'WILLIAM FORBES.'
When I consider how many of the persons mentioned in this Tour
are now gone to 'that undiscovered country, from whose bourne no
traveller returns[1145],' I feel an impression at once awful and
tender.--_Requiescant in pace!_
It may be objected by some persons, as it has been by one of my friends,
that he who has the power of thus exhibiting an exact transcript of
conversations is not a desirable member of society. I repeat the answer
which I made to that friend:--'Few, very few, need be afraid that their
sayings will be recorded. Can it be imagined that I would take the
trouble to gather what grows on every hedge, because I have collected
such fruits as the _Nonpareil_ and the BON CHRETIEN[1146]?'
On the other hand, how useful is such a faculty, if well exercised! To
it we owe all those interesting apophthegms and _memorabilia_ of the
ancients, which Plutarch, Xenophon, and Valerius Maximus, have
transmitted to us. To it we owe all those instructive and entertaining
collections which the French have made under the title of _Ana_, affixed
to some celebrated name. To it we owe the _Table-Talk_ of Selden[1147],
the _Conversation_ between Ben Jonson and Drummond of Hawthornden,
Spence's _Anecdotes_ of Pope[1148], and other valuable remains in our
own language. How delighted should we have been, if thus introduced into
the company of Shakspeare and of Dryden[1149], of whom we know scarcely
any thing but their admirable writings! What pleasure would it have
given us, to have known their petty habits, their characteristick
manners, their modes of composition, and their genuine opinion of
preceding writers and of their contemporaries! All these are now
irrecoverably lost. Considering how many of the strongest and most
brilliant effusions of exalted intellect must have perished, how much is
it to be regretted that all men of distinguished wisdom and wit have not
been attended by friends, of taste enough to relish, and abilities
enough to register their conversation;
'Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona
Multi, sed omnes illacrymabiles
Urgentur, ignotique longa
Nocte, carent quia vate sacro[1150].'
They whose inferiour exertions are recorded, as serving to explain or
illustrate the sayings of such men, may be proud of being thus
associated, and of their names being transmitted to posterity, by being
appended to an illustrious character.
Before I conclude, I think it proper to say, that I have
suppressed[1151] every thing which I thought could _really_ hurt any
one now living. Vanity and self-conceit indeed may sometimes suffer.
With respect to what _is_ related, I considered it my duty to 'extenuate
nothing, nor set down aught in malice[1152];' and with those lighter
strokes of Dr. Johnson's satire, proceeding from a warmth and quickness
of imagination, not from any malevolence of heart, and which, on account
of their excellence, could not be omitted, I trust that they who are the
subject of them have good sense and good temper enough not to be
displeased.
I have only to add, that I shall ever reflect with great pleasure on a
Tour, which has been the means of preserving so much of the enlightened
and instructive conversation of one whose virtues will, I hope, ever be
an object of imitation, and whose powers of mind were so extraordinary,
that ages may revolve before such a man shall again appear.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
_In justice to the ingenious_ DR. BLACKLOCK, _I publish the following
letter from him, relative to a passage in p. 47._
'TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
'DEAR SIR,
'Having lately had the pleasure of reading your account of the journey
which you took with Dr. Samuel Johnson to the Western Isles, I take the
liberty of transmitting my ideas of the conversation which happened
between the doctor and myself concerning Lexicography and Poetry, which,
as it is a little different from the delineation exhibited in the former
edition of your _Journal_, cannot, I hope, be unacceptable; particularly
since I have been informed that a second edition of that work is now in
contemplation, if not in execution: and I am still more strongly tempted
to encourage that hope, from considering that, if every one concerned in
the conversations related, were to send you what they can recollect of
these colloquial entertainments, many curious and interesting
particulars might be recovered, which the most assiduous attention could
not observe, nor the most tenacious memory retain. A little reflection,
Sir, will convince you, that there is not an axiom in Euclid more
intuitive nor more evident than the doctor's assertion that poetry was
of much easier execution than lexicography. Any mind therefore endowed
with common sense, must have been extremely absent from itself, if it
discovered the least astonishment from hearing that a poem might be
written with much more facility than the same quantity of a dictionary.
'The real cause of my surprise was what appeared to me much more
paradoxical, that he could write a sheet of dictionary _with as much
pleasure_ as a sheet of poetry. He acknowledged, indeed, that the latter
was much easier than the former. For in the one case, books and a desk
were requisite; in the other, you might compose when lying in bed, or
walking in the fields, &c. He did not, however, descend to explain, nor
to this moment can I comprehend, how the labours of a mere Philologist,
in the most refined sense of that term, could give equal pleasure with
the exercise of a mind replete with elevated conceptions and pathetic
ideas, while taste, fancy, and intellect were deeply enamoured of
nature, and in full exertion. You may likewise, perhaps, remember, that
when I complained of the ground which Scepticism in religion and morals
was continually gaining, it did not appear to be on my own account, as
my private opinions upon these important subjects had long been
inflexibly determined. What I then deplored, and still deplore, was the
unhappy influence which that gloomy hesitation had, not only upon
particular characters, but even upon life in general; as being equally
the bane of action in our present state, and of such consolations as we
might derive from the hopes of a future.
'I have the pleasure of remaining with sincere esteem and respect,
'Dear Sir,
'Your most obedient humble servant,
'THOMAS BLACKLOCK.'
'Edinburgh, Nov. 12, 1785.'
I am very happy to find that Dr. Blacklock's apparent uneasiness on the
subject of Scepticism was not on his own account, (as I supposed) but
from a benevolent concern for the happiness of mankind. With respect,
however, to the question concerning poetry, and composing a dictionary,
I am confident that my state of Dr. Johnson's position is accurate. One
may misconceive the motive by which a person is induced to discuss a
particular topick (as in the case of Dr. Blacklock's speaking of
Scepticism); but an assertion, like that made by Dr. Johnson, cannot be
easily mistaken. And indeed it seems not very probable, that he who so
pathetically laments the _drudgery_[1153] to which the unhappy
lexicographer is doomed, and is known to have written his splendid
imitation of _Juvenal_ with astonishing rapidity[1154], should have had
'as much pleasure in writing a sheet of a dictionary as a sheet of
poetry[1155].' Nor can I concur with the ingenious writer of the
foregoing letter, in thinking it an axiom as evident as any in Euclid,
that 'poetry is of easier execution than lexicography.' I have no doubt
that Bailey[1156], and the 'mighty blunderbuss of law[1157],' Jacob,
wrote ten pages of their respective _Dictionaries_ with more ease than
they could have written five pages of poetry.
If this book should again be reprinted, I shall with the utmost
readiness correct any errours I may have committed, in stating
conversations, provided it can be clearly shewn to me that I have been
inaccurate. But I am slow to believe, (as I have elsewhere
observed[1158]) that any man's memory, at the distance of several years,
can preserve facts or sayings with such fidelity as may be done by
writing them down when they are recent: and I beg it may be remembered,
that it is not upon _memory_, but upon what was _written at the time_,
that the authenticity of my _Journal_ rests.
* * * * *
No. II.
Verses written by Sir Alexander (now Lord) Macdonald; addressed and
presented to Dr. Johnson, at Armidale in the Isle of Sky[1159].
Viator, o qui nostra per aequora
Visurus agros Skiaticos venis,
En te salutantes tributim
Undique conglomerantur oris.
Donaldiani,--quotquot in insulis
Compescit arctis limitibus mare;
Alitque jamdudum, ac alendos
Piscibus indigenas fovebit.
Ciere fluctus siste, Procelliger,
Nec tu laborans perge, precor, ratis,
Ne conjugem plangat marita,
Ne doleat soboles parentem.
Nec te vicissim poeniteat virum
Luxisse;--vestro scimus ut aestuant
In corde luctantes dolores,
Cum feriant inopina corpus.
Quidni! peremptum clade tuentibus
Plus semper illo qui moritur pati
Datur, doloris dum profundos
Pervia mens aperit recessus.
Valete luctus;--hinc lacrymabiles
Arcete visus:--ibimus, ibimus
Superbienti qua theatro
Fingaliae memorantur aulae.
Illustris hospes! mox spatiabere
Qua mens ruinae ducta meatibus
Gaudebit explorare coetus,
Buccina qua cecinit triumphos;
Audin? resurgens spirat anhelitu
Dux usitato, suscitat efficax
Poeta manes, ingruitque
Vi solita redivivus horror.
Ahaena quassans tela gravi manu
Sic ibat atrox Ossiani pater:
Quiescat urna, stet fidelis
Phersonius vigil ad favillam.
_Preparing for the Press, in one Volume Quarto_,
THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.
BY _JAMES BOSWELL_, ESQ.
Mr. Boswell has been collecting materials for this work for more than
twenty years, during which he was honoured with the intimate friendship
of Dr. Johnson; to whose memory he is ambitious to erect a literary
monument, worthy of so great an authour, and so excellent a man. Dr.
Johnson was well informed of his design, and obligingly communicated to
him several curious particulars. With these will be interwoven the most
authentick accounts that can be obtained from those who knew him best;
many sketches of his conversation on a multiplicity of subjects, with
various persons, some of them the most eminent of the age; a great
number of letters from him at different periods, and several original
pieces dictated by him to Mr. Boswell, distinguished by that peculiar
energy, which marked every emanation of his mind.
Mr. Boswell takes this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the many
valuable communications which he has received to enable him to render
his _Life of Dr. Johnson_ more complete. His thanks are particularly due
to the Rev. Dr. Adams, the Rev. Dr. Taylor, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr.
Langton, Dr. Brocklesby, the Rev. Thomas Warton, Mr. Hector of
Birmingham, Mrs. Porter, and Miss Seward.
He has already obtained a large collection of Dr. Johnson's letters to
his friends, and shall be much obliged for such others as yet remain in
private hands; which he is the more desirous of collecting, as all the
letters of that great man, which he has yet seen, are written with
peculiar precision and elegance; and he is confident that the
publication of the whole of Dr. Johnson's epistolary correspondence
will do him the highest honour.
APPENDIX A.
(_Page_ 80.)
As no one reads Warburton now--I bought the five volumes of his
_Divine Legation_ in excellent condition, bound in calf, for ten pence--one
or two extracts from his writing may be of interest. His Dedication
of that work to the Free-Thinkers is as vigorous as it is abusive. It has
such passages as the following:--'Low and mean as your buffoonery is,
it is yet to the level of the people:' p. xi. 'I have now done with
your buffoonery, which, like chewed bullets, is against the law of arms;
and come next to your scurrilities, those stink-pots of your offensive
war.' _Ib. p. xxii_. On page xl. he returns again to their '_cold_
buffoonery.' In the Appendix to vol. v, p. 414, he thus wittily replies
to Lowth, who had maintained that 'idolatry was punished under the
DOMINION of Melchisedec'(p. 409):--'Melchisedec's story is a short
one; he is just brought into the scene to _bless_ Abraham in his return
from conquest. This promises but ill. Had this _King and Priest of
Salem_ been brought in _cursing_, it had had a better appearance: for, I
think, punishment for opinions which generally ends in a _fagot_ always
begins with a _curse_. But we may be misled perhaps by a wrong translation.
The Hebrew word to _bless_ signifies likewise to _curse_, and under
the management of an intolerant priest good things easily run into their
contraries. What follows is his taking _tythes_ from Abraham. Nor will
this serve our purpose, unless we interpret these _tythes_ into _fines for
non-conformity_; and then by the _blessing_ we can easily understand
_absolution_. We have seen much stranger things done with the _Hebrew
verity_. If this be not allowed, I do not see how we can elicit fire and
fagot from this adventure; for I think there is no inseparable connexion
between _tythes_ and _persecution_ but in the ideas of a Quaker.--And
so much for King Melchisedec. But the learned _Professor_, who
has been hardily brought up in the keen atmosphere of WHOLESOME
SEVERITIES and early taught to distinguish between _de facto_ and _de
jure_, thought it 'needless to enquire into _facts_, when he was secure
of the _right_'.
This 'keen atmosphere of wholesome severities' reappears by the
way in Mason's continuation of Gray's Ode to Vicissitude:--
'That breathes the keen yet wholesome air
Of rugged penury.'
And later in the first book of Wordsworth's _Excursion_
(ed. 1857, vi. 29):--
'The keen, the wholesome air of poverty.'
Johnson said of Warburton: 'His abilities gave him an haughty confidence,
which he disdained to conceal or mollify; and his impatience
of opposition disposed him to treat his adversaries with such contemptuous
superiority as made his readers commonly his enemies, and
excited against the advocate the wishes of some who favoured the cause.
He seems to have adopted the Roman Emperour's determination,
_oderint dum metuant_; he used no allurements of gentle language, but
wished to compel rather than persuade.' Johnson's _Works_, viii. 288.
See _ante_, ii. 36, and iv. 46.
* * * * *
APPENDIX B.
(_Page_ 158.)
Johnson's Ode written in Sky was thus translated by Lord
Houghton:--
'Where constant mist enshrouds the rocks,
Shattered in earth's primeval shocks,
And niggard Nature ever mocks
The labourer's toil,
I roam through clans of savage men,
Untamed by arts, untaught by pen;
Or cower within some squalid den
O'er reeking soil.
Through paths that halt from stone to stone,
Amid the din of tongues unknown,
One image haunts my soul alone,
Thine, gentle Thrale!
Soothes she, I ask, her spouse's care?
Does mother-love its charge prepare?
Stores she her mind with knowledge rare,
Or lively tale?
Forget me not! thy faith I claim,
Holding a faith that cannot die,
That fills with thy benignant name
These shores of Sky.'
Hayward's _Piozzi_, i. 29.
* * * * *
APPENDIX C.
(_Page_ 307.)
Johnson's use of the word _big_, where he says 'I wish thy books were
twice as big,' enables me to explain a passage in _The Life of Johnson
(ante_, iii. 348) which had long puzzled me. Boswell there represents
him as saying:--'A man who loses at play, or who runs out his fortune at
court, makes his estate less, in hopes of making it _bigger_.' Boswell
adds in a parenthesis:--'I am sure of this word, which was often used by
him.' He had been criticised by a writer in the _Gent. Mag_. 1785, p.
968, who quoting from the text the words 'a _big_ book,' says:--'Mr.
Boswell has made his friend (as in a few other passages) guilty of a
_Scotticism_. An Englishman reads and writes a _large_ book, and wears a
_great_ (not a _big_ or _bag_) coat.' When Boswell came to publish _The
Life of Johnson_, he took the opportunity to justify himself, though he
did not care to refer directly to his anonymous critic. This
explanation I discovered too late to insert in the text.
A JOURNEY
INTO
NORTH WALES,
IN
THE YEAR 1774.[1160]
TUESDAY, JULY 5.
We left Streatham 11 a.m.
Price of four horses 2s. a mile.
JULY 6.
Barnet 1.40 p.m.
On the road I read Tully's _Epistles_.
At night at Dunstable.
To Lichfield, 83 miles.
To the Swan[1161].
JULY 7.
To Mrs. Porter's[1162].
To the Cathedral.
To Mrs. Aston's.
To Mr. Green's.
Mr. Green's Museum was much admired, and
Mr. Newton's china.
JULY 8.
To Mr. Newton's. To Mrs. Cobb's.
