an earnest vindication
of his views : —
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 201
STRATFORD, February 5, 1754.
REV. AND DEAR SIR, — Tho' I am but in a poor condition
for writing, I can't forbear a few lines in answer to yours of
January 30th.
I thank you for your kind congratulation on my being
chosen President of their intended College at New York,
and I shall desire by all means, if I undertake it, to hold a
good correspondence not only as Colleges but as Christians,
supposing you and the Fellows of your College act on the
same equitable, catholic, and Christian principles as we
unanimously propose to act upon, i. e., to admit that the chil-
dren of the Church may go to church whenever they have
opportunity, as we think of nothing but to admit that the
children of dissenting parents have leave to go to their
meetings ; nor can I see anything like an argument in all
you have said to justify the forbidding it. And I am pro-
digiously mistaken if you did not tell me it was an allowed
and settled rule with you heretofore.
The only point in question, as I humbly conceive, is,
whether there ought of right to be any such law in your Col-
lege as, either in words or by necessary consequence, forbids
the liberty we contend for ! What we must beg leave to in-
sist on is, That there ought not ; and that it is highly injuri-
ous to forbid it ; unless you can make it appear That you
ever had a right to exclude the people of the Church belong-
ing to this Colony, from having the benefit of Public educa-
tion in your College, without their submitting to the hard con-
dition of not being allowed to do what they believe in their
conscience it is their indispensable duty to do, i. e., to require
their children to go to church whenever they have opportunity,
and at the same time a right to accept and hold such vast ben-
efactions from gentlemen of the Church of England, wherewith
to support you in maintaining such a law in exclusion of such
a liberty. Can you think those gentlemen would ever have
given such benefactions to such a purpose ! And ought it not
to be considered at the same time, that the parents of these
children contribute also their proportion every year to the
support of the College ?
202 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Your argument in a former letter was, That it is incon-
sistent with the original design of the founders, which was
only to provide ministers for your churches. But pray, Sir,
why may not our Church also be provided for with ministers
from one common College as well as your churches ? And
ought not the catholic design of the principal benefactors
also in strict justice to be regarded, who, in the sense of the
English law, are to be reckoned among the founders ? See
Viner, on the Title FOUNDERS. What Mr. Yale's views *
were, I had not opportunity of knowing, though, doubtless,
they were the same that we suppose. But I was knowing
to Bp. Berkeley's, which were, that his great Donation
should be equally for a common benefit, without respect to
parties. For I was myself the principal, I may say in effect
the only person in procuring that Donation, and with those
generous, catholic, and charitable views ; though you (not
willing, it seems, that Posterity should ever know this) did
not think fit to do me the justice in the History of the Col-
lege (though humbly suggested), as to give me the credit
of any, the least influence on him in that affair ; when the
truth is, had it not been for my influence it would never
have been done, to which I was prompted by the sincere
desire that it should be for a common benefit, when I could
have easily procured it appropriated to the Church. But
at that time Mr. Williams also pretended a mighty catholic
charitable conviction that there never was any meaning in
1 Jeremiah Dummer, agent of the Colony of Connecticut, writing to Gov. Sal-
tonstall, from " Middle Temple [London], 14th April, 1719," says : " I heartily con-
gratulate you upon the happy union of the Colony, in fixing the Colledge at New
Haven, after some differences which might have been attended with ill conse-
quences. Mr. Yale is very much rejoyc'd at this good news, and more than a little
pleas'd with his being the Patron of such a seat of .the Muses. Saving that he ex-
press't at first some kind of concern, whether it was well in him, being a Church-
man, to promote an Academy of Dissenters. But when we had discours't that
point freely, he appear'd convinc't that the business of good men is to spread relig-
ion and learning among mankind without being too fondly attach' t to particular
Tenets, about which the world never was, nor never will be, agreed. Besides, if the
Discipline of the Church of England be most agreeable to Scripture and primitive
practice, there's no better way to make men sensible of it than by giving them good
learning." — State Library, Hartford. Extract from Document 110 of vol. w.
"Foreign Correspondence with Colonial Agents, 1661-1732."
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 203
it ; it being at the very same juncture that he, with the
Hampshire ministers, his father at the head of them, were,
in their great charity, contriving a letter to the Bishop of
London by means of which they hoped to deprive all the
Church people in these parts of their ministers, and them of
their support ; the same charitable aim that Mr. Hobart l
and bis friends are pursuing at this day ! And now you,
Gentlemen, are so severe as to establish a law to deprive us
of the benefit of a public education for our children too, un-
less we will let them, nay require them, to go out of our
own houses to meeting, when there is a church at our doors.
Indeed, Sir, I must say this appears to me so very inju-
rious, that I must think it my duty, in obedience to a rule
of the Society, to join with my Brethren in complaining of
it to our superiors at home, if it be insisted upon, — which is
what I abhor and dread to be brought to ; and, therefore,
by the love of our dear country (in which we desire to live,
only upon a par with you, in all Christian charity), I do
beseech you, Gentlemen, not to insist upon it. Tell it not in
G-ath! much less in the ears of our dear mother-country,
that any of her daughters should deny any of her children
leave to attend on her worship whenever they have oppor-
tunity for it. Surely you cannot pretend that you are con-
science-bound to make such a law, or that it would be an
infraction of liberty of conscience for it to be repealed from
home, as you intimate. This would be carrying matters far
indeed. But for God's sake do not be so severe to think in
this manner, or to carry things to this pass ! If so, let Dis-
senters never more complain of their heretofore persecutions
or hardships in England, unless they have us tempted to
think it their principle, that they only ought to be tolerated,
in order at length to be established, that they may have the
sole privilege of persecuting others. But I beg pardon and
forbear ; only I desire it may be considered, how ill such a
principle would sound at this time of day, when the univer-
1 Noah Hobart, a Congregational minister at Fairfield, who published two Addresse$
\o Members of the Episcopal Separation in New England. He died 1773.
204 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
sal Church of England as much abhors the persecution of
Dissenters as they can themselves. It may also deserve to
be considered that the Government at home would probably
be so far from going into the formality of repealing this law
that they would declare it a nullity in itself ; and not only
so, but even the corporation that hath enacted it ; inasmuch
as it seems a principle in law that a corporation cannot make
a corporation, nor can one be made without his Majesty's act.
See Vlner, under the titles, CORPORATION and BY-LAWS.
You mistake me, Sir. I did not say that Professors of
Divinity do not preach. I knew they and the Heads, etc.,
do preach in their turns at the common church, to which all
resort to sermon. But what I say is, that they do not
preach as Professors, nor do they ever preach in private
Colleges, there being no such thing as preaching in the Col-
lege chapels, but only at St. Mary's and Christ Church,
which are in effect cathedrals, where the scholars resort, but
not exclusive of the town's people, tho' they generally go to
their parish churches.
I wonder how you came to apprehend I had any scruples
about the divinity of Christ. I am with you, glad we agree
so far ; and I would desire you to understand, that my zeal
for that sacred Depositum, the Christian faith, founded on
those principles, — a coessential, coeternal Trinity, and the
Divinity, incarnation, and satisfaction of Christ, — is the very
and sole reason of my zeal for the Church of England, and
th^o she may be promoted, supported, and well treated in
these countries ; as I have been long persuaded that she is,
and will eventually be found, the only stable bulwark against
all heresy and infidelity which are coming in like a flood
upon us, and this, as I apprehend, by reason of the rigid
Calvinism, Antinomianism, enthusiasm, divisions, and sep-
arations, which, through the weakness and great imperfec-
tion of your constitution (if it may so be called), are so rife
and rampant among us. My apprehension of this was the
first occasion of my conforming to the Church (which has
been to my great comfort and satisfaction), and hath been
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 205
more and more confirmed by what has occurred ever since.
And I am still apt to think that no well-meaning Dove that
has proper means and opportunity of exact consideration,
will ever find rest to the sole of his foot amid such a deluge,
till he comes into the Church as the alone ark of safety, —
all whose Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies taken together and
explained by one another, and by the writings of our first
Reformers, according to their original sense, shall ever be
sacred with me ; which sense, as I appehend it, is neither
Calvinistical nor Arminian, but the golden mean, and accord-
ing to the genuine meaning of the Holy Scriptures in the
original, critically considered and understood. I beg pardon
for this length, which I did not design at first, and desire
you will also excuse my haste, inaccuracy, and this writing
currente calamo, and conclude with earnestly begging that
neither your insisting on this law nor anything else, may oc-
our to destroy or interrupt our harmony and friendship, with
winch, on my part I desire ever to remain, dear Sir,
Your real friend and humble servant,
S. JOHNSON.
P. S. — I wish you to communicate it to the Fellows.
Another letter from President Clap received his at-
tention when he was on the eve of departing for New
York. The issue was made in the case of the sons of
the Missionary, and here the first relaxation of the
law began. For Dr. Johnson's son William wrote
him from Stratford a few months later : " I don't
hear any talk of printing against the President ; am
told he has given up the point with Mr. Punderson's
sons." He could not well do otherwise after the fol-
lowing letter, dated : —
STRATFORD, February 19, 1754.
DEAR SIR, — My unsettled condition in view of my re-
moving to New York, must be my apology for not being
more particular in answer to yours of the 10th.
206 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
If there was not good reason offered to support my
warmth you might justly fault it, but I must think it was
supported with abundant reasons which you have nothing
like answered. I am sure the Dissenters in England had
never half so much reason to excuse their many pathetic
declamations. You would have us, it seems, be deprived of
our birthright as Englishmen, and at the same time be per-
fectly calm and easy under it. Truly, Sir, I must think it
sufficient to raise our passions to be denied a public education
for our children, unless we will in direct violation of our con-
sciences enjoin them to go to dissenting meeting when we
have a church at our doors.
I have always been very tender of the charter privileges of
this Government, and ever advised our Church people to be
easy, and do all they could to promote the public peace and
weal as things stand ; but by your proceedings you seem re-
solved to provoke us to be enemies to the Government, when
we are content to be only upon a par with our neighbors, and
to live in entire love and peace with them in a cheerful sub-
mission to the Government. I am surprised at your Politics
in this way of proceeding with us, supposing the injustice
and uncharitableness of it were out of the question. How-
ever, since you are resolved (being, as you say, in possession)
to go on in your own way, you must even proceed ; but I am
very much mistaken if you do not eventually prove your own
greatest enemies.
It is strange to me that merely opening a church at New
Haven should be considered by any of you, gentlemen, as a
justifiable provocation to interrupt the harmony that had
subsisted between us, when we do not aim at disturbing you,
but only at judging and acting for ourselves. Indeed I own
I have never been very zealous and active in the affair, but
rather hung back, as I apprehended danger of some gentle-
men's making disturbance on such an occasion ; but I do not
remember that I told you I was with you — of the mind it
would not be for the public good to have a church there, as
you state it. However, when I saw what loose principles
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 207
were obtaining among you and the confused state you were
in, I thought it might be much conducive to the public good
to have a church there, especially after such a virulent and
abusive spirit as Mr. Hobart thought fit to raise against the
Church, to whose pious labors I suppose it was chiefly owing
that the Society fixed a mission and Mr. Punderson there.
If there had been such a general law before, as you say,
yet this I very well remember, that you told me you ' had
made certain Rules under the name of Customs, which I un-
derstood to be written and agreed to by the Fellows ; one of
which was that the children of the Church, their parents so
desiring, should have free liberty to go to church whenever
they had opportunity, or to this effect.
I may be, perhaps, mistaken in saying there is never
preaching in any of the College chapels. There may be
those two or three exceptions you mention ; my copy of the
Oxford Laws was and is at New York ; so that I could not
turn to those paragraphs you cited ; but surely you cannot
think them anything to your purpose of holding constant
meeting only in your Hall,1 and requiring the Church chil-
dren to attend them when they have a church to go to, and
their parents order their attendance there !
If, indeed, you are an independent Society or Government,
or the Charter had given you such unlimited and uncontrol-
lable powers, I own there would have been something plausi-
ble in your reasoning ; but then it would equally conclude
against any toleration of the Dissenters in England, and
consequently must now be interpreted to be contrary to law,
and as far as in you lies to aim at a subversion of the present
English Constitution.
I much wonder you cannot understand my stating of the
case. I cannot conceive of any words that could make it
more intelligible. If, indeed, withHobbes, etc., you thought
power to do anything would give a right to it, then your ar-
gument from possession is just ; but I trust that is not your
1 Public worship was established in the College Hall preparatory to the erection of
a chapel.
208 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
tenet. The question then is, 1st. Whether it be right in
itself for any Society, however voluntary or independent, to
require as a condition of enjoying the privileges of it {and
especially so great a privilege as that of a public education),
that any person that is free of that Society, or born in it.
should be obliged to act contrary to his conscience, or to what
he is really persuaded is his duty in matters of religion, sup-
posing that his religious principles be not in their nature sub-
versive of the State ? And then, 2dly. Supposing this could
be resolved in the affirmative, Whether your Charter has
given this government such a right, or a right to erect any
Corporation with such a right or power as to insist on such a
condition; or indeed could do it consistent with the English
Constitution ? I trow not. And it is plain to me, that un-
less you prove the affirmative of both these questions, which
you don't attempt, you really do nothing to the purpose.
But I humbly conceive it is most proper to have these ques-
tions canvassed before our Assembly here, before we trouble
our Superior at home.
But in truth the College is ours in proportion as really as
yours, and you can no more be bound to pursue the inten-
tion of the founders in your sense, exclusive of the Church,
than Oxford was to continue their Colleges appropriated to
the Roman Catholics, if so much ; I mean in point of equity.
There may be some small inconveniences in granting such a
liberty, but they are not to be compared with the inconven-
iences which will attend denying it.
If what was mentioned was no designed omission in the
first draught of your History, yet it seems to have been de-
signedly persisted in after what I humbly suggested to you.
Indeed, Sir, your College never had a more hearty friend,
without respect to any party, than I was and desire still to
continue, if we can only stand upon an equal foot, but I am
really and tenderly hurt by this disputed prohibition. It is
hard, very hard indeed, if in an English colony the Church
must be treated upon the same foot with every idle sectary.
But I am insensibly got much further than I intended.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 209
However, if I can find leisure to answer your state of the
case and reasoning upon it more particularly, which I think
may be easily done, and with as much calmness as you can
desire, you may expect to hear further from me. Mean-
time, I remain, dear Sir,
Your friend and humble servant,
S. JOHNSON.
His time and thoughts were so much absorbed in
the controversy about the College in New York, that
he does not appear to have answered President Clap,
as he intimated. He and his friends were deter-
mined to construct it on a liberal basis; but there
was as much opposition among Presbyterians to allow-
ing Episcopalians to dominate therein, as there was
among the authorities of Yale College to giving the
children of the Church the privilege of worshipping
on Sundays in their own sanctuary. His son William
wrote him, August 2, 1754, and in the course of his
letter said : " We had yesterday a visit from President
Clap ; I suppose on his return from advising with his
brother Hoi} art. He was very inquisitive about your
College, and wanted much to see your < Oxonia Illus-
trata,' which I handed to him. He pored upon it a
considerable time, and at length said : ' Really, I think
it seems to agree very well with a pretty long His-
tory (I forget the author's name) that I have lately
been reading, which I sent for from Cambridge 'Li-
brary/ He said not a word about the controversy,,
though I believe he does not intend to give it over,
by his studying the History of Oxford so much."
Dr. Johnson finally resigned the Mission of Strat-
ford,1 which he had held thirty-two years, and settled
1 The Rev. Edward Winslow was appointed his successor, May 2, 1755.
14
210 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
with his family in New York, where he devoted him-
self to the duties of the College at the same time
that he fulfilled the office of a lecturer in Trinity
Church. When he came to admit a second class, he
needed some assistance, and as Mr. Whittelsey, who
had previously been chosen Tutor, was prevented by
the failure of his health from accepting the appoint-
ment, the Trustees gave the place to the younger
son of Dr. Johnson. The internal affairs of the Col-
lege were now prosperous, and liberal subscriptions
and benefactions were obtained to further its interests.
But the war without was unended. The Presbyterian
faction went on with its clamor, and expected to find
in Sir Charles Hardy, the new Governor of the Prov-
ince, a sympathizing friend, and prepared an inflam-
matory address, against his arrival, to disaffect him
towards the College. But it was received with cold-
ness, while the address of the Governors or Trustees
delivered by the President, was listened to " with the
utmost complaisance ; " and signifying his desire to
see the subscription paper, it was taken to him the
next day, when the Governor " immediately took his
pen and subscribed £500. All this," says Johnson in
his autobiography, " was such a mortification to the
faction, that from this time forward they shut their
mouths, and the College met with no more opposition.
And in a little time it was agreed, for peace* sake,
with the Assembly, to divide the money equally be-
tween the College and the public/' This was the
money raised by lottery.
His younger son had completed his theological
studies, and resigning his tutorship, embarked for
England for Holy Orders, Nov. 8, 1755, with a view
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 211
to assist and succeed the venerable Mr. Standard at
West Chester. It was a painful thing for the father
to part with him. He wrote his other son shortly be-
fore the decision : " Your brother can never go with
better advantage than now, so that it is doubtless best
he should now go. But I tremble at the thoughts
of the difficulties and dangers to which he must be
exposed, and pray God I may live to see him safe
returned again, and could then cheerfully sing my
nunc dimittis."
He had already acquainted the Venerable Society
with the foundation of the College and his own elec-
tion to the Presidency ; and Sherlock, the Bishop of
London, had written him a letter of congratulation in
view of the good service which this Institution might
do for the Church of England in the Northern Colo-
nies. But the Vestry of Trinity Church took occa-
sion to write to the Rev. Dr. Bearcroft, Secretary of
the Society, and appeal directly for sympathy and aid
in behalf of the new enterprise. The letter thus
written was intrusted to the care of Mr. George Har-
ison, one of their number, and Mr. William Johnson,
and after speaking of the opposers, it went on to say
of the friends of the College : —
They have begun a subscription amongst themselves, and
are daily purchasing materials to lay the foundation of a
handsome, convenient edifice, which, God willing, they pur-
pose to begin next spring ; and they are induced to hope,
that as the dissenting Seminary in New Jersey has had the
General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland engaged in its
behalf last year, as well as the dissenting interest in Eng-
land, and, as we are informed, have collected a very consid-
erable sum of money, so our brethren in England will be
212 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
ready to contribute to preserve the Church in this part of
the world from the contempt its enemies are endeavoring to
bring upon it.
The Dissenters have already three seminaries in the
Northern Governments. They hold their synods, presbyte-
ries, and associations, and exercise the whole of their ecclesi-
astical government to the no small advantage of their cause ;
whilst those churches which are branches of the National
Establishment are deprived not only of the benefit of a reg-
ular church government, but their children are debarred the
privilege of a liberal education, unless they will submit to
accept of it on such conditions as Dissenters require ; which,
in Yale College, is to submit to a fine as often as they at-
tend public worship in the Church of England, communi-
cants only excepted, and that only on Christmas and sacra-
ment days. This we cannot but look upon as hard meas-
ure, especially as we can with good conscience declare that
we are so far from that bigotry and narrowness of spirit they
have of late been pleased to charge us with, that we would
not, were it in our power, lay the least restraint on any
man's conscience, and should heartily rejoice to continue in
brotherly love and charity with all our Protestant brethren." 1
Four months elapsed and no intelligence had been
received by Dr. Johnson of the arrival of his son in
England. He reached his destination, however, after
an extremely perilous voyage, a week before Christ-
mas, and landing at Deal, proceeded to Canterbury,
where of all the clergy who befriended the father and
his companions thirty-three years before, Mr. Gosling
alone survived to welcome the son and give him hos-
pitality. But on arriving in London, the seat of the
Society's operations, he found several of his father's
old friends and correspondents, and writing to him
January 10th, he expressed some disappointment that
l Berrum'8 History Trinity Church, p. 103
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 213
his application to be ordained for West Chester was
heard with so little favor. He had called on Dr.
Bearcroft, Christmas Eve, who received him rather
coldly ; and again he had waited on him ten days
later, when he was more kind, and "talked very
freely of Dr. McSparran and his ambitious views ; of
Fowle and Norwalk, Mr. Gibbs,1 the state of the
Church throughout New England ; of the hasty rec-
ommendations of young gentlemen for orders from
America, and their being sent many times very raw,
without first obtaining leave to come, etc. ; but always
mentioned you with a great deal of kindness and re-
spect. He said the Society did not intend to maintain
assistants abroad, and that the sending me as curate
to Mr. Standard would be a bad precedent for others
to ask the same favors. I urged the infirmities of the
old Doctor, and the miserable condition of the Church
there as well as in many parts of the County." He
was assured that if the Society thought proper to
grant the request, much missionary duty would be
done outside of the parish.
Mr. Berriman and Dr. As try received him cordially
and promised him all the assistance in their power, but
both regretted that he and Mr. Samuel Fayerweather,2
who arrived in London a week after Mr. Johnson,
" were come upon such a slender basis." Further on
in this same letter, he says : —
1 Rev. Wm. Gibbs, of Simsbury, Ct, then in poor health.
2 He was a native of Boston, and graduated at Harvard College, 1743. He was
for several years settled as a Congregational minister in Newport, R. I., but after
conforming to the Church of England, and receiving Holy Orders therein, he was ap-
pointed a missionary in South Carolina. The climate impaired his health, and peti-
tioning the Society to be removed North, he was transferred in 1760 to St. PauPt»
Church, Narragansett, vacant by the death of Dr. McSparran, in 1757. Mr. Fayer-
weather died in 1781.
214 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Last Tuesday, with Fayerweather, waited on his Lordship
of London at Fulham. He appeared very kind ; he seemed
desirous to converse with us, but it was very difficult to un-
derstand him : his voice is almost gone, but his understanding
yet very good. He spoke at first pretty roughly to Fayer-
weather, and said his bond from Taunton people was good for
nothing ; they meant only to impose upon him. He had, he
said, known instances of it from other places, and Taunton
he knew never intended to pay what they promised him. At
our coming away he asked whether I should write soon, and
bid me give his services to you and tell you that writing was
grown very difficult to him, and his infirmities such that he
could scarce hold a pen in his hand to write his name, which
was the reason you had no letter from him for some time.
He then told us we must wait upon Dr. Nicholls next
week, who does all his business for him, and thus we are
referred to another tribunal. They all seem to agree (and
especially the Secretary) that Taunton must not be made
a mission. Poor Fayerweather is frighted out of his wits
about it. However, I endeavor to encourage him to hope
that all things will turn out right for us both, by and by.
The good Bishop of Oxford I have waited on twice. He
truly deserves Pope's character — Seeker is decent. He con-
verses with me with all the familiarity of an intimate friend,
promises to write for me to Oxford, and hopes a degree may
be obtained. I heard him preach on Christmas Day at the
Cathedral (the congregation was in tears), and received the
Sacrament at his hands. There is to be a meeting of the
Society next Friday, at which he promises to attend, and I
am to be there myself and urge my cause. The Committee
meet on Monday to prepare matters ready. Thus you see
I am at present lying at the pool, and waiting for the mov-
ing of the waters, in hopes some good friend will then take
me up and cast me in, so that in my next I hope I shall be
able to give you a more agreeable account of a favorable
turn to my affairs. Meantime -I shall endeavor to possess
myself in patience and wait the event.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 215
He seized every opportunity to communicate with
his father, and keep him informed of the progress of
his affairs. He knew his anxieties about him, and
would do what he could to quiet them, and gladden
the hearts of all his friends at home. His letters, in-
tended for the family eye, do not fail to mention any
change of plan or new proposition, though he was so
far away that it must be carried into effect before he
could have the parental advice. He left himself in
the hands of Providence and his London counselors,
and wrote as follows to his father : —
LONDON, February 6, 1756.
HONORED SIR, — I am told this morning, with the greatest
secrecy, of an opportunity to New York, but who it is that is
going, I know not ; however, 'tis satisfaction enough for me
that I can inform you with what pleasure I received yours
by the Grace via Bristol. There is no happiness here equal
to that of hearing that you all continue well, as blessed be
God, I am at present. You mention in this letter that you
had wrote a few days before, I suppose by the Albany, but
she is not yet arrived, and we begin to be anxious for fear
the French have got her. I am sorry to hear of Mr. Col-
gan's death ; neither do I know what to say about succeed-
ing there.1 I have just mentioned it to Dr. Nicholls and
Dr. Astry, and they both seemed rather to discourage me
from thinking of it, as there must be a lawsuit, and perhaps
a good deal of trouble to get things quietly settled ; how-
ever, if I should hear nothing further from you about it, I
shall endeavor to get leave of the Society to succeed there,
if they should choose me upon my return, and all things con-
sidered, it be thought most advisable.
I wrote you a long letter by the General Wall Paquet
for New York, which hope you will receive. Since that I
have waited on his Grace of Canterbury, who received me in
i Jamaica, L. I.
216 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
a very familiar manner and inquired much about the College
at New York, and the affairs of religion there. I was sur-
prised to find by him that he had never yet seen a charter,
or received any proper account of his being a Governor of
the College. I suppose it was left with our late Governor,
De Lancey, to write and send a charter to him, but you
know his indolence, and therefore 'tis not strange it never
was done.
As to my own affairs, I can inform you nothing certain. I
have waited upon the Committee at the Charter House, and
afterwards was introduced to the Venerable Board at Abp.
Tenison's Library. His Grace of York sat in the chair. On
his right hand, the Bp. of Oxford, and three other Bishops.
On his left, a very grand assembly ! Your letters were read,
and that from the Vestry, publicly before the Board ; Mr.
Harison was asked by the Bp. of Oxford to be present, and
accordingly when we were introduced, we were questioned
by his Grace and the Bp. of Oxford publicly about the Col-
lege and the opposition it had met, and was like to meet with
from the Dissenters, etc., to all which we answered in the
best manner we could. I was then desired by Dr. Bear-
croft to tell his Grace and the Bishops the story of our
persecutions at Yale College, and in particular that of our
going to hear Mr. Morris preach in the jail at New Haven
(which I had told the Committee before) ; and they all
heard it with much attention, and seemed disposed to patron-
ize the College at New York. Mr. Harison, by your letters
and Dr. Astry's recommendation, was mentioned at the
Board for a member of the Society. I have myself taken a
good deal of pains among the members, to have him made
one, and Dr. Nicholls assures me it will be done at the next
meeting. Mr. Fayerweather and myself are recommended
by the Society to the Bp. of London for orders, and have
leave afterwards to apply to them for their favor, which I
suppose will be near <£20 for me, an annual present, but not
a settled salary as Dr. Nicholls thinks. Mr. Fayerweather
I know not how they will dispose of, perhaps to Norwalk,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 217
for the Secretary tells me they must dismiss poor Fowle.
I expect Dr. Nicholls will examine us next week, and we
shall be ordained (if found worthy) in the Ember Week in
March. 'Tis this day the general Fast, and I had engaged
myself to wait on some company to Westminster Abbey to
hear the sermon before the House of Lords, before I knew
of the opportunity for writing.
I trust in God for his protection and blessing upon us all,
and hope we shall have a happy meeting again. Meantime,
I remain, Honored Sir,
Your most dutiful and obedient son,
W. JOHNSON.
The examination referred to in the foregoing letter
was held, and he wrote his father on the 19th of
March, to inform him that he and Mr. Fayerweather
and several other candidates were ordained Deacons
the previous Sunday by the Bishop of Bangor, Dr.
Pierce, in the Chapel of the Palace at Fulham, — Dr.
Sherlock, the Bishop of London, being too infirm to
go through the ordination. Dr. Nicholls, Master of
the Temple, presented them, and " after the service,"
he added, " we had a very grand and elegant dinner
served up. The Bishop of London's lady, my Lord
of Bangor, Dr. Nicholls, etc., sat at the table with us.
The particular notice with which I was treated above
the rest of my fellow-candidates had almost put me
to the blush several times. My Lord of London de-
sired to be affectionately remembered to you. He
expresses a very great regard for you, and on your
account treats me with the greatest kindness, and in-
tends (as I am told by Dr. Nicholls), as soon as ever
he can hear from Boston whether or not Dr. Mc-
Sparran accepts the Chaplaincy, which Mr. Brockwell
218 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
held, to give me the refusal of it, as he does not much
expect the Dr. will think best to have it. If it should
be offered me I shall be at a loss how to act, as I shall
be unwilling to refuse, and unworthy to accept it."
He wrote again on the 31st, and said : "I have
now the satisfaction to acquaint you that Mr. Fayer-
weather, myself, and two others were ordained Priests
on Lady Day, at the Bishop of London's palace
again, by the Bishop of Carlisle, Dr. Osbaldistone."
Three days later he had another opportunity to write
his father, when he mentioned : "I forgot in my
last to tell you that my good friend, Mr. Cutler, had
been in London almost a week, and took much no-
tice of me. He came from Booking, forty miles, al-
most on purpose to see us, and would have me with
him every day, and visit all his friends with him here
in London. He is hearty and lusty, a very true pic-
ture of his father ; only more merry. When he went
9/way he made me and Mr. Fayerweather promise to
preach for him at Bocking in our journey to Cam-
bridge. He particularly desired to be affectionately
remembered to you, but says he believes he shall
never be tempted to see America again."
Young Johnson still tarried in London, and had not
left its precincts since his arrival, to visit other parts
of the kingdom. He preached with good acceptance
in several churches of the metropolis, and then com-
municated to his brother his final plans in the fol-
lowing letter. His ordination had not fixed his post
in America, and the hesitancy or uncertainty about
this occasioned him some anxiety : —
DEAR BROTHER, — I have yet received but one letter
from you and that above a month ago, to which I gave you
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 219
in answer by Captain Jacobson, in the Irene, by whom also
I sent you a box of books, marked W. S. J., No. 2, which I
hope will come safe to you. I have still the pleasure of ac-
quainting you of the continuation of my health (blessed be
God), as I hope you all have ; but am quite weary of the smoke
of London, which I propose on Friday next to change for
that of Windsor, and Oxford, where I was about ten days
since honored with a degree of Master of Arts, and through
my intercession with the good Bishop of Oxford, had Mr.
Fayerweather joined with me, so that we have been now
sounding in the newspapers almost a week, till I am quite
weary of the compliments. Messrs. Harison and Fayer-
weather will accompany me to the University where we pro-
pose to spend about eight days, and then go to Cambridge
and Booking to see Mr. Cutler, etc. After which I shall
return to London again, and begin to settle my affairs here
that I may turn my attention to America again, and the
pleasing hopes of seeing you in health and peace once more.
I don't know whether I told you that my Lord of London
designs me the Chaplaincy at Boston, if Dr. McSparran re-
fuses it, as 'tis expected he will ; his own being better, and
the Bishop won't let him hold both as the Dr. intended, and
my Lord is now waiting his answer that he may give it to
me, so that I am, at present, in a quandary whether Boston,
West Chester, or Jamaica, will finally be my place of abode,
though I can't but rather wish one of the latter, and that I
may be the nearer to Daddy in his decline of life, as well as
to you, though Boston be in itself the most eligible other-
wise, as well as most honorable.
Be so good as to make my compliments to Mr. Winslow,
and tell him his acquaintances here are well, particularly Mr.
Brornfield and Jackson. I have had several agreeable little
rides with Mr. Jackson into the country about London, as
Mr. Winslow can tell you he did before me. He dislikes
the grounds and rudiments of law, etc., that you mentioned,
but advises me to get you Peere Williams' Reports, a cele-
brated thing, just published, in 3 vols. folio, price .£4 10s
220 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
But as it is so costly I am a little at a loss what to do. Mr.
Jackson offers to do you any little service that shall come in
his way, and is obliged to you for the little memorandum you
gave me about his land, which I showed to him. His Grace
of Canterbury has been very ill, so that his life has been de-
spaired of, but is now better, though 'tis thought he will not
live long, as he is imagined to be in a consumption. I am to-
morrow to attend at the grand rehearsal for the Sons of the
Clergy at St. Paul's, and after sermon to be at the great feast
with the stewards, gentry, etc. I have nothing particular to
inform you as to public affairs. Tis neither peace nor war
here ; our eyes are fixed upon America, and I hope' you will
do worthily. I shall add no more, but my most affectionate
love to sister, and hearty service to all friends as though
named, and that
I am your most affectionate brother and friend,
W. JOHNSON.
LONDON, May 5, 1756.
A letter to his father, twenty days later, describing
the reception at Oxford, was the last which he wrote
to his friends in America. The journey to see Mr.
Cutler at Bocking does not appear to have been made,
for the visit to Cambridge was cut short by his illness
and speedy return to London. What happened to him
after this is best detailed in the following pathetic
letter, conveying the tidings of his death : —
LONDON, June 24, 1756.
DEAR AND EVER HONORED SIR, — The occasion of my
writing to you is melancholy and distressing. But O how
can I speak it — my heart is pained within me, my spirit is
troubled for you. The sovereign God has made a great
breach in your family. Your beloved son William is dead —
is dead.
It pleased God, after a short illness of about nine days
with the small-pox, to take him out of this world. The task
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 221
in sending such a letter of condolence to one of the best and
tenderest of parents is exceeding irksome and disagreeable to
me. But the duty I owe to Doctor Johnson, as well as the
particular regard I had for his amiable son, will not allow me
to refrain. And while I thus drop a tear with you over my
departed friend, wouldn't be forgetful of what Christianity
forbids, uto mourn as those who are without hope."
And though you, Rev. Sir, may say in the midst of your
distress and sorrow, — " O William, my son, that I had
died for thee — William, my son, my son," yet you have
all the reason imaginable to be greatly comforted in his death,
and even to rejoice because he is gone to his heavenly Father.
Certain I am that you will be better able to make suita-
ble reflections on such a providence, and improve it to your
soul's comfort through the gracious assistance of the Divine
Spirit than I can direct to. However, as it may be some
satisfaction to you to know the particulars of his death, I
will just put down some of the circumstances of it.
Your son and I who were as one, united in the bonds of
natural love and affection, and engaged in one and the same
cause, were as often together as our circumstances would allow
of (which was almost every day). And as we had one in-
terest to serve, and recommended to the same gentlemen,
we in all respects fared alike, and had the same honors to be
unitedly thankful for. This leads me to observe that your
letters (and Doctor Cutler's which I procured in behalf of
us both) to the Bishop of Oxford introduced us to his ac-
quaintance, and our conduct recommended us still more to
his esteem and notice. That worthy gentleman, who was in-
defatigable to serve us, went down to Oxford and procured,
after making all the interest he could, a degree of Master of
Arts, which was conferred on us by Diploma in the fullest,
convocation ever known before, and the more honorary this
was, being done when we were not present ourselves. His
Lordship, upon his return to London, advised us in conse-
quence of so high an honor to pay a visit to the University,
which we did, and were there received with all the demonstra-
222 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
tions of joy and respect possible by the Vice-chancellor and the
other governors of it, with whom we staid a fortnight, with
the most inexpressible pleasure and delight, — the Vice-
chancellor himself presenting to each of us his Diploma in
the handsomest form and order.
In about a month after, we agreed to visit the University
of Cambridge also, where we were admitted ad eundem^ and
previous to it we passed through all the forms and ceremo-
nies of it. And there we were likewise treated with uncom-
mon civility and kindness by the Vice-chancellor, Profess-
ors, Doctors, Proctors, etc. We spent four days at this seat
of the Muses, and came back to London, but with this dis-
agreeable circumstance of my brother traveller being sick
of that fatal distemper whereof he died. Where he took the
infection, or by what particular means, I cannot trace out,
but very well remember his first complaints were in Trin-
ity Hall, Cant. ; though some say he was out of order by
overheating his blood, and worrying himself by excessive
walking in bad weather the day before we sat out upon our
journey.
As soon as he got back to his lodgings from this unfortunate
tour, a surgeon of eminence — Mr. Kinnersly — bled him,
which was on Saturday evening about eight o'clock, June tha
12th. The next day, which was Sunday, a physician and
an apothecary of the first rank and character — Doctor
Hyberton and Channing — were sent for, who immediately
pronounced his case dangerous, he having the worst of symp-
toms, and those of the confluent sort. On the Friday follow-
ing, growing worse, the help of another physician was found
necessary, and accordingly, by the advice and desire of good
Mr. Berriman, Doctor Nichols, a gentleman of great renown
and formerly of your acquaintance, was applied to, and the
three consulted together, and did everything for dear* Billy
that they possibly could do. This I was an eye-witness to, as
I took lodgings in the house where he was from his first being
put to bed, and constantly staid with him (at his desire),
and the rather as Mr. Hanson was gone into Wales and
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 223
Ireland. He had also a careful nurse and the best of friends
about him to keep up his spirits. The Revd. minister above
mentioned was exceeding kind in praying with him. I like-
wise prayed with him at several different times, for which he
always expressed his most humble and hearty thanks.
In the whole course of his sickness as he had the exercise
of his reason and understanding, so I observed him full of
devotion. And when any prayers were offered up in his
behalf, his attention was fixed to every sentence and period.
On Sunday, the 20th of June, about two hours before he died,
[he] begged of me to pray with him before I went out to
church (for then I was just going to preach for the Rev.
Doctor Bristowe), which I readily complied with, and couldn't
help remarking his particular emphasis on the concluding
word, Amen. This he would speak out distinctly, and au-
dibly, with his innocent hands lifted up to the God of Heaven
when he could scarcely be heard to say anything else.
As I sat by his bed-side observing him to breathe hard,
I asked him " whether he thought himself dangerous, —
whether he thought he should die," to which he answered,
" I know not ; I cannot tell." I asked, " whether he was
anything uneasy about a future state." His answer was " No,
no, not in the least." To which he further added, " If it be
the will of God that I may live to see my dear father again,
I shall be thankful ; if not, his will be done. I can, I do en-
tirely resign myself to the blessed will of my Creator to dis-
pose of me as He thinks best."
This, this was his language, and I may say too, the song of
his soul. Towards the close of his precious life, he had one or
two considerable struggles and conflicts, yet still meek, si-
lent, patient, resigned, —
" And smiling pleased in Death."
Death was no surprise to him in the least ; being disarmed
of its stings and horrors, he bid it welcome, breathing out his
last in the hands of Jesus. May the dear parents be pre-
pared to hear the tidings, and supported under so sore a be
reavement.
224 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Ah me ! my companion and friend ! very pleasant hast thon
been unto me in thy life-time, and now at death not divided.
O Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my
days what it is, that I may know how frail I am.
Quis talia fando temperet a lachrymis ?
And after all, the greatest comfort, Rev. and Hon. Sir, to you
is, that your beloved son only sleepeth ; that you shall see him
again risen with a more beautified body, like unto his Saviour's,
and distinguished with the glory of the Lord, — a crown —
a laurel. The young prophet hath ascended ; may I in par-
ticular catch his mantle, his spirit descending and resting
upon me. To conclude, may both Mr. Harison, who was your
worthy son's intimate friend, and I, imitate him as he imi-
tated Christ, and follow him who through faith and patience
is now inheriting the promises. Then shall we be together
with him as one, where there will be no parting any more in
the beatific presence, and ever rejoice in shouting forth the
praises of God and the Lamb. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
1 most heartily sympathize with you, venerable and much
afflicted Sir, and the whole distressed family, and wish you
and them the great consolations which are contained in the
covenant of grace, and promised to good men under Divine
chastisement.
I am, believe me to be, with the utmost sincerity,
Your very affectionate sympathizing friend,
SAMUEL FAYERWEATHER.
He was carried on Thursday the 25th of June into
the Church of St. Mildred in the Poultry, and, after
the usual funeral rites, was laid in a vault, under
the Church, belonging to Mr. Morley, a near relation
of Mr. Harison. A handsome marble monument was
afterwards erected to his precious memory at the ex-
pense of his most loving brother.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON.
CHAPTER IX.
GRIEF FOB THE DEATH OF HIS SON AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH
FRIENDS J PROGRESS OF THE COLLEGE AND ERECTION OF A
BUILDING; LEAVES THE CITY ON ACCOUNT OF THE SMALL-
POX; DEATH OF HIS WIFE ; FIRST COMMENCEMENT; AND IN-
CLINATIONS TO RESIGN.
A. D. 1756-1759.
IT is impossible to describe the sorrow of the father
at the loss of his son. He had written to his friends
in Stratford as late as the first week in September, to
Bay that no new intelligence had been received from
him, and that he hoped by that time he was " well
on his way over." The first tidings of his death
came through a London paper, and followed quickly
upon the hope thus expressed. He seized his pen
and wrote again as follows : —
September 13, 1756.
DEAREST SON, — You will find by an article in the news
which is out of the London paper, that it hath pleased our
Heavenly Father to take to himself your dear brother, and
to deprive me of one of the best of sons and you of the best
of brothers. May He support and comfort you under these
heavy tidings, as I hope I may say with thankfulness He does
us. The wound is exceeding deep, but we have nothing to
say upon these occasions but Thy will be done ! and to make
the best use we can of it to disengage us from this world, and
fit us for a better where he is doubtless gone, and where we
may hope in a little time to meet him never to part more.
This is all the intelligence we have of it (via Boston), but
15
226 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
you see him in the case so exactly described that there
is no possible place left to doubt of it. Your sister is at
Staten Island. I dread at the shock it must give her.
Thank God we are all in health and send our tender sym-
pathies with you on this melancholy occasion. This makes
us the more long to see you again, but must wait till your
affairs make it practicable. Meantime may God sanctify
this sad event to you and to us all, and ever have you under
his most gracious protection. I am, dear f»on,
Your most afflicted and affectionate father,
S. JOHNSON.
Several letters passed between them before the
tidings were confirmed by Mr. Fayerweather's com-
munication, — in one of which Dr. Johnson said :
" Dear son, you are now my all ; pray for my sake as
well as your own be very careful of your health. I
have always a sort of terror at the sound of Litch field
ever since the sickness you got there. I shall long
to hear you are well returned." Another letter,
written after all the particulars of William's death
had been received, is so full of parental tenderness
and solicitude for his surviving child that it must not
be omitted in this connection : —
NEW YORK, October 18, 1756.
MY DEAR AND ONLY SON, — I had yours of the 12th and
thank God for your health and ours. I conclude you had
my last by the post with Mr. Fayerweather's, though I have
no answer by Hurd.
Your kind intentions towards your brother, had he lived,
are very pleasing to me. You may remember I once
wished you to assist him, as I was concerned how he would
be able to get decently along in life. But God, I am per-
suaded, has provided infinitely better for him than we both
of us could have done, and yet it is so difficult a thing to be
disengaged from the hopes and wishes we had of happiness
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 227
in his continuance with us, that I believe we would both be
content to be stripped of all we have, if that could fetch him
back. ' But God's will is done, and to that we must submit.
What you mention of his taking away such young persons,
and especially in prospect of great usefulness, always ap-
peared to me one of the most difficult phenomena of Provi-
dence to account for. It did so, on his taking away my
dear friend, Mr. Brown, who was certainly the best of us
three, and much such another as your brother. What you
suggest is the only thing that can satisfy us that there are
wise and good reasons with that infinitely perfect and best of
Beings, though it is infinitely beyond us to see them. It is
impossible for us to judge what is wisest and best, unless we
knew the whole of things. But He hath kept that future
world impenetrably out of our sight, doubtless (wisely and
kindly) to teach us to live by faith, not by sight. A heathen
would say, Prudens, futuri temporis exitum, calignosa nocte
premit Deus. It is certain we can make nothing of Provi-
dence without taking both worlds into the account ; and in
this view let us rest.
Mr. Walker was so kind as to write me a large and elab-
orate letter on this melancholy occasion, to which I inclose
an answer open for your perusal, which I desire you to seal
and deliver to him. I am very sorry you can't be here at
Christmas. After having had two such desirable sons for
near thirty years almost always under my eye, now to be to-
tally deprived of one, and so very seldom to see the other,
seems very hard. I shall be so out of all patience not to see
you till spring that I beg of you, if possible, to let us see you
in that first week in December you mention.
My dear son — This is your birthday; l you v now enter
upon your thirtieth year. I bless God for preserving you
both so long to me as He has. May He preserve you still,
and lengthen out to you a useful life to a good old age, and
bestow ten thousand blessings on you and yours. And as I
always set my heart upon your being, both, great and public
i He was born on the 7th of October, Old Style.
228 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
blessings to mankind, and now one is taken away, and some
part of your private care is thereby abated, I trust you will
be so much the more of a public spirit, and lay out your life
and talents to the best advantage for public usefulness, and
that, as much as you can, in what relates to the interest of
Religion as well as Justice. I am, with our tenderest re-
gards to you both, and to the children, dear son,
Your most affectionate father,
S. JOHNSON.
His friends in England wrote him all the comfort-
ing words they could, and at the University of Oxford
a memorial of the character of his son was drawn up,
in which the Rev. George Home, of Magdalen Col-
lege, and the Rev. George Berkeley, student of
Christ Church, had a share, and in which the hope
was expressed that the guardians of the Church in
America might find some expedient to " prevent fu-
ture calamities of this kind, by rendering such long
and perilous voyages unnecessary." Dr. Johnson
used the event as a fresh reason for the establish-
ment of an American Episcopate. In writing to Dr.
Nicholls, December 10, 1756, and thanking him for
his kindness to his deceased son, he urged this meas-
ure with great zeal, but despaired of seeing anything
accomplished at present. He wrote in a similar strain
to his other correspondents, and appeared to be as full
of solicitude for the prosperity of the Church in Amer-
ica as of sorrow for the death of his beloved child.
The following letter to the son of Bp. Berkeley may
be taken as an example of the depth of his feeling on
both subjects : —
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 229
KING'S COLLEGE, N. Y., December 10, 1756.
DEAREST SIB, — I have now before me three of your very
kind and affectionate letters to acknowledge, which I most
gratefully do. In particular I thank you for the very tender
sympathy you express on occasion of the loss of my dear son,
which is indeed a very heavy loss not only to me and my
family, but to the poor people to whom he was to minister,
and hath been most affectionately lamented by all who knew
him. Your reflections on this unhappy occasion are both
just and kind, and I thank God, under such considerations,
He has enabled me to bear it better than I could have ex-
pected. And however hard it bears on flesh and blood, as I
am deeply sensible that my Heavenly Father both always
knows and does what is best, I heartily join with you in say-
ing, Not my will, O my God, but Thine be done ! And I
gladly take this opportunity to render my most hearty thanks
to you for the great kindness wherewith you treated my dear
son, when he was at Oxford, and I beg you will give my
humblest service and thanks to all those good gentlemen, as
though named, into whose conversation you introduced him,
and who treated him with so great kindness, and indeed to
the whole Senate for the great honor they did him in his de-
gree, of all which he had a most pleasing and grateful sense,
as abundantly appears both from his journal, and a letter
he wrote to me from London soon after. His satisfaction
in his journey to Oxford was inexpressible, and particularly
I beg you will give my humblest duty and thanks (lest my
letter should miscarry) to my Lord of Oxford, whose treat-
ment of him was like that of a father and friend, rather than
a stranger and inferior, — for which I cannot be sufficiently
thankful.
I am very much obliged to you for sending me a copy of
your justly renowned and ever honored father's epitaph, for
whom I had the most intense affection. It is extremely just
and elegant. It was a mighty satisfaction that our friend-
ship was like to be continued in our sons ; but since God has
230 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
been pleased to deny it in him that is gone, I wish it may
be continued in my only surviving son, who though he is a
lawyer, and (thank God) is in the best estimation in that
profession, yet his chief affection is towards Divinity of the
best sort, having read Hutchinson, etc., and would shine in
that if he could have orders without such a dangerous voy-
age, which yet he would not much regard, if he had not a
family. I beg, therefore, though unknown, he may be num-
bered among your friends. I desire, when you write, you
will give my humblest service to that excellent lady your hon-
ored mother, as well as your brother, of whom I should be
glad to hear, and assure her that I do most tenderly sympa-
thize with her in her affliction, and do earnestly pray to God
for the relief of your dear sister. I bless God who has in-
fused your heart with a disposition to take Holy Orders in
this degenerate, apostatizing age, in which a man had need to
have the spirit of a confessor if not a martyr, and I shall not
cease to pray earnestly that you may both have the grace and
opportunity to act a worthy part in that capacity for which
you are so excellently qualified.
And now it is time that I consider the subjects of your
other letters, and particularly that I tender you my most
hearty thanks for the most kind present of books you were
so good as to send me, which I wish I could retaliate. I
should have done this sooner but that they arrived not long
before the sad news of my son's death, having lain so long
with the Secretary that he had forgotten whence they were.
Dr. Ellis' performance I am highly pleased with, so far as
Religion is concerned, but I cannot say that I am satisfied
with either Mr. Locke or him in that part. I cannot think
sense the only source of our knowledge, and must conceive
consciousness and the pure intellect another, without which
instruction could take no effect, though it labor in the first
materials. Bp. Berkeley, Dr. Cudworth, and Plato, should
be well considered. I desire you would give my humble ser-
vice and thanks to Mr. Holloway for his kind present, which
is an excellent performance, but I am afraid of going out
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 231
of one extreme into another, and so hurting the cause of our
holy religion by carrying the humor of allegorizing too far,
as some of the pious Fathers seem to have done ; and I have
thought sometimes a handle has been groundlessly, at least
it has been wickedly taken by the enemies of Christianity to
set them in a very ridiculous light. Dr. Patten's, Mr. Wit-
tar's and Mr. Home's performances are exceeding good, and
I am in particular prodigiously pleased with Mr. Home's
State of the Case, etc., which carries all before it. Would to
Heaven all Hutchinsonians would write in that candid and
powerful manner. Their cause, which I am persuaded is
the cause of God, would at length, methinks, bear down all
opposition. I long for those things he seems to hint as be-
ing upon the anvil. In short I am very much obliged to you
for all those tracts, which are very excellent. I am heartily
glad Mr. Hutchinson's works are so much esteemed at Ox-
ford, and you may depend upon it, I shall do my best to make
that University my pattern as far as may be, and particularly
to induce as many as I can to study the Hebrew Scriptures,
and to understand his writings. I thank God my College
has at last got the victory of its enemies, having had an act
passed this fall in favor of it by our Assembly, and all op-
posers stop their mouths. The foundation of the building is
laid, to be carried on vigorously in spring. But as we shall
want much assistance, I am very thankful for the forward-
ness you express to promote it, for the books contributed,
and believe we shall soon empower somebody to put for-
ward a subscription in England.
As to Tillotson, I have myself been heretofore a great
admirer of his sermons, but for these several years have been
sensible of the ill-effects of them in these parts, as well as of
some others worse than they much here in vogue, — and
done my best to guard against them ; but as he has long been
in possession, it will not do here to speak against him with
much acrimony except among Methodists. The Remarks on
his life are doubtless but too just. However it is good to
keep the golden mean and hold moderation, as far as can con-
232 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
sist with a wise zeal and steadiness to the cause of God, and
truth as it is in Jesus.
I am sadly grieved for the melancholy account you give
me of some of the chief dignitaries, and the condition of the
Church there, and little hopes of any establishment in our
favor here. I confess I should scarce have thought my dear
son's life ill bestowed (nor I believe would he) if it could
have been a means of awakening this stupid age to a sense
of the necessity of sending Bishops (at least one good one) to
take care of the Church in these vastly wide extended re-
gions. But alas ! what can be expected of such an age as
this ! 0 Deus bone in quce tempora reservastis nos ! This is
now the seventh precious life (most of them the flower of
this country) that has been sacrificed to the atheistical pol-
itics of this miserable abandoned age, which seems to have
lost all notion of the necessity of a due regard to the interest
of Religion, in order to secure the blessing of God on our na-
tion both at home and abroad. As to us here, as things have
hitherto gone, we can scarce look for anything else but to
come under a foreign yoke.
But it is now high time I should relieve your patience when
I begin to have scarce any left of my own. I therefore con-
clude with my sincere thanks for your affectionate prayers for
me and mine, the continuance of which I still desire ; and be
assured that both you and your relatives and friends shall
always be severally remembered in mine, who am, dear Sir,
Your most affectionate friend and brother in Christ,
S. J.
The affairs of the College in the mean time went
on prosperously, and Dr. Johnson applied all his en-
ergies to give form and effect to the plans of the Over-
seers. They appointed as Tutor, to take the place
of his lamented son, Mr. Leonard Cutting, a gentle-
man who had been educated at Eton and the Uni-
versity of Cambridge, and was well qualified to fill
the position. It was decided to locate the College
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 233
building " in the skirts of the city," and the first
stone, with a suitable inscription, was laid on the 23d
of August, 1756, by Sir Charles Hardy, at which time
the President made a short Latin address to the Gov-
ernors, to Sir Charles, and Mr. De Lancy, the Lieuten-
ant-governor of the Province, " congratulating them
on this happy event, which was followed with an ele-
gant dinner." But an interruption of his personal
work soon occurred.
The appearance of the small-pox in the city at the
setting in of the winter of 1756 obliged him to re-
tire to West Chester, where he ministered to the poor
people who had been disappointed in their expecta-
tions of having his son for their Rector. The thirty
pupils in the three classes were left in charge of Mr.
Cutting, to whom Mr. Daniel Treadwell, a graduate
of Harvard College, was added as an assistant, having
been appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natu-
ral Philosophy. Dr. Johnson himself did what he
could in the way of advice and direction, but his
long absence was felt to be a hindrance to the best
designs of the Institution. At first he seems to
have retired alone without his family, for he wrote
to his son from West Chester on the 19th of Decem-
ber to say, " The kindness of everybody here is inex-
pressible. My Lord [Underbill] and his family think
nothing too good for me, or too much to do, and
everything I say is a law to them. The next day
after you went away, he begged I would be perfectly
at home and call for everything I wanted. I told
him, when at home, I always had my family together
morning and evening to prayers, and should be glad
to do the same here. He was very glad at my mo-
234 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
I
tion, and is prodigiously pleased with the practice, in-
somuch that he tells all his neighbors of it, and if
any of them are here, he will not let them go away
before prayers are over.
" The snow looked terribly, but they intend, if it
will continue, to make an advantage of it. My Lord
and the Major have this evening, since church, en-
gaged fourteen sleds to go to-morrow and fetch all up
at once, so that I hope we may soon be together again,
but it looks threatening for another storm."
The storm did continue, and some days elapsed be-
fore the removal was accomplished. In this retire-
ment he found opportunity to refresh his mind with
favorite studies, and to review some of the judg-
ments which he had formed at an earlier period of
his ministry. Writing to his son on the 30th of Jan-
uary, 1757, he said : " Your notion of those Oxford
gentlemen is doubtless very right, and I hope we shall
have more of their zealous labors to preserve Religion
from sinking in this apostatizing age. I confess Dr.
Clarke, etc., had led me far many years ago into the
reasoning humor, now so fashionable in matters of Re-
ligion, from which I bless God I was happily reclaimed,
first by Forbes and more perfectly by Hutchinson,
whose system I have been now more thoroughly can-
vassing from the Hebrew Scriptures, since this retire-
ment, in regard to the Philosophical as well as the
Theological part, and, to my unspeakable satisfaction,
am much convinced it is, in both, entirely right, and
I could wish }^ou to read both Forbes and Pike over
and over again.
" But your dear brother yet lies very near my
heart, and I cannot avoid yet daily and hourly follow-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 235
ing him in my thoughts, with the utmost tenderness,
into the world of Spirits, whither he is gone before us.
And when I pray for you and all of us, I cannot help
remembering him, as I used to do, but in some such
words as these : < I humbly hope my dear departed
son is accepted with Thee in Thy blessed Son, and
that thou art still his God. 0 be the God of us also
that survive, — our God and guide and chief good in
time and to all eternity.' The expression you know
is taken from that of the God of Abraham, etc., ap-
plied by our Saviour to the Resurrection ; but we
must remember it means in the original their Elohim,
i. 6., their Father, Redeemer, and Comforter. No won-
der then it includes the Resurrection. This custom
of commemorating our departed friends obtained in
the best and earliest times of Christianity, and by
degrees degenerated to praying for them out of pur-
gatory/'
By the advice of his friends, he continued in his
retirement at West Chester for upwards of a year,
the prevalence of the small-pox in the city not mak-
ing it prudent for him to resume his College duties.
In the mean time he made a visit with his wife to
Stratford, and spent several weeks of the early sum-
mer of 1757 among his old friends and parishioners.
The journey was performed in a leisurely and private
manner, and writing to his son on the last day of
July, not long after the return to West Chester, he
for the first time spoke of the illness of his wife. Her
sickness proved to be the fever and ague, a complaint
which then prevailed quite extensively in that neigh-
borhood, and another member of his household was ill
in the same way, — Mrs. Georgiana Maverick, — the
236 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
widowed daughter of his wife by her former husband.
No immediate danger attended this sickness, but per-
sons afflicted with it, especially those of feeble consti-
tutions, were often so shattered and reduced by its se-
verity as never to recover. The following note, writ-
ten to the wife of his son, shows his anxiety in the
earlier stages of the complaint : —
WEST CHESTER, September 12, 1757.
DEAR DAUGHTER, — I am sensible my son is not at home,
for which reason I write to you to let you know how it is
with us. It is an exceeding sickly time in these parts, and
we have our share of it, having all of us had the fever and
ague, but your poor mother has a very bad fever. She had
got well of the first turn so as to ride about several times,
but yesterday a week ago she was taken bad again, and has
been bad all the week and so continues, and God only knows
what will be the event. It seems to be of the kind they call
the long fever, but I hope it may have a comfortable issue.
I mention our case that my son may know how it is when he
comes home, but would not have him troubled with it where
he is, and I hope I may be able to give him a better account
of it by the time he returns. I was glad to find by his last
letter that you were all in health, which I pray God con-
tinue. We all give our kind love to you and the children,
and to him when he returns, and to Mrs. Beach.
I am, dear daughter,
Your most affectionate father and friend,
S. JOHNSON.
The next letter bore more favorable intelligence,
but the signs of improvement were not lasting. Un-
der the pressure of all his trials, his pen was employed
whenever he could be of any service to the Church,
and on the 3d of October, he excused himself from
writing more largely to his son, because he had been
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 237
obliged to prepare a long letter to the Rev. Mr. Wet-
more, who had applied to him for his advice to be
communicated to a meeting of the clergy which he
was about to call at Stamford on the 13th at the in-
stance of the Society " to look into the affairs of Mr.
Beach's1 sermon, and try to bring him to a better
mind." " Truly," said Johnson, " things are come to
that pass that he must make some submission to the
Society or be discarded, or at least severely repri-
manded, for Hobart 2 has procured a complaint from
their Association against him to the Society, which has
put them on these measures, though I wish this could
be concealed, and that it could be rather represented
as arising ex proprio molu from other information,"
which the Society possessed. Writing to his son a
week later, he referred again to Mr. Beach playfully
as one who " had always those two seeming inconsis-
tencies, to be dying and yet relishing sublunary
things." The reprimand, if given, seems not to have
been very severe, and Mr. Beach subsequently in a
measure atoned for his mistake by the publication of a
sermon on " Scripture Mysteries," which received the
sanction of his brethren, and was introduced to the
public with a preface from the pen of Johnson himself.
Not deeming it prudent to return to New York in
consequence of the small-pox, he moved into more
comfortable quarters at West Chester, and for a good
part of the winter was alternately hopeful and fear-
ful about the result of his wife's illness. Occasionally
his sorrow for the death of his son would break out
1 Rev. John Beach. The sermon was An Inquiry concerning the State of the
Dead, which was misunderstood, and he regretted its publication.
2 Mr. Beach had very properly answered his " Addresses to the members of the
Episcopal Separation in New England."
233 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
afresh, and any allusion to it by an English friend was
sure to stir the depths of his feeling. He closed a
letter to his son at Stratford, December 18, 1757,
thus : " You tell me in your last you have had the
melancholy pleasure of seeing Mr. Harison. It must
be so, indeed ; but though I have been very impatient
for it, I have not yet had the opportunity. He
sent me a short letter from Dr. Bearcroft, of July 2.
by which it appears he had written to me the Sep-
tember before, which must have miscarried. It only
relates to a scheme of the Society, to educate some
Indian youths in my College as an expedient towards
propagating Christianity among them. I want very
much to see him, in order the better to know how to
write my letters and what to do with these bills, and
I fear I shall lose the opportunities.
Christmas is quite at hand, and if we may not have
the pleasure of seeing you here (which though I long
for, yet I durst not expect, however so much I desire
it, it being such a tedious journey), I wish you may
have a pleasant one and a happy new year, and many,
many more."
He was induced to consult his old family physician
at Stratford, Dr. Harpin, about his wife, who, as
the winter wore on, became troubled with a cough
and shortness of breath, and other symptoms of a con-
sumption. She gradually improved under the use of
new remedies, and by the middle of February, Dr.
Johnson began to think of returning to his duties in
town. The appearance of the small-pox at West
Chester hastened this step, for in a letter to his son on
the 4th of March, 1758, he said : " The young fellows
here purposely take the small-pox so much, that I be-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 239
lieve we cannot be any longer safer here than at town,
so that I think to go within about a week, and the
family will, I believe, hardly continue out the month
before they follow me." Three weeks later he wrote
again, but now from New York, where he had been
nearly the whole of this time at the house of his step-
son, and mentioned, " I have been but little abroad as
yet, though I have some thoughts of venturing to
church to-morrow. I have been and shall be very
careful, but the small-pox is certainly very thin now,
as neither doctors nor ministers, nor anybody else
that I have seen, can tell where it is, of their own
knowledge ; but doubtless it is in some remote skirts
of the town. However, I hope God will preserve me
from it : the Freshmen have attended me every day
at your brother's."
The family followed him to town early in April, and
carried with them the fever and ague, which had af-
flicted his wife and daughter so long at West Chester.
The change brought no real relief, and the letters of
the father to the son spoke more and more discour-
agingly of the recovery of Mrs. Johnson. The crisis
had been reached and all hope relinquished, when the
following was written from, —
NEW YORK, May 29, Monday, 11 o'clock.
MY DEAKEST SON, — God is now calling me to pass
through another great revolution in my circumstances ;
another great change in my condition, which I hope may fur-
ther contribute to prepare me the better for my last. I should
have written by Philip Nicholls, but he called in the utmost
hurry so early, that having sat up till 1 o'clock, I was not yet
awake. He could give you, or at best my dear daughter, a
prelude to what is now to follow. Your dear mother continued
240 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
as she was, without seeming worse till about six o'clock last
Friday evening, having rid out the day before, and conversed
and walked about as usual, and would have rid out that day
but the wind was too high. But about that hour she was
seized all at once with a terrible shivering, not cold, but con-
vulsive, which issued in a most terrible fever, and tormenting
pains, except short intervals of dozing, which continued till
midnight last night, since which she has been tolerably easy
and slept a good deal, but is reduced to the lowest ebb of life,
and cannot hold it many hours. She is perfectly resigned, and
sometimes even longs to be released, with good hopes of a
blessed immortality. May God give her an abundant en-
trance into his heavenly kingdom, and a happy meeting with
your dear brother !
Had you been at Stratford, I should have sent an express
for you to come, but the suddenness of the occasion, all the
while threatening speedy death, together with your great dis-
tance, made us think it best to decline it, though I shall hope
to see you as soon as may be, as you may chance to be here
before her funeral. But you must be careful and inquisitive
as you come along, as I hear the small-pox is much at New
Rochelle, and about the half way to the Bridge, where you
may do well to have some tar to smell to, and tobacco in your
mouth. Yesterday I asked her whether there was anything
she would have me say to you in particular. She bid me
give her love and dying blessing to you and your children.
Take care, dear son, you do not overdo yourself. You are
now my all in effect. Your brother and sisters with me give
our love to you all. Lachrymans scribo, being, dear son,
Your most affectionate, but very afflicted father,
S. JOHNSON.
She lingered till the Thursday evening after the
date of this letter, and then expired, thus sundering
a happy connection which had existed for more than
thirty-two years. She was buried under the chancel
of Trinity Church — the old edifice which was after-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 241
wards destroyed in the great conflagration that befell
the city during the Revolutionary War.
It had been decided to hold the first commence-
ment of the College on the 21st of June, and John-
son, who was desirous of making a good appearance,
turned, in the freshness of his grief, to the work of
preparing for this occasion. The graduating class
numbered eight, and the two tutors, Cutting and
Treadwell, with eleven other gentlemen, were admit-
ted to -the degree of Master of Arts. An "elegant
entertainment " followed the public exercises, and
such was the interest manifested in the Institution
that a new impulse seemed to be given to its pros-
perity. Materials for completing the college building
were at once procured, and then when the stone had
been delivered, a delay arose from an unexpected
cause. The difficulty of finding suitable workmen
prevented any progress, so that nothing more was
done till the winter had passed away and the spring
opened. In the meantime Johnson, who had previ-
ously applied to the Archbishop of Canterbury and
other friends in England for aid in behalf of the Col-
lege, was not much encouraged by the answers which
he received. A good philosophical and mathemati-
cal apparatus had been obtained, and the Rev. Dr.
Bristowe, of London, who befriended his lamented
son, intimated his purpose of procuring a large library
for the infant seminary, a purpose which he after-
wards executed by bequeathing to it his own valuable
collection of nearly fifteen hundred volumes. But
money to finish the building and endow the College
was not readily given.
Having two good tutors, one to take charge of the
16
242 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Classical and the other of the Mathematical depart-
ment,.he devoted himself chiefly to teaching the New
Testament in Greek ; and to Logic, Metaphysics, and
Ethics, with lessons in Hebrew to those who desired
to become acquainted with that language. He was
interrupted for a time in his duties by sickness in the
family, and was himself severely attacked with the
measles in March, 1759, from which it was feared he
might not recover. " God grant," he wrote to his
son after all danger was passed, " that my life may
have been spared to some good purpose, and that
what remains of it may be more abundantly employed
to his glory in the station I am in ! "
A gloomy and anxious winter was not succeeded by
a joyous spring, for Mrs. Maverick, upon whom,
since the death of his wife, he had depended for the
oversight of his domestic affairs, was in a precarious
state of health, with decided tendencies to consump-
tion. As late as the 28th of May, in reply to an in-
vitation from his son's wife to visit Stratford, he said :
" Your sister thanks you for your kind letter, but by
reason of her weakness, begs me to answer it for her.
She, as well as I, would gladly make you a visit, but
she continues so infirm that I can neither bring her
nor leave her ; so that I must not have the pleasure
of seeing you and my dear little girls this spring, but
hope I may in the fall."
In less than a month from this date he had given up
all hope of her recovery, and admitted to her friends
that she was in a " fixed, incurable consumption."
Her death came sooner than he expected ; occurring
on the 28th of June, thirteen months from the decease
of her mother, and she was buried in the same grave
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, 243
above her, under the chancel of Trinity Church. " I
am again/' he informed his son, " bereaved, and now
in a manner stripped. Your dear sister is gone and
has left me very disconsolate." The event opened
afresh his former griefs, and revived his inclinations
to retire from the charge of the College and spend
the remainder of his days in Stratford. But he was
urged to remain, and the state of the Institution al-
most forbid him to leave it at this crisis.
The second Commencement had just been held and
was private ; one student only being admitted to the
degree of Bachelor of Arts. The building was going
on vigorously under his own eye, and his counsel and
influence were much needed in the further steps to be
taken for the advancement of the College. The fol-
lowing letter to Archbishop Seeker shows that while
he was deeply interested in the prosperity of the
Church at large, and desirous of seeing another Mis-
sion established in New England, he was on the watch
also for some suitable person to be his successor.
April 25, 1 759.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUB GRACE, — In the beginning of last
month I wrote an answer in part to your Grace's most kind
letter of September 27. I hoped then by this time to have
made a reply to the rest of that very important letter, but I
have not sufficient information relating to some things, espec-
ially what concerns our frontiers. The occasion of my now
writing is the desire and request of the clergy of Boston, that
some letters of mine may accompany theirs that are going by
this pacquet in behalf of Mr. Apthorp and a Mission at Cam-
bridge near Boston. Indeed, that paragraph of your Grace's
letter relating to Missions in New England, very much dis-
courages me from writing anything relating to new Missions
in these provinces. What I am now doing, therefore, pro-
244 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
ceeds purely from my friendship to those worthy gentlemen,
to which I should be wanting, if I should refuse to write any-
thing on this occasion. I therefore humbly beg your Grace
will excuse me, if I only suggest that I am fully satisfied that
a Mission would be of very good use to the interest of the
Church and true religion so near that College, for the reasons
they give, but what strongly sways with me is, that we want
extremely to have as many worthy men as possible in this
country, and Mr. Apthorp, by all accounts of him, is indeed
a very superior young gentleman, having been bred at Cam-
bridge, England, and merited a fellowship there, and that
estimation and prospect of preferment that everybody won-
ders at his disposition to tarry in this, even though it be his
native country, at all. And since it is so, I am very desir-
ous to keep him, and the rather as he, having a considerable
fortune of his own, may probably prove a fitter person than
any we can ever expect to procure to succeed me in this sta-
tion, and I am very desirous, if it may be, to be acquainted
with my successor before I leave it, and that he may be some
worthy person who has been bred at one of your Universi-
ties at home. However, whether the Society can think
proper to make a new Mission in New England under the
present condition of things, must be humbly submitted to
the wisdom and goodness of the Board.
I remain, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace's most obliged, etc.,
S. J.
In writing to Dr. Bearcroft, the Secretary of the
Society, two months after this, he expressed himself as
having little expectation of a collection in England
for his College, but it needed assistance so much, and
he urged its claims with such zeal, that the board gen-
erously donated £500 sterling, — a gift which seemed
to put new life into the hopes and energies of the
somewhat tardy Governors. He defended at this
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 245
period the Missionaries of the Society against the
complaints of the Dissenters, who accused them of
using undue means to gain the attention of their
brethren and make converts. Seeker had written
him for information on the subject, and he replied
repelling the accusations, and adding : " The quarrels
of the Dissenters among themselves, especially, occa-
sioned by the late enthusiasm, contributed vastly more
to drive honest thinking people into the Church than
any endeavors of the clergy to make proselytes.
There is now a flagrant instance of this at Walling-
ford, a large country town in the heart of Connecti-
cut." The " late enthusiasm " was the result of
Whitefield's itinerancy, and a body of " shocking
teachers followed him, who propagated so many wild
notions of God ajid the Gospel, that a multitude of
people were so bewildered that they could find no
rest to the sole of their feet till they retired into
the Church as the only ark of safety." The great
want of the Church here was a Bishop, and he im-
plored the authorities at home, in spite of the mis-
representations of their adversaries, to send one to
America. " He need not," he said, " be fixed in New
England, or in any part where Dissenters abound.
He might be fixed at Virginia, where the Church is
established, and only visit us northward once in three
or four years. We should be content to ride three or
four hundred miles for Holy Orders."
No objection was made at a meeting of the Society
to the Mission at Cambridge, and to the appointment
of Mr. Ap thorp, with an annual stipend of £50. He
met with a better reception at first among the Dis-
senters than was anticipated, and his temper, pru-
246 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
deuce, and abilities, gave him great advantage, if not
influence, in that important seat of learning. But the
Archbishop did not so complacently accord with John-
son in his plan of providing for his own retirement.
" Your views," he said, "in relation to a successor, are
very worthy of you ; but I hope many years will pass
before there be occasion to deliberate on that head."
The change might bring with it no little discourage-
ment, and put in peril the best interests of the Insti-
tution. At least it was too soon to give publicity to
his intentions, and work with this end mainly in view.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 247
CHAPTER X.
SMALL-POX AGAIN IN NEW YORK, AND RETIREMENT TO STRAT-
FORD ; MORE AFFLICTION-; THIRD COMMENCEMENT; LETTERS TO
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY; PUBLICATIONS ON PRAYER,
AND DEFENSE OF THE LITURGY.
A. D. 1759-1761.
THE disease which had been the great horror of his
life, drove him once more from his post. " Never "
he wrote to his son, on the 15th of October, " was
anything known like the present breaking out of the
small-pox in New York. It seems as though it arose
out of the ground. They are surprised at it and can-
not account for it." He undertook to keep himself
from exposure, and for a time heard the recitations
of the classes in his own dwelling, but soon the dis-
ease appeared almost at his door, and fortifying
himself as best he could, he hurried from the city to
a farm-house in the suburbs, where he remained until
all danger of having taken it was past, and then with
a servant he proceeded to Stratford. Shut up in this
rural retreat, he spent the winter with his son, more
anxious than ever for the College, since one of the
tutors — Mr. Tread well — was in a decline, and could
render very little assistance to his colleague. He
died of consumption before the spring had much ad-
vanced ; and thus the entire management of the In-
stitution, in the absence of the President, devolved
upon Mr. Cutting.
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Dr. Johnson did not return to New York until the
middle of May, and it was with some fear that he
ventured at this time, for there were a few scattered
cases of small-pox about the town, and he could not
know when he might expose himself and become a
victim of the distemper. A desolate feeling possessed
him as he resumed his college duties. The city ap-
peared to him as it never had before, almost a wil-
derness, for besides the loss of Mr. Tread well, a place
among the Governors had been vacated which he
could not hope to see again filled by one of equal
energy and influence. Benjamin Nicoll, the younger
son of his deceased wife, whose education from child-
hood he had superintended, who had risen to the
highest eminence as a lawyer in the city, and whose
house had been his home as much as that of his own
son in Stratford, sickened and died at the age of
forty-two, in April, 1760, before he could return.
It was said that " never in the memory of man at
New York was any one so much lamented." His
death was the severest misfortune which had befallen
the College. It filled its friends with consternation,
and to Johnson in particular it was a most painful
bereavement, for of all the members of the govern-
ing board, none was more able, wise, and zealous than
he, and upon none had he relied more confidently
to carry him through his perplexities and trials, and
enable him to place the College upon a broad and firm
foundation.
His long absence and the sickness and death of his
" best tutor " had been a serious detriment to the In-
stitution. Several of the students withdrew, and the
prospect for the future was surrounded with gloom.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 249
These things made it the more necessary for him to
apply all his energy and ingenuity to recover from
the losses which had been suffered, and get back the
confidence of those who had grown lukewarm or
doubtful. The college building, one hundred and
eighty feet in length by thirty, three stories high,
erected in a delightful situation near the Hudson
River, and " opening to the harbor," was so far com-
pleted that he moved into it and " set up housekeep-
ing and tuition there, a little more than forty years
after he had done the same at Yale College in New
Haven." He wrote very earnestly to the Archbishop
of Canterbury and begged him to send two good tutors
— one that might be qualified in time to succeed him,
and the other to take the department of mathematics
and experimental philosophy, made vacant by the
death of Mr. Treadwell. His Grace replied : " It
grieves me that you should be without help so long.
If any other person can procure it for you, I should
be heartily glad. But I think you had better wait
than have a wrong person sent you from hence.
Could you not get some temporary assistance in your
neighborhood ? "
The selection was a difficult one in view of the
requirements of Johnson. Among other names rec-
ommended to Seeker was that of Myles Cooper, —
a Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford. He had the
reputation of being a grave and good man, and was
" very well affected to the government ; well quali-
fied for the inferior tutor's place, but not inclined to
accept it ; not unskilled in Hebrew, and willing to
take the Vice-President's office, but not of age for
Priest's Orders " till the lapse of several months. This
250 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
gentleman, as it will be seen, was afterwards appointed
and made a useful and accomplished head of the In-
stitution.
The third Commencement and the first from the
college building, was now held, and the President de-
livered a brief speech in Latin to the governing body,
congratulating them on the privilege of assembling in
their new hall, and marking the event as the begin-
ning of a fresh epoch in the history of the college.
The degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon
six young gentlemen, and the eclat given to the oc-
casion helped to bring the officers of instruction
favorably before the public. The next term opened
well, but as no assistance had been obtained, the
President and Mr. Cutting were obliged to do double
duty ; and the whole year, as he himself said, " was
remarkable only on account of hard services, which
made him more and more weary of his station."
A preparatory school was projected about this time,
and Johnson applied to the Rev. East Apthorp, the
scholarly Missionary at Cambridge, referred to in the
previous chapter, for his idea of what might be " ex-
ecuted at school and at college by a person of mid-
dling genius, persevering in a regular course of mod-
erate study and assisted by good instructors." The
very full answer which was returned, embracQd what
he was pleased to call an " excellent plan of educa-
tion," and he would have been contented without
seeking tutors from abroad, if he could have had the
assistance of Mr. Apthorp in carrying it into execu-
tion throughout the whole course. " But since Prov-
idence," he wrote him, " seems to be ordering other-
wise, I hope you are reserved for yet higher and
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 251
better things. It may yet be a considerable time first,
but as there is the greatest need of it, and the utmost
propriety in it, that bishops should be sent into
America, — for the accomplishing which I hope you
will be continually using your influence in the man-
ner the Archbishop advises, that the Church may
enjoy in full her government and discipline here at
least as well as the Dissenters theirs, — I hope the
time is not a great way off before that most prim-
itive and apostolical order may be established here,
and I pray God you may be the first that may serve
your country in that capacity/'
His correspondence with the Archbishop of Canter-
bury turned upon matters which directly concerned
the welfare of the Church. Sometimes, but rarely,
he touched upon delicate questions of State policy,
and during his retirement at Stratford in the win-
ter of 1759-60, having little to do, and taking the
advice of " several gentlemen of good understanding
and public spirit," he drew up a paper with a view
at first of publishing it in the " London Magazine,"
but upon reflection concluded to send it to his Grace
and inclose copies to him for Lord Halifax and Mr.
Pitt, with instructions to suppress or communicate his
thoughts as he should see fit. Relying on his great
candor he added in reference to the paper : "I hum-
bly hope you will impute it to the feeble struggles of
a well-meaning mind, that would be useful to the
world if it could, but desires to be retired and con-
cealed. I can only assure your Grace that it is the
wish of many gentlemen in these two colonies, though
but few know in confidence of my having taken this
step."
252 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
It does not appear what the particular subjects
were which he thus presented, but they related to
America, and were written under the name of Philang-
lus Americanus. They met with no favor, for the
Archbishop in his reply, November 4th, 1760, said : " I
shall always be pleased with your notifying and pro-
posing to me whatever you apprehend to be material ;
because I know it will always be done with good inten-
tion, and almost always furnish me with useful notices ;
and indeed will be of no small use, even when you may
happen to judge amiss, as it will give me an opportu-
nity of setting you right. In my opinion, the paper
intended for the ' London Magazine/ and the letters
for Lord Halifax and Mr. Pitt, are of the latter sort.
The things said in them are in the main right, so far
as they may be practicable ; but publishing them to
the world beforehand, instead of waiting till the time
comes, and then applying privately to the persons
whose advice the king will take about them, is likely
to raise opposition and prevent success. Publishing
them, indeed, in a magazine, may raise no great
alarm ; but then it will be apt to produce contempt,
for those monthly collections are far from being in
high esteem. And as soon as either of those great
men should see that the queries offered to him were
designed to be inserted in any of them, he would
be strongly tempted to throw them aside, without
looking further into them, even were he otherwise
disposed to read them over ; which men of business
seldom are, when they receive papers from unknown
hands, few of them in proportion deserving it. You
will pardon the frankness with which I tell you my
thoughts. Whatever good use I can make of your
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 253
notions, I will. But the use which you propose is
not agreeable to my judgment."
Johnson had mentioned in the same letter which
accompanied his paper the sudden death of Mr. De
Lancey, the Lieutenant-governor of New York, and
suggested the importance of appointing in his place
" not only a good statesman, but a friend to religion
and the Church, and exemplary in attendance on her
public offices, for want of which, religion had suffered
extremely in that province." The suggestion was
felt to be worthy of consideration. " I have spoken,"
said the Archbishop, " concerning a Lieutenant-gov-
ernor, in the manner which you desired, to the Duke
of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt, and also to Lord Halifax,
in whom the choice is. They all admit the request
to be a very reasonable and important one ; and
promise that care shall be taken about it. The last
of them is very earnest for Bishops in America. I
hope we may have a chance to succeed in that great
point, when it shall please God to bless us with a
peace."
Every letter written at this period was but a repe-
tition of the wants of the Church in the American
Colonies, and of his own desire for aid in carrying
on the College. It was as difficult to find tutors as
suitable persons to supply the vacant missions. After
many diligent inquiries, the Archbishop had thus far
been unsuccessful in meeting his wishes, and as a
means of providing for the Church, he expressed
the hope that good young men might be sent over
from this country to receive ordination and be re-
turned to fulfill the office of missionaries in the old
parishes. The eye of Johnson was especially fixed
254 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
upon the Church in Connecticut and New York,
though he was depended upon in London for informa-
tion to some extent, in regard to all the colonies.
The Society looked to him for facts which it cost him
much labor to procure, and frequently it was a long
time before he could reply intelligently to all the in-
quiries received. He sent off by every packet some-
thing which was designed to put his English friends
and patrons in possession of the state of American
feeling, and transmitted, as they were issued, the pam-
phlets and publications that bore upon the concerns
of the Church. The idea of the geography and ex-
tent of this continent was less understood in England
then than now, — and it is not very well compre-
hended at the present time, — so that when the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury in the same letter addressed
questions to him for information concerning Missiona-
ries from Newfoundland to North Carolina, he could
not answer to his own satisfaction till he had obtained
the data on which to proceed.
Quietly fixed at housekeeping in the College build-
ing, he passed the winter of 1760-61, and took great
pains to preserve his health and avoid exposure to the
dreaded contagious disease. He wrote his son at
Stratford about the middle of November : " It would
be an unspeakable satisfaction to see you here, but I
would rather be denied it than you should be too
much incommoded. I believe the small-pox will die
away again, though perhaps never be quite gone.
It would be one of the greatest satisfactions in life
to me to have you well through it by inoculation,
from which there are so good hopes that I should
not care to oppose it, if you think it best to under-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 255
take it, and yet I dare not urge you to it, but would
leave it to Providence and the dispositions of your
own mind. It is indeed a wretched embarrassment
to me in my present situation ; so that if your case
was as mine is, I should be almost ready to even ad-
vise you to it, and did I not think of retiring for
good and all when it becomes general again, if I
should live to it, 1 should be almost resolved to run
the risk of it yet."
A few days before Christmas, when he was expect-
ing a visit from his son, which the illness of his wife
prevented, he wrote him again, a brief note in which
were the words : " I hope by your account you
are in no danger of the small-pox, as perhaps you
would have been had you been here and gone much
about, for there is a good deal of it about town. On
which account I have been out only at Church and
Mr. Barclay's these three or four weeks. Thank God,
I continue in perfect health, and hope with this care
I am in no danger."
The friends of the Institution were anxious to con-
tinue him at its head, and saw the importance of
keeping him on the spot now that an effort was about
to be made to renew the application for contributions
from abroad. The times appeared more auspicious.
The King of Great Britain had died suddenly on the
25th of October, 1760, and his grandson, George
III., ascended the throne in the twenty-third year of
his age, a sovereign of religious impulses and un-
spotted reputation. " The young king begins his
reign, you see," wrote Johnson to his son, referring
him to the public prints, " with a glorious proclama-
tion in favor of religion and virtue. — the like to
256 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
which I believe has not been before, unless in Queen
Anne's reign."
The Episcopal clergy in this country transmitted ad-
dresses to him upon his accession, but that of the
clergy in and near Boston was not presented to him,
because it was thought to mention Bishops prema-
turely. " This is a matter," wrote Seeker to John-
son, " of which you in America cannot judge ; and
therefore I beg you will attempt nothing without the
advice of the Society or of the Bishops." He had
written to his Grace, and with the advice of some
of his clerical brethren, humbly suggested to him,
whether there would not be good reason to hope
from the declarations of the young king that upon the
commencement of a peace he might be prevailed upon
to settle Episcopacy in America, and whether the
draught of an address to his Majesty something like
the one which he inclosed, would not be expedient
and contribute to this end.
The Governors of the College took occasion to add
their congratulations in a formal way, and to mani-
fest their loyalty as dutiful subjects of the youthful
sovereign. Johnson was the author of this address,
as he was of that which went from the clergy of New
York, and the two neighboring provinces, but it does
not seem to have awakened any new interest in be-
half of his plans, and probably it was too soon after
the coronation, to hope for benefits or changes. The
most that it could do may have been to lead the King
to inquire concerning the signers, and, as Seeker sug-
gested, " express himself in relation to them."
In the autumn of 1760 he published a discourse
entitled : "A demonstration of the Keasonableness,
OF SAMUEL JOHKSON. 257
Usefulness, and great Duty of Prayer/' which he ded-
icated to Jeffery Amherst, Major-general and Com-
mander-in-chief of all his Majesty's forces in North
America. The dedication was a graceful compliment
to him for the " glorious success " which had attended
his conduct in the reduction of Canada, " an event/'
he added, " of immortal renown, and a signal reward
of your piety and virtue." The discourse was writ-
ten at the earnest request of a person of note, who
put into his hands a manuscript, undertaking to
prove by reason, that Prayer, since it implies a pe-
tition to God to supply any wants of ours, is in effect,
" an utterly impertinent and insignificant thing, and
but a mere useless ceremony." Appended to it, was a
letter to a friend in West Chester, relating to the same
subject, with whom he had expostulated for not fre-
quenting the public worship as usual, and whose ab-
sences sprung not so much from indifference, as from
doubts and infidel speculations. He closed it in words
as applicable to men of the present day, as to skep-
tics who lived a century ago.
I am grieved to hear you complain of endless doubts and
perplexities in matters of religion, for it is indeed a miserable
state to be worried with a spirit of skepticism, and dark sus-
picions and surmises about this, and that, and the other.
Nubila mens est Jicec ubi regnant. "It is a cloudy, doleful
state of mind where these prevail." Pray sit down then and
carefully distinguish and separate things certain from things
doubtful, and abide by them, and give the doubts to the winds ;
but never doubt whether you ought diligently to attend on the
public service of God. Attend, I say, in the first place, and
above all things, to plain, evident, practical matters, and es-
pecially live in the constant regular practice of true devotion
towards God in Christ, who is our only Supreme Good ; and
17
258 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
trouble not your head with curious disputes and speculations,
and perplexing doubts and intricacies, many of which are
only strifes about words, and others about things we have
no concern with, and things quite beyond our faculties.
I will only add, that I am fully persuaded when you come
to leave this world, it will be the greatest satisfaction to you,
to be able to say with the royal Psalmist, " Lord, I have
loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where
thine honor dwelleth." I hope, therefore, you will this once
excuse this long letter from a faithful friend, who is solici-
tously concerned for your best good, and I commend you
to God's protection, conduct, and blessing.
To confirm the truth of his words, and give force
to his reasoning, he subjoined a sententious extract
from a sermon of his venerated friend Dr. Seeker,
the archbishop of Canterbury. " There must be pub-
lic virtue, or government cannot stand ; there must
be private virtue, or there cannot be public; there
must be religion, or there can be neither; there
must be true religion, or there will be false. There
must be attendance on God's worship, or there will
be no religion at all."
This publication was followed by happy effects, and
several months after he printed as a sequel to it a ser-
mon, " On the Beauty of Holiness in the Worship of
the Church of England," which he recommended to
the attention of the good people of New England,
and particularly of his former parishioners at Strat-
ford and West Chester. It was a temperate defense
of the Liturgy, and aimed to " show that in the Church
of England we do most truly worship Almighty God,
that our worship is a most holy worship, and tends to
promote holiness in the best manner, and that it is a
most beautiful worship, and is truly worshipping God
in the beauty of holiness."
OF SAMUEL JOH^SOK 259
A passage under the last head, though somewhat
quaint in its phraseology, may be cited as an example
of the spirit of the whole discourse : —
Our worship is truly beautiful in its language, which is
very weighty and expressive. It may, perhaps, be granted
that in a few passages, it may be capable of some improve-
ments, but in general this must be allowed to be the char-
acter of its language, that it carrieth a great force and weight
with it, without either deficiency or redundancy, and is in
the happy medium between an affectation of verbosity, and
high flown figures, on the one hand, and obscurity and dull-
ness, and a low vulgar meanness of expression on the other,
It hath a grandeur and majesty in it, and, at the same time,
a most easy, natural, intelligible simplicity ; always fitted
to the weight and importance of the matter, and the capac-
ities of the whole body of worshippers. If it savors of an-
tiquity, and on that account be thought not so polite to
modern ears, yet this very thing giveth it an air of the
greater gravity and importance, and there are but very
few expressions that are at all the less intelligible, though
it is nigh two hundred years old ; and it adds much to its
beauty, that it is expressed as far as it could well be, in the
very language of Scripture, being an excellent collection from
the very Word of God, which is ever full of majesty and
grandeur. And as there cannot be a more decent and beau-
tiful sight than to behold a great number of intelligent
beings, the creatures and children of God, jointly conspiring
to do all the honor they can to Him their common parent, in
their united adoration of Him, so there is the greatest pro-
priety and fitness in it, and consequently the greatest beauty
that they should worship their heavenly Father in his own
language, in the words which He hath put into their mouths.
If, therefore, we love the Scriptures, we cannot fail to love
the worship of the Church of England, which is for the most
part taken from them, and entirely conformed to them.
But it adds to the beauty of our excellent Liturgy, that
260 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
there is an admirable proportion in all its parts ; insomuch
that no one part is so swelled or enlarged beyond its meas-
ure, as to jostle out or starve another. There is a just pro-
portion of Devotions and Lessons, of Prayers and Praises,
of Confessions and Deprecations, of Supplications and In-
tercessions, of Petitions and Thanksgivings for ourselves and
for all men, for kings, and all that are in authority, and for
all orders and conditions of men. And as all these parts of
worship, without deficiency or redundancy, are thus so ex-
quisitely fitted and proportioned one to the other, so they all
aim at one end, to which they are no less aptly fitted and
proportioned, namely, to advance the honor of God and the
general benefit of mankind, and to promote universal holi-
ness and righteousness among them, all which considerations
abundantly speak their harmony and beauty.
And this beauty is further mightily improved by that
grateful variety that appears among them, which renders our
Liturgy like a beautiful garden, wherein there is a delightful
variety of luxuriant nature intermixed with curious art, of
other various plants with trees ; of fruits with flowers of di-
vers sorts, all ranged in a various and beautiful order. In
like manner, in our Liturgy, devotions are gratefully inter-
mixed with lessons, and prayers with praises. The people's
part is generally intermixed with the minister's, and short
responses, in the form of ejaculations, with set and continued
prayers, in which there is an agreeable variety, and the
prayers are each of them short, in imitation of the Lord's
Prayer ; and there is a correspondent variety of actions of
the body, suited to this variety of the exercises of the mind ;
all wisely contrived to keep the congregations wakeful, lively,
and attentive. This method is therefore vastly preferable to
one tedious, long-continued prayer, without any variety, as is
the case with our neighbors, in which the people's attention
flags, and they grow dull and heavy, and the force of their
devotion is extremely weakened. On which account nothing
should tempt me to exchange our beautiful variety of short
devotions, for their long, dull, and unvaried performances.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 261
For such is our frailty at best, that we need all the wise
precautions imaginable to be used to keep our minds vigor-
ous, wakeful, and attentive, both by a variety of devo-
tions and of bodily worship, which is the true intent of all
that beautiful variety wherewith our worship is attended, and
which, in proportion as it attains those ends, may be truly
styled the beauty of holiness.1
An experience of nearly forty years had strength-
ened his love for these forms and given him an oppor-
tunity to test their value. From time to time he had
seen in them fresh beauties, and the testimony which
he bore to their excellence, in the evening of his days,
was a proof that no trials, and hatreds, and adversities,
had made him regret the step which he took when he
broke away from the popular faith of New England.
He felt that he was one in sympathy and fellowship
with a great branch of the Church universal. " In the
use of the Liturgy," said he, " I am offering up not
the devotions of this or that assembly only, much less
of this or that particular person or minister, but the
prayers and praises of the whole English Church and
nation, enjoined by lawful authority, and which every
assembly is jointly offering up at the same time. And
moreover, that I find I am worshipping God accord-
ing to the ancient Scripture method, wherein it was
the manner for all the people to lift up their voice
with one accord, not only in singing, but in saying
their devotions."
The sermon from which these portions are taken
is closed with an earnest appeal to churchmen to
adorn the religion they professed, by the " exemplary
holiness" of their behavior. "We have lately had,"
are his words, " an adversary [Mr. Noah Hobart] who
l Pages 20-22.
262 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
pretends to show as an argument against us, that
where the Church prevails, all manner of wickedness
prevails" It was a groundless and abusive reproach,
and he would have them confute it by living lives
answerable to the mighty obligations their worship
laid them under. A wicked churchman, in his judg-
ment, was the most inexcusable of all creatures.
Much as he loved the Liturgy, he was far more desir-
ous that they who adopted it should be true to its
teachings, and firmly resolved to bring forth those
fruits of holiness whereby our Heavenly Father may
be glorified.
Since the death of his wife and daughter, he had
lived very much alone, and been little concerned
about his domestic affairs. But they appeared to be
suffering at this time " for want of a careful and dis-
interested housekeeper," and he began to turn over
in his mind what he had thought of before, but dis-
missed without coming to a final decision. The fol-
lowing letter to his son will explain his views and
feelings in regard to a second marriage : —
K. C., N. Y., February 16, 1761.
DEAREST SON, — We cannot be sufficiently thankful that
our health is so graciously continued, both yours and mine.
Mine, I think, was never better, notwithstanding my confine-
ment. For exercise I run frequently up garret, besides walk-
ing a great deal the length of my two rooms, by which I
tire myself at least once a day ; which with five recitations
(lectures we call them), two of which are equal to two ser-
mons, seem exercise enough to answer the end. Indeed, I
am obliged to live very laboriously.
I thank you for explaining yourself so fully on the subject
I mentioned, and with so much tenderness and filial affection,
and I may add with much propriety and accuracy, consider-
OF SAMUEL* JOHNSON. 263
ing your hurry and interruption. I was always with you,
against second matches, especially in advanced years, for the
reason you mention, on which account I bless myself a
thousand times that I came off so well from my former views,
which gave me great uneasiness on your account ; and be
sure I should never have thought of such a thing again,
but in the present case, which can scarce possibly be at-
tended with those ill consequences. Indeed, it seems very
ridiculous, and I am really ashamed of the thoughts of mat-
rimony at this time of day ; but in truth it seems so doleful
in old age to be destitute of a contemporary companion, that
I am almost apt to think a man never wants one more, and
that if he has a good one in his younger years, there is noth-
ing in life he needs more earnestly to pray for than her
continuance to the last. On these accounts, I don't know
(since you approve of it, and I cannot for two or three years
at least if I live, leave this station) but that I had best think
of it in earnest. I should hardly come this spring, if it
were not on this account, but if my life and health continue,
I believe I shall go about the middle of May, if there is
like to be an opportunity, or perhaps not till June, accord-
ing as Commencement is. I doubt the difficulty will be to
have a vessel ready immediately after Commencement.
I have got " Smollett," and with you do not quite like
him. I fear he has no religion. Methinks he writes some-
times with a fleer. I am told he has written so freely about
Lord Anson that he has prosecuted him and put him in jail.
I believe there is but one volume of the continuation of it
published. I shall send it when there is opportunity. I
had another volume of sermons for a vehicle to this letter.
With my love to Mrs. Beach and to you all, I remain,
Your most affectionate father and friend,
S. JOHNSON.
The practice of interchanging thoughts on the sub-
' ject of their readings had been observed for a long
time, and must have been as pleasant as it was profit-
264 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
able. Scarcely any new and important work upon
theology, history, philosophy, or literature, made its
appearance in England, which the father did not
speedily procure, and possess himself of its contents
before sending it to his son. In this way they bene-
fited each other, and sharpened their moral and crit-
ical judgments. It was a period when the books
published, especially those commanding attention,
were not so numerous but that a diligent reader could
easily find time to peruse them and weigh well their
merits and tendencies. Johnson had a great dislike
for any author who seemed to sneer at the Christian
religion. He had no patience with infidels and scoff-
ers, and believed Christianity to be not only the
anchor of the soul and the safeguard of society, but
the sublimest philosophy.
This feeling will account for his distrust of Smollett.
" Infidelity " said Bishop Watson, in his reply to
Thomas Paine, " is a rank weed, it threatens to over-
spread the land ; its root is principally fixed amongst
the great and opulent, — but you are endeavoring to
extend the malignity of its poison through all the
classes of the community," l It was a fear of this kind
which made Johnson so careful to watch against the
contaminating influence of irreligion. He would
have the rising generation, — the merchants, manu-
facturers, and tradesmen of the British realm, pre-
served from the delusions of unbelief, and continued
in that faith which is the foundation of happiness in
this world, and of the hope of glory in another.
l Apology for the Bible, p. 176, American Ed.
OP SAMUEL JOHNSON. 265
CHAPTER XI.
FOURTH COMMENCEMENT ; SECOND MARRIAGE ; BENEFACTIONS TO
THE COLLEGE ; DR. JAY AUTHORIZED TO MAKE COLLECTIONS
IN ENGLAND ; ARRIVAL OP REV. MYLES COOPER ; RELIGIOUS
CONTROVERSY; AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.
A. D. 1761-1763.
AT the fourth Commencement of King's College,
which was held June 3, 1761, the first Bachelors pro-
ceeded to their second degree. Several graduates of
other colleges were admitted at the same time to a
like honor, and pains were taken to make friends for
the institution among Episcopalians outside of New
York. Johnson was now more hopeful than ever of
its growth, and felt that its great want was the want
of additional funds to continue its operations and ex-
tend the course of instruction. He needed both a
tutor and a professor to aid him in his labors, and his
correspondence with the Archbishop of Canterbury
had led him to anticipate that one or the other might
ere long come from England, and be found fit event-
ually to succeed to his responsibilities.
Immediately after this fourth Commencement, he
proceeded to Stratford in a sailing vessel, and was
there married on the 18th of June to Mrs. Sarah
Beach, widow of his old friend and parishioner, Wil-
liam Beach, and mother of his son's wife. At the
close of the vacation, he embarked with her for New
York, and earnestly applied himself again to his
266 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
duties in the College. Failing to procure assistance
from England, the Governors appointed Mr. Robert
Harpur, a gentleman who had been educated at the
University of Glasgow, and was well qualified to be
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy,
and with his help, he had an easier time than in the
preceding year, and the classes were more thoroughly
instructed. Nothing occurred to disturb the even
tenor of his course during the ensuing winter. His
domestic affairs were every way agreeable, and he
wrote his son in October that he " never was happier
in his life than now." What added greatly to his pleas-
ure, as he himself said, was : " That Providence has
sent us a good teacher of Mathematics and Experi-
ments from Ireland, bred at Glasgow," and the scholars
were so charmed with him that he could not refrain
from expressing his belief that the Institution was
thus to receive a fresh impulse.
The increase of its funds was another stimulus to
its prosperity. Those obtained to complete the build-
ing and provide for immediate necessities were al-
ready exhausted, and the Governors were beginning
to spend a portion of their capital to carry on the
Institution. Besides the sums early secured, and the
donation from the venerable Society of five hundred
pounds, a benevolent gentleman, Mr. Joseph Mur-
ray, had bequeathed his estate to the College,
amounting to six or seven thousand pounds. But
more was needed, and Dr. Johnson renewed his pro-
posal to solicit a collection in England, and prepared
the way for it by writing to his friends and asking
their good offices. In a letter to the Archbishop of
Canterbury dated January 6, 1762, after referring to
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 267
his agency in procuring a suitable person for vice-
president and to succeed him in case of his decease
or resignation, he said, " Notwithstanding the excep-
tion made to his age, and the uncertainty whether
he will answer as a preacher, he is desired, if he is
willing, to come upon the terms, and with the views
mentioned in our letters to your Grace. But as we
have already been providentially provided for with
an ingenious young gentleman, one Mr. Harpur, bred
at Glasgow, who does very well in teaching Mathe-
matics and Experimental Philosophy, Mr. Cooper
will not need to bring one with him for that pur-
pose. But the great difficulty is how to support
these salaries which our stock cannot long do, un-
less we can by some means get an addition to it, and
we see no way for this but by getting forward a sub-
scription in England, and we have not yet any one
here to go home on purpose to solicit one. So that
unless some public spirited gentleman there would
be so good as to undertake it, I see not what to do,
though indeed I cannot excuse ourselves of too much
indolence and inattention to the interests of the
College."
A month before this he had written to Mr. Home
of Oxford, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, and author
of the " Commentary on the Psalms," and sent the
letter by a graduate of Yale College who went to
England, recommended to the Society and the Bishop
of London as a worthy candidate for Holy Orders and
a Mission. After thanking him for the kindness he
had shown to his deceased son, and mentioning fa-
vorably what he was pleased to call his " admirable
state of the case between Sir Isaac and Mr. Hutchin-
son," Johnson said : —
268 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
I thought I would, though thus late, presume to trouble
you with a few lines, to express my earnest wishes that some
of you (and I hope you are about it), would give the world
an entire methodical system of that sacred philosophy and
theology in the same candid way to the best advantage. I
say this because, though Mr. Hutchinson's Discourses, on the
Hebrew Scriptures, are admirable, yet his way of writing is
obscure and disagreeable, which together with his asperity
of temper and expression, has been I believe, the chief, if
not the only reason that his extraordinary works have been
no more read and considered and so generally thrown by
with contempt in this conceited and inattentive age. May I
not hope that this is doing and will soon be done.
I have written several times to good Mr. Berkeley, but
whether my letters or his miscarry, or his leaving Oxford
be the occasion, I have heard nothing from him these five
years. If you ever see or correspond with him please to give
my most affectionate service to him.
I have heard a rumor that the Rev. Dr. Patten has lately
published some excellent performance, but cannot hear what
it is. I shall be much obliged to you to make my humblest
compliments acceptable to him, whose excellent sermons as
well as yours are much admired here.
It is uncertain whether the worthy youth, Mr. Treadwell,
who carries this letter, will see Oxford. If he should I beg
your kind notice of him. My College, I thank God, is now
in a pretty flourishing condition, and the building finished,
only we want a fund to support sufficient officers.
I am, Reverend Sir, with great esteem,
Your most affectionate obliged humble servant,
S. J.
He dispatched a brief note to his old friend Dr.
Astry by the same gentleman, " who," he said, " will
give you some account of the Church and of my Col-
lege, and my labors and hopeful prospect of laying a
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 269
good foundation for posterity. I pray, God be your
staff, your support and your comfort in your declining
years, and your exceeding great reward in a better
world."
Letters of this sort served as an introduction to
the movement which was in contemplation. An op-
portunity soon offered of soliciting subscriptions in
England through the agency of Dr. James Jay ; and
the President of the College urged the Governors to
accept his services and furnish him not only with the
requisite authority, but with suitable addresses to the
king, the two Archbishops, the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge, and the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. All seemed ready to
acquiesce in the proposal, and Dr. Jay was formally
appointed ; and took his departure from New York on
the 12th of May, 1762, Of the letters and addresses
put into his hand, which were all prepared by John-
son, it will be enough to select the one written to
Archbishop Seeker : —
To THE MOST REV. FATHER IN GOD, THOMAS, LORD ARCHBISHOP OP
CANTERBURY.
May it please your Grace, — Your Grace is well acquainted
with the labors and difficulties under which we have strug-
gled in founding our College and carrying it on hitherto ;
and has been informed that we have erected an elegant
building of one hundred eighty feet in length by thirty in
width and three stories in height, which is now just finished
and designed for one side of a quadrangle to be completed
as we shall be enabled. But as we are not yet able to carry
it any farther without assistance, nor have we a sufficient
fund to support the necessary officers — the Master, Profes-
sors, and Tutors, — we are therefore constrained to beg the
270 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
charitable contributions of such public spirited gentlemen as
are generously disposed to promote so good a work, and have
empowered the bearer hereof, Dr. James Jay of this city,
who is an ingenious young gentleman, and a graduated phy-
sician of the University of Edinburgh, to ask and receive
such benefactions as shall be contributed to this important
undertaking.
And as your Grace is the first member of our corporation
and has given abundant demonstration of your delight in
doing good offices, and especially to this College, for which
we are inexpressibly thankful, we humbly beg leave to rec-
ommend him to your Grace, and entreat you in addition
to your former goodness that you will give him your best
advice and direction for his carrying on a solicitation for
benefactions ; and if you think proper, that you will intro-
duce him, or procure him introduced to our most gracious
Sovereign for his favor ; and also that you will be pleased to
recommend him to his Grace, the Lord Archbishop of York
and the Bishop of London, or any other of the nobility,
clergy, or gentry as your Grace shall judge most expedient.
In doing which you will unspeakably oblige, may it please
your Grace, Your Grace's, etc.
On his arrival in England, Dr. Jay found a com-
petitor for British charities in the Rev. Dr. Smith,
Provost of the College in Philadelphia. He had pre-
ceded him to London and was engaged in soliciting
subscriptions for his own institution. The Archbishop,
who had warmly espoused the cause of King's Col-
lege, feeling that separate collections at the same
time would injure the claims of each, thought it would
be best to unite them, and apply to the king for a
brief to go through the kingdom in favor of both.
This was accordingly done, and the proceeds were di-
vided equally between the two institutions, except that
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 271
a donation from his Majesty of six hundred pounds to
the College in New York was adjudged to be not in-
cluded in the general collection. The joint contri-
butions yielded to King's College the net sum of
nearly six thousand pounds sterling, which, with the
legacy of Mr. Murray and other donations, constituted
for the time a sufficient endowment. The son of
Bishop Berkeley generously contributed ten guineas,
and in answering Johnson's letter by Dr. Jay, said,
" It gave great delight to my worthy mother, now at
my house, to hear that you enjoyed your health and
spirits; she bears a most sincere good will to that
quarter of the world where your acquaintance with
her took its rise."
The Governors were now enabled to furnish the
assistance which had long been desired, and the Rev.
Myles Cooper, the young Oxford graduate, whom the
Archbishop had recommended as being well qualified
to take part in the management of the College,
came over to this country in the autumn of 1762,
and was welcomed by the President, and immediately
appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy. He proved
equal to the duties of the position, in spite of the
objection which had been raised against him that he
was too young ; and Johnson looked forward with sat-
isfaction to the day when he himself would be allowed
to retire. He worked zealously with his new officer,
and sought in judicious ways to prepare him for the
assumption of his own responsibilities, not expect-
ing, however, that a Providential event would lead
him so soon to sever his connection with the College.
Absorbed as he was at this time in matters of
education, he did not forget the Church, or cease to
272 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
take a lively interest in the prosperity of the parishes
in his native colony. He longed to see a better and
more learned clergy ; and in a letter to his son who
had referred to the subject, he said, December, 1762,
" What you lament has occasioned in me many a sigh.
But how to remedy it is the difficulty. I wish those
we have, had better abilities, more inclination to books
and more zeal ; and if I am allowed to come again
among you, I intend to try to animate them, and hope
to do some good. But I doubt poverty is one chief
remora, which I cannot remedy. But we must, as
you say, take more care to have good candidates if
we can get them, and not recommend poor ones. I
hope you may have some good influence in getting a
right choice for New Haven, which is of much impor-
tance. We have good hands here, Chandler and young
Seabury, but I can't get them to write, nor indeed do
they know enough of some affairs for this business,
but might be informed. We must, as you say, leave it
with God Almighty, with whom is the residue of the
Spirit, to raise up instruments to defend His Church
under His protection, and I hope and trust He will
not desert it."
He had in his mind, while writing thus to his son, a
pamphlet which had recently been published anony-
mously, and circulated to the injury of the Church of
England, especially in Massachusetts and Connecticut,
and to which the Archbishop of Canterbury had
called his attention, and desired that it might be an-
swered. Johnson fixed upon the Missionary at New-
town as the most competent person to do this, and
wrote again to his son, " I shall be very sorry if Mr.
Beach does not answer that base pamphlet. Tell Mr.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 273
Winslow, let the clergy give him no rest till he is
persuaded. I would undertake it myself rather than
fail, if writing were not so tedious to me. I fear how
the Church will do when her old champions are gone.
If he fails I know of none anywhere equal to it. I
knew nothing before of that Boston act. I wonder
with the Archbishop none of the Church's friends
had been earlier in their notice."
It was a time of sharp theological controversy. The
bitter hostility of the Independents to the introduc-
tion of Bishops into this country, and to the work of
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was
the origin of the pamphlet, and a few of the Episcopal
clergy, in view of its ironical character, were inclined
to regard it as unworthy of the least attention. The
younger Johnson, in a letter to his father, dated Jan-
uary 7, 1763, said : " Mr. Beach, I am now assured,
is writing, as he has sent to me to procure an account
of the settlements and salaries of some of the Dissent-
ing ministers ; and I hope with you, he will do it welb
I have written him to encourage the thing and to
suggest some few things, Mr. Caner, it seems by a
letter to Mr. Winslow, thinks the piece too low and
scandalous to answer ; but I cannot agree with him.
As our enemies avail themselves so much of it, I am
not content to let it pass."
The answer was prepared and submitted to the ex-
amination of Dr. Johnson through his son, into whose
hands the manuscript first catne, and he, after running
it over, wrote to his father : " I durst not pronounce
upon it from this hasty reading, and am sorry I have
not more time to consider it, but hope you and Mr.
Cooper and others there will consider it carefully be-
274 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
fore it is published. I fear it is too severe in some
expressions, though they deserve it all." With a few
words referring to his own suggestions, he added,
" Perhaps it would have been well if Mr. Beach had
not so often mentioned Messrs. Hobart and Dickinson
as the authors of the pamphlet, as it is very uncertain
who they were,1 though I believe he is right, that all
their clergy are pleased with it. You will critically
examine the whole. Notwithstanding the opinion of
Mr. Caner, Mr. Winslow, etc., an answer must be pub-
lished ; I think I every day see more and more occa-
sion for it."
Dr. Johnson had determined by this time, to retire
from his position in New York, and was shaping his
plans with reference to such a step. There was some
prospect that Mr. Winslow might be transferred to an-
other station, and an opportunity given for restoring
him to his old parish. But if this should not be effected,
his son wrote him to have no anxiety about his tem-
poral concerns. " Your determination," said he, " to
leave the conduct of your affairs to me is kind and does
me honor*, but it is too much, as I am very liable to
mistake. Only be assured that you will always have
my best judgment, and that I shall never think any-
thing I can do a burden, or too much to render your
1 The author was Mr. Noah Welles, a Congregational divine in Stamford, Ct.
The irony extended through 47 octavo pages, and justified Johnson in using the ex-
pression " base pamphlet" The title page ran thus: " The Real Advantages which
ministers and people may enjoy, especially in the Colonies, by conforming to th<!
Church of England ; faithfully considered and impartially represented, in a Letter to
a young Gentleman, printed in the year 1762." It opened with these words: " I re-
ceived your's by the worthy Mr. , in which you inform me that pursuant to
my advice, you went to Church on Christinas Day, and was so greatly pleased with
our worship that you have some thoughts of conforming, and going home for orders
next spring. You may be sure this gave me the greatest satisfaction, as I am firmly
attached to the Apostolic Church of England, that great bulwark of the Reforma-
tion."
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 275
life comfortable. I know not why it is not equally a
duty, at least to provide for parents as for children.
But use your own judgment (of which we have both
had so long and so good experience) with mine for the
best means to attain that end. Be not concerned for
me or mine so as to give yourself any uneasiness ; if
I or they have less fortune, it may be less tempta-
tion to go astray, and redoubled diligence may make
amends for it. Those who are not content to be
diligent have no title to the goods of fortune, and
those who are really so, will very seldom want a com-
petency. If you can stay there with ease, satisfac-
tion, honor, and credit I can be content ; if not, do not
hesitate to retire, whatever becomes of every other
consideration, for all others are inferior to them.
Providence will not desert us."
A domestic affliction prevented him from giving
much attention to Mr. Beach's pamphlet before its
publication ; and soon the minds of Churchmen were
turned to the controversy as renewed and carried on
in Boston. In 1763 appeared a vindication of the
Society by the Rev. East Apthorp, entitled " Con-
siderations on the Institution and Conduct of the So-
ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts," to which a Dissenting divine, Dr. Jonathan
Mayhew, replied in a much thicker pamphlet, and
contended that the managers were either deceived by
the representations of their Missionaries, or were gov-
erned more by a regard to Episcopacy than to the
interests of true religion. Replies and rejoinders fol-
lowed, and the republication in England of Dr. May-
hew's " Observations on the Charter and Conduct of
the Society," led the Archbishop of Canterbury to
276 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
prepare an answer and print it that the truth might
be known to the British public. The following letters,
though anticipating a little the chronological order of
events, will let the reader into a pretty full history
of the whole controversy, as well as shed some light
on the affair of American Bishops : —
GOOD DR. JOHNSON, — I heartily thank you for your let-
ter of August 10, particularly for the concern which you ex-
press about my health. It is frequently disordered ; but I
can for the most part pay some attention to business. When
I fail, as I am now within a few days of seventy, an abler
person in all respects, I hope, will succeed me.
Mr. Beach's book is not come to my hands ; I wish it had
received your corrections. I am as desirous that your an-
swer to Dr. Mayhew should be published, as I can be with-
out having seen it ; because I dare say it is written with the
temper which I told you I wished Mr. Beach might preserve.
But indeed I fear the world will think we have settled too
many missions in New England and New York ; and there-
fore it may be best, not absolutely to justify, but to excuse
ourselves in that respect, as prevailed on by entreaties hard to
be resisted, as having many applications, and resolved to be
hereafter more sparing in the admission of them, instead of
making it our business to Episcopize New England, as Dr.
Mayhew expresses himself. Our adversaries may be asked
whether they have not made as great mistakes in some points,
as we in this ; and whether bitter invectives against them
would not be unchristian. There was a company incorpor-
porated by Car. 2, in 1661, for Propagating the Grospel
amongst the heathen nations of New England and the adjacent
parts, which still subsists, and the affairs of it are managed
by the Dissenters. Queen Anne, in 1709, incorporated The
Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge,
and empowered them to propagate it not only there, but in
Popish and infidel parts of the world. Accordingly they had
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 277
correspondents and Missionaries in New England above thirty
years ago ; and in Long Island, Pennsylvania, North Caro-
lina, and Georgia above twenty years ago ; and probably they
have still. It may be useful to inquire, whether these two
Societies have observed their charters better than ours hath.
If not, their friends should think and speak mildly of us.
The new projected Society at Boston is about sinking itself
into the latter of these, as I am informed. I know nothing
of Dr. Barclay's " Defence against Smith, "nor of Aplin ; pos-
sibly this last word was a slip of your pen for Apthorp.
What will be done about Bishops, I cannot guess. Appli-
cation for them was made to Lord Egremont, who promised
to consult with the other ministers, but died without making
any report from them. His successor, Lord Halifax, is a
friend to the scheme ; but I doubt, whether in the present
weak state of the ministry, he will dare to meddle with what
will certainly raise opposition. I believe very little is done
or doing yet toward the settlement of America ; and I know
not what disposition will be made of the lands belonging to
the Popish clergy in the conquered provinces.
I am very glad to hear the money is paid to Mr. Charlton.
I have heard nothing of any design of a Degree for Mr. Chan-
dler, but from you. If any person here is engaged in it, I
should know, that we may act in concert. But I think we
should have a more formal recommendation of him from
you and Dr. Barclay, and any other principal persons, clergy
or laity.
Your account of Mr. Cooper gives me great pleasure. In
a late letter to me, he expresses good hopes about the Col-
lege ; but complains of some disappointment in regard to his
income, which I do not distinctly understand. I haye writ-
ten to him, to recommend patience ; and to Dr. Barclay, to
desire that the Governors will be as kind to him as with pro-
priety they can. Mr. Caner hath sent over one Mr. Frink
for a new mission at Rutland, about sixty miles from Boston,
without any previous mention of the matter to the Society,
which is irregular ; and I do not think we shall appoint him to
278 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
it ; perhaps to some vacant old one we may, if such there be.
The Mission of Braintree is offered to Mr. Winslow, in order
to make room for you at Stratford. Whether it be worth
his acceptance I know not. But the Society are very desir-
ous of restoring you to your old station ; and if this proposal
doth not succeed, they will be glad to have any other method
pointed out to them.
Since I wrote thus far, the Society hath appointed Mr.
Frink Missionary at Augusta. It seems he was inoculated
a few days before. I hope he will get safe through the dis-
temper.
God bless you, good Dr. Johnson, and His Church in your
parts. I am, with much esteem,
Your loving brother,
THO. CANT.
LAMBETH, September 28, 1763.
Answer : —
December 20, 1763.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE, — I humbly ask your
Grace's pardon for writing so soon again, which I hope you
will excuse, as I should be extremely wanting in my duty to
your Grace, if I did not most gratefully acknowledge your
very kind letter of September 28, which I lately received. I
am very glad and thank God that your health is not so much
impaired as to forbid your giving some attention to business,
and I earnestly pray that it may be yet again confirmed and
lengthened out to the utmost, and the rather as I am ex-
tremely afraid that in these times no gentleman can be
found that will go near to make good your Grace's ground.
I am surprised Mr. Beach's book is not come to your hands ;
I sent a copy which was promised me to be sent you from
Boston seven months ago ; and I have again urged it, and
Aplin's (a lawyer), for so is .his name. Mr. Caner (as it is
privately said) has made, I think, a pretty good answer to
Mayhew, with which mine, such as it is, is printed ; but I
hear Mayhew has replied already, still in his own way. Mr.
Caner has remarked upon these Societies much as your
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 279
Grace mentions. I trust it will soon come to you, and that
you will not dislike it.
Did our benefactors know the real state of things in New
England, they would allow that missionaries are as much
needed here as in other parts of America. The wildest
notions are propagated here both on the side of enthusiasm
and infidelity ; but I wish to God more could be done there
as well as here. Dr. Barclay's Defense was sent to the So-
ciety, and I have advised him to send your Grace a copy,
and also to write in behalf of Mr. Chandler, whose char-
acter truly is that of a most faithful Missionary, and one that
hath made much proficiency in learning, and especially in
divinity. I know of none so much to my mind that loves
books, and reads so much as he. It would be for the honor
and interest of the Church and religion, if there were at
least one in each province of that degree, and he a Com-
missary. I wish Mr. Caner had a D. D. degree, who
well deserves it, and the rather as there is none in that
province now but Dr. Cutler, who has done. By a letter
lately from Mr. Cooper it appears that the Governors of
the College have enlarged his salary to his content.
It is truly a miserable thing, my Lord, that we no sooner
leave fighting our neighbors, the French, but we must
fall to quarrelling among ourselves. I fear the present
state of our ministry is indeed very feeble ; so that I doubt
we must, after all our hopes, lose the present juncture also
for gaining the point we have long had so much at heart,
and I believe must never expect another. Is there then
nothing more that can be done either for obtaining Bishops
or demolishing these pernicious charter governments, and
reducing them all to one form in immediate dependence on
the king ? I cannot help calling them pernicious, for they
are indeed so as well for the best good of the people them-
selves as for the interests of true religion. I would hope
Providence may somehow bring it about that things may be
compromised respecting the ministry, and would it not now
be a proper juncture for some such general address from
280 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
the provinces here to the King as I once mentioned to your
Grace ? or is there not probability enough of success left
with regard to both Bishops and government to make it
worth while for a gentleman or two, who I believe might be
procured to go from hence for the purpose of gaining these
points ? for I doubt nothing will do without solicitation from
hence. I should be greatly obliged to your Grace for your
opinion and direction in respect to these things as soon as
may be. It is indeed too much to trouble your Grace with
these affairs in your present infirm state. I therefore hum-
bly beg your pardon that I am thus importunate. I re-
member you once mentioned his Grace of York as having
extraordinary talents for business ; could not he be engaged
to be active in these affairs ? I am greatly obliged to the
Society that they are very desirous to restore me to this
station. Mr. Winslow is gone to Braintree, to see whether
it will do for him to accept it, and I am prone to think he
will. If he does I shall do my best, but I shall soon need
some assistance.
I am, with the greatest veneration, etc.,
S. J.
The reply of Archbishop Seeker to this letter gives
the reason for his own share in the controversy, and
suggests a conciliatory course to attain the great ob-
ject in view.
GOOD DR. JOHNSON, — Since my last of September 28,
1763, I have been favored with two letters from you, dated
Ooctober 20, and December 20. The first did not seem to
require an immediate answer, and about the, time that I
received the second, the gout seized both my hands and
both my feet. It made several attacks on my right hand,
and disabled me from making almost any use of it for two
or three months. I am now, God be thanked, nearly as
well as usual, and have received all the pamphlets which
were designed for me from America. When Dr. Mayhew's
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 281
" Observations," etc., were reprinted here, it was thought
necessary that an answer to them should also be printed
here ; which was done before the " Candid Examination, and
Letter to a Friend," came to my hands. An hundred copies
of the answer were sent by the Society to the Colonies,
and I hope you have had one of them. It was believed
that they would do no harm amongst you, and might do
some good, though the " Candid Examination," etc., was un-
doubtedly sufficient for your part of the world. If you see
any mistakes in the Answer, or hear of any objections to
any part of it, that seem to be material, be pleased to
send me an account of them, with such remarks as you
think proper. I have Dr. Mayhew's " Defence of his Ob-
servations." He manifests the same spirit as before, and
runs out into many things of little consequence to the So-
ciety. The case of Mr. Price and Mr. Barrett, page 125,
etc., is new to me ; and if it be truly represented, the for-
mer seems to have been blamable. If any reply is made, I
hope it will be short and cool. Some angry Dissenter hath
published a pamphlet, entitled, " The Claims of the Church
of England Seriously Considered, in a letter to the author
of the Answer to Dr. Mayhew." There is but little in it
relative to the Society, and nothing that requires confutation.
The affair of American Bishops continues in suspense.
Lord Willoughby of Parham, the only English Dissenting
Peer, and Dr. Chandler,1 have declared, after our scheme was
fully laid before them, that they saw no objection against it.
The Duke of Bedford, Lord President, hath given a calm
and favorable hearing to it, hath desired it may be reduced
into writing, and promised to consult about it with the other
ministers at his first leisure. Indeed, I see not how Prot-
estant Bishops can decently be refused us, as in all probabil-
ity a Popish one will be allowed, by connivance at least, in
Canada. The Ecclesiastical settlement of that country is
not made yet, but is under consideration, and I hope will
be a reasonable and satisfactory one. Four clergymen will
1 Samuel Chandler, a Presbyterian divine of London.
282 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
be appointed for Florida, with salaries of £100 each, and
four school-masters with £25 each; and the Society have
been desired to provide them. This I consider as a good
omen ; yet much will depend on various circumstances, and
particularly on the opinion, or persuasion concerning the
opinion of the Americans, both Dissenters and Churchmen.
The Bishop of London died last week ; poor man, he was
every -way unequal to that station. His successor, Dr. Ter-
rick, is a sensible and good tempered man, greatly esteemed
as a preacher, and personally liked by the king, as well as
favored by the ministry. Therefore I hope he will both have
considerable influence, and use it well. He was Residentiary
of St. Paul's Church, when I was made Dean. T had no ac-
quaintance with him before, but we have been very good
friends ever since ; and I doubt not but we shall remain
such, and consult together about American affairs.
We must not run the risk of increasing the outcry against
the Society ; especially in the present crisis, and so perhaps
lose an opportunity of settling Bishops in our Colonies, by
establishing two or three new Missions in New England.
Our affairs are not to be carried on with a high hand, but
our success, if we do succeed, must arise from conciliating
the minds of men. And this ought to be labored very dili-
gently abroad as well as at home.
The Society hath agreed, in pursuance of a proposal made
by Dr. Smith, to establish a proper number of correspond-
ing Societies, with an agent or president for each of them ;
to give information and advice concerning all needful af-
fairs, and act for the Society in all requisite cases. But
this general scheme cannot be brought into due form for
execution, till we see whether Bishops can be obtained and
how many.
The Archbishop of York is very active in our business, as
well as able. He hath brought the estate of Codrington
College out of a most lamentable condition into a very
hopeful one, and he hath done a great deal with the min-
isters in our ecclesiastical concerns. But these, and partic-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 283
ularly what relates to Bishops, must be managed in a quiet,
private manner. Were solicitors to be sent over prema-
turely from America for Bishops, there would come also so-
licitors against them ; a flame would be raised, and we should
never carry our point. Whenever an application from them
is really wanted and become seasonable, be assured that you
will have immediate notice.
I have heard nothing yet of Dr. Barclay's Defence ; nor
hath he mentioned to me the propriety of a Degree for Mr.
Chandler, though I had a letter from him, dated January
20. I desire to know what College degree Mr. Chandler
hath, and of what standing he is in that College ; and the
same of Mr. Caner.
Concerning the other particulars in your letters, I pre-
sume the Secretary hath written to you ; and therefore I
shall only add that I heartily pray God to give you every
blessing needful for you, and earnestly desire your prayers in
return for Your loving brother,
THO. CANT.
LAMBETH, May 22, 1764.
These letters show how much Seeker relied upon
the judgment of Johnson to guide him in his efforts
for the Church in the American Colonies. A wide
ocean rolled between them and there was often op*
portunity for ministerial crises and important politi-
cal events before they could interchange views. But
they kept each other well posted, and if Johnson
could not discern the wisdom of the state policy
which hemmed in the zeal of his "loving brother/'
he would not cease to plead for the Episcopacy in
America, and to hope that it might be secured before
his probation ended.
He had written to Mr. Apthorp very freely on this
and other subjects growing out of the controversy
with Dr. Mayhew, and among the letters which he
284 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
received in reply was one that spoke of the influence
which his son might have, if employed to present the
application for Bishops. The letter should be given
in full for the information it contains : —
CAMBRIDGE, May 7, 1764.
REVEREND AND GOOD SIK, — I have before me two of
your favors, for which I make my earliest acknowledgments.
The great affliction of our family in the death of Mrs.
Wheelwright, who was extremely dear to us all, has hardly
given me leisure or spirits, for some time past, to attend to
any but the most necessary business.
I had a long conversation with Mr. Bennet on his affair.
His public spirit leads him to project things that I fear can-
not be effected, for want of the same spirit among those who
alone can execute them. I have however undertaken to do
all in my power ; which is, to solicit our Governor and Lieu-
tenant-governor to patronize him, and to receive four Indian
youths at Boston, and in England. I shall use the influ-
ence of my friends with the Society to fix Mr. Bennet on
their list, and to obtain, if possible, the appointment of two
missionaries for the Mohawks. I hope something was done
for him at a meeting of the Episcopal Society in Boston, to
whom I recommended the support of his good undertaking.
He proposes to make me another visit in a fortnight,
when everything that can be done at Boston will be at-
tempted.
The affair of soliciting the settlement of Bishops among
us, is, I perceive, a matter of too great consequence and
difficulty for me to engage in singly. What I wrote so
hastily was rather expressive of my good will than of my set-
tled thoughts. I soon after received a permission from the
Society, and an invitation from my friends to make a voyage
to England, which I hope to accomplish, by God's blessing,
this year. I shall gladly exert myself in promoting that
great national measure you speak of, as far as shall be
proper for me. And as the subject is of much importance,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 285
I will write my thoughts to you with freedom and simplicity.
It is an affair that would be solicited by a layman with less
aversion and opposition than by a clergyman. And I believe
there can hardly be a properer person employed than Mr.
Johnson, whom I heartily wish well recovered of the small-
pox. If he should engage in that service, I think his in-
structions from hence ought to be of weight and authority.
If he was himself, in person, to collect the sense of the prin-
cipal governments, not only of the clergy, but of the Gov-
ernors and persons of property and character among the
laity, it might have a good effect. But I think the letters
you mention, signed by a few of the clergy in each province,
would be ineffectual. If the whole application both here
and in England was conducted with firmness, spirit and
dignity, I am apt to think it would succeed, as the Arch-
bishop, and (it is said) the King himself approves of it. My
opinion is confirmed by an answer to Dr. Mayhew pub-
lished in London last winter, and wrote with admirable
strength and temper. But this I suppose you have seen.
I know nothing of the article of news relating to Dr.
Tucker of Bristol ; nor do I think it is at all to be depended
on.
What I write on this subject is with the most entire con-
fidence in your wisdom to suppress any thoughts which you
may not approve, and to accept my good intention. In this
view I transcribe the quotation I mentioned, on the opposite
page, and beg leave to declare myself,
Very respectfully, Reverend Sir,
Your most humble servant,
EAST APTHOKP.1
1 Though the son of a wealthy merchant of Boston, he did not return to this coun-
try again, but spent the remainder of his days in England, being first presented by
Archbishop Seeker to the Vicarage of Croydon. He was subsequently collated to
the Rectory of St. Mary-le-Bow in London, with other benefices annexed, and still
later became a Prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral. It is said he was actually offered
the Bishopric of Kildare, but having lost his sight, he wafs obliged to decline, and
finally retired to Cambridge among the scenes of his early education, for he was
an alumnus and fellow of Jesus College, "honored and loved not only in his im-
mediate circle, but by many of the great and good beyond it." He died April 16,
1816, in the 85th year of his age.
286 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER XH.
THE SMALL-POX IN NEW YORK ; DEATH OF HIS WIPE ; RESIGNA-
TION OF THE PRESIDENCY AND RETIREMENT TO STRATFORD ;
CORRESPONDENCE WITH FRIENDS IN ENGLAND; RE-APPOINT-
MENT TO HIS FORMER MISSION ; ADDRESS TO THE BISHOP OF
LONDON J THE STAMP ACT ; CONTINUED INTEREST IN THE COL-
LEGE J AND CLERICAL CONVENTION.
A. D. 1763-1766.
FOR some time it had been known that the disease
which Johnson so much dreaded was more or less prev-
alent in town. He had not chosen to avail himself of
the stipulation made with the Governors that he
might retire into the country on its appearance, but
had remained at his post, and used additional cau-
tion, to avoid the contagion. When the last Com-
mencement was held (1762), he was carried to the
Chapel in a close carriage ; and in all the letters to
his son for the rest of the year, he expressed his
thankfulness to God for the continuance of good
health, and seemed to be cheered with the hope of
soon getting away from a situation of such peculiar
anxiety. He began to think of having accommoda-
tions provided for him in Stratford, and his son,
writing to him in Christmas week, said, " If you de-
termine absolutely to remove in the Spring you will
let me know by-and-by, whether I shall prepare to
enlarge my house, or endeavor to hire one for you,
if any should offer."
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 287
By this time the small-pox had appeared in several
dwellings near the College, and he and his wife were
obliged to keep as close as possible in the building,
and with this precaution they hoped to be safe. To-
wards the end of January, however, Mrs. Johnson be-
came very ill with what was thought to be only a
bad cold, but alas ! on the first day of February her
real disorder developed itself, which proved to be the
small-pox. She received the information with com-
posure, and, from a tender regard for the welfare of
her husband, desired him to leave her with his prayers
in the hands of God, and withdraw to a place of less
danger. For two days he occupied a room in the
other end of the College building, and then his friends,
thinking him too much exposed, he retired three
miles distant to the country seat of Mr. Watts, and
there waited in painful suspense the result of his wife's
sickness. He had not long to wait, for on the llth
of February, overwhelmed with grief, he wrote to his
son, " The thing that I feared is come upon me,
God's will is done. Your good mother died on Wed-
nesday evening, the 9th," and he added that they
were probably then " carrying her to her grave, to
lie by his own mother," under the Chancel of Trinity
Church.
This bereavement was a crushing blow to him, and
he resolved at once to resign the presidency of the
College and go into retirement. He tarried a fort-
night longer at the country seat of his friend, wrote
his letter of resignation to the Governors, and then
committing his affairs to Mr. Cooper and a lay-gentle-
man, " hired an able hand with a sleigh " to take him
to Stratford, where he arrived February 25, 1763.
288 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
He was now in the 67th year of his age, blessed
with good health, but having natural infirmities which
called for a less anxious and active life. His con-
nection with the College had been a sacrifice to him
in a pecuniary sense, and in resigning the charge of
it, he modestly hinted that he might be entitled to
some consideration for his many hardships and losses.
That it had not prospered more was not owing to any
fault of his, but to " providential misfortunes or to
the Governors themselves, in not providing a good
Grammar school; for," said he, "till provision is
made both for a better classical and English educa-
tion, the College can never flourish."
The following correspondence has a meaning that
is more than simply official : —
NEW YORK, March 2, 1763.
REVEREND SIR, — At the meeting of the Governors of
King's College yesterday, your letter addressed to them was
laid before them. They are sensibly touched with your late
misfortune, and the immediate occasion of your retiring ;
and that vein ef benevolence, which runs through your letter,
could not but very much affect them.
I have the pleasure to be the instrument of returning
their thanks for your faithful service as President, and your
good offices for promoting the interest of the College hitherto,
and your affectionate wishes for the future prosperity of it,
gratefully accepting your kind offer of continuing your en-
deavors on all occasions for the advancement of that good
work ; and they wish you health and happiness.
As for the rest, the Governors have resolved to take your
case into consideration at some future meeting. In the mean
time be assured that I am,
Reverend Sir, your very affectionate friend and
very humble servant,
DANIEL HORSMANDEN.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 289
Answer : —
March 30.
GENTLEMEN, — I very humbly thank you for your kind
answer to my letter to you, communicated to me by the
Honorable Judge Horsmanden, and for your affectionate
sympathy with me under my truly compassionable circum-
stances ; and that you take in so good part my past faithful
endeavors to serve you, and my persevering solicitude for the
prosperity of the College. This, I trust, is a pleasing pre-
lude to that friendship which I hope will always subsist be-
tween the Corporation and me, and a further engagement to
any good offices in my power for the furtherance of its
wants.
I am particularly thankful, gentlemen, for your kind reso-
lution in my favor, to take my present depressed condition
into your benevolent consideration at some future meeting,
and shall gratefully acknowledge whatever kind dispositions
you shall at any time express towards me. With my con-
tinued fervent wishes for the prosperity of you and yours, and
that dear College,
I remain, Gentlemen, with great regard,
Your most affectionate friend and obed't humble serv't,
S. J.
It was a time of war during the whole of his Presi-
dency, and the expenses of living in town had been
so much greater than was expected, that the Gover-
nors could not well refuse a gratuity, and finally voted
to settle upon him a pension of fifty pounds per an-
num. This was secured chiefly through the influence
of the Rev. Mr. Auchmuty, who did not think it
enough, but was glad to have some recognition of the
sacrifices and self-denials of his venerable friend.
Johnson was resolved not to be idle in his retire-
ment. His son " built him an elegant apartment,"
attached to his own mansion, where, surrounded with
19
290 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
his books and his grandchildren, he devoted himself
to quiet study and was happy in the enjoyment of his
domestic privileges. His literary and theological cor-
respondence was not slackened but rather increased ;
and the introduction of the works of good authors
into this country continued to be an object near his
heart. A letter of his to the Rev. Mr. Home of Ox-
ford, from which an extract was given in the previous
chapter, brought forth a reply which must have
reached him in the freshness of his sorrow for the
death of his wife.
REVEREND SIR, — I am greatly obliged to you for the
good opinion you are pleased to entertain of me and any trifle
I have published ; and rejoice to have an opportunity of
recommending a work of real merit and solidity on the sub*
ject of the sacred philosophy, by my learned friend Mr. Jones,
who is proceeding on the same plan, with ability and erudi-
tion adequate to the work, as fast as his health will permit
him. Dr. Patten's controversy with Heathcote, some time
since at an end, I presume hath found its way to New York.
The Doctor hath published nothing more except an excellent
sermon on " Natural Religion." Dr. Newton, Bishop of
Bristol, hath lately put forth an admirable work on the
" Prophecies," in three vols. octavo. I expect Dr. Jay every
minute, to whom I shall deliver this with a letter from Mr.
Berkeley ; and am with best wishes and prayers for the pros-
perity of King's College and the worthy President thereof,
Reverend Sir, your most affectionate servant,
G. HORNE.
MAGD. COLL., November 29, 1762.
Answer : —
STRATFORD, IN CONN., N. E., June 1.
REVEREND AND WORTHY SIR, — I am very much obliged
to you for your most kind letter of November 29, and the very
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 291
excellent things that accompanied it, which are all entirely to
my mind, and I want words to express my gratitude for them.
Mr. Jones's Essay is exactly such a thing as I have long
wished to see, and I am the more pleased with it as coming
from the author of the " Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity,"
which I had before been highly pleased with. These are in-
deed the true primitive original philosophy and divinity of
the Holy Scriptures, made evident and intelligible. You
will please to give him my compliments and thanks for these
good works, which I shall earnestly recommend to our book-
sellers to have always by them, and to my College to be al-
ways there taught and inculcated, where your state of the
case has already been of good use. I earnestly pray God
to give Mr. Jones life and health to finish what he designs ;
and to you also, good Sir, as well as Dr. Patten, that you
may go on to bless the world with your most useful writ-
ings, that this unholy age may if possible be reclaimed from
its apostatising turn. I had received from Mr. Cooper a high
notion of Dr. Morton and ordered my bookseller to procure it,
and grow impatient till it comes.
It is of vast importance to us at this distance to have
good authors pointed out to us by good judges. I shall
therefore be highly obliged to you, if you will be so kind
as to communicate to me and my successor such as at any
time excel ; and indeed it would be happy for us if really
good authors could be induced from time to time to present
our Library with their productions in every kind.
I date, you see, Sir, from this place, whither I am retired
to spend with my only and most tender and dutiful son the
little declining remainder of my time, being near sixty-seven,
and wanting retirement, though, thank God, in perfect health
except somewhat paralytic. I did not indeed intend quite so
soon to leave the College, but so it pleased God. I was sud-
denly driven from it by the small-pox breaking out in my
family and depriving me of the dear partner of my life. But
I hope it will immediately be well governed and instructed by
Mr. Cooper, who is well esteemed and appears to be an in-
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
genious, industrious, and prudent young gentleman. I have
still the same care for it as ever so far as can be at this
distance — about seventy miles, — the post weekly passing,
and I hope now and then to visit it. If you do me the
favor to write again, please direct to me here, to the care
of the Rev. Mr. Auchmuty of New York.
I am, Reverend and dear Sir, with great esteem and regard,
Your most obliged and affectionate friend and servant,
S. J.
He wrote to Dr. Burton, the Secretary of the So-
ciety, in the autumn of 1763, to express his thanks
for the proposition to transfer Mr. Winslow to a Mis-
sion near his friends in Boston, that he might him-
self be reappointed to Stratford. He had not had
much thought of doing more in his advanced years
than to direct the theological studies of a few young
candidates for Holy Orders, and send them with com-
mendatory letters to England. But this opportunity
of resuming parochial duty was too attractive to be
disregarded. It met with favor from Mr. Winslow,
who for many reasons was desirous of a change. " I
have communicated the proposal to him," said Johnson,
" which he was fond of, as it would place him near
his friends. He had indeed had thoughts of it before,
but some of his friends had discouraged him about it.
However, upon this offer of it, he is now thinking in
earnest about it and is treating with the Wardens and
Vestry of Braintree, to see whether it may prove to
his advantage, and he will soon let the Society know
whether he accepts, as I am apt to believe he will."
Mr. Winslow's name was suggested at one time as
a suitable person to take the Rectorship of Trinity
Church, New York ; and the son of Dr. Johnson,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 293
writing April 9, 1764, from that city, whither he had
gone to be inoculated for the small-pox, said to his
father, " Good Dr. Barclay made me a visit yesterday
though he was but illy able to get up-stairs ; he has
had a bad week of it. He returns his affectionate
compliments to you, but is at present by no means fit
to undertake such a journey as you propose, as he
cannot ride above three or four miles in a day, and
durst by no means be out of the way of his physicians.
The Doctor's illness has occasioned the Church to
think of looking out for another clergyman. Mr.
Auchmuty has desired my opinion of Mr. Winslow,
whom I have recommended as the best preacher I
know of, but as I have not his liberty to mention
it, 1 must beg you will say nothing of it at present,
and perhaps he will write to you himself on the sub-
ject."
Letters were addressed afterwards directly to Mr.
Winslow, but he seems not to have favored a settle-
ment in New York, for he was shortly transferred to
Braintree, and the venerable Doctor took his place
and returned to pastoral work among a people who
had not forgotten his fidelity, though for ten years
they had only heard his voice occasionally. With the
assistance of a student at times in reading the service,
he found little difficulty in fulfilling his duties, and
his residence in the Colony again became a tower of
strength to the Church in Connecticut.
The following letter to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, in answer to one which appears in the previous
chapter, shows how earnest he was at this juncture
for the complete establishment of the Church in
America : —
294 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
September 20, 1764.
It grieves me that your Grace must be so persecuted with
that tormenting distemper for which nothing can atone, but
what were good Bishop Berkeley's opinion and hopes, that it
might prevent more fatal maladies in the decline of life, and
tend to lengthen one's days. This I do at least earnestly
pray may be the happy event with respect to your Grace's
precious life, which is of so much importance to the present
I was almost overjoyed after our feeble efforts here to
find one, who I did not doubt was the ablest hand in the
kingdom, had condescended to undertake our mighty giant,
and in the opinion of our people had utterly disarmed him ;
nor had any of the Dissenters, that I can hear of, a word to
say, except Mayhew himself, who, upon its being immedi-
ately reprinted here, directly advertised an answer preparing,
contrary to the advice of his best friends. I had it from a
good hand that a man of the best sense among them told
him he was completely answered, and advised him by no
means to attempt a reply. But undaunted, he would not
be dissuaded, and in a few days published it ; but I am told,
in a letter from Boston, that " to his mortification very lit-
tle is said about it." .... In a word, I am verily persuaded
it will do much the most good here as well as at home of
anything that has yet been published. It is doubtless now
in your hands, and you are the fittest judge whether any re-
ply is necessary.
Neither had I, my Lord, ever heard of the case of Mr.
Price and Barret, in which there might be too much truth,
as I remember Mr. Price was too intemperate for the sake
of his farm, in his endeavors to propagate the Church there.
I beg your Grace's pardon that I seemed perhaps a little
too impatient in my last with regard to the settling Episco-
pacy in these countries, where I know that all the Church
people (except a few lukewarm persons and free-thinking
pretenders to it, and sometimes attendants on it, but are
really enemies to any establishment) are very desirous of it ;
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 295
and that all moderate Dissenters, who, I believe, are the
most numerous in the whole, and who know what is really
designed, have little or no objection to it ; and that the
number of such bitter zealots against it is comparatively
few, and chiefly in these two governments, either such loose
thinkers as Mayhew, who can scarcely be accounted better
Christians than the Turks, or such furious bitter Calvin-
istical enthusiasts as are really no more friends to monarchy
than Episcopacy ; and against people of both these sorts
Episcopacy is really necessary towards the better securing
our dependence, as well as many other good political pur-
poses.
Your Grace's quiet, private, and conciliating method, is
doubtless best if the point can be gained, as it ought to
be, in that way ; but as I knew of no steps taken or like to
be, and as your Grace was so infirm, I was afraid nothing
would be done without some general and strong solicitations
from hence, without which indeed I feared the ministry would
hardly think anything about it themselves, or that we were
at all solicitous for it here. I am therefore greatly rejoiced
that something is doing, that the two chiefs of the separation
have no objection to it, and that your Grace is assisted by
two such great, worthy, and active gentlemen as the Arch-
bishop of York and the Bishop of London ; and that they
have so good an interest ; and that so great a minister as
the Duke of Bedford has given so favorable attention to it
and promised to promote it. These are very hopeful begin-
nings, and from these, together with the other considera-
tions your Grace mentions, it should seem scarce possible
that it should miscarry ; so that I hope our first news in
the spring will be that it is done, and that our governments
all depend immediately on the Crown. May God Almighty
grant a happy success to your Grace's faithful endeavors
that his Church here may at length at this crisis be provided
with worthy Bishops, without which, according to the origi-
nal constitution of the Church (in my humble opinion), no
Church can be perfect ; which if it should please God to grant,
296 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
I could then cheerfully sing my nunc dimittis ! but if He
should not, the best thing that could be done would be to
go into Dr. Smith's proposal, which we have long wished
for.
The reason for not increasing missions here might be al-
lowed good at this juncture ; the young men 1 are safe re-
turned, and will doubtless be very useful. I hope Mr. Jarvis
may do tolerably for several years, as his people are much
more able. But Mr. Hubbard must in two or three years
be otherwise provided for, if the Society cannot help Guil-
ford, which for the reasons I mentioned to your Grace, I
earnestly hope they may by that time safely do.
What hindered good Dr. Barclay from mentioning the two
things your Grace tells me he neglected, I am not able to
say, unless it was the great infirmity he then began to labor
under, which soon disabled him for public duty, and last
month put a period to his very valuable life, to the inexpres-
sible grief of his church, and indeed all the churches. The
worthy and faithful Mr. S. Auchmuty was soon unanimously
chosen in his place, and one Mr. Inglis in his, whom I know
not, but I have good reason to think that Mr. Auchmuty will
prove a worthy incumbent, and I wish for the honor of the
Church and his station, that being of nigh twenty years' stand-
ing of our Cambridge, he might also succeed the Doctor in
his degree. As to Mr. Caner, he was bred and graduated at
our New Haven College, but was also created M. A. at Ox-
ford, March 3, 1735, on the recommendation of Archbishop
Potter; and Mr. Chandler of the same College proceeded
M. A. in 1748, and had a diploma from Oxford, June 4,
1753, I believe, by your Grace's influence. And now I am
upon the subject of degrees,2 as I can't but retain a great af-
fection for Oxon. and am desirous of continuing my connection
with it, will your Grace forgive me if I mention my only son,
who is a lawyer, for whom I am desirous of a Doctor's degree
1 Rev. Abraham Jarvis, afterwards Bishop of Connecticut, and Rev. Bela Hub-
bard, for forty-five years Rector of Trinity Church, New Haven.
* Those for which Johnson asked in this letter were all conferred in 1766.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 297
in that faculty ? His name is Wm. Samuel. He is M. A. of
seventeen years' standing in both our Colleges, and after a
laborious study of the law he has been above ten years in the
practice of it to good acceptance, and is studious in Divinity
as well as in Law, and much engaged in the interest of the
Church and true religion. He is well known to the bearer,
Mr. Harison, from whom your Grace may have a further ac-
count of him if you think it needful. Mr. Apthorp's affairs
suddenly calling him home, I beg your Grace's particular re-
gard to him as a very worthy young gentleman. As I con-
tinue to pray earnestly for your Grace's health and long life,
I humbly beg the continuance of your prayers and blessing
in behalf of, etc.. S. J.
The hope of obtaining Bishops, which now appeared
so bright, was not realized. The ministry disappointed
all the friends of the measure by neglecting the case
of the Church and directing attention wholly to the
civil affairs of the Colonies. Great confusions and
tumults soon after followed both here and at home in
consequence of the passage of the Stamp-act, and ad-
vantage was taken of this state of things to raise a
fresh clamor against the establishment of Bishops in
America. It was claimed that nineteen twentieths of
the American people utterly opposed the scheme, and
no correction of such a statement was ever accepted
by the ministry. Dr. Johnson and the clergy of Con-
necticut sent congratulatory addresses to Bishop Ter-
rick on his advancement to the See of London, and
a correspondence ensued which must have opened
his eyes, though he was powerless to effect a reform.
Johnson wrote to him as follows : —
July 15, 1765.
I take this opportunity with the utmost gratitude to ac-
298 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
knowledge your Lordship's most kind and condescending
letters of February 22, both to the clergy and me, — theirs
I sent to them at their Convention, which I could not at-
tend by reason of the distance and badness of the roads,
and I hear they have also most graciously acknowledged it
in a joint letter to your Lordship. I am glad your Lord-
ship is pleased with the worthy Mr. Harison's account of
the clergy in this Colony, which I hope they will be more
emulous to deserve.
It is, my Lord, a kind condescension that you are pleased
to desire of me an account of the state of religion in these
parts of the world. It is with much difficulty that I write,
having a trembling hand, and therefore I can be but brief.
The true state of religion in America, with respect to the
several denominations, is this : The Independents or Con-
gregationalists, as they call themselves here in New England,
especially in the Massachusetts and Connecticut Colonies,
without any regard to the king's supremacy in matters of re-
ligion, have got themselves established by law and are pleased
to consider us as Dissenters, but are miserably harassed with
controversies among themselves, at the same time that they
write against the Church. One great cause of their quarrels
is the Arminian, Calvinistical, Antinomian and enthusiastical
controversies which run high among them and create great
feuds and schisms ; and these occasion the great increase of
the Church, at which they also are enraged, though them-
selves are the chief cause of it.
As to the Presbyterians, my Lord, they chiefly obtain in
the Southwestern Colonies, and have flourishing presbyteries
and synods, especially in New York, New Jersey, and Penn-
sylvania, in their full vigor ; while in all vthese parts the
poor Church is in a low, depressed, and very imperfect state
for want of her pure primitive Episcopal form of govern-
ment. We do not, my Lord, envy our neighbors, nor in the
least desire to disquiet them in their several ways. We only
desire to be upon at least as good a foot as they, and as per-
fect in our kind as they in theirs ; and this we think we have
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 299
a right to, both as the Episcopal form was the only form of
government at first universally established by the Apostles,
and is the primitive form established by law in our mother
country ; and therefore cannot but think ourselves extremely
injured in not being provided for, and in a state little short
of persecution in our candidates being forced, at a great ex-
pense of both lives and fortune, to go a thousand leagues
for every ordination, as well as destitute of Confirmation and
a regular government. So that unless we can have Bishops,
especially at this juncture, the Church, and with it the in-
terest of true religion, must dwindle ; while we suffer the
contempt and triumph of our neighbors under this neglect,
who plume themselves with the hope that the Episcopate
is more likely (as from the lukewarmness and indifference
of this miserably apostatizing age they have too much reason
to do) to be abolished at home, than established abroad.
And indeed, my Lord, they are vain enough to think the
civil government at home is itself really better affected to
them than to the Church ; and even disaffected to it ; other-
wise it would establish Episcopacy here as it is there. Pudet
hcec opprobria commemorare.
I humbly thank your Lordship for saying so much in our
behalf in your excellent sermon before the Society. Would
to God a due notice might be taken of it ; I do also most
humbly thank you for your kind prayers and blessing, and
beg the continuance of them ; nor shall I cease to pray ear-
nestly for the long continuance of your Lordship's very im-
portant life and health, being truly, my Lord, with great
veneration, etc., S. J.
The Stamp-act threw the country into such a fer-
ment and the opposition to its enforcement was so
great that steps were early taken to procure its re-
peal. A Congress of the Colonies met at New York,
and the son of Dr. Johnson was chosen to represent
Connecticut in that body, and drew up the remon-
300 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
strance to the King and Parliament against the meas-
ure, asserting taxation by themselves and trial by
jury as among the inherent privileges of the subjects
of the British realm in all her dependencies. The
President of the Congress — Ruggles of Massachu-
setts — would not sign the document ; and James Otis,
a colleague of his, writing to Johnson after reaching
his home in Boston, spoke of the attempt of the Mas-
sachusetts Assembly to censure him for his refusal,
which he himself prevented, and then added : " The
people of this Province, however, will never forgive
him. We are much surprised at the violent pro-
ceedings at New York, as there has been so much
time for people to cool, and the outrages on private
property are so generally detested. By a vessel from
South Carolina we learn that the -people were in a
tumult at Charleston and terrible consequences ap-
prehended. God knows what all these things will
end in, and to Him they must be submitted. In the
mean time 'tis much to be feared the Parliament will
charge the Colonies with presenting petitions in one
hand and a dagger in the other." 1
The Stamp-act was repealed just one year after its
passage, and the venerable Missionary, who from his
retirement in Stratford had looked with sorrow on
the public discontents, was once more hopeful that
the establishment of Bishops in this country might
receive the attention of the ministry. He had not
ceased to be interested in the College at New York,
and Mr. Cooper, his successor in the Presidency, had
been in the habit of spending more or less of his
vacations with him, that they might consult together
i MS. Letter to Wm. S. Johnson, November 12, 1765.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 301
and devise good things for its welfare. He paid a
visit to New York in May, 1766, and was present at
the annual Commencement held on the 20th of that
month in Trinity Church. It afforded him unspeak-
able satisfaction to find the College in a prosperous
condition, and the graduating class the largest hith-
erto sent forth.
But there was another matter which interested him
at the time quite as much as that of education. The
day after the Commencement, fourteen clergymen,
two from Connecticut and the rest from the provinces
of New York and New Jersey, held a Convention at
which Johnson presided and Dr. Auchmuty preached
a sermon. The most important business transacted
was the adoption of an address to the Society on the
extreme hardships the Church in America labored un-
der for want of Bishops. It added to the moral force
of the address that two young men, Mr. Giles of New
York, and Mr. Wilson of Philadelphia, who had been to
England for Holy Orders, had just been lost on their
return in a ship that was dashed to pieces near Cape
Henlopen. These made ten, whose precious lives
sickness or the sea claimed, out of fifty-one who had
gone from this country for ordination in a little more
than forty years. It was an awful sacrifice for the
sake of the Church, and they implored that it might
be ended. " It is a greater loss," said Johnson, " to
the Church here in proportion than she suffered in
the times of Popish persecution in England."
While the clergy were holding this Convention, a
Synod of about sixty Presbyterians met at New York
with the design, it was said, of asking the General
Assembly of Scotland to apply to the Parliament of
302 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Great Britain for an act of incorporation in their be-
half. Reference was made to this Synod in communi-
cating the address of the clergy, and a letter from the
Archbishop of Canterbury, which is among the last,
if not the very last that he wrote to his venerated
friend, met the considerations urged then and previ-
ously, and touched upon another point of great im-
portance : —
LAMBETH, July 31, 1766.
GOOD DR. JOHNSON, — I am much ashamed, that I have
delayed so long to answer your letters, and still more grieved
that I cannot do it now to my own satisfaction or yours. It
is very probable, that a Bishop or Bishops would have been
quietly received in America before the Stamp-act was passed
here. But it is certain, that we could get no permission here
to send one. Earnest and continued endeavors have been
used with our successive ministers, but without obtaining
more than promises to consider and confer about the mat-
ter ; which promises have never been fulfilled. The King
hath expressed himself repeatedly in favor of the scheme ;
and hath proposed, that if objections are imagined to lie
against other places, a Protestant Bishop should be sent to
Quebec, where there is a Popish one, and where there are
few Dissenters to take offence. And in the latter end of
Mr. Grenville's ministry, a plan of an ecclesiastical estab-
lishment for Canada was formed, on which a Bishop might
easily have been grafted, and was laid before a Committee
of Council. But opinions differed there ; and proper per-
sons could not be persuaded to attend ; and in a while the
ministry changed. Incessant opposition was made to the
new ministry ; some slight hopes were given, but no one
step taken. Yesterday the ministry was changed again, as
you may see by the papers ; but whether any change will
happen in our concern, and whether for the better or the
worse, I cannot so much as guess. Of late indeed it hath
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 303
not been prudent to do anything unless at Quebec. And
therefore the Address from the clergy of Connecticut, which
arrived here in December last, and that from the clergy of
New York and New Jersey, which arrived in January, have
not been presented to the King. But he hath been ac-
quainted with the purport of them, and directed them to
be postponed to a fitter time. In the mean while, I wish
the Bishop of London would take out a patent like Bishop
Gibson's, only somewhat improved. For then he might ap-
point commissaries ; and we might set up corresponding
societies, as we have for some time intended, with those
commissaries at their head. He appears unwilling, but I
hope may be at length persuaded to it.
Requests have been made to me and other Bishops, first
for countenance, then for contributions to Mr. Wheelock's
Indian school. My answer was that we heartily wished suc-
cess to it; and intended to set up one not in opposition,
but in imitation of it ; that we hoped the Dissenters would
sufficiently support Mr. Wheelock's undertaking ; but could
not hope that they would contribute anything to a similar
one of ours ; and therefore it seemed requisite, that Church-
men should do their best for ours ; though if any would be
kind to theirs also, we should not blame them. They seemed
pretty well satisfied. My first notion was, that we might
maintain Indian boys at Mr. Wheelock's school, who should
afterwards take Episcopal Orders. But Mr. Apthorp was
clearly of opinion, that they would all disappoint our ex-
pectations in that respect. Now if only most, or many of
them would, it will be absolutely necessary, that we should
set up an Episcopal Indian school ; else we shall both neglect
our duty and lose our reputation. But we shall need the
best advice of our friends, in what place or places, and un-
der what masters and regulations, it will be most proper to
attempt this. And the sooner we have such advice the
better ; for the distance between the Society and the scene
of their business is extremely inconvenient. Mr. Barton of
Lancaster hath conversed on this subject with Sir William
304 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Johnson, who hath desired to be proposed for a member
of our Society, and earnestly recommends the Indians to our
care at present. We have sent to ask further information
from both these gentlemen ; and shall be glad of it from all
who are capable of giving it.
I have mentioned our late and former losses of mission-
aries to the King, as one argument for Bishops. He is thor-
oughly sensible, that the Episcopalians are his best friends in
America. There seems no likelihood that the Scotch Pres-
byterians will obtain any further privileges from our Parlia-
ment for their American brethren. Nor do I think there is
any considerable increase of vehemence against Episcopacy
here. Declaimers in newspapers are not much to be minded ;
nor a few hot-headed men of higher rank. I entreat you
to write often and fully to me concerning all the Church
affairs of America. I have not indeed been tolerably reg-
ular in my returns to your letters. Gout and business, and
principally the delusive hope that a little time would pro-
duce good news, have hindered me. I will endeavor to do
better, if God spares my life. But at least your informa-
tions and advice will be always highly acceptable and use-
ful to Your loving brother,
THO. CANT.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 305
CHAPTER Xin.
REVIEW OF HUTCHINSON'S PHILOSOPHY; STUDY OP HEBREW
AND PUBLICATION OF GRAMMAR ; INDIAN SCHOOL ; DEPART-
URE OF HIS SON FOR ENGLAND ; CHANDLER'S APPEAL ; COR-
RESPONDENCE WITH HIS SON; ENGLISH ANCESTRY; AND DEATH
OF ARCHBISHOP SECKER.
A. D. 1766-1768.
THE nest of Hutchinsonians, which his younger son
found at Oxford in 1756,1 was by this time well-nigh
broken up ; but he had neither relinquished their phi-
losophy, nor ceased to read their books. He found
leisure in his retirement to review the studies of for-
mer years, and reexamine the conclusions which he
had reached on philosophical and theological subjects.
It gratified him that he was under no necessity of es-
sentially changing his opinions; and while he could
not approve the tendency towards extremes in some
things, he still leaned to the side of Hutchinson in
the controversy which arose upon his writings, and
generally accepted them as teaching the truth. He
thought he saw in the respectable scholars at Oxford a
1 Mr. Berkeley, " the very worthy son of his great father, introduced us to a
very valuable set of Fellows of several of the Colleges, Hutchinsonians, and truly
primitive Christians, who yet revere the memory of King Charles and Archbishop
Laud ; and despise preferments and honors when the way to them is Heresy and
Deism."— MS. Letter of Wm. Johnson, May 25, 1756.
2 " I am sorry to find that the Bishop of Oxford [Dr. Lowth] is not a very good
friend to Dr. Home, but you will readily suppose that the Hutchinsonians are not
out of countenance when you see Home is head of Magdalen, and Wetherell of Uni-
versity College, Jones in a good living, and Berkeley with two, and in the high
road to preferment by the patronage of his Grace." — MS. Letter of Wm. Sam'l
Johnson, March 15, 1768
20
306 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
who favored that author's views, an earnest effort for
the revival of Hebrew literature, and as this was a
branch of study upon which he prided himself, he
was glad of anything in the shape of new light, to
guide his inquiries and help to a proper understand-
ing of the original tongue.
It was about this time, or a little earlier, that he
composed a small English Grammar for use in con-
ducting the preliminary education of his two grand-
sons, and having revised his Catechism hitherto issued,
he published them both together, in the hope that
they might serve a good purpose to others.
But the study of Hebrew was the chief delight of
his quiet hours. For many years he had entertained
a strong opinion that as this was " the first language
taught by God himself to mankind, and was really the
mother and fountain of all language and eloquence,
so in teaching, it would be, on many accounts, vastly
advantageous to begin a learned education with that
language," which lends to all others and borrows from
none. He set himself, therefore, to the preparation
of a Hebrew Grammar to go side by side with his
English Grammar ; the structure of the two lan-
guages bearing in his view a close resemblance.
While engaged in this work, a new Hebrew Lexicon,
by the Rev. John Parkhurst, was sent to him, and
the value which he attached to this publication is best
Been by quoting the letter which he addressed to the
author from
STRATFORD, CONN., N. E.
REV. SIR, — I humbly hope your candor and goodness will
pardon the assurance and liberty that so obscure, remote, and
unknown a person as I am, takes to address you in this man-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 307
ner ; as it proceeds from a well-meant zeal to promote the in-
terest of religion and learning, and especially the study of
the Hebrew Scriptures in this my native country. I labored
for ten years in founding a College in New York, and I hope
with good success ; but it growing too tedious for my years,
I have lately retired hither into a delightful country parish,
where I had before served the Society for Propagating the
Gospel for above thirty years. And having great health and
leisure (thank God), I am still pursuing the same design of
promoting the study of the Hebrew Scriptures, to which but
very few here are addicted, and I could think of 110 better
project than to get the Grammar of it studied with a Gram-
mar of our own excellent language as the best introduction
to what is called a learned education.
While I was pursuing this design, I was most agreeably
surprised with your admirable " Lexicon," calculated in the
best manner to promote my favorite views ; and I take this
opportunity to offer you my most hearty thanks for that
excellent work which I hope will be a very great blessing to
this as well as to our mother country. And since I must
send my little performance home to be printed, as we have
no types here, I humbly take the liberty to beg the favor of
you to take the trouble of perusing it, and if you judge it
may be of any good use to the purpose I aim at, to correct
whatever mistakes I have made in it, and to recommend it
to your printer to print it. The bearer hereof is Mr. Giles
(who has transcribed it for the press). He goes well recom-
mended by the clergy here to my Lord of London and his
Grace and the Society for Holy Orders and a mission, and ia
very desirous of being a factor for the sale of as many as we
can get of your " Lexicon" and this Grammar, in these part*
of the world. I am, Reverend Sir, etc.,
S. J.
The work was printed by W. Faden, London, in
1767, and four years afterwards a second edition of
it, " corrected and much amended," was published by
308 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
the same bookseller, with the title, " An English and
Hebrew Grammar, being the First short Kudiments
of those two Languages, taught together." Its re-
ceipt was acknowledged with approbation by Robert
Lowth, then Bishop of Oxford, a scholar whose " Prae-
lections on Hebrew Poetry " interested Johnson, and
gave him a high opinion of their author as introduc-
ing a new era in sacred literature. The publication
was remarkable for its simplicity, and attracted the
attention of several men of letters. He had been
known before as one of the best Hebrew scholars in
the country, and when Dr. Kennicott undertook to
collate all the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testa-
ment, in England and other parts of Europe, he sent
an inquiry to Johnson through Franklin, who was
then in London ; and he, in communicating it, said,
" I have but little expectation that any ancient He-
brew manuscripts of the Bible may be found in Amer-
ica ; but if such have possibly strayed thither, I think
you, who are so well skilled in that language, are most
likely to know of them."
The General Assembly of Connecticut, at the May
Session, 1766, " Upon the memorial of the Rev. Elea-
zar Wheelock," revived a brief throughout the Col-
ony, for the support and encouragement of the Indian
Charity-school under his care at Lebanon. Printed
copies of the act were delivered to the several min-
isters of the Gospel, who were directed to read the
same to their congregations and fix a time for con-
tributions. Johnson, who had always felt a compassion
for the poor Indians, and tried, on various occasions,
to make God's way known among them, showed his
Christian and catholic spirit when, upon publishing
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 309
the brief to his people, he urged them to contribute
cheerfully and generously to promote so good a work.
" If any/' said he, " are reluctant because Mr. Whee-
lock is not of our communion, we should remember
St. Paul's blessed temper which he expresses on the
like occasion, ' whether the Gospel be preached of
envy or of good will — I therein do rejoice, yea and
will rejoice ; ' and this we may the rather do as this
gentleman seems to express a truly Christian temper.
And he has certainly fallen upon the right method for
converting the heathen, by civilizing their children and
teaching them husbandry, and the arts and manufac-
tures, while he teaches them Christianity. I hope,
therefore, you will liberally promote this good work,
a«cording to your ability, by coming prepared next
Lord's day after service, to make your offerings to that
purpose."
In acknowledging the " generous contribution,"
Mr. Wheelock was pleased to compliment him for his
English Grammar and Catechism, and was so im-
pressed with the value of the latter that he proposed
to the author a slight change in the answer to one
question, which, if he would make, he promised to
use his influence to have the whole reprinted for the
benefit of children, particularly in the Indian schools.
The change involved a nice doctrinal point, having
reference to a new heart and a new life.
Dr. Johnson agreed with Archbishop Seeker in the
opinion that the Society should establish an Episcopal
Indian school, and thought that with a Bishop placed
at Albany or Schenectady, such a one might be car-
ried on under his eye and direction vastly to the
credit and reputation of the Church. He even wrote
310 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
to Sir William Johnson, Bart., the British agent for
Indian affairs in New York, who was a Churchman
and a member of the Society, to consult him about the
best place in which to set up a school after the general
plan of Mr. Wheelock,1 but his suggestion was event-
ually overlooked in the consideration of other things.
The Colony of Connecticut was deeply interested
in the title to a large tract of land, which one Mason
had raised a dispute about in behalf of the Mohegan
Indians. Twice it had been determined here in the
Colony's favor by disinterested Commissioners, acting
under the appointment of the King and Council ; but
still the great question was unsettled ; and Dr. Wil-
liam Samuel Johnson was selected as a special agent
to the Court of Great Britain to manage the case and
bring it to a righteous conclusion. " I know not," said
the father in a note introducing him to Archbishop
Seeker, " by what fate it is, but quite contrary to all
my expectations, the people of this Colony, notwith-
standing their aversion to the Church, have chosen
my son a member of their Council, and appointed him
their agent to defend them in a cause of great im-
portance before the King and Council." He departed
from New York the day before Christmas, 1766, and
arrived in Falmouth harbor on the 30th of January.
The letters which he carried with him gave him ac-
cess to the highest dignitaries of the Church, as well
as to the highest officials in the Government, and he
used his pen freely in communicating to his father
whatever he saw and heard that might interest him
personally, or tend to affect the progress of Christian-
1 The Indian Charity-school at Lebanon was incorporated with Dartmouth Col-
lege, New Hampshire, in 1771, and Dr. Wheelock made President.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 311
ity and the welfare of America. " Yesterday," said he
in his first letter to him after reaching London, "I
went to Lambeth, and was introduced to his Grace,
and happily met there the Bishops of London and
Bristol. The Archbishop received me very kindly and
inquired very kindly as well as minutely after your
health. He assured me he would, if possible, attend
the hearing of the Mohegan cause when it should
come on, and hoped to find it as just as I had repre-
sented it."
The next letter mentioned his presence at the An-
niversary Sermon of the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel, preached February 20, 1767, in the
Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, by Dr. Ewer, Bishop of
LlandafF. Owing to a bad delivery and his own bad
hearing he " could take up very few sentences," but
he knew he dwelt " largely upon the subject of Amer-
ican Bishops."1
The following extract is from the same letter : —
Last Sunday I had the pleasure to hear the Archbishop
preach, and to receive the Sacrament with him. He is truly
an excellent preacher, even yet full of life and vigor ; uses no
glasses, and speaks with great ease ; he has a fine voice, a
decent, emphatical gesture, and an affectionate manner which
engages the closest attention. His language is pure and cor-
rect, his sentiments just and masterly, yet adapted to the
meanest capacities ; he enters very little into speculative
points, but exhorts to the practice of religion with great
force, warmth, and energy. After service I dined with his
Chaplains, Dr. Stinton of Oxford, and Dr. Porteus of Cam-
bridge, both of them very worthy men. I then received an
invitation to dine with his Grace the next day, which I com-
1 This was the celebrated sermon which excited the hostility of Dr. Charles
Chauncy of Boston, an able Congregational divine, who thereupon renewed the war
of pamphlets in this country, which had recently been closed.
312 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
plied with, and found at his table only Mrs. Talbot and her
daughter, who live with the Archbishop, Lady Carter, the
Bishop of St. David's, Dr. Moss, and Dr. Porteus. The en-
tertainment was very elegant, and the Archbishop extremely
facetious, easy, and agreeable. He carves himself, helps
everybody, and does the honors of the table with an extreme
good grace. This is telling you trifles, but I imagine every
circumstance with respect to the Archbishop will be agree-
able to you. You cannot imagine how much I wished you
had been there. The conversation turned much upon Amer-
ican affairs, and from the course of it, I am convinced that
such is the situation here at present that you must not ex-
pect anything can be soon done relative to the important
object you have so much at heart.
This " important object " was the American Episco-
pate, and a new effort was now made to remove, if pos-
sible, all opposition to it in both countries. So early
as September, 1766, Dr. Chandler of Elizabethtown
wrote thus to his venerable friend at Stratford : " By
a letter from Mr. Cooper of a late date, I find that
you continue to think that something should be pub-
lished on the subject of American Bishops, and that I
ought to undertake it. As to the former of these
points, I have for a long time been convinced of the
necessity of it, in order to bring the Dissenters and
some of the Church people, and perhaps, horresco
refer ens, some of our clergy into a just way of think-
ing on the subject. But as to the other point, as I
am conscious of my own unfitness for the task, I
have never been so happy as to be able to join with
you in opinion."
The matter took definite shape afterwards when at
a " general Convention " of clergymen from New
York and New Jersey, with a few from other prov-
OF SAMUM, JOHNSON. 313
inces, Chandler was appointed to prepare an appeal
to the public, and he assured Johnson, who but for a
tremor in his hand would have written it himself, that
not a page should be printed until it had been submit-
ted to his examination. He was indebted to him for a
plan of the pamphlet, which he worked up by degrees,
and furnished early in the spring of 1767. For on the
15th of April in that year, he wrote, announcing a
proposed visit of President Cooper to Connecticut, and
said among other things, —
Mr. Cooper will bring you iny papers concerning American
Bishops. I am ashamed that they should be offered for your
inspection in so rough and imperfect a state ; but my abso-
lute inability to gain time to write them over again and give
them a general correction, must be my apology. Before they
go to the press, which will be some time in June, I must
transcribe them ; and by that time I shall be able to improve
them much by the assistance of friends. Even without any
such assistance, I think I could make them less unworthy of
the notice of the public, by straightening the crooked places,
and smoothing the rough ones, besides other amendments.
But I begin to be disturbed in proportion as the time of
publication draws nigh ; and I must beg the favor of you
to be on this occasion, what you have ever been on all occa-
sions, my fidus Achates, my mentor, my guardian, and con-
ductor. Every instance of your severity I shall esteem as a
proof of your affection ; and should your pen be as sharp as
the point of a javelin, it would give me not pain, but pleas-
ure.
You will therefore not be sparing in your animadversions,
for the credit's sake of a young adventurer, who has been
pushed forward by your own impulse, and for the sake of
the cause, which must considerably depend on the success of
this publication. I am sorry the papers cannot be left longer
in your hands than Mr. Cooper is with you ; but when I was
314 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
appointed by the Convention to draw them up, I insisted
upon a Committee to assist me ; and as Mr. Seabury is one
of that Committee, and has never had an opportunity of
seeing them but in a very cursory manner last week in New
York, I promised him, that after Mr. Cooper's return from
Stratford they should be left in his hands. In my opinion
the most blundering part of them at present is in the passage
relating to Sir W. Johnson, of whom something is said that
ought by no means to be said without his particular permis-
sion. And yet his testimony in favor of the usefulness of an
Episcopate towards the conversion of the Indians is of too
much weight to be omitted.
The publication of the " Appeal " did not at first
fulfill the expectations of its author. He was disap-
pointed that the clergy were not more active in cir-
culating it, though he knew previously that those
southward would regard it with little favor. Shortly
before it appeared Dr. Chandler made a journey into
Maryland, and in a letter to Johnson, giving a humor-
ous account of the agricultural skill of the people,
and a deplorable one of the state of the Church, he
said, " Of about forty-five clergymen in the province,
five or six are of good character, whose names should
be mentioned with honor, .... but to hear the
character of the rest, from the inhabitants, would
make the ears of any sober heathen to tingle. You
may be sure that they are much averse to having an
American Episcopate, and they are averse to their
numbers being increased, or their vacancies supplied
from the northward/'
The " Appeal " was reprinted in London, and
sharply attacked there, as it had been here by Dr.
Chauncy and other Dissenters. A passage from a
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 315
letter of its author to Dr. Johnson, written at the
close of the summer of 1768, will show the nature of
these attacks. " You see," speaking of the reprints,
" that it has been answered by a Presbyterian there ;
and I find that the ' London Chronicle ' has intro-
duced the subject to the view of the populace ; several
pieces having been published therein, but all of them
by Chauncy's friends. In one of them an account
is given of the answer made by the very learned
Dr. Chauncy to a piece written in favor of American
Bishops by one Chandler. In another, it is asserted
that Dr. Chandler says that an American Episcopate
is upon the point of being established, and that a tax
is to be laid on the Americans for the support of it.
It is astonishing that such falsehoods as these can be
suffered to go unanswered, and that no methods are
taken by the guardians of the Church to prevent the
propagation and growth of them."
It was difficult for Dr. Johnson, at this period, to
write long letters to his son, but he managed to keep
him well informed of the state of political and relig-
ious feeling on this side ; and weighed thoroughly
what was communicated to him in reply. In a letter
from Stratford dated June 8, 1767, he expressed his
pleasure at hearing that temperance was so much in
fashion in England, and added, —
I wish you could have said the same of religion and all
other virtues, but upon the whole I doubt the times are
very deplorable, especially on account of the rage of avarice,
ambition, and lust, which seem to threaten a dissolution.
What else can be expected from such an unsettled state of
the ministry, owing to such a perpetual and violent justling
about in and out ? What can a Pitt do in such a state, even
316 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
if he mean ever so well, which after all is, perhaps, as well
to be doubted of him as other men ? If they cannot agree
to do us any mischief, so they can neither, for the same reason,
agree to do us any good ; and that will be a great mischief,
especially since what concerns the interest of religion here
is totally neglected and despised.
I am extremely glad you heard and communicated with
my great and good friend the Archbishop. Your character of
him as a preacher and at his table is extremely beautiful and
amiable. I wish with you I could have been with you. I
must believe him to be one of the first characters of the age.
I am indeed glad if he took in good part my last long letter.
I was afraid it would be of hard digestion.
The Society have truly done you a great honor, in making
you their agent in the Hampshire affair, and I am glad you
have so good hopes of that, and that you have audience with
the Earl of Shelburne. It is said here with triumph that he
told one Stockton of New Jersey, who I see has been in
Scotland, and I suppose is the Synod's agent against Bishops,
that there is no occasion for Bishops in America. I wish
you may be able to convince him to the contrary, as I hope
you will by Dr. Chandler's " Appeal," which I will send you
as soon as printed.
The son, in his next letter, observed : " I doubt notx
Lord Shelburne said as you have been told. I wish
he was the only one amongst the ministers of that
opinion. I fear it is universal, and the common senti-
ment of all the leaders of all parties, and that, per-
haps, of all others in which they are most agreed.
The ' Appeal ' you mention, however well drawn up,
will, I fear, have very little effect. Perhaps the more
you stir about this matter at present, the worse it will
be." In the same letter, he took occasion to speak of
Archbishop Seeker, characterizing him as certainly
one of the best of -men. "I can clear up/1 he said,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 317
"whatever has seemed dubious in his conduct or
character, and shall do it when I return to America.
But the Court is not a scene for such good men to
act in, and he wisely keeps himself to his own prov-
ince ; his diligence and condescension would surprise
you ; he excuses himself from no labors, assiduities, or
attendance where he has the least prospect of doing
good ; he is beloved most by those who know him
best ; even the most profligate reverence him."
Besides attending to the business of his agency,
which was protracted beyond his expectation, and hav-
ing interviews with British Lords, who were occupied
far more with material comforts than religious ques-
tions, the son found time to make several journeys
into the country ; some for the benefit of his health,
and others for the sake of observation and historic cul-
ture. In returning to London from one of these, he
went out of his course to visit at Bray the family of
the late Bishop of Cloyne. His friend, the Doctor, was
not at home, but his mother, the widow of Berkeley,
made amends in some degree for his absence, whom
he described to his father thus : " She is the finest old
lady I ever saw ; sensible, lively, facetious, and benev-
olent. She insinuates herself at the first acquaintance
into one's esteem, and begets a high opinion of her
virtues. She received me very affectionately, and
remembered America, and you in particular with
great regard, and was pleased to say that the Bishop
and she had more pleasure in your acquaintance than
any other person's while they were in that country."
In October, 1767, he made a tour into Yorkshire,
and the agreeable letter which he wrote after reach-
ing his destination has more than a family value : —
318 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
YORK, October 17, 1767.
HONORED SIR, — I received yours of the llth of July the
day before I left London, on my tour this way, and as I have
been in motion ever since, could not write before. I am sur-
prised that there should be so long an interval as three
months between my letters, which I repeat very often ; how-
ever, I hope it was not many days after you wrote, before you
had intelligence, and that you will not again have so long a
delay, unless it be in the depth of winter, when it may in-
deed be expected. The favorable account you give me of
your own and my family's health gives me the greatest pleas-
ure, and I bless God for it as I do for my own, which I find
much confirmed by my ride here, which I was advised to take
for that purpose, both the exercise and the country air having
been very beneficial to me, and perfectly recovered me from
my late indisposition.
It gave me concern to find you were in danger of some
trouble in Church matters, and especially that my old friend
Jabez Hurd should have any hand in it, who I hoped would
use all his influence to preserve peace and quietness ; by this
time, however, I hope matters are settled again ; and indeed
what can you fear with such a weight as the newly acquired
friendship you mention must bring with it ?
I see nothing amiss in the letters you inclose me, and
shall deliver them as soon as I have opportunity for it ; when
I came out, those to whom they are directed were all out
of town. I spoke to Faden the morning I came away to
get Foster's Bible, which he said he would do, but chose to
take Mr. Parkhurst's opinion of it first, which he would have
against my return ; and as to the second part of the " Intro-
duction," etc., it is not yet brought to the press, being the
composition of a gentleman for the benefit of his own school,
who delays the publication till his own pupils are ready to
make use of it.
I thank you for sending your bill, and will get the pictures
you mention if to be had, but fear there is no plate of the
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 319
Bishop of Oxford or Lord Lyttleton. if there be of the Bishop
of Carlisle. The latter are two as indifferent faces as are to
be seen in the House of Lords, especially Lord Lyttleton,
who is a lean, long-visaged, crooked, shriveled old gentle-
man ; you would think him in a consumption ; his voice too
is very bad, but when he speaks, as he does pretty often,
it is always very sensibly, and he is heard with great at-
tention.1
When I came to Kingston-upon-Hull, I found Mr. Bell,
with the Mayor and Corporation of the town at a turtle feast,
at the inn I put up at. I introduced myself to him, and he
me to the Mayor, etc., and after some time to his lady, who
was very well pleased to see and acknowledge me as a re-
lation. She is a worthy, sensible woman, but has few me-
morials of the family ; both her parents having died when
she was not two years old. Her father was a lawyer and
died at the age of thirty-two. Her grandfather lived upon
his estate (without any profession), which I find was very
considerable. Her great uncle was a Doctor of Physic, emi-
nent in his profession and by his monument in Cherry-Burton
Church (which I visited as well as the family seat there), it
appears he died the 1st of November, 1724, at the age of
ninety-four, having survived his wife, and seven out of nine
children, who all died without issue, and the two which sur-
vived him being females never married, by which means the
whole estate came to Mrs. Bell. This old Dr. Johnson re-
tained his memory, etc. to the last, and as he remembered
the transactions of almost a century, had you happened to
have met with him, when you were here in 1723, he could
doubtless have told you the circumstances of the emigration
of our ancestors, no traces of which can now be discovered
1 " Since you wanted Lord Lyttleton's picture, I got an acquaintance of mine to
mention it to his Lordship and know of him whether he had any plate ; and your be-
ing an American who had a value for his writings, he desired his compliments to
you and thanks for taking so much notice of him, but said there never had been any
picture taken of him, though his bookseller had requested one to prefix to his Lift
of Henry If., and perhaps he should consent to it when he had finished that work."
— If S. Letter, Fein-nary 6, 1768.
320 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
here. The arms are not the same with those we have as-
sumed. I have taken a note of them, and shall examine at
the " Herald's " office when I return to London. If, at this
distance, any evidence of our relation could be imagined to
arise from similarity of countenance, Mrs. Bell and I might
pass very well for brother and sister, except that her eyes
are very black. Her eldest child, a daughter about thirteen,
is exactly our Polly, with a little longer face, and the other
very like Betsey. Their son I did not see, being at a distant
school. Whether we are related or not, they were really
very civil, and as much so as they could have been with the
clearest proof of it, and desired me to present their affec-
tionate compliments to you and all the family.
Nothing very material has occurred here, unless it be the
death of the Duke of York, who is not very greatly lamented
(except by the Royal family and his own domestics), though
we are all obliged to go into deep mourning' for him.
I congratulate you on the anniversary of our birthdays,
and hope the next we may celebrate together, in agreeable
remembrance of my present rambles. I shall set out in a
few days on my return to London, and shall write again by
the first conveyance after I get to town ; and in the mean
time am, with the tenderest love to my dear wife and all the
children,
Honored Sir, your most dutiful son and humble servant,
WM. SAM'L JOHNSON.
The trouble in the parish, referred to in this letter,
was not very serious, and appears to have grown out
of a desire on the part of Dr. Johnson's friends to
furnish him with some aid in his ministrations. His
infirmities had become so great that at times he was
unable to discharge his public duties, and a " sore-
ness in his legs," the result partly of breaking one
of them about twenty years before, confined him to
the house several weeks, in the winter season. Mr.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 321
John Tyler, a graduate of Yale College and a theo-
logical student of his, who was about to proceed to
England for ordination, was thought of as a perma-
nent assistant ; but opposition was raised to him on
the ground that he was not a very good reader and
did not promise to make much of a preacher, and a
few of the parishioners therefore did not wish to see
him in a position where, according to the natural
course of things, he would succeed to the Kectorship.
Dr. Johnson, not less than the Church of England in
the Colonies, lost a firm and noble friend in the death
of Archbishop Seeker. They were kindred spirits.
They were " loving brothers," as far as two men of
nearly the same age could be so, without having seen
each other face to face, or known each other only in a
long and affectionate correspondence. The letter of
his son which brought the intelligence of his decease
was one of the saddest that could have come to him
at that crisis. It is worthy of being spread upon
these pages, for the facts it contains and the counsels
it gave : —
LONDON, August 12, 1768.
HONORED SIR, — I must not fail by this packet to ac-
quaint you (though I imagine Mr. Tyler did not leave the
Downs before the melancholy intelligence reached him) of
the death of our great and good friend, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, in whom religion in general, and particularly
the Church in America, have lost their best friend in this
country. His physicians and friends flattered us with hopes
that he might recover from this disorder, and continue yet
some time ; but for my own part I have been, ever since I
saw him last, about a month ago, satisfied he was drawing
near his end. The immediate occasion of his death was the
misfortune of breaking his thigh bone, which happened on
21
322 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
Sunday evening the 31st of July, as he was endeavoring to
raise himself hastily from his couch ; it was immediately set
by the king's surgeons, and he was easy and more comfort-
able than could have been expected after such an accident,
but soon grew worse, and on Wednesday, the 3d inst., he ex-
pired. When his body was opened, it appeared that his
thigh bone was extremely decayed, and the physicians ex-
pressed their astonishment, that he could have lived so long
under so much pain as he must have endured, for some time
past with the gout, rheumatism, and gravel, by all which he
was sorely afflicted, and his constitution quite worn out. He
was interred privately, according to his own orders, in Lam-
beth churchyard.
Thus we must bid adieu to one of the best of men. God's
will be done ! He can and certainly will take care of His own
cause and interest in the world, but in truth I see no prospect
at present that anybody here will make good the Archbishop's
ground. Several of the Bishops are indeed very worthy men,
but none of them in my opinion by any means so well quali-
fied for that high station as the late Archbishop. It does
not yet appear who will succeed him ; almost every Bishop
has been named ; at present the Bishop of Lichfield and
Coventry, Dr. Corawallis, is most talked of, and he and the
Bishop of London seem to stand the fairest chance ; but in-
terest may give it to another, and it is difficult to say who,
at present, is most in favor at Court.
But from none of them, I fear, may religion in America
expect that attention and aid which it has formerly had.
The Church of England there should in fact think more of
taking care of itself. The Society will indeed, I trust, still
continue to afford their friendly assistance, but even that is a
precarious dependence, and I wish my countrymen not to rely
too much upgn it, but prepare themselves as far as possible to
stand ,upon their own ground. The affection between that
country and this seems to be every day decreasing, and the
growing jealousies on both sides threaten the destruction of
all our harmony and happiness ; already there is hardly any
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 323
other cement left between us beside the interest founded in
trade, and even that is declining. Let us look forward and
see where these things must end, and consider what must
probably be soon the state of that country and this. I was
going to imagine it with respect to religion. But in truth 1
dare not pursue these reflections farther upon paper. Let
them remain for the subjects of future, but alas! distant
conversation, for I see little prospect that I may spend next
winter with you at Stratford, or that I can leave this country
before next spring. I almost say with David, u Woe is me
that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech, and to have my
habitation among the tents of Kedar;" but we must sub-
mit and leave it to Providence, which orders all things for
the best.
I am just now happy in receiving your favor of the 10th
of June, by which I find you were all well at that time.
God be thanked for it, and for the perfect health I enjoy. I
shall forward your letter to Dr. Berkeley, who is now at
Canterbury, and will bring Pike's " Lexicon," as you advise,
for Billy, who, I rejoice greatly to find, proceeds so rapidly
in his studies. With my tenderest love to him, my dear
wife, and all the children, and compliments to all friends,
I remain, honored Sir,
Your most dutiful son and humble servant,
WM. SAM'L JOHNSON:
August 13.
I inclose you this morning's paper, by which it appears
that the Bishop of Lichfield is nominated Archbishop of
Canterbury ; you have also some account of the late Arch-
bishop's will, and a list of his charities.
Yours, W. S. J.
324 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER XIV.
ITRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN BISHOPS CONTINUED ; FOREIGN COR-
RESPONDENCE ; BISHOP LOWTH AND HEBREW GRAMMAR ; AS-
SISTANT MINISTER; MARRIAGE OF GRANDDAUGHTER; AND
PROLONGED ABSENCE OF HIS SON.
A. D. 1768-1770.
THE opponents of the Church of England in this
country were restless under the continued efforts to
secure American Bishops. As often as the clergy ap-
plied for this boon, they repeated their representa-
tions to the Government and Dissenters at home, that
it was uncalled for, and, if granted, would be followed
by outbursts of popular indignation. It has already
been mentioned that the Southern Provinces were
opposed, or rather not inclined >to the scheme, and
attempts were made to bring them over to its support.
Johnson, writing to the Rev. Mr. Camm of Virginia,
before the death of Seeker, said : " We have been
informed from home that our adversaries, who seem
to have much influence with the ministry, endeavor,
and with too much success, to make it believed, that
nineteen twentieths of America are utterly against
receiving Bishops, and that sending them, though
only with spiritual powers, would cause more danger-
ous disturbances than the Stamp-act itself; insomuch
that our most excellent Archbishop, who has been
much engaged in this great affair, and has greatly
condescended to exchange many letters with me upon
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 325
it for several years, has lately informed me that he
has not been able to gain the attention of the min-
istry to it ; though his Majesty is very kindly disposed
to favor and promote it. I am therefore very appre-
hensive that our solicitations will fail of gaining the
point unless we could bring it to a general cry, and
prevail with the Southern Provinces to join us in a
zealous application to the Government at home in the
same important cause."
The attacks upon Chandler's " Appeal " led the au-
thor to prepare an elaborate defense, and particularly
with a view of replying to Dr. Chauncy, who was his
most formidable antagonist. The outlook for the
Church at this time was anything but encouraging.
Passion took the place of argument, and hostile pens
ran beyond the limits of reason, so that what Johnson
wrote to his son was true : " These violent asserters
of civil liberty for themselves, as violently plead
the cause of tyranny against ecclesiastical liberty to
others." The "Appeal Defended" was followed, at
a later day, by another publication, entitled "The
Appeal Farther Defended," and this was the last of
the pamphlets in favor of the American Episcopate ,
though the idea could not be dislodged from the
minds of the true friends of the Church. Chandler,
in congratulating his venerable adviser at Stratford
on recovering from a severe illness, expressed the
hope that his health might hold out, by the blessing
of Heaven, till he should " have the pleasure of see-
ing a Bishop in America."
The effect of the controversy was not felt to any
good purpose in England. Other things absorbed the
public attention, and the ministry was so much en-
326 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
gaged with political measures, that no time was taken
for deliberate consultation upon the interests of re-
ligion in the Colonial dependencies. Johnson, the
agent, wrote to his father in midsummer, 1769, when
it was almost over : "I cannot but say, I am rather
pleased that your controversy about American Bishops
seems to be near its close, since I am afraid it can
have no very good effects there, and it certainly pro-
duces none at all here. It is surprising how little at-
tention is paid to it." The struggles of party were
violent, and the uneasiness and discontents of the peo-
ple at home needed watching and allaying not less
than the troubles and disquietudes of the Colonies ;
and in this way the great and important design
of an American Episcopate was kept in the distance.
" While the state of affairs, both with us and with
you, continues just as it now is, I am afraid," said Dr.
Lowth, then Bishop of Oxford, " we may not expect
much to be done in it." One is reminded in this con-
nection of the sarcastic observation of Sir Robert
Walpole, the prime minister, when Dean Berkeley
solicited in Parliament an act in favor of his scheme
for the Bermuda College. He had gained the good
will of the King, and he requested Walpole, in pre-
senting the measure, only to be silent ; he was so.
After it was passed, a courtier remonstrated with him
against the proposition of the Crown, and he re-
plied, " Who would have thought anything for pro-
moting religion or learning could have passed a Brit-
ish Parliament ?" l •
Dr. Johnson did not cease, under all the discour-
agements of the times, to cherish some good hopes
l MS. of Wm. S. Johnson, 1767.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 327
for the future. 'He was now the oldest of the clergy
in America, and felt at liberty, as he had always
done, to write very plain things to his English corre-
spondents. He began, however, to foresee the storm
gathering in the political horizon. He could not be
blind to the determination of all parties to give up
neither the parliamentary authority nor even the
right of taxation in the Colonies. " I thank you," he
said to his son in the spring of 1769, " for sending the
Resolves, etc. What dreadful things they are ! They
are like so many thunderbolts upon poor Boston, and
it is well if they do not actually turn into great guns
and bombs before they have done ; for these Olive-
rians begin to think themselves Corsicans, and I sus-
pect will resist unto blood. But if it should come to
this, I doubt Old England and New will fall together,
and both become a prey to the House of Bourbon.
Deus avertat omen /"
His foreign correspondence grew more irksome
with the increase of his infirmities, and he relied
upon his son to do for him in England what he could
not so well plead for by letter. Several of his friends
in turn were pleased to communicate with him
through the same medium. A domestic rather than
a literary or theological interest is attached to the
following letters : —
MY DEAR SIR, — I write these lines with your good son
sitting by me. He has been so obliging as to give me his
company (when at this place in last December) as often as
he could conveniently. It was matter of great concern to me
that he called on me at Bray last summer during my resi-
dence at my other parish, twenty-five miles distant, and my
mother, who, to her no small joy, received him, totally forgot-
328 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
to ask his address ; so that I had it not in my power to re-
turn his visit.
I have, on the strength of an hereditary friendship, opened
my mind to your worthy son on every subject without re-
serve. His Grace of Canterbury receives him always with
the regard due to him on his own account, and on that of
his excellent father, to whom I beg leave to return my best
.thanks for a valuable token of regard which had not thus
long escaped my notice.
I have the happiness of telling you that my good mother,
(who remembers you with the truest respect) is very well,
and likely to bless her family for many years. I am also, I
thank God, very happy in my wife and two sons. My choice
in matrimony gave the highest satisfaction to my mother,
and therefore you will believe that it was not an unwise one.
I earnestly pray for the continuance of your valuable life,
and that a long stay on earth may lead you to a longer hap-
piness. These lines are written, as you perceive, in a hurry,
as Dr. Johnson must carry them away with him.
I remain, my dear Sir,
Your most faithful and affectionate friend and servant,
GEORGE BERKELEY.
LAMBETH PALACE, Thursday, March 10, 1768.
Answer : —
June 10, 1768.
MY VERY DEAR AND WORTHY SlR, — It gave me the
greatest satisfaction to receive your affectionate letter, and to
be informed of your welfare, and of the health of that most
excellent lady, your mother ; and moreover of your great
happiness in so excellent a consort as she must undoubtedly
be to have the approbation and esteem of so good a judge. I
also rejoice with you in your two sons, and am glad that the
great and good Bishop whom I am proud to call my friend is
like to live in so hopeful a posterity, and I heartily pray God
that all those joys and many more may long, very long be
continued to you. I beg you will make my most affectionate
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 329
compliments acceptable to your honored mother (and your
lady, though unknown), together with my hearty thanks for
the very kind manner in which she received and treated my
dear and only son, who has the highest sense of her amiable-
ness and benevolence. I bless God that the friendship I had
the honor of with your renowned father still subsists between
our children, and am very glad that on the score of it you
have so particularly opened your mind to my son on the most*
important subjects.
I am greatly grieved at the dark account he gives me from
you of the ill-health of the most worthy and excellent Mr.
Jones, and let him know, with my compliments when you
have opportunity, how great satisfaction I have in his excel-
lent performance in Philosophy as well as the Trinity, and
how earnestly I pray for his life and health, that he may
bless the world with other labors ! 1 I bless God that such
excellent men as Drs. Home and Wetherell are preferred to
be heads of those important houses in the University, and
when you have opportunity give them my compliments and
j°y-
, I am inexpressibly obliged to his Grace of Canterbury for
the great honor he does my son, and thank you for the can-
dor with which you accept such a trifle as my little Grammar,
in which I had no other view than to be useful to young lads
in America, where I am extremely desirous, if possible, to
promote the study of Hebrew, as it is very little known here.
I thank you, my dear Sir, for your affectionate prayers in my
behalf, and remain with great esteem and regard,
Your most affectionate friend and brother,
S. J.
1 Wm. Samuel Johnson, writing to his father May 14, 1768, and speaking of Arch-
bishop Seeker, said : —
" I dined with him about ten days ago, when he was able to sit at table, but had
110 use of his left hand and arm. I had the pleasure to meet there Dr. Berkeley, and
the very worthy and learned Mr. Jones, who is much better in health than he used
to be, and told me he was still pursuing his Principles of Natural Philosophy, and
hoped he should ere long be able to publish something upon that subject. He re-
membered my brother with much affection, and desired his compliments to you, as
did Dr. Berkeley. His account of the state of Hutchinsonianism is much the same
with what I have before mentioned to you."
330 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
It alleviated the grief of his son's long absence that
he received from him frequent and agreeable accounts
of interviews with his old correspondents and with
men of distinction in literature as well as in the affairs
of the government. " For the sake of the name," he
wrote in November 1769, " and because I think him
one of the best of the modern writers, I made an ac-
quaintance, some time ago, with Dr. Samuel Johnson,
author of the < Dictionary/ etc. He was very well
pleased with the attention I paid him ; had heard of
you, and presents his compliments. He has shining
abilities, great erudition, and extensive knowledge ; is
ranked in the first class of the literati, and highly
esteemed for his strong sense and virtue ; but is as
odd a mortal as you ever saw. You would not, at
first sight, suspect he had ever read, or thought in his
life, or was much above the degree of an idiot. But
nullafronti fides, when he opens himself, after a little
acquaintance, you are abundantly repaid for these
first unfavorable appearances." *
The Rev. Dr. Johnson had intimated to his son that
seeing so much grandeur, and being conversant with
the luxuries and refinement of the Old World, he
might be tempted to look down upon America, or that
his home, when he returned to it, would appear mean
and despicable. But great minds are never thus af-
fected. " I will not have the vanity," he replied, " to
impute it to my philosophy ; but it is my good fortune,
1 It has been told that when he introduced himself as an American, the great sage
and moralist treated him, at first, somewhat rudely, and spoke harshly of his coun-
trymen, saying, among other things : " The Americans ! what do they know and what
do they read? " " They read, Sir, the Rambler," was the quick and polite reply;
which so pleased him that he took the statesman into his confidence, paid him many
civilities in London, and, after his return to this country honored him with kind
and courteous letters. See Appendix A.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 331
that though I am pleased enough with seeing these
things, yet they take little hold of my affections. I
like to look behind the gay curtain, but when I do, I
find little to admire and less to be attached to." And
he added still more : " My wishes, were they indulged
me to the utmost, would be very limited, and all cen-
tre in a little ease and independence in the tranquil
vales of America. The worst of it is, that I am not
likely to be very soon gratified even in such humble
hopes, and the best way (to which I hope to bring
myself by and by) is to have no wishes for anything
in this world but what we actually possess, or have
certainly within our reach. This however cannot be
till I return to Stratford."
Ever since the publication of his " Hebrew Gram-
mar," he had been desirous of issuing a second edition
corrected and improved. It was his last contribution
to Christian education in America, and he would leave
it, as far as he had the means of making it so, in a
perfect state. For this purpose he consulted several
Hebrew scholars and solicited their opinion of the
merit of his performance. To Bishop Lowth he sug-
gested the idea of laying a broad foundation for the
study of the language in this country, and giving to
it a prominent place in collegiate instruction. " I
wish," said the Bishop, " it were as much in my
power, as were there an opportunity it would cer-
tainly be in my inclination, to promote your useful
proposal of establishing a Hebrew Professorship in
North America. We must leave to God's good provi-
dence this and many other improvements in that
country, and I doubt not of their being in due time
accomplished." The Bishop had given him to under-
332 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
stand that the learned were beginning to think in
earnest of a new translation of the Scriptures, " as a
thing not a great way off; " and writing November 1,
1771, to Mr. Parkhurst, the scholar who carried his
" Hebrew Grammar " through the press in London,
Johnson expressed the wish that all helps might be
made available in such a work, even the discoveries
of Hutchinson, for whose learning, with some excep-
tions, he still retained a high respect.
Among others whom he consulted was Mr. Sewall,
Professor of Oriental Literature in Harvard Univer-
sity; and through him he desired the opinion of a
colleague, Mr. John Winthrop, about Hutchinson's
" Scripture Philosophy." The answer returned is too
good to be excluded from these pages : —
CAMBRIDGE, 24^ July, 1769.
REV. SIR, — An answer to your obliging favor of March
1, 1768, I acknowledge hath been long due. The only reason
of delay was the want of a private conveyance. For I could
not persuade myself an epistle of this nature was worth the
postage for such a length of way.
My thanks are due, Sir, for those favorable sentiments you
are pleased to express of the Oriental Professor at Cam-
bridge. He wishes his poor, but honest endeavors may be
followed with those happy consequences you mention.
The union of the whole Christian Church, in the bonds
of peace and love, is an object much to be desired. In the
mean time, however we may differ in certain external modes
and forms, I trust we shall each bear an undissembled affec-
tion to all, of whatever denomination, who love our common
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
Mr. Professor Winthrop, Sir, is a firm believer in the
Newtonian system. It cannot, therefore, be supposed he
should entertain a very high opinion of a scheme so opposite
to that as the Hutchinsonian is.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 333
The Hebrew language is certainly the most simple of
any ; and the grammars of it (setting aside the incumbrance
of points), may be reduced to a smaller compass than that
of any other language upon earth : it may, consequently, be
learned with greater facility and expedition. Upon these ac-
counts, and others that possibly might be added, I cannot
but think it claims priority in a learned education. The pro-
gression ought always to be from the easier to the more dif-
ficult.
Your Grammar, Sir, in my humble opinion, is upon a
very good plan, and may answer very valuable purposes.
You are the best judge whether it may be improved. It
hardly becomes the modesty of one who is comparatively
but a youth to point out to a gentleman of Dr. Johnson's
learning and experience what improvement, if any, may be
made in his own composition.
I am, Rev. Sir, with great respect,
Your very humble servant,
SEWALL.
Something more than a lay-reader was now needed
to aid Dr. Johnson in his parochial duties. Mr. Ty-
ler, who had been with him above a year, pursuing
the study of Hebrew and Divinity, was desirous of
proceeding to England for ordination, and of being ap-
pointed to a mission within the colony. Guilford and
Norwich were both vacant, and as the former was the
birthplace of Johnson, he procured him an invitation
to read there for several months before embarking,
and then gave him commendatory letters to the Arch-
bishop and the Society.
The Rev. Ebenezer Kneeland, a graduate of Yale
College in 1761, three years in holy orders, and a
chaplain in the British army, appeared in Stratford
and rendered acceptable service to the parish.
He wrote to his son, January 15, 1768 : " My
334 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
health, D. G., is perfectly good, but my legs much as
they were. Mr. Kneeland, whom I much like, is here
till March, and nearly adored : the people have sub-
scribed £30 per annum, .and he has agreed to quit
his regiment and come next summer. Mr. Tyler is
invited and gone to Guilford, and the Church is very
happy and increasing.'* He described Mr. Kneeland
at the same time as a good scholar and an excellent
speaker ; but letters and other memorials will hardly
sustain the description. They indicate neither depth
of learning nor polished culture, and subsequent and
more intimate relations must have led him to qualify
his opinion. He was chosen associate minister, how-
ever, and took the more laborious duties which had
become so burdensome to the aged Rector. It was
a welcome and timely relief, and the people were
glad to provide it.
Eighteen months elapsed, and his son in England
was surprised to learn that Mr. Kneeland had formed
an acquaintance with his eldest daughter (Charity),
and desired to be united to her in marriage. The
approbation of her mother and grandfather was ob-
tained before his consent was asked, which appears to
have been reluctantly given, with some good advice
about the happiness and responsibility of the married
state. This connection brought the assistant minis-
ter and his superior more closely together, and made
their interests in working the parish one. It left-
no room for jealousies, and Dr. Johnson was now grat-
ified with the prospect of being succeeded by one of
his own affinity in a charge especially dear to him,
and which he had held for nearly forty years.
What gave him the greatest anxiety at this period
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 335
was the prolonged absence of his son in England.
From year to year he had looked for his return, and
lived upon the hope of seeing him again restored to
his family, but his expectations were continually dis-
appointed. He often begged him, for the sake of his
domestic affairs, to relinquish his agency, if the busi-
ness intrusted to him could not be speedily accom-
plished ; and in December, 1769, he wrote to Gov-
ernor Trumbull of Connecticut, congratulating him on
his advancement to the head of the government ; and
at the same time expostulating with him on the sub-
ject of his son's being so long detained in England.
" I am told," said he, " the Lower House voted to
direct him to come home in the spring at all events ;
but that the Upper House, led by, I know not what
expressions in his letters, prevailed on the Assembly to
conclude to instruct him by all means to continue
longer, leaving, however, a discretionary power with
your Honor to direct otherwise, if you should see
reason for it, or something to this effect."
The • Governor, in acknowledging his " pathetic ex-
postulation," did not admit that any such discretion-
ary power was lodged with him, but rather that the
General Assembly fully relied on the purity of the
agent's intentions to serve the interests of the colony,
and to return whenever it should be consistent with
his sense of duty. He lamented the public confu-
sions, and the " paltry injurious Indian cause," which
had led to the long separation from his " dearest and
tenderest connections;" and then added, what was
quite true, " his observations and intelligence will be
of lasting advantage to the colony, and his services
there at this critical juncture peculiarly great,"
336 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
The agent, writing to his wife on New Year's Day,
1770, said : —
The present situation of our affairs is this. On the 22d
ult. the Lords of the Council were moved to assign a day for
hearing a motion we intend to make for dismission of the
Mohegan cause, when their Lordships were pleased to appoint
the first day of their next sittings for that purpose, and to
assure us it should be before the expiration of this month.
Should this motion on our part succeed, the cause is at an end.
I shall then be disengaged from this tedious affair, and shall
have only to see what Parliament will do with the colonies
in the course of this session, and may certainly leave Eng-
land as soon as it is over, which will probably be sometime
in May. Should we fail in this motion, we shall then indeed
have to try the merits of the cause at large, but still have
good reason to expect that it may be got through with in the
course of the winter or spring ; so that either way I have the
strongest hopes of seeing you some time next summer, at
farthest, and you may rely upon it, it shall be as soon as
possible.
His strong hopes were not realized, and a vexatious
delay again filled his friends with disappointment.
He wrote his father late in the summer of this year
that he had not only been unable to get his business
dispatched, but had for a month past been extremely
ill with a serious fit of the gout in both his feet ;
and he intimated that if no probability existed of
the Mohegan cause being tried in five or six months,
he should not hesitate to come away as soon as his
health would permit, though to return again, should
it be thought necessary, to attend the trial. Once
the case was nearly finished, June, 1770, when the
sickness of the attorney general intervened and led
to a postponement. Every way this was a sad mis-
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 337
fortune to him, and speaking of his detention on
this account in the same letter, he said : " One miti-
gating circumstance, however, attends it ; that one
can bear with more patience those ills which are the
immediate inflictions of Providence than those which
are occasioned by the faults of men. Had this de-
lay been occasioned by anything less than sickness or
unavoidable necessity I should have had no patience
left. But nobody is to blame ; it was the act of Prov-
idence."
It has already been mentioned, as some compensa-
tion for this protracted absence, that the father was
favored with such graphic and admirable letters from
his son. Nothing but talking over experiences at the
fireside in Stratford could exceed the interest with
which he read the descriptions of what he saw and
heard in England, and his brief account of inter-
views with men high in Church and State. The son
was present at some of the most important and excit-
ing debates in Parliament, and at a period too when
great minds were occupied with great national sub-
jects. He listened to the most eloquent defenders of
the British Constitution, and gathered up every word
that was spoken in vindication of measures which
bore upon the welfare of America. The caution with
which he communicated his observations to his father
showed how critical the times were, and how solici-
tous he was that his countrymen should not be un-
prepared for the perils and hardships that lay in their
path.
In a letter to him on the 4th of January, 1769,
he spoke of what seemed to be the fixed resolution
of the Administration not to repeal immediatelv those
338 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
acts which the Colonies complained of, but to main-
tain the right of Parliament to impose duties and
taxes in America, and to enforce obedience to its laws
in the most effectual manner. " The tide, in fact, at
present," he added, " sets strongly enough against us,
and I fancy will continue to do so while Lord Hills-
borough administers our affairs, who is extremely in-
flexible." Four months later he wrote again to his
father with scarcely happier forebodings : —
I am very much, obliged to you that you accept so well my
apology for this long, tedious absence, which, as I have said,
I greatly hope will not be prolonged through another winter,
though I cannot determine its period. Your obliging com-
pliment upon my defense of the charter against Lord Hills-
borough's objections is very flattering. I am sensible of the
danger we are in with respect to all our rights, and particu-
larly the evil eye they have upon this charter especially ;
yet I should be particularly sorry to have that event take
place while I am here, and shall therefore, as it is my duty,
continue to defend both that and all our other just rights, in
the best manner I can while I continue in the service of the
colony. It is extremely unhappy that we cannot on both
sides come to a better temper in the unfortunate dispute now
subsisting between this country and that. If we once get
into blood, your conjecture will undoubtedly be but too soon
fatally verified : we shall destroy each other, and become an
easy prey to our enemies. Prudent men, on both sides, are
aware of this danger, and will, I hope, by degrees gain so
much influence as to prevent it. Administration have, since
the rising of Parliament, given out that the duty-act shall
be repealed next year, if the Colonies remain quiet, but one
can hardly depend much upon the declarations of minis-
ters.
When the year came round and the address from
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 339
the Throne had been issued, he inclosed a copy to his
father, and wrote, among other things : —
Lord Chatham appeared again (after three years' ab-
sence) in the House of Lords, and declared himself the
friend of America. He said he had not altered his ideas of
the proper mode of governing the Colonies, wished for mod-
eration and lenity, but would not go fully into the subject.
" I have," says he, " a strong propensity towards that coun-
try,- and love liberty wherever it appears. That country
was settled upon ideas of liberty. It is a vine, to use the
allusion of Scripture, which has taken deep root and filled
the land. May it long flourish ! But I am the friend not
the flatterer of America ; they have done wrong in some
things, but let us inquire coolly and candidly before we cen-
sure as the address does."
On the 7th of February, 1770, he wrote him a
long letter, reciting his hindrances, and gravely re-
pelling an insinuation which seems to have been mis-
chievously made, that he was becoming alienated
from his family ; and then he proceeded to things less
personal, and described a debate in Parliament, the
memory of which must have lingered with him to
the end of his days.
I hardly know how to write upon any other subject, but I
must just tell you that we have had many changes of men,
both by deaths and dismissions (which the papers, I presume,
will have acquainted you with), without any changes of
measures. Lord North, for the present, succeeds the Duke
of Grafton as prime minister, and seems to intend to pursue
the same system of politics. Parliament have been much
retarded in their proceedings by these changes, and the rest
of their time has been taken up with the Middlesex election,
which has been repeatedly debated with great vehemence
340 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
and acrimony, both by the Lords and Commons ; but the
ministry have still carried their point in favor of the decision
of last year, on several 'divisions, by a majority of about forty
in the Commons, and in the Lords of about fifty. The Lords
in the minority have signed the most spirited protest that is
perhaps of record. The opposition intend still to pursue the
point in every shape they can devise.
Lord Chatham told the Lords that while he lived it should
never rest, nor would they cease to bring it before Parlia-
ment in every possible method, till the wound in the Consti-
tution was healed. His last speech upon this occasion (about
two o'clock last Saturday morning) was amazingly fine.
Neither Greece nor Rome, I believe I may venture to say,
ever heard anything superior to it. Roused with indigna-
tion at some unfair proceedings of the ministry, as well as
warmed by the universal ardor of the debate, he displayed
his utmost powers of eloquence, and with astonishing abil-
ity and energy even vanquished Lord Mansfield, who is cer-
tainly one of the first of mankind, and worthy of such an
antagonist. He obliged him to change his ground even in
a point within his own profession, — the law. The conflicts
of these two great men are such as would have been seen
between Demosthenes and Cicero, had they been opposed
to each other, warmed by emulation and heated by oppo-
sition. They excel each other in different manners of elo-
quence, but are equally superior to all others. This dispute
so engrosses the attention of all the politicians that they
can hardly think of anything else. Hence it is that Amer-
ican affairs have not yet been taken up, though we expect
they will be soon entered upon. There seems to be but little
hope, at present, that we shall obtain more than the repeal
of the duties upon glass, paper, and painters' colors, which
will answer no purpose to America. On the contrary, they
threaten us with some severe resolutions, or perhaps a penal
act, against agreements not to import goods. Lord Chatham,
we are told, wishes the repeal of the whole of this Revenue
act, but I fear he will not have influence enough to effect it.
OP SAMUEL JOHNSON 341
CHAPTER XV.
DESIRE FOB AMERICAN BISHOPS UNQUENCHED ; LETTERS FROM
DR. BERKELEY AND THE BISHOP OF LONDON ; JOY AT THE
RETURN OF HIS SON ; WISH FOR A PEACEFUL EXIT ; DEATH
AND BURIAL ; CONCLUSION.
A. D. 1770-1772.
THOUGH the war of pamphlets was about over, and
formal appeals from the clergy in this country were
ended, yet Dr. Johnson could not cease to be inter-
ested in the effort to obtain American Bishops. He
still felt that it was a want which must be supplied,
and whenever he wrote to his English correspondents,
which was not often now, he pressed it upon their at-
tention. The Bishop of London, Dr. Terrick, appre-
ciated his feelings, and expressed a willingness to
favor the design on first coming to his London see.
But objections were raised which he was not able to
remove. They were the same which had hindered
the attempts of his immediate predecessor, Bishop
Sherlock, and deterred him from repeating his memo-
rials to the throne upon the subject. They centered
in the policy of statesmen, and gathered strength
from the uneasiness and remonstrance of the Dissen-
ters.
Dr. Berkeley, not always perhaps with the best
discretion, was a strong advocate of the scheme so
persistently opposed. At one time he seriously
meditated a visit to America with his wife, and went
342 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
so far as to take steps towards purchasing a farm in
the colony of Connecticut. " I should much like,"
he wrote to the Kev. Dr. Johnson, from Cookham
near Maidenhead, April 21, 1770, " to pass one year
in a country for which I have inherited no slight af-
fection from both my parents." In the same letter
he mentioned : " Mr. Dalton is settled on a little farm
near me, and enjoys very good health ; he often talks
of America with great regard." And then he added,
with a mixture of playfulness and seriousness : —
If you Americans are not betrayed by your wives and
daughters, you may transmit the invaluable blessing of lib-
erty to your posterity ; but if your females conspire with
short-sighted merchants (who are too lazy to become farm-
ers), you may in half a century be enslaved as the Irish are
at this day, where the list of court-pensioners (mostly Eng-
lish) consumes more than ninety thousand pounds sterling
annually ; all of which money is granted without Parlia-
ment, by virtue of the Privy Seal. And after it has been so
granted, Parliament is applied to for ways and means, which
if the Irish Parliament should refuse to afford, the English
Parliament would claim a privilege once surreptitiously ob-
tained, and raise a revenue by taxation without representa-
tion.
The design of visiting America was relinquished,
partly owing to a preferment which kept him at
home, but his interest in the country continued. He
was a warm friend of the American Church, and ap-
pears to have anticipated for it a great future. His
intimacy with Dr. Johnson, the Colonial agent, in-
creased with every year of his stay in England, and
his regret at parting with him was deeper than
words could exnress. That gentleman under date of
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 343
Tuesday, June llth, 1771, entered in his private
jotirnal : " Attended at the Cock-pit the final hearing
of the Mohegan cause ; " and having disposed of
other trusts and business committed to him, and taken
leave of his many friends, he bade adieu to London,
and sailed from Gravesend for New York on Saturday,
the 3d of August. Among the letters which he
brought with him addressed to his father, was the fol-
lowing : —
CANTERBURY, Monday, July 29, 1771.
REVEREND AND DEAB SIR, — God grant that you may
speedily receive these lines from the hands of your excellent
and very amiable son. His deep distress at being thus long
unavoidably detained from his worthy lady, yourself, and his
beloved olive-branches, has sensibly impaired his health.
We, who love and regret him, as he deserves, hope that the
effect will cease with the cause.
I wrote to you a long letter immediately on the receipt of
your last favor. In that letter I opened my mind to you
with great freedom on some important subjects, and I have
now reason to suspect that (by the carelessness of a servant)
those breathings of iny soul have miscarried. This accident
would have been much more grievous to us if Dr. Johnson's
return did not now anticipate my reflections on the state of
learning, church discipline, and religion in America. Mr.
Temple of Boston visited me here a few days ago ; he styled
his friend, Dr. Johnson, the flower of America.
My expectations of receiving one more visit from the be-
loved bearer of these lines are, alas ! now to be given up.
This morning, a person just arrived from London, has
brought me a most unwelcome message from him, and my
letter will be but barely in time.
It happens, by what we mortals call chance, that the Dean
of this church is an amiable and religious man ; he is to be
elected Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry as soon as he shall
344 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
have completed his thirtieth year, i. e.^ before the end of next
week. Dr. North is much fitter for the office of a Bishop
than any old man (without exception) that I remember to
have seen appointed to that office. Your good son knows as
much of the real political and ecclesiastical state of England
as any man in it ; I need not add, more than all the Ameri-
cans I ever knew put togetner.
Mrs. Berkeley, your old acquaintance, and Mrs. George
Berkeley, who would be very glad to become your acquaint-
ance, join in every possible kind wish for you. May a long
and happy life lead you, through Redeeming mercy, to a
longer happiness !
My time is short, and my spirits are depressed by the con-
sideration of the loss I am to sustain. Dr. Johnson indeed
was so good as to come on purpose to Canterbury to take
leave of us, but unfortunately I was then on a visit to my
parishioners.
I am, with the truest respect, dear Doctor,
Your faithful and affectionate brother,
G. BERKELEY.
P. S. I have the comfort of being able to say that Dr.
North is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ in his ser-
mons ; if there was a vacancy, I should be happy to see him
our Metropolitan to-morrow.
Dr. Johnson reached his family in Stratford on the
1st of October, having been absent from the country
for nearly five years. He found his aged father full
of infirmities and bending to the grave, but read}^ to
welcome him with a warm heart and a clear intellect.
He had begun to feel that he might not live till his
return, and therefore his joy was all the greater when
he came and renewed with him the scenes through
which he had passed, and the personal interviews
with distinguished men, known to him hitherto only
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 345
through the medium of their correspondence, their
works, or their statesmanship.
His measure of earthly happiness was now full, and
he had no more for which to look forward in this
life. He continued a little longer to use his pen, and
write to his friends ; but his letters were those of one
who seemed to be conscious that he was closing up
his stewardship. The Bishop of London had sent
him a brief communication by his son, which, though
not inspiring him with any new hopes, was grate-
fully received and resolutely answered. Its bur-
den was the old obstacles to the American Episco-
pate.
REVEBEND SIR, — - 1 cannot let your son leave this part
of the world without taking the opportunity of writing a few
lines to you in answer to your letter delivered to me by Mr.
Marshall.1 The Society, entirely satisfied with the testimo-
nial he has brought with him, and with the assurances of a
sufficient allowance from the inhabitants of Woodbury, has
recommended him to me for orders. An'd, as I am always
unwilling to keep the candidates from America longer than
is necessary, especially as their stay is attended with expense,
I shall lose no time in ordaining Mr. Marshall, provided he
is found, as I trust he will [be], properly qualified for the
profession. The character you give of him, with regard to
his morals and behavior, will entitle him to some indulgence,
if he has not made that progress in languages which we wish
to find, though sometimes obliged to excuse, in our candi-
dates.
I feel as sensibly as you can wish me to do, the distress
of the Americans in being obliged, at so much hazard and
1 Rev. John R. Marshall, bred a merchant, and afterwards turning his attention to
theology, pursued his studies under Dr. Johnson, and was licensed for Woodbury,
Conn., by the Bishop of London, July 28, 1771. He received the degree of M. A.
honoris causa, from King's College, N. Y., 1773.
346 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
expense, to come to this country for orders. But I own I
see no prospect of a speedy remedy to it. They who are en-
emies to the measure of an Episcopacy, whether on your part
of the globe or ours, have hitherto found means to prevent
its taking place ; though no measure can be better suited
to every principle of true policy, none can be more consist-
ent with every idea I have formed of truly religious liberty.
We want no other motive for declaring our sentiments and
wishes on the subject, but what arise from the expediency,
I had almost said, the necessity of putting the American
Church upon a more respectable plan by the appointment of
a Bishop. But whatever are our sentiments or wishes, we
must leave it to the discretion and wisdo'm of Government to
choose the time for adopting that measure. Whether we
shall live to see that day, is in the hands of God alone. We
wish only that we could look forward with pleasure and en-
joy the thought.
Accept, sir, my best wishes for everything which may con-
tribute to your health and happiness, and assure yourself
that I am, with great truth and sincerity,
Your affectionate brother,
Ric. LONDON.
FULHAM, July 22, 1771.
In replying to this letter, Johnson affirmed that no
one could be more concerned than he that the Church
should always, as far as possible, have a learned min-
istry ; but in such a country as America then was,
much learning could not ordinarily be expected. He
was glad his Lordship felt so sensibly " the distress
of Americans " on being without Bishops, and apolo-
gizing for the importunity of his brethren in Con-
necticut, who, contrary to his advice, had made an-
other address for them, he asked : "Is the case
incurable ? Is there no remedy ? Must we forever
go a thousand leagues for every ordination ? Can it
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 347
be that the English Government should suffer such
an encroachment upon Christian liberty to the Eng-
lish Church in any part of its dominions ? I foresee,"
he continued, " fearful consequences, political as well
as religious, that will inevitably follow it." If there
was no prospect of relief, if all hope and dependence
on England must be relinquished, he thought that a
number of the clergy would be disposed to apply to
some other Episcopal Church — perhaps the Mora-
vian — to give them Bishops, " being conscientiously
persuaded that Episcopacy, such as it was in St. Cyp-
rian's time, was the only form of government that
the Apostles established in the Church."
The following reply to Dr. Berkeley, if not his last
letter to England, was his last to that devoted friend
of his son and of the American Church. It shows
the depth of his feelings, and the great thought which
ever rose in his mind as he turned to survey " the
branch of God's planting " in this land.
November 10, 1771.
REVEREND AND MOST DEAR SIR, — I am most intensely
thankful to our good God that he hath so graciously preserved
my dear son to me and his family, and us to him through
his long absence and many dangers, and at length restored
him to us and given us to rejoice together in all the great
goodness of his kind Providence both towards him and us.
And now I return my most affectionate thanks to your very
excellent mother and lady and dear sons for the great kindness
and affection wherewith you have treated him in his absence
from us. May my God abundantly reward all your good-
ness and beneficence.
I was much grieved for the miscarriage of your kind an-
swer to my last letter, wherein you opened your mind with
so much freedom. I thank you for it, though I had it not,
348 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
and I could wish you yet to give me a short recapitulation of
it. I am unwilling to give up all hopes of seeing you in
America, at least of your being our first Bishop, for then I
could trust that we should set out upon the foot of true, gen-
uine, primitive Christianity ; and if you be not yourself the
man, I beg of you through your whole life strongly to inter-
est yourself in our affairs, and so far as is possible to influence
that we may have one or more Bishops, and that they be
true, primitive Christians ; otherwise, if they are mere men
of this world, we are indeed better without them.
I rejoice and bless God that there is one such in these
abandoned times as Bishop North, and he so young, too, and
that of a noble family. Such an one is a phoenix indeed.
I desire you, if you think proper, to give my dutiful compli-
ments to him, and let him know that, as I am the oldest of
the clergy here, I humbly beg he would pity our deplorable
condition in being obliged to go a thousand leagues for every
ordination, and use all the influence in 'his power without
ceasing, till we are provided with a Bishop to ordain and
govern the clergy here. I earnestly pray God to bless you,
my dear sir, and that worthy lady your mother, together
with your lady and dear offspring, with all the blessings of
this life, and that we may all at length be happy together in
a better world, I am, etc.
Nearly forty years before, when Dean Berkeley was
promoted to the see of Cloyne, Johnson wrote to a
London friend, expressing his joy at the appointment,
but regretting that it had not been an English Bish-
opric, for then, he said, " he would have been in the
way of being more useful to the Church in these parts
of the world." The zealous son was untiring in his
efforts to prosecute what the father could really do
nothing towards accomplishing, and, at a later day,
was of personal service to Dr. Seabury in securing his
consecration to the Apostolic office from a church
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 349
north of the Tweed, where there were no State oaths
to hamper the little college of bishops, and no silken
cord binding together the crown -and the crosier.1
The waning year brought peace and quietness to
Johnson. He left his parochial duties chiefly to the
care of his assistant, and while he lived in the scenes
and recollections of the past rather than in the dis-
tractions and political uncertainties of the present, he
did not forget the nearness of the end, much less con-
template it with indifference. He often wished for a
peaceful exit, and prayed that his death might re-
semble that of his good friend, Bishop Berkeley.
Though apparently little indisposed, yet finding his
strength to be failing him, on the morning of January
6, 1772, he conversed calmly with his^ family upon
the subject of his departure, said that he was "going
home," and then sank to rest quietly, so as the "Lord
giveth his beloved sleep/' An extract from the letter
which his son wrote to Bishop Lowth a week after the
event, furnishes a good description of his last mo-
ments.
STRATFORD IN CONNECTICUT, January 13, 1772.
MY LORD, — I did myself the honor to write your Lord-
ship a short letter on my arrival in this country, acknowl-
edging the honor of your favor of the 29th of June, from
Cuddesden, which I received just as I left London ; and pre-
senting to your Lordship mine and my good father's duty.
I have now the misfortune to inform your Lordship of the
departure of my father, who left us the morning of the Epiph-
any full of faith and hope, and we doubt not has entered
into the joy of our Lord. He died as he had lived, with
great composure and serenity of mind, and had just such a
1 Rev. Samuel Seabury, D. D., was publicly consecrated Bishop of Connecticut
at Aberdeen, on Sunday, the 14th of November, 1784.
350 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
transition as one would wish for his best friend. He often
wished, and repeated it the morning of his departure, that he
might resemble in his death his friend, the late excellent
Bishop Berkeley, whose virtues he labored to imitate in his
life, and Heaven heard his prayer ; for, like him, he expired
sitting up in his chair, without a struggle or a groan. It
would be very inexcusable in me to trouble your Lordship
with this minute account, were it not also my duty to ac-
quaint your Lordship, that from the great satisfaction and im-
provement he had received from your writings, my father
had often assured me since my return that he had the great-
est respect, veneration, and esteem for your Lordship, of any
man now living. That respect and esteem, give me leave to
say, will live in his family and among all his acquaintance,
upon whom he sought to inculcate it
The funeral of Dr. Johnson took place at Stratford
two days after his decease, and the clergy from the
neighboring towns were present ; one of whom, the
Rev. Jeremiah Learning of Norwalk, delivered a ser-
mon in commemoration of his acquirements and Chris-
tian character. His long tried and particular friend,
the Rev. John Beach of Newtown, had been selected
for this office, but want of health prevented his at-
tendance at the funeral, though the sermon which he
prepared was afterwards preached and published. It
dwelt largely upon the wisdom of diverting the
stream of our thoughts from this visible world to
eternal things, and contained tributes to the memory
of the great man, which were neither fanciful nor un-
deserved. " With much satisfaction," said he, " and
the recollection of many advantages I have received,
I call to mind the acquaintance which I have had
with this excellent divine for more than fifty-five
years; and without an hyperbole, I may say it, I
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 351
know not that ever I conversed with him without
finding myself afterwards the better for it. He had
from his youth devoted himself to the sacred minis-
try, and the studies which qualify for it he followed
with unwearied application, which a firm constitution
enabled him to pursue even in old age." He closed
a description of his intellectual attainments with .these
words : " The sum is this ; he was the most excellent
scholar, and most accomplished divine, that this col-
ony ever had to glory in, and what is infinitely more
excellent, he was an eminent Christian."
Other memorial sermons were preached, one by
the Rev. Mr. Inglis in Trinity Church, New York,
where his name was held in grateful remembrance
for services rendered to the parish, and to the college
with which the parish was in a measure identified.
The loss of such a guiding light was felt by the de-
pressed Church of England in this country, especially
in the Northern colonies, and no pen of equal zeal,
ability, and influence, was ready to take up the corres-
pondence which he had so long conducted with Brit-
ish minds interested in the progress of Christianity
on the American continent. The times grew more
eventful, and soon the troubles which produced the
Revolution interrupted communication, and sadder
than all the days before were those which came to
the supporters of Episcopacy.
" As to Dr. Johnson's person," says Chandler, " he
was rather tall, and, in the latter part of his life, con-
siderably corpulent. There was something in his
countenance that was pleasing and familiar, and that
indicated the benevolence of his heart ; and yet, at
the same time it was majestic, and commanded re-
352 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
spect. He had a ruddiness of complexion, which was
the effect of natural constitution, and was sometimes
farther brightened by a peculiar briskness in the cir-
culation of his spirits, brought on by the exercise of
the benevolent affections." l
Frequent reference has been made in this volume
to his autobiography, which he began in the seven-
tieth year of his age, and completed after the return
of his son from England. It was written in the third
person, and is entitled, " Memoirs of the Life of the
Kev. Dr. Johnson, and several Things relating to the
state both of Religion and Learning in his Times."
This manuscript with other papers was confided to
the Rev. Dr. Chandler of Elizabethtown, and liberty
given him to use them freely in preparing a more
elaborate account of the life and character of his ever
honored friend and patron. The colonial disturb-
ances thickened, and even before the work was ready
for the press, the son wrote to Dr. Chandler express-
ing his fears about publishing : "I am at a loss what
to say upon the subject. On the one hand, I should
be extremely glad to have anything published which
would subserve the general interest of the Church of
England, and tend to do honor to the memory of my
father, and I know you will render whatever you pub-
lish as perfect and unexceptionable as possible. On
the other hand, the age is so captious and so glutted
with publications of every kind, and we have so
many malicious adversaries working and watching for
every circumstance of which they may take advan-
tage, and upon which to ground a controversy or ex-
cite a clamor, that I am sometimes in doubt whether
it be best to publish anything of this kind or not."
l Life of Johnson, p. 126.
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 353
Prudent friends advised delay, — among them Mr.
Beach of Newtown, who, in September 1774, wrote to
the hesitating son, who had placed the manuscript in
his hands, and asked his opinion : " I should think
that it might be obvious to the slightest observer,
that this day of rage and madness is not the most
favorable for publications of this nature." l
He had full liberty to communicate this opinion to
Dr. Chandler, and in doing so he expressed his own
concurrence in it, and added : " I am further confirmed
in this idea from the insolent spirit which is lately ex-
cited against the professors of the Church of Eng-
land, particularly throughout New England, from an
apprehension that we are not sufficiently zealous in
the cause of American liberty. A publication of this
kind would on that account, I have no doubt, be
particularly obnoxious at this juncture, and had bet-
ter be postponed to some more favorable opportunity.
For these reasons, I have not read the papers with
a view to any corrections or additions, as I should
have done, had I conceived it advisable to publish.
As you proposed to transcribe the work again, I have
returned the original memoir."
Dr. Chandler was soon after forced by the outbursts
of popular fury to quit his parish, and with Dr.
Cooper of New York sailed for England. Probably
he never found time to transcribe his manuscript, and
the wonder is how it escaped the many perils to
which it was subjected on his journeys. 3 It fell at
length into the hands of his son-in-law,3 who pub-
lished it more than thirty years after its preparation,
-I See History of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, vol. i. pp. 296, 297.
* See Appendix B.
» Bt Eev. John Henry Hobart, D. D., third Bishop of New York.
354 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
in a small duodecimo volume of one hundred and
fifty pages, besides an appendix containing a few let-
ters ; and he took care to mention in his preface
that " however humble may be the early annals of
his country, they should be interesting to every
American, and whatever tends to throw light on them
should be deemed worthy of preservation."
The little volume embraced the substance of the
autobiography, and is at best but a meagre sketch
which did slender justice to the intellectual eminence
and personal worth of Johnson. Had he lived in
these times, he would have been distinguished among
men of learning, and recognized by them as an hon-
est and patient lover of truth and justice. That he
attained to such excellence under all the disadvantages
of the period in which he was a conspicuous actor, is
remarkable. He dared to think for himself, and if
his keen penetration discovered defects in theological
and philosophical systems, he was careful not to ac-
cept any new views until he had fairly examined the
opposing arguments and tested them by the strong-
est proofs within his reach. It was in this way that
he " gradually exchanged the principles of the old
philosophy for those of the Newtonian system," that
he relinquished the rigid predestinarian tenets for
what appeared to be more rational and Scriptural
doctrines, and that he gave in his adhesion to the
Church of England while there were many worldly
motives leading him to cling to " the provincial
standard of orthodoxy."
As a preacher, Dr. Johnson, in the golden prime
of his years, had attractive qualities. He himself
said to his grandson towards the end of his days,
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 356
that if he had been eminent for anything, it was for
his eloquence. But eloquence has different forms
of expression, and may not necessarily consist in
studied rhetoric and passionate declamation. The
power to interest and edify an audience, to move
the heart and produce conviction, is a high intel-
lectual quality, and the divine who possesses it, is
in the truest sense of the word, eloquent. With
a mind rich in theological lore, with clearness of
method and plainness of speech, and with an ear-
nest desire to promote the salvation of souls, John-
son was a minister in the Church of Christ whom
neither the learned nor the unlearned could hear
without pleasure and profit. The people followed
him for the Word's sake, and it is upon record that at
Christmas and other high festivals, his house was
thronged for successive days with worshippers from the
adjacent towns, who came to Stratford to enjoy the
benefit of his public and private ministrations.
If he was great in pulpit eloquence and parochial
duties, he was greater in his library and as an educa-
tor in systematic divinity and the laws of ecclesiasti-
cal polity. The Church in the northern portion of this
country is largely indebted to him for training a gen-
eration of clergymen, who, with rare exceptions,
adorned their vocation, and left the impress of their
characters upon the communities in which they were
appointed to labor. It is something to be thankful
for, that in its headless condition there was one who
knew so well how to instruct and guide the young
candidates for Holy Orders, and to send them forth
with his own passport on their perilous voyage across
the Atlantic. He had a profound sense of the grand-
356 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE
eur of the profession of a clergyman, and felt rightly
enough that he could not be mistaken in educating
those who came under his care, never to forget how
their names were to become historic as pioneers of
the Church in a new country, where all models of
Christian character that did not approach the perfect
ONE, would be despised or discredited.
It was a frequent expression of his to speak of the
age as " abandoned and apostatizing." He used it
in reference to the tendency of the times to infidelity,
and seemed to have no patience with those who were
ready to exchange the beauty of the Christian life
and the vitality of the Christian faith for the cold
dreams and theories of men of reprobate minds. Up
to his decease, there had been no writers against
Pivine Revelation in this country worthy of note,
but there had been large importations of skeptical
books, and not a little mischief had been wrought by
their circulation. He made it his business to acquaint
himself with all publications of this nature, that he
might know how to disarm the enemy and meet the
demand for unreasonable and impossible conditions of
belief. The brightest minds among the Dissenters,
however much they might differ from him on doc-
trinal points and questions of ecclesiastical polity, made
common cause with him in the defense of the foun-
dations of our faith, and shared his anxiety to clear
away the clouds of infidelity. They respected him
for his learning and logical skill, and welcomed his
system of philosophy as a most commendable effort
in the interests and direction of the truth.
A century has passed by and the new atheism of
this day needs to be met with something besides the
OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. 357
older works on Christian evidence. Bishop Butler,
who spoke to the mind of the English nation, in his
celebrated " Analogy," has never been answered, nor
have the testimonies collected by Leland and Leslie ;
but they are little read now, for modern infidelity
addresses itself not so much to men of culture and
refinement, as to the popular imagination, weaving
itself into a miscellaneous literature, and at best pre-
senting a masked portraiture of Christianity to blind
the eyes of the unwary.
Dr. Johnson trusted firmly in the Divine promises,
and did not believe that " the motley crew of Deists,
Socinians, Arians, and factious unbelievers " of his
time, as the son of Bishop Berkeley termed them,
could demolish what is founded on a rock. He de-
fended the faith heroically, and trained others to im-
itate himself, and be ready to "banish and drive
away from the Church all erroneous and strange doc-
trines contrary to God's word." His name will ever
have an important place in American history, and
the more his character is studied, the more it will be
seen how he applied his learning and Christian phi-
losophy to the good of his country, and the advance-
ment of the " one Catholic and Apostolic Church,"
in whose bosom the Lord " has promised his blessing
and life for evermore."
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX A.
TEDS following letter, an accurate copy of the original, ap-
pears with slight variations in Boswell's " Life of Johnson."
A foot-note credited to the " Gentleman's Magazine," states
that " several letters passed between them, after the American
Dr Johnson had returned to his native country ; of which,
however, it is found that this is the only one remaining."
It is " the only one " to which an answer has been found,
and the answer is here printed for the first time from the
original draught. He is known to have written one other
letter, but probably the outbreak of the Revolution inter-
rupted the correspondence. This was sent under cover, as
appears from the filling up of the superscription, to Rev. Mr.
White, afterwards Bishop of Pennsylvania, to whom the Eng-
lish Dr. Johnson wrote the same date, saying : "I take the
liberty which you give me, of troubling you with a letter,
of which you will please fill up the direction."
So highly did he esteem his American friend, that he pre-
sented him, before leaving England, with an elegantly
bound copy of his large folio Dictionary, third edition, 1765 ;
and an engraving of himself, from a painting of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, which he considered his best likeness.
To DR. JOHNSON : —
Sir, — Of all those whom the various accidents of life
have brought within my notice, there is scarce any one whose
362 APPENDIX.
acquaintance I have more desired to cultivate than yours. I
cannot indeed charge you with neglecting me, yet our mutual
inclination could scarce gratify itself with opportunities ;
the current of the day always bore us away from one an-
other, and now the Atlantic is between us.
Whether you carried away an impression of me as pleas-
ing as that which you left me of yourself, J know not ; if you
did, you have not forgotten me, and will be glad that I do not
forget you. Merely to be remembered is indeed a barren
pleasure, but it is one of the pleasures which is more sensi-
bly felt as human nature is more exalted.
To make you wish that I should have you in my mind, I
would be glad to tell you something which you do not know,
but all public affairs are printed ; and as you and I had no
common friends, I can tell you no private history.
The Government I think grows stronger, but I am afraid
the next general election will be a time of uncommon turbu-
lence, violence, and outrage.
Of Literature no great product has appeared, or is ex-
pected ; the attention of the people has for some years been
otherwise employed.
I was told two days ago of a design which must excite
some curiosity. Two ships are [in] preparation, which are
under the command of Captain Constantine Phipps, to ex-
plore the Northern ocean, not to seek the Northeast or the
Northwest passage, but to sail directly north, as near the
pole as they can go. They hope to find an open ocean, but
I suspect it is one mass of perpetual congelation. I do not
much wish well to discoveries, for I am always afraid they
will end in conquest and robbery.
I have been out of order this winter, but am grown better.
Can I ever hope to see you again ; or must I be always con-
tent to tell you that in another hemisphere,
I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
SAMUEL JOHNSON.
JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON, March 4, 1773.
APPENDIX. 363
STRATFORD, June 5, 1773.
DEAR AND RESPECTED SIR, — I am perfectly unable to
express the grateful sense I have of the singular honor you
have done me by your favor of the 4th of March. There was
no man in England whose acquaintance I so much wished to
be honored with when I first embarked in my late voyage.
Your excellent writings had given me the highest veneration
and esteem of your character. I waited some time for some
accidental or favorable introduction to you, but when none
offered, I presumed so much on the idea I had formed of you,
that I at last ventured to introduce myself to you in the ab-
rupt manner you remember. The kind and obliging recep-
tion you then and ever after gave me, when I waited upon
you, confirmed and increased my respect, and your kind re-
membrance of me now lays me under such obligations as I
must never hope to repay. To be remembered by one of the
first characters of an age in which there are so few whose re-
membrance is not rather a reproach than an honor, is, I as-
sure you, to me one of the highest pleasures that I am capa-
ble of.
I bless God that at the date of your letter you were re-
turning again to health, which I hope will be very long con-
tinued to you not only for your own sake, but of human
nature, which will be benefited by your labors, for you live
not for yourself, but for all mankind.
It will, I hope, be some satisfaction to you to know that
your writings are in the highest esteem and are doing much
good in this extensive and growing country, and will, I doubt
not, continue to do so to very late posterity, for which reason,
as well as for the increase of your reputation, which I assure
you is very dear to me, I hope you will be still preparing
something for the public, who will read with the utmost
avidity whatever appears under the sanction of your name.
It gives me great pleasure to learn from so good an au-
thority that Government grows stronger. You had indeed
convinced me that the alarm which the factious and the des-
perate had excited was false, but I hardly expected when I
364 APPENDIX.
left England that Government would have obtained so
speedy and so manifest a superiority over the friends of con-
fusion, as, if we may credit the printed accounts, it seems to
have done. From them it would seem as if the cause of op-
position was almost desperate. It must be expected, how-
ever, that every effort will be made to revive it against the
next general election, and I wish your apprehensions may not
be verified : but still I hope there is no great danger of their
gaining so great advantages as to enable them to do much
mischief to the public. Upon the stability of Government
will depend also in a high degree the felicity of this country.
The Government have much to do here when the opinion
that has been maintained by the Boston Assembly [in] a
late dispute with no opposition to their Governor, that the
Colonies are independent of the Parliament of Great Britain,
gains ground, and will require their attention unless they
mean to acquiesce in the idea and give up their authority
over us, which I presume they will not be inclined to do.
The design you mention of exploring the Northern Ocean,
is an experiment of great curiosity, and I shall be impatient
to know the success of it. I have ever entertained the opin-
ion you seem to have adopted that the Pole is the empire of
frost and snow, which will effectually forever stop the gains
from those evils which, as you justly remark, have generally
been the consequence of discoveries. Neither ambition nor
avarice, I fancy, will there have any opportunity for grat-
ification ; we shall only acquire an innocent and perhaps use-
less acquaintance with an unknown part of our globe.
I wish I could gratify you with any intelligence from this
side of the Atlantic ; but nothing occurs to me worthy of
your notice. I have lost since my return to America my
venerable father, who, to his other good qualities, added a
sincere respect and esteem for you, and was extremely minute
and particular in his inquiries concerning you. We had the
happiness to spend three months together after my return,
when he expired full of days, satisfied with life, with hopes
full of immortality, and without a groan or any apparent
previous pain.
APPENDIX. 365
For myself I am again engaged largely in the busy, and in
this country not very profitable profession of the law, which,
however, answers tolerably well for the support of the numer-
ous young family with which God has blessed me. That you
may enjoy every felicity, and long, very long continue as you
have done to bless mankind, be useful to the world, is and
will be the sincere and ardent prayer of, dear Sir,
Your most obedient and most faithful humble servant,
WM. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
"V> DE. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London.
APPENDIX B.
ELIZABETH-TOWN, June 20, 1774.
MY DEAR SIB, — The not seeing you on your return from
Philadelphia last winter, was a considerable disappointment
to me, as I partly depended upon your spending a day here,
that we might have time to read over, while together, the
" Life " of your father which I had compiled a year before,
If I could have consented to send it to the press without your
inspection and examination, it would have been published
long ago, but I have all along been impressed with a strong
sense both of your right to be consulted, and of the advant-
age which the work would receive from your correction, and
perhaps from your addition, which has hitherto, and will still
cause me to suppress it, till it can be honored with your Im-
primatur. With a view chiefly to this I have proposed from
time to time, to take a journey into New England ; but diffi-
culties have as often arisen to interrupt me. Once indeed, I
could have come, but I recollected that you must then be en-
gaged in attendance upon the General Court at Hartford,
and consequently would not be at leisure, nor at home to
consider matters of a literary nature. As, therefore, I have
no prospect of going your way, and hear not of your intend-
ing to come this way, during the present summer, I have
determined to send you, as I am like to have no opportunity
of bringing^ the rough copy of the " Life ; " requesting you
to examine it very closely, and to make such corrections upon
any parts of it as may occur upon a careful perusal. I ex-
pect Mr. Beach to call upon me in an hour or two in his
way to New England, by whom I propose to send it ; and if
APPENDIX. 367
you can be ready to return it by him,1 it will be so much the
better.
I shall send with it your father's MS. that you may com-
pare them together. On that comparison you will find that
I have used it only as a guide, preserving the facts in their
chronological order, adding many anecdotes collected from
other quarters, and some of them recollected from what I
formerly knew, and expressing the whole in my own lan-
guage. This I thought would better answer the general de-
sign than confining myself more strictly to the MS. I have
concluded the whole with a portrait of the character of my
beloved patron and friend. I could wish to do it justice ; in
order to which I would neither say too much nor too little.
As I find that private affection is apt to predominate, I have
endeavored to be on my guard, in this part, which is by far
the most difficult of the whole. Be so good, therefore, as to
bestow a particular attention to this part, and advise and
assist me in it with all freedom.
In transcribing for the press, I fancy I can make some con-
siderable improvements, especially by way of notes. I have,
as you will see, made some references to authors, extracts
from which are intended for that use.
As soon as you return the " Life," I think of issuing Pro-
posals to see what encouragement can be procured for a pub-
lication of this nature. New England, and especially Con-
necticut, I flatter myself, will subscribe liberally to the work.
New York may be expected to do something, and the Colo-
nies to the southward of it but very little. With right man-
agement I should imagine a pretty large subscription may be
procured ; in which case I may save myself here, although I
have lost money by every former publication I have been
concerned in. If you think proper, I will try what encour-
agement can be had for a volume of your father's sermons,
towards which but little can be expected this way. When I
have done what I have to do, I will return you all the papers,
1 Rev. Abraham Beach, then Missionary of the Church of England at New Bruns-
wick, and afterwards assistant minister of Trinity Church. New York.
368 APPENDIX.
letters, etc., which you were so good as to transmit to me •
but while anything is depending, it is best that they should
remain in my hands ; for which reason I must desire you to
send back the original MS., from which the " Life " is chiefly
compiled.
By so good an opportunity I shall send a copy of my " Free
"Examination,'' etc., of which I request your acceptance. A
few copies were subscribed for, and five or six paid for in
Connecticut ; but as strange as it may seem, I have not been
able to get them sent. Gaine says it has not been possible
to procure a binder to do them up in New York, as every
person of that occupation was previously engaged in other
business ; however, he now promises that they shall be for-
warded very soon. A copy arrived in England about the be-
ginning of April ; and the Bishops, etc., ordered the sub-
tance of my " Free Examination," together with Sherlock's
" Memorial," to be immediately reprinted there, imagining it
might be of service at that critical time when a plan was un-
der consideration for the future regulation of the Colonies.
Lord Dartmouth took up the cause of the Church, and ap-
pointed to meet, and consult with the Bishop of London
about the Episcopate requested. He thought of bringing the
case immediately before the Parliament ; but the Bishop of
Oxford was of opinion that the Parliament had no business
with it, and that it was best to wait for the event of the Bos-
ton Expedition.
With compliments to Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Kneeland, and
your families,
I am, with great truth and sincerity,
Your very respectful and obedient servant,
THOMAS B. CHANDLER.
DR. JOHNSON.
After the Revolution and the settlement of the Govern-
ment, he wrote again in answer to a request for the return of
the papers as follows : —
APPENDIX 369
ELIZABETHTOWN, December 28, 1785.
MY DEAR SIR, — Although I do and always shall think
myself honored and obliged by every line I may receive from
you, yet I am ashamed that I have given occasion for that of
the 21st instant, by not sending you, or at least, not giving
you some satisfaction concerning the papers of your most ex-
cellent father, my ever honored friend and patron. I am
ashamed too, that I have not sooner returned the " Journal "
of the Convention in Virginia, which you kindly put into my
hands on my first arrival in New York. These neglects will
not admit of a full justification, yet I beg you to allow as
much as you can to the following apology.
To a person of my disposition, and in my situation, it was
impossible, for a considerable while after I got home, to attend
to any matters of business excepting that kind of business
mentioned by Sir T. Moore ; nempe reverso domum, cum
uxore fabulandum est, garriendum cum liber is, colloquendum
cum ministris. Quce ego omnia inter negotia numero. As
soon as I was able to attend to other matters, I found my
books and papers in such confusion and so widely dispersed,
many of them being still in New York, and in different
hands there, that it was the work of much time to collect
and arrange them. When I had got together the bigger
part of your father's sermons, letters, etc., considering that
everything of the kind must be peculiarly agreeable to the
family, I meant to send them to you in New York, but, upon
inquiry, was informed that you were gone into the country.
Mr. Beach paid me a visit about the 10th of November, and
then informed me that you were not in town. Since that
time I have had the same answer to the same question, and
did not know of your return, till I learned it from your letter.
I shall now soon send you, to the care of Mr. Livingston,
the various articles I have collected, they being, in my opin-
ion, too bulky to go by post, unless divided into different
parcels. Most of the Sermons and Letters I have found, and
am not without hopes of finding the remainder. As to the
" Memoir," I took it with me to England, imagining it would
24
370 APPENDIX.
be safer with me, though subject to the perils of the sea, than
if left behind, " in perils among false brethren." I brought
it back with me in good preservation.
I have taken the liberty of inclosing a letter for Bishop Sea-
bury, and must beg the favor of your passport for it. I now
return the " Journal " of the Convention in Virginia. I had
hardly time to read it in New York, and I brought it over
with me, that I might be able to give a better account of the
transactions to some people in England, in letters which I
was a long time in writing. After making this use of it, I
meant to send it with the other papers ; and for the reasons
assigned above, this part of my intention has not sooner been
carried into execution. In the meanwhile, I hope you have
not suffered greatly for want of this curious publication. A
curiosity indeed it is for it exhibits such a motley mixture of
Episcopacy, Presbytery and Ecclesiastical Republicanism as
before was never brought together and incorporated, and
must surprise the whole Christian world.
The proceedings of the Convention in Philadelphia, which
is to be considered as a kind of (Ecumenical Council, were
much in the same style, though not so wild and intemperate.
In their Address to the English Archbishops, they say that
it is " their earnest desire and resolution to retain the vener-
able form of Episcopal government ; " and yet they have
placed their Church under a government that is evidently
Presbyterian. Conventions, consisting of ministers and lay-
elders, or messengers (no matter by what name they are
called), are to meet without the call or license of the Bishop ;
it does not appear that he is to have any negative upon their
proceedings, or even to preside ex officio ; and, in case of his
delinquency, he is to be arraigned before the tribunal of his
own presbyters, etc., who have a power to displace him.
They expect the Bishops in England to countenance this new-
fangled Episcopate ; but, from what I know of them, I can
hardly believe that they will be aiding to a scheme formed
with a design to degrade the Episcopal order by depriving it
of that authority which it has ever claimed and exercised as
APPENDIX. 371
an essential and unalienable right, since the time of the
Apostles.
In Connecticut the Church has proceeded upon other
maxims, and merits the approbation and applause of all the
friends of genuine Episcopacy. I wish that so fair and
proper an example may still, if possible, be followed in the
other States. The more I consider the matter, the more I
am pleased, that, as yet, you have made no alterations in
the Liturgy, but such as are necessary to accommodate it to
the change of Government.
You are pleased to intimate an inclination or wish to make
me a visit. I should be extremely happy in seeing you here,
and in giving you the best reception in my power ; and I
shall rejoice in every kind of opportunity of proving myself
to be, with peculiar esteem and respect,
Your very affectionate humble servant,
T. B. CHANDLEB.
DR. W. S. JOHNSON.
INDEX.
Abbot, Mr., 44.
Addison, 68.
"Alciphron, or the Minute Philoso-
pher," 76, 83.
Allison, Mr., 166, 172.
American Bishops, 276, 281, 297, 315,
316, 324-326, 341.
American Church, 342, 347.
American Episcopate, 228, 314, 315,
325, 326, 345, 367, 369.
Ames's " Medulla Theologiae," 5.
Amherst, Jeffery, 257.
Andrew, Samuel, 8, 11.
Anson, Lord, 263.
Aplin, Mr., 277, 278.
Apthorp, Rev. East, 243-245, 250, 275,
283, 297, 303; letter of, 284, 285;
removal to England, and death, 285.
Archer, Mr., 26.
Arianism, 84.
Arians, 29,31.
Arminianism, 89.
Arnold, Rev. Jonathan, 85, 93, 99-
101 ; will and death of, 94, 95.
Ashton, Dr., 49.
Assembly, Massachusetts, 300.
Assembly, New York, 192, 193, 195,
197.
Astry, Dr. Francis, 27, 28, 30, 36, 40,
101, 117, 213, 215, 216; letter of,
106, 107.
Athanasian Creed, 124.
Atterbury, Dr. Francis, Bishop of
Rochester, 34, 44.
Auchmuty, Rev. Samuel, 289, 292,
296, 301.
B.
Bacon, Lord, 6.
Baile, Dr., 43.
Baker, Mr., 40.
Barclay, Rev. Henry, 255, 277, 279,
283, 293, 296 ; letter of, 195-197.
Barclay, Mr. P., 97.
Barrett, Mr., 281, 294.
Barrow, Isaac, 13.
Barrowby, Dr., 42.
Beach, Rev. Abraham, 366, 368.
Beach, Rev. John, 122, 198, 199, 237,
272-276, 350, 353 ; conforms to
Episcopacy, 87, 88.
Beach, William, 88, 265 ; his widow,
265.
Beadle, Mr., 50.
Bearcroft, Mr., 34; Secretary of the
Society, 112, 176, 211, 213, 216, 238,
244.
Bedford, Duke of, 281, 295.
Bell, Mr. and family, 319, 320.
Bennet College Library, 50.
Bennet, Dr., 43, 51, 52.
Bennet, Mr., and Mohawk Indians,
284.
Benson, Dr. Martin, Bishop of Glouces-
ter, 86, 103, 104 ; letter of, 93, 94.
Bentley, Dr., 50.
Berkeley, George, Dean of Derry, 55,
68, 88; arrival at Newport, 67;
charter for Bermuda College, 69;
marriage, 70 ; letters to Johnson, 71-
81, 154-156, 169-171; gifts to Yale
College, 77-81, 98, 99. 202; Bishop
of Cloyne, 82 ; Philosophy, 82, 83,
130,131, 136, 141-143; "Treatise on
Tar Water," 132 ; mentions of, 157,
169, 187, 228, 230, 294, 317, 329,
348-350, 357 ; Mrs. Berkeley, 344 ;
removal to Oxford, 172 ; death, 173,
174.
Berkeley, Rev. George, 80, 172, 228,
271, 290, 305, 317, 323, 329, 357 ;
letters to Johnson, 174-176, 327,
328, 342-344; meditates visit to
America, 341 ; Mrs. George Berke-
ley, 344.
Bermuda College, 55, 68, 76, 79, 326.
Berriman, Rev. John, 27, 33, 40, 42,
45, 48, 51, 127, 213, 222; letters to
374
INDEX.
Johnson, 55, 56, 83, 84, 86, 95, 96,
176, 177.
Berriman, Dr., William, 27, 30, 33, 35,
43, 45, 49, 51, 53.
Bias, Dr. Thomas, 29.
Blackburn, Dr., Archbishop of York, 86.
Blackett, Sir Edward, 27.
Book of Common Prayer, 12.
Boston Expedition, 367.
Boswell's " Life of Johnson/' 361.
Bourbon, House of, 327.
Bourk, Mr., 169, 170.
Bowers, Bishop, 45.
Bowers, Mr., 28.
Bowyers, Jonah, 36, 43, 44.
Boyle, 5.
Bradshaw, Dr., Bishop of Bristol, 56.
Bramston, Mr., 27.
Brasenose College, 90.
Bridger, Mr., 27, 28, 32, 34, 41.
Bristow, Rev. Dr., 223, 241.
British Parliament, 326, 342.
Brown, Daniel, 7, 28, 30, 227; tutor
in college, 9, 10, 14; declares for
Episcopacy, 18-20 ; goes to England,
23 ; baptism of, 34 ; confirmation,
and ordination, 36, 37 ; sickness,
38 ; death and burial, 40, 41.
Brown, Rev. Isaac, 83.
Buckingham, Thomas, 8.
Buckridge, Mr., 27, 34.
Bull, Mr., 37.
Bull, George, 13, 63.
Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Sarum, 13,
60.
Burnet, Wm., Go vem or of New York,
60 ; letter of, 61, 62.
Burrough, Dr., 33.
Burton, Kev. John, 47, 90, 176, 292.
Bushnell, Francis, 2.
Butler, Bishop, "Analogy," 357.
Camm, Rev. Mr., 324.
Camp, Rev. Ichabod, 170.
Caner, Mr. Henry, 9.
Caner, Rev. Henry, 93, 105, 145, 273,
274, 277-279, 283, 296.
Caner, Rev. Richard, 105, 106; death
of, 107.
Cardel, Isaac, 34.
Cardel, Mrs., 48.
Carle ton, Mr., 40.
Carter, Lady, 312.
Carter, Mr., 36, 37, 43.
Carteret, 68.
" Cases of Conscience," 5.
Cathedral of Canterbury, 26.
Chambers, Mr., 196, 197.
Champion, Mr., 42.
Chandler, Dr. Samuel, 281.
Chandler, T. B., 199, 272, 277, 279,
283,296,312,351 ;" Life of Johnson,"
20, 52, 64, 352-354 ; " Appeal," 314-
316, 325 ; letters of, 94, 365-370.
Channing, Dr., 222.
Chapman, Daniel, 4.
Charles L, 28, 54.
Charlton, Mr., 277.
Chatham, Lord, 339, 340.
Chauncy, Dr. Charles, 311, 314, 315,
325.
Checkley, Mr. John, 28, 30, 31, 36, 40,
43, 45, 55, 177 ; missionary at Provi-
dence, 95, 97 ; writings and death, 97.
Chillingworth, 75
Chishul, Dr., 31, 33.
Church in America, 93, 116, 117, 179,
211-213, 228, 253, 283, 293, 321, 324,
342,346, 347,351,367.
Church of England, 7, 14-16, 23, 77,
85, 107, 110, 111, 193, 201, 202, 204,
258, 259, 322, 352-354; in Con-
necticut, 54, 87, 98, 165, 254, 272, 293.
Churchmen in Connecticut, 98, 100.
Clap, Rev. Thomas, 79, 103, 105, 123,
170, 171, 200, 205, 209.
Clarendon, Earl of, 35.
Clark, Dr. Samuel, 36, 61, 62, 86
122, 234.
Clavering, Dr., 56.
Codrington College, 282.
Colebatch, Dr., 43.
Colden, Cadwallader, 129 ; letters to
Johnson, 129, 130, 132, 133, 135-
137, 140-142, 181-184.
Colden, Elizabeth, 183.
Colgan, Rev. Thomas, 215.
College in New York, 189-194, 209;
chartered, 195.
Collegiate School, 8.
Collins, Anthony, 64.
Colman, Dr. Benjamin, 126, 145;
letter of, 123-125.
Colton, Rev. Jonathan, 170.
Commissary for Connecticut, 116.
Congress of the Colonies, 299, 300.
Connecticut Clergy, 99, 116, 297, 346.
Connecticut Colony, 4, 202, 310.
Conybeare, Mr., 46.
Cook, Rev. Samuel, 121.
Cooper, Rev. Myles, 249, 267, 271,273,
287, 291, 300, 312-314, 353.
Coram, Mr. Thomas, 27.
Court of Great Britain, 310.
Crawley, Mr., 40.
Cross, Dr., 49, 50.
INDEX.
375
Crow, Rev. Mr., 33.
Cruger, John, 197.
Cudworth, Dr., 230.
Cummin, Mr., 29.
Cuthbert, Rev. Mr., 23.
Cutler, Rev. John, 97, 165, 218-220.
Cutler, Rev. Timothy, Rector of Yale
College, 11 ; declares for Episco-
pacy, 18; embarks for England, 23 ;
sickness, 30 ; baptism, 35 ; confirma-
tion and ordination, 36, 37 ; men-
tions of, 34, 38, 40, 43, 52, 54, 55 ;
65, 86, 90, 91, 95, 114, 145, 221;
death of son, 101.
Cutting, Mr. Leonard, 232, 233, 241,
247, 250.
Cyprian, S. 17, 22.
D.
Dalton, Mr., 70, 342.
Dartmouth, Lord, 367.
Davenport, James, 113.
Dawes, Sir William, Archbishop of
York, 28, 29.
Dawson, Dr., 52.
Deists, 357.
De Lancey, James, Lieutenant-gov-
ernor of New York, 216, 233, 253.
De Lancey, Peter, 182, 183.
De Lancey, William Heathcote, first
Bishop of Western New York, 184.
Delaune, Dr., 47, 48.
Descartes, 5, 74.
Dickens, Dr., 49, 50.
Dickinson, Rev. Jonathan, 97, 120, 121,
274.
Dissenters, 103, 179, 199, 202, 206, 207,
212, 245, 276, 281, 282, 294, 295, 302,
312, 314, 324, 341, 356.
Dobson, Dr., 46-48.
Dommer, Mr., 29.
Dove, Mr., 166-168.
Dummer, Jeremiah, 7, 31, 202.
Dutch Church, 190, 196, 197.
Dwight, Timothy, President, 80.
E.
Echard's " Church History/' 13.
Egremont, Lord, 277.
"Elementa Philosophica/' 172, 174-
181.
Eliot, Jared, teacher at Guilford, 3, 4 ;
minister at East Guilford, 14 ; men-
tion of, 18, 20, 79, 102.
Ellis, Dr., 230.
Ellotson, Mr., 35.
Episcopacy, 88, 97, 275, 299, 346, 347,
351, 369, 370; in America, 256; in
Connecticut, 95.
Episcopal Indian School, 303, 309.
Estwick, Mr., 43.
Ewer, Dr., Bishop of Llandaff, sermon,
100,311.
F.
Faden, W., 307, 318.
Fayerweather, Rev. Samuel, 213, 214,
216-218 ; letter of, 220, 224, 226.
Felton, Dr., 47, 48.
Finch, Mr., 42.
Fisk, Phineas, 5.
Fleming, Dr., 86.
Floyd, Col. Richard, 57.
Forbes, Lord President, 127, 186, 234.
Forster, John, 70.
Fosset, Rev. Mr., 49.
Fowle, Rev. Mr., 213.
Foxcroft, Thomas, 120.
Francis, Mr., 157, 159, 160, 162, 168.
Franklin, Benjamin, 153, 169, 187,308 ;
letters to Johnson, 157-160, 162-166,
172, 173, 180, 181.
Eraser's "Life of Berkeley," 175.
" Free Examination," 367.
Free Thinking, 81, 148, 151.
Frink, Mr., 277, 278.
G.
Gaine, Mr., 367.
Gardiner, Dr., 118.
Gastrel, Dr., Bishop of Chester, 47.
General Assembly, 8, 10, 19; of Con-
necticut, 100, 335 ; of Scotland, 211,
301.
" Gentleman's Magazine," 361.
George III., 255.
Gibbs, Rev. William, 213.
Gibson, Dr. Edmund, Bishop of Lon-
don, 42, 43, 48, 56, 303.
Giles, Rev. Mr., 301, 307.
Godly, Rev. Mr., 37.
Gold, Mr. Hezekiah, 108 ; letter to
Johnson, 110, 111.
Gooch, Dr., 96.
Gosling, Mr., 26, 43.
Gosling, Mr. Jr., 26, 212.
Governors of King's College, 286-289.
Graham, Rev. John, 88, 89.
Grafton, Duke of, 339.
Grandorgh, Dr., 26 31.
Green, Dr. Thomas, Bishop of Nor
wich, 35-37.
Greenaway, Mr., 47, 48.
Gregson, Mr., 30.
376
INDEX.
Gregson, Thomas, 100.
Grenville, Mr., 302.
Grey, Dr., 36, 43-45, 51, 52.
Gronovius, 129.
Guise, Dr., 145.
Halifax, Lord, 251-253, 277.
Hall, Dr., 50.
Hall, Mr., 171.
Hall, Mr., of Lincoln, 90,
Hammond, Mr., 39.
Hampshire ministers, 203.
Handcock, Lady, 70.
Harding, Mr., 50.
Hardy, "Sir Charles, 233.
Hanson, George, 211, 216, 219, 222,
224, 238, 297.
Harpin, Dr., 238.
Harpur, Mr., Robert, 266, 267.
Hart, Mr. John, 14, 18, 20.
Harvard College, 2, 114, 144, 233.
Havens, Mr., 166.
Hay, Mr., 35, 41.
Haywood, Dr., 48.
Hebrew Manuscripts, 308.
Hemingway, Mr., 7.
Hendley, Mr., 31.
Herring, Bishop, 86.
Higgot, Mr., 52.
Hill, Mr., 32.
Hillsborough, Lord, 338.
Hoadly, Bishop, 13, 61.
Hobart, John Henry, Bishop of New
York, 353.
Hobart, Noah, 203, 207, 209, 274.
Hobbes, 207.
Hodges, Dr., 117.
Holloway, Mr., 230.
Honyman, Rev. James, 29, 54, 67, 101,
165, 169, 170.
Hooker's " Ecclesiastical Polity," 13.
Hooper, Mr., 51.
Home, George, Bishop of Norwich, 128,
228, 231, 267, 305, 329; letter to
Johnson, 290.
Horsmanden, Daniel, 289 ; letter to
Johnson, 288.
Hubbard, Rev. Bela, 296.
Hughes, Mr., 26.
Humphrey, Mr., 31 ; Humphrey, Mrs.,
52.
Hurd, Jabez, 318.
Hutchinson, John, 127, 128, 131, 186,
230, 231, 234, 267, 268, 305, 332.
Hutchinsonians, 231, 305.
Hyberton, Dr., 222.
Ibbotson, Dr., 28, 36.
Independents or Congrcgationalists.
16, 87, 273, 298.
Indian Charity School, 308, 310.
Inglis, Dr. Charles, 100, 296, 351.
" Instauratio Magna," 6.
" Inventions of Men in the Worship
of God," 12.
Irish Parliament, 342.
J.
Jackson, Mr., 219.
James, Mr., 4.
James, Mr., 70.
Jarvis, Rev. Abraham, Bishop of Con-
necticut, 296.
Jay, Dr. James, agent for soliciting
subscriptions, 269-271, 290.
Jebb, Mr., 48.
Jenkins, Dr. R., 49, 50.
Jenks, Dr., 27.
Jenner, Edmund, 38.
Jennings, Mr., 35.
Johnson, Robert, emigration to Amer-
ica, and family, 1, 2.
Johnson, William, his son settles in
Guilford, 2, 3.
Johnson, Samuel, marriage, 2 death, 58.
Johnson, Rev. Samuel, birth, 1 ; early
education, 3, 4 ; graduates from col-
lege, 5 ; philosophical studies, 5, 6 ;
tutor at New Haven, 9, 10 ; Congre-
gational Minister at West Haven, 1 1 ;
doubts about his ordination, 12-15;
declares for Episcopacy, 18, 19 ;
reasons for his change, 20-23 ; sails
for England, 24 ; books read at sea,
25 ; arrival and reception, 25 ; ex-
tracts from private Journal, 26-37 ;
baptism, 34 ; confirmation and
ordination, 36, 37 ; more extracts
from Journal, 39-53 ; sorrow for the
death of Brown, 41 ; visit to Oxford
46-48 ; visit to Cambridge, 49, 50 ;
taking leave of friends and farewell
to England, 53, 54 ; arrival at Strat-
ford, 54 ; letter to the Bishop of
London, 56 ; marriage, 57 ; death of
parents, 58, 59 ; intimacy with Gov-
ernor Burnet, 60 ; letter to, 62, 63 ;
studies of Christian evidence, 64 ;
religious controversy, 88-91 ; visits
to Berkeley, 67, 70, 75, 77; interests
Berkeley in Yale College, 77-81 ;
convert to his Philosophy, 82 ; foreign
correspondence, 92, 341, 348; educa-
INDEX.
377
tion of sons, 144 ; letters to J. Scul-
lard, 66, 67 ; letters to J. Berriman,
85, 96-98, 127, 128; letters to
Bishop of London, 88, 94, 297-299 ;
letters to Bishop Berkeley, 99-103,
105, 106, 170-173 ; letters to George
Berkeley, 229-232, 328, 329, 347,
348; letters to Mr. Gold, 108-111;
letter to Rev. Roger Price, 113-115 ;
letter to Mills, 122 ; letter to Colman,
125, 126; letters to C. Golden, 133-
140, 142, 143, 184-188; letters to
elder son, 148-153, 197-199, 225-
228, 233, 234, 254, 255, 262, 263,
315, 316 ; letter to son's wife, 236 ;
letter to Dr. Franklin, 167, 168;
letters to George Home, 267, 268,
290-292 ; letter to Rev. Richard
Peters, 161 ; letters to President
Clap, 201-209; letters to Arch-
bishop Seeker, 243, 244, 269, 270,
294 - 297 ; correspondence with
Seeker, 241, 249, 251-254, 256;
named for Commissary, 116, 117;
Doctor of Divinity, 117, 118; build-
ing churches, ll'J, 120; system of
morality, 123, 169 ; controversy with
Dickinson, 120-122; defense of
Berkeley's Philosophy, 131, 132;
called to College in Philadelphia,
153, 157; invited to Newport, 165;
" Elementa Philosophica," 169, 172 ;
cost of printing, 179 ; President of
King's College, 190, 191 ; controversy
among the Trustees, 192, 197 ; resigns
mission at Stratford, 209; removes
to New York, 210; retires to West-
chester, 233, 235, 237 ; illness of wife,
235, 236 ; death, 240 ; return to New
York, 239 ; small-pox again in the
city, 247, 255 ; writes to Rev. East
Apthorp, 250, ' 251 ; discourse on
Prayer, and letter to friend, 257-261 ;
dislike of skeptical writers, 264 ;
second marriage, 265 ; aid for Col-
lege, solicited in England, 266, 267;
defense of the Church, 272-274 ;
determines to resign, 274, 275 ; small-
pox in New York and prepares to
retire to Stratford, 286; death of his
wife, 287 ; letter to Trustees, 289 ;
directs studies of candidates, 292 ;
interest in the Indians, 308-310;
correspondence with Chandler, 312-
315 ; Hebrew Grammar, and corre-
spondence about, 306, 307, 333 ; efforts
in favorot American Episcopate, 324-
327, 341 ; death, 349, 350 ; burial,
350 ; sermons on, 350, 351 ; autobi-
ography, 352, 354 ; character, 354-
357.
Johnson, Wm. Samuel, birth 65 ; edu-
cation, 113, 117, 144; letters to his
father, 145-147, 192-194, 274, 275,
305, 311, 312, 316-323, 329-331,
338-340; inoculated for small-pox,
293 ; member of first Colonial Con-
gress, 299 ; author of remonstrance
to the King, 300 ; special agent, 310 ;
marriage of daughter, 334 ; letter to
his wife, 336 ; prolonged absence in
England, 335-338 ; mentions of, 197,
199, 225-227, 273 ; sails for America,
343 ; arrival at Stratford, 344 ; letter
to Bishop Lowth, 349, 350.
Johnson, Rev. Wm., birth, 143 ; educa-
tion, 143, 144; mentions of, 205,
226, 238 ; letters to his father, 209,
214, 217; tutor in King's College,
210; arrival in England, 212; ordi-
nation, 217; letter to his brother,
218-220 ; death, 220 ; burial, 224.
Johnson, Sir William, 303, 310, 314.
Johnson, Dr., monument to in Cherry
Burton Church, 319.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 330; letter to
Wm. Samuel Johnson, and his an-
swer, 361-365.
Jones, Dr., 30, 45.
Jones, John, 34, 53.
Jones, William, of Nayland, 128, 290,
291, 305.
Journal of Convention, Virginia, 368,
369.
K.
Kay, Mr., 78.
Kennett, Dr., 32.
Kennicott, Dr., 308.
King, Archbishop, 12.
King's College, chartered, 195 ; contro-
versy about, 196, 197, 199 ; first com-
mencement, 241 ; second, 243 ; fourth,
265 ; gifts to, 244 ; Governors of
256 ; need of funds, 267 ; collections
for in England, 269-271 ; mentions
of, 247, 253, 290, 291, 345.
King, Dr., master of the Chapter House,
30, 52, 53.
King, Sir Peter, 30.
Kinnersley, Mr., 222.
Kneeland, Rev. Ebenezer, 333, 334, 367
Knight, Rev. Dr., 34, 51.
Laney, Dr., 49, 50.
Law, 63.
378
INDEX.
Lawson, Mr., 50.
Learning, Rev. Jeremiah, 350.
Leland, 357.
Leslie, 357.
" Letter from Aristocles to Authades,"
120, 121.
Leybourn, Mr. R., 36.
Lisle, Dr., 96.
Lispenard, Leonard, 197.
Lithered, Captain Thomas, 23.
Liturgy of the Church of England, 13,
189, 198, 205, 262.
Livingston, Wm., 100, 191, 195-197.
Locke, John, 5, 74, 131, 230.
"London Chronicle/' 315.
" London Magazine," 251, 252.
Lords of the Council, 336.
Lovel, Dr., 28, 29, 52.
Low, Mr., 37.
Lowth, Bishop, 326, 331, 349.
Lucas, Mr., 50.
Lupton, Dr., 52.
Lutheran Ministers, 197.
Lyttleton, Lord, 319.
M.
Mackintosh, Colonel, 23.
Manning, Mr., 43.
Mansfield, Lord, 340.
Markham, Dr., 174.
Marlboro ugh, Duke of, 47.
Marshall, Rev. John R., 345.
Marshall, Dr. Nathaniel, 36, 40, 43, 45,
52.
Martin, Mr., 166.
Massey, Mr., 37, 39, 40.
Maverick, Mrs. George, 252.
Mayhew, Dr. Jonathan, 275, 276, 278,
280, 281, 285, 294, 295.
McSparran, Dr. James, 95, 213, 219.
Middlesex Election, 339.
Middleton, Dr., 49, 50.
Middleton, Mr., 43.
Mills, Mr. Jedediah, 122.
Missionaries, 245, 254.
Mohegan Cause, 310, 311, 336, 343.
Moore, Sir T., 368.
Morley, Mr., 224.
Morris, Rev. Theophilus, 112-116.
Morton, Dr., 291.
Moseley, Mr., 46.
Moss, Dr., 42, 43, 45, 312.
Moss, Mr., 7.
Murray, Mr. Joseph, 266.
N.
Negus, Mr., 45.
Newbury, Walter 45.
Newcastle, Duke of, 253.
Newton, Bishop, 290.
Newton, Sir Isaac, 5.
Newtonian Philosophy, 128, 332.
Nicholls, Dr., 214-217, 228.
Nichols, Dr., 222.
Nicholson, Jeremiah, 34.
Nicoll, Benjamin, Esq., 57.
Nicoll, Benjamin, Jr., 194, 195, 198,
248.
Nightingale, Mrs. Dorothy, 34, 35.
"Noetica," 168, 169, 180, 182.
North, Bishop, 344, 348.
North, Lord, 339.
Norton, Mr., 52.
Nottingham, Earl of, 23.
Noyes, Joseph, 5, 7, 9.
O.
Oglethorpe, Mr., 90.
Oldsworth, Mr., 49.
Oliver, Mr., 52, 53.
Orem, Mr., 23.
Osbaldistone, Dr., Bishop of Carlisle,
218.
Otis, James, 300.
Owen, Dr., 47.
" Oxonia Illustrata," 209.
P.
Paine, Thomas, 264.
Painting, Dr., 46.
Parker, Mr. Samuel, 48.
Parkhurst, Rev. John, 306, 318, 832.
Parsons, Sir John, 51.
Patrick's " Devotions," 13.
Patten, Rev. Dr., 231, 268, 290, 291.
Pearce, Mr., 49.
Pearson, John, 13, 63.
Peters, Rev. Richard, 160, 162, 165,
166, 168,173.
Phillips, Mr., 51.
Pierson, John, 83.
Pigot, Rev. George, 15, 16 ; removal to
Providence, 54.
Pilgrim, Mr., 50.
Pitt, Mr., 251-253.
Pollen, Rev. Mr., 176.
Pope, 68, 214.
Popery, 89.
Porteus, Dr., 311,312.
Potter, Dr. John, Bishop of Oxford, 33,
46, 47, 296.
Presbyterians, 298, 301.
Presbyterian Divines, 88, 120, 197.
Presbyterian Ordination, 14, 15.
Price, Mr., 37.
INDEX.
379
Price, Rev. Roger, 112, 113, 116, 281,
294.
Primitive Church, 14.
"Principles of Action in Matter," 129,
181.
" Principles of Human Knowledge," 67,
72.
Prior, Thomas, 70, 76.
Protest, 192-194, 196.
Punderson, Rev. E., 200, 205, 207.
Q.
Queen Anne, 68, 276.
R.
Rawden, Mr., 42-i4.
Rawlins, Mr., 29, 35.
Revolutionary War, 241.
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 361.
Rice, Mr., 42.
Richards, Mr., 197.
Robinson, Dr. John, Bishop of London,
29, 34, 35, 37.
Roderick, Dr., 44.
Ruggles, Captain, 51.
Ruggles, Mr., 300.
Rundle, Dr., 84-86.
Ryan, Mr., 48.
S.
Sabellianism, 62.
Sage, David, 2.
Salmon, Mr., 53.
Salmon, Mr., of Brazenose, 90.
Saltonstall, Governor, 8, 9, 19, 20.
Sanderson, Mr., blind professor, 50.
Sanford, Mr., 28, 29.
Scate, Mr., 44.
Scotch Presbyterians, 304. •
Scott, John, " Christian Life " of, 12.
Scripture Mysteries, 237.
Scripture Philosophy, 332.
Scullard, Mr. J., 33, 34, 39, 40, 43-45,
56, 85 ; letter of, 65, 66.
Seabury, Mr. Samuel, Jr., 199, 314;
Bishop of Connecticut, 348, 349.
Seagrave, Mr., 27.
Seeker, Thomas, Bishop of Oxford, 96,
1 17, 173 ; Archbishop of Canterbury,
79, 241, 243, 245, 246, 249, 251, 258,
269, 272, 285, 293, 309-312, 316, 321,
322, 328, 329 ; letters to Johnson,
276-278, 280-283, 302-304.
Sewall, Stephen, 332, 333.
Sharpe, 13.
Shelburne, Earl of, 316.
Sherlock, 13, 52, 63.
Sherlock, Dr., Dean of Chichester, 39.
Sherlock, Bishop, 86, 96, 211, 217, 341.
Shippen, Dr., 46, 47.
Shute, Governor, 35.
Skirret, Dr., 51.
Smibert, Mr., 70.
Smith, Mr., 29, 47.
Smith, Dr., 41.
Smith, Joseph, 4.
Smith, Samuel, 9.
Smith, Rev. Dr. Wm., 176, 178, 270,
282.
Smith, Mr. Bar., 46, 47.
Smollett, 263, 264.
Snape, Dr., 43, 49, 51, 63.
Societies incorporated, 276 ; Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel, 15,
16, 23, 29, 51, 87, 92, 237, 254, 269,
275, 278, 281, 284, 296, 307,309,311.
Socinianism, 62, 357.
South, 13.
Spinozism, 143.
Stamp Act, 299, 300.
Standard, Mr., 211, 213.
Stanhope, Dean, 26, 39.
Stebbing, Dr., 84, 86.
Steele, 68.
Stiles, President, 5, 79, 199.
Stinton, Dr., 311.
Stockton, Mr., 316.
Stockwell, Mr., 46.
Stuyvesant, Mr., 172.
Swift, Dean, 68.
Symson, Mr., 50.
Synod of Presbyterians, 301, 316.
" System of Morality," 123, 136, 169.
T.
Talbot, Bishop of Durham, 84.
Talbot,Mrs., 312.
Tar Water, 174.
Temple, Mr., 343.
Terrick, Dr. Richard, Bishop of Lon-
don, 282, 297, 341 ; letter to Johnson,
345, 346.
Thomlinson, Captain, 176.
Tillotson, 231.
Tindall, Matthew, 64, 84.
Trapp, Mr., 27.
Treadwell, Mr., 241, 247-249, 268.
Trinity, doctrine of, 60, 63, 128, 291.
Tritheism, 62.
Trognair, Mr., 46.
Trotter, Mr., 49.
Truby, Mr., 42, 45, 52.
Tryon, Mr., Treasurer, 39, 43.
380
INDEX.
Tucker, Dr., 285.
Tyler, Rev. John, 321, 334.
U.
Underbill, Lord, 233.
University of Bermuda, 68.
University of Cambridge, 232, 269.
University of Dublin, 68.
University of Edinburgh, 127, 270.
University of Glasgow, 266.
University of Oxford, 46, 90, 117, 118,
172,219, 221,269, 329.
Usher, Rev. Mr., 32, 34, 114.
Utrecht, treaty of, 69.
V.
Vanhomrigh, Miss, 68.
Vaughan, Mr., 31, 42.
Vernon, Mr., 53.
Vestry of Trinity Church, N. Y., 198,
211.
Vicarage of Croyden, 285.
Vincent, Mr., 31.
Vindication of God's sovereign free
grace, 121.
Viner, 202, 204.
W.
Waddington, Dr., 45 ; Bishop of Chi-
chester, 56.
Wagstaff, Mr., 48.
Wait, Mr., 31,42.
Wake, Dr. W., Archbishop of Canter-
bury, 13, 28, 35, 37, 39, 53, 86.
Walker, Dr., 36, 95.
Wall on Infant Baptism, 13.
Wallgrave, or Waldgrave, Earl of, 37.
Walpole, Sir Robert, 70, 76, 326.
Warren, Dr., 49, 50, 53.
Warton, Mr., 46.
Waterland, Dr., 48, 63.
Waterman, Mr., 44.
Watkins, Rev. Mr., 129.
Wats, Mr., 33, 40.
Watson, Dr., 32 ; Bishop, 264.
Watts, Mr., 196, 287.
Waugh, Dr., Dean of Gloucester, 32, 40,
86.
Webster, Mr., 45.
Welles, Mr. Noah, 274.
Welton, Dr., Non-juring Bishop, 55.
Wesley, Mr. Charles, 90.
Wesley, Mr. John, 90.
Wetherell, Dr., head of University Col-
lege, 305, 329.
Wetmore, James, 14, 18, 28, 113, 192,
193, 237 ; baptism, 52 ; ordination, 53.
Wheatly, Mr. Charles, 36, 42, 43, 45,
48, 51, 53, 56.
Wheelock, Rev. Eleazar, 303, 308, 310.
Wheelwright, Mrs., 284.
Whiston, 23, 34, 61.
Whitby, 13.
White, Rev. Wm., Bishop of Penn, 361.
Whitefield, Rev. George, 103, 105-107,
110, 119, 120, 122, 245.
Whiting, John, 80.
Whittelsey, Samuel, 14, 18, 20; son of,
89.
Wickliffe, John, 45.
Wightman, Paul, 81.
Wilcox, Dr. John, Bishop of Glouces-
ter, 33.
Wilkins, Dr., 26.
Williams, Elisha, Rector of Yale Col-
lege, 79, 81, 99, 102, 103, 202.
Williams, Peere, 219.
Willis, Dr., Bishop of Sarum, 29.
Willoughby, Lord, 281.
Wilson, Rev. Mr., 301.
Wilson, Thomas, Bishop of Sodor and
Man, 44, 51-53.
Winslow, Rev. Edward, 209, 219, 273,
274, 278, 280, 292, 293.
Winthrop, Mr. John, 167, 332.
Wittar, Mr., 231.
Wollaston, 124.
" Wollebius," 5.
Wood, Mr., 31,43.
Woodbridge, Mr. Dudley, 48.
Woodbridge, Timothy, 8.
Woodhull, Margaret, 57.
Woodward, Dr., 32, 43.
Woolston, Thomas, 64.
Wren, Sir Christopher, 39 ; funeral, 33.
Wyat, Mr., 46.
Y.
Yale College, fixed at New Haven, and
first building, 9; party at Wethers-
field, 8-10; Trustees, 18 ; gifts to, 79,
80; debate in College library, 19-23;
Catalogue of books, 123 ; Chapel, 200,
257 ; regulations for worship, 199,
212, 216; graduates, 83, 144, 267,
296; mentions of, 14, 113, 117, 171,
249.
Yale, David, 33, 53.
Yale, Elihu, 10, 202.
York, Archbishop of, 282, 295.
York, Duke of, 320.
Younger, Dean, 40, 52.
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