Thrale was almost lost by the scrupulosity of his physicians, who never
bled him copiously till they bled him in despair; he then bled till he
fainted, and the stricture or obstruction immediately gave way and from
that instant he grew better.
'I can now give you no advice but to keep yourself totally quiet and
amused with some gentle exercise of the mind. If a suspected letter
comes, throw it aside till your health is reestablished; keep easy and
cheerful company about you, and never try to think but at those stated
and solemn times when the thoughts are summoned to the cares of futurity,
the only cares of a rational being.
'As to my own health I think it rather grows better; the convulsions
which left me last year at Ashbourne have never returned, and I have by
the mercy of God very comfortable nights. Let me know very often how you
are till you are quite well.'
This letter, though it is dated 1778, must have been written in 1780.
Thrale's first attack was in June, 1779, when he was in 'extreme danger'
(_ante_, iii. 397, n. 2, 420). Johnson had the remission of the
convulsions on June 18, 1779. He recorded on June 18, 1780:--
'In the morning of this day last year I perceived the remission of
those convulsions in my breast which had distressed me for more than
twenty years. I returned thanks at church for the mercy granted me,
which has now continued a year.'--_Prayers and Meditations_, p. 183.
Three days later he wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--
'It was a twelvemonth last Sunday since the convulsions in my breast
left me. I hope I was thankful when I recollected it; by removing
that disorder a great improvement was made in the enjoyment of life.'
--_Piozzi Letters_, ii. 163. (See _ante_, iii. 397, n. 1.)
He was at Ashbourne on June 18, 1779 (_ante_, iii. 453).
On April 20, 1778, the very day of which this letter bears the date,
he recorded:--
'After a good night, as I am forced to reckon, I rose seasonably....
In reviewing my time from Easter, 1777, I found a very melancholy
and shameful blank. So little has been done that days and months are
without any trace. My health has, indeed, been very much interrupted.
My nights have been commonly not only restless, but painful and fatiguing.
....Some relaxation of my breast has been procured, I think, by opium,
which, though it never gives me sleep, frees my breast from spasms.'
--_Prayers and Meditations_, p. 169. See _ante_, iii. 317, n. 1.
For Johnson's advice about bleeding, see _ante_, iii. 152; and for
possible occasions for 'suspected letters,' _ante_, i. 472, n. 4;
and ii. 202, n. 2.
_Mr. Mason's 'sneering observation in his "Memoirs of Mr. William
Whitehead"'_
(Vol. i, p. 31.)
I had long failed to find a copy of these _Memoirs_, though I had
searched in the Bodleian, the British Museum, and the London Library, and
had applied to the University Library at Cambridge, and the Advocates'
Library at Edinburgh. By the kindness of Mr. R. H. Soden Smith and Mr.
R. F. Sketchley, I have obtained the following extract from a copy in
the Dyce and Forster Libraries, in the South Kensington Museum:--
'Conscious, notwithstanding, that to avoid writing what is _unnecessary_
is, in these days, no just plea for silence in a biographer, I have some
apology to make for having strewed these pages so thinly with the
tittle-tattle of anecdote. I am, however, too proud to make this apology
to any person but my bookseller, who will be the only real loser by the
'Those readers, who believe that I do not write immediately under
his pay, and who may have gathered from what they have already read,
that I am not so passionately enamoured of Dr. Johnson's biographical
manner, as to take that for my model, have only to throw these pages
aside, and wait till they are new-written by some one of his numerous
disciples, who may follow his master's example; and should more anecdote
than I furnish him with be wanting (as was the Doctor's case in his
life of Mr. Gray), may make amends for it by those acid eructations
of vituperative criticism, which are generated by unconcocted taste and
intellectual indigestion.'--_Poems by William Whitehead_, York, 1788
(vol. iii, p. 128).
With this 'sneering observation,' which Boswell might surely have passed
over in silence, the Memoirs close.
_Michael Johnson as a bookseller._
(Vol. i, p. 36, n. 3.)
Mr. R. F. Sketchley kindly informs me that in the Dyce and Forster
Libraries at the South Kensington Museum there is a book with the
following title:--
_S. Shaw's 'Grammatica Anglo--Romana', London, printed for Michael
Johnson, bookseller: and are to be sold at his shops in Litchfield and
Uttoxiter in Stafford-shire; and Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire,
1687._
Mr. C. E. Doble tells me that in the proposals issued in 1690 by Thomas
Bennet, St. Paul's Churchyard, for printing Anthony a Wood's _Athenae
Oxonienses_ and _Fasti Oxonienses_, among 'the booksellers who take
subscriptions, give receipts, and deliver books according to the
proposals' is 'Mr. Johnson in Litchfield.'
_The City and County of Lichfield_.
(Vol. i, p. 36, n. 4.)
'The City of Litchfield is a County of itself, with a jurisdiction
extending 10 or 12 miles round, which circuit the Sheriff rides every
year on Sept. 8.'--_A Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain_,
ed. 1769, ii. 419.
Balliol College has a copy of this work containing David Garrick's
book-plate, with Shakespeare's head at the top of it, and the following
quotation from _Menagiana_ at the foot:--
'_La premiere chose qu'on doit faire quand on a emprunte un livre, c'est
de le lire, afin de pouvoir le rendre plutot' (sic)_.
_Felixmarte of Hircania_.
(Vol. i, p. 49.)
'"He that follows is _Florismarte of Hyrcania_" said the barber. "What!
is Signor Florismarte there?" replied the priest; "in good faith he shall
share the same fate, notwithstanding his strange birth and chimerical
adventures; for his harsh and dry style will admit of no excuse. To the
yard with him, therefore." "With all my heart, dear Sir," answered the
housekeeper; "and with joyful alacrity she executed the command.'"
--_Don Quixote_, ed. 1820, i. 48.
Boswell speaks of _Felixmarte_ as the old Spanish romance. In the
_Bibliografia dei Romanzi e Poeini Cavallereschi Italiani_ (2nd ed.,
Milan, 1838), p. 351, it is stated that in the Spanish edition it is
called a translation from the Italian, and in the Italian edition a
translation from the Spanish. The Italian title is _Historia di Don
Florismante d'Ircania, tradotta dallo Spagnuolo_. Cervantes, in an
edition of _Don Quixote_, published in 1605, which I have looked at,
calls the book _Florismarte de Hircania_ (not _Florismante_). It should
seem that he made his hero read the Italian version.
_Palmerin of England and Don Belianis_.
(Vol. i, p. 49, n. 2; and vol. iii, p. 2.)
'"Let _Palmerin of England_ be preserved," said the licentiate, "and
kept as a jewel; and let such another casket be made for it as that
which Alexander found among the spoils of Darius appropriated to preserve
the works of the poet Homer....Therefore, master Nicholas, saving your
better judgment let this and _Amadis de Gaul_ be exempted from the
flames, and let all the rest perish without any farther inquiry." "Not
so neighbour," replied the barber, "for behold here the renowned
_Don Belianis_." The priest replied, "This with the second, third,
and fourth parts, wants a little rhubarb to purge away its excessive
choler; there should be removed too all that relates to the castle
of Fame, and other impertinencies of still greater consequence; let them
have the benefit, therefore, of transportation, and as they show signs
of amendment they shall hereafter be treated with mercy or justice; in
the meantime, friend, give them room in your house; but let nobody read
them."'
--_Don Quixote_, ed. 1820, i. 50.
_Mr. Taylor, a Birmingham manufacturer_.
(Vol. i, p. 86.)
'John Taylor, Esq. may justly be deemed the Shakspear or Newton of
Birmingham. He rose from minute beginnings to shine in the commercial
hemisphere, as they in the poetical or philosophical. To this uncommon
genius we owe the gilt button, the japanned and gilt snuff-box, with
the numerous race of enamels; also the painted snuff-box. ... He died
in 1775 at the age of 64, after acquiring a fortune of L200,000. His son
was a considerable sufferer at the time of the riots in 1791.'
--_A Brief History of Birmingham_, 1797, p. 9.
_Olivia Lloyd._
(Vol. i, p. 92.)
I am, no doubt, right in identifying Olivia Lloyd, the young quaker,
with whom Johnson was much enamoured when at Stourbridge School, with
Olive Lloyd, the daughter of the first Sampson Lloyd, of Birmingham,
and aunt of the Sampson Lloyd with whom he had an altercation (_ante_,
ii. 458 and _post_, p. liii). 'A fine likeness of her is preserved by
Thomas Lloyd, The Priory, Warwick,' as I learn from an interesting
little work called _Farm and its Inhabitants, with some Account of
the Lloyds of Dolobran_, by Rachel J. Lowe. Privately printed, 1883,
p. 24. Her elder brother married a Miss Careless; ib. p. 23. Johnson's
'first love,' Hector's sister, married a Mr. Careless (_ante_, ii. 459).
_Henry Porter, of Edgbaston_.
(Vol. i, p. 94, n. 3.)
In St. Mary's Church, Warwick, is a monument to--
'Anna Norton, Henrici Porter
Filia
Nuper de Edgberston in Com. Warw. Generosi;
Vidua Thomae Norton....
Haec annis et pietate matura vitam deposuit.
Maii 14, 1698.'
_A Brief Description of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Warwick_,
published by Grafton and Reddell, Birmingham; no date.
_Mrs. Williams's account of Mrs. Johnson and her sons by her former
marriage_. (Vol. i, p. 95.)
The following note by Malone I failed to quote in the right place. It
is copied from a paper, written by Lady Knight.
'Mrs. Williams's account of Mrs. Johnson was, that she had a good
understanding and great sensibility, but inclined to be satirical. Her
first husband died insolvent [this is a mistake, see _ante_, i. 95,
n. 3]; her sons were much disgusted with her for her second marriage;
... however, she always retained her affection for them. While they
[Mr. and Mrs. Johnson] resided in Gough Square, her son, the officer,
knocked at the door, and asked the maid if her mistress was at home.
She answered, "Yes, Sir, but she is sick in bed." "Oh," says he, "if
it's so, tell her that her son Jervis called to know how she did;" and
was going away. The maid begged she might run up to tell her mistress,
and, without attending his answer, left him. Mrs. Johnson, enraptured
to hear her son was below, desired the maid to tell him she longed to
embrace him. When the maid descended the gentleman was gone, and poor
Mrs. Johnson was much agitated by the adventure; it was the only time
he ever made an effort to see her. Dr. [Mr.] Johnson did all he could
to console his wife, but told Mrs. Williams: "Her son is uniformly
undutiful; so I conclude, like many other sober men, he might once in
his life be drunk, and in that fit nature got the better of his pride."'
_Johnson's application for the mastership of the Grammar School at
Solihull in Warwickshire_.
(Vol. i, p. 96.)
Johnson, a few weeks after his marriage, applied for the mastership of
Solihull Grammar School, as is shown by the following letter, preserved
in the Pembroke College MSS., addressed to Mr. Walmsley, and quoted by
Mr. Croker. I failed to insert it in my notes.
_'Solihull, the 30 August 1735._
'SIR,
'I was favoured with yours of the 13th inst. in due time, but deferred
answering it til now, it takeing up some time to informe the Foeofees
of the contents thereof; and before they would return an Answer, desired
some time to make enquiry of the caracter of Mr. Johnson, who all agree
that he is an excellent scholar, and upon that account deserves much
better than to be schoolmaster of Solihull. But then he has the caracter
of being a very haughty, ill-natured gent., and that he has such a way of
distorting his Face (which though he can't help) the gent, think it
may affect some young ladds; for these two reasons he is not approved
on, the late master Mr. Crompton's huffing the Foeofees being stil in
their memory. However, we are all exstreamly obliged to you for thinking
of us, and for proposeing so good a schollar, but more especially is,
dear sir,
'Your very humble servant,
'HENRY GRESWOLD.'
_Johnson's knowledge of Italian_.
(Vol. i, p. 115.)
Boswell says that he does not know 'at what time, or by what means
Johnson had acquired a competent knowledge of Italian.' In my note
on this I say 'he had read Petrarch "when but a boy."' As Petrarch
wrote chiefly in Latin, it is quite possible that Johnson did not
acquire his knowledge of Italian so early as I had thought.
_Johnson's deference for the general opinion_.
(Vol. i, p. 200.)
Miss Burney records an interesting piece of criticism by Johnson. 'There
are,' he said, 'three distinct kinds of judges upon all new authors or
productions; the first are those who know no rules, but pronounce
entirely from their natural taste and feelings; the second are those who
know and judge by rules; and the third are those who know, but are above
the rules. These last are those you should wish to satisfy. Next to them
rate the natural judges; but ever despise those opinions that are formed
by the rules.'--_Mine. D'Arblay's Diary_, i. 180. Later on she writes:
--'The natural feelings of untaught hearers ought never to be slighted;
and Dr. Johnson has told me the same a thousand times;' ib. ii. 128.
_Johnson in the Green Room_.
(Vol. i, p. 201.)
Mr. Richard Herne Shepherd, in _Watford's Antiquarian_ for January,
1887, p. 34, asserts that the actual words which Johnson used when
he told Garrick that he would no longer frequent his Green Room were
indecent; so indecent that Mr. Shepherd can only venture to satisfy
those whom he calls students by informing them of them privately. For
proof of this charge against the man whose boast it was that 'obscenity
had always been repressed in his company' (_ante_, iv. 295) he brings
forward John Wilkes. The story, indeed, as it is told by Boswell, is
not too trustworthy, for he had it through Hume from Garrick. As it
reaches Mr. Shepherd it comes from Garrick through Wilkes. Garrick, no
doubt, as Johnson says (_ante_, v. 391), was, as a companion, 'restrained
by some principle,' and had 'some delicacy of feeling.' Nevertheless,
in his stories, he was, we may be sure, no more on oath than a man is
in lapidary inscriptions (_ante_, ii. 407). It is possible that he
reported Johnson's very words to Hume, and that Hume did not change
them in reporting them to Boswell. Whatever they were, they were spoken
in 1749 and published in 1791, when Johnson had been dead six years,
Garrick twelve years, and Hume fourteen years. It is idle to dream that
they can now be conjecturally emended. But it is worse than idle to
bring in as evidence John Wilkes. What entered his ear as purity itself
might issue from his mouth as the grossest obscenity. He had no delicacy
of feeling. No principle restrained him. When he comes to bear testimony,
and aims a shaft at any man's character, the bow that he draws is drawn
with the weakness of the hand of a worn-out and shameless profligate.
Mr. Shepherd quotes an unpublished letter of Boswell to Wilkes, dated
Rome, April 22, 1765, to show 'that the two men had become familiars,
not only long before Wilkes's famous meeting with Dr. Johnson was brought
about, but before even the friendship of Boswell himself with Johnson
had been consolidated.' It needs no unpublished letters to show that. It
must be known to every attentive reader of Boswell. See _ante_, i. 395,
and ii. 11.
_Frederick III, King of Prussia_.
(Vol. i, p. 308.)
Boswell should have written Frederick II.
_Boswell's visit to Rousseau and Voltaire_.
(Vol. i, p. 434; and vol. ii, p. 11.)
_Boswell to Andrew Mitchell, Esq., His Britannic Majesty's
Minister at Berlin_.
'Berlin, 28 August, 1764.
... 'I have had another letter from my father, in which he continues of
opinion that travelling is of very little use, and may do a great deal
of harm. ... I esteem and love my father, and I am determined to do what
is in my power to make him easy and happy. But you will allow that I
may endeavour to make him happy, and at the same time not to be too hard
upon myself. I must use you so much with the freedom of a friend as to
tell you that with the vivacity which you allowed me I have a melancholy
disposition. I have made excursions into the fields of amusement, perhaps
of folly. I have found that amusement and folly are beneath me, and that
without some laudable pursuit my life must be insipid and wearisome.....
My father seems much against my going to Italy, but gives me leave to go
from this, and pass some months in Paris. I own that the words of the
Apostle Paul, "I must see Rome," are strongly _borne in_ upon my mind. It
would give me infinite pleasure. It would give taste for a life-time,
and I should go home to Auchinleck with serene contentment.'
After stating that he is going to Geneva, he continues:--
'I shall see Voltaire; I shall also see Switzerland and Rousseau. These
two men are to me greater objects than most statues or pictures.'
--Nichols's _Literary History_, vii. 318.
_Superficiality of the French writers_.
(Vol. i, p. 454.)
Gibbon, writing of the year 1759, says:--
