On another occasion, Boswell remarked that Goldsmith had a great deal of gold in his cabinet, but, not content with that, was always taking out his purse.-JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir, and that so often an empty purse!"

The Doctor, who himself made talking a matter of conscience, and always strove to do his best in this kind, could not easily pardon Goldsmith for the rambling, rattling, sometimes nonsensical, often fantastical, occasionally vain, way in which he chose to But that was his whole objection: he loved the man.

converse.

A learned gentleman, in the course of conversation one evening, wishing to inform the company that the counsel upon the circuit at Shrewsbury had been much bitten by fleas, spent about seven or eight minutes in giving a circumstantial account of the marvel. Johnson had listened with the utmost impatience, and at last burst out (playfully though): "It is a pity, Sir, that you have not seen a lion; for a flea has taken you such a time, that a lion must have served you a twelvemonth."

Boswell spoke of a friend of his who had resided long in Spain, and was unwilling to return to Britain.

JOHNSON: "Sir, he is attached to some woman."-BOSWELL : "I rather believe, Sir, it is the fine climate which keeps him there."-JOHNSON: "Nay, Sir, how can you talk so? What is climate to happiness? Place me in the heart of Asia, should I not be exiled? What proportion does climate bear to the complex system of human life? You may advise me to go to live at Bologna to eat sausages. The sausages there are the best in the world they lose much by being carried."

Speaking of sounds on one occasion :

General Paoli said there was no beauty in a simple sound, but only in a harmonious composition of sounds. Boswell presumed to differ from this opinion, and instanced the soft and sweet sound of a fine female voice.-JOHNSON: "No, Sir, if a serpent or a toad uttered it, you would think it ugly."-BOSWELL: "So you would think, Sir, were a beautiful tune to be uttered by one of those animals."-JOHNSON: "No, Sir, it would be admired.

We have seen fine fiddlers whom we liked as little as toads" (laughing).

Between Walpole and Pitt Johnson distinguished thus:

"Walpole was a minister given by the king to the people: Pitt was a minister given by the people to the king—as an adjunct.”

Boswell repeated a sentence from a speech he had heard in an appeal case before the House of Lords: "My lords, severity is not the way to govern either boys or men." "Nay," said Johnson, "it is the way to govern them. I know not whether it be the way to mend them."

The abilities of Lord Mansfield were spoken of with admiration; but Johnson would not allow Scotland to have the credit of him, since England had given him his education. "Much," said he, "may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young."

During a visit to the Pantheon, Boswell said, "There is not half a guinea's worth of pleasure in seeing this place."-JOHNSON: "But, Sir, there is half a guinea's worth of inferiority to other people in not having seen it."-BOSWELL: "I doubt, Sir, whether there are many happy people here."-JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir, there are many happy people here. There are many people here who are watching hundreds, and who think hundreds are watching them."

Sir Adam Ferguson expressed his opinion that luxury corrupts a people, and destroys the spirit of liberty.

JOHNSON: "Sir, that is all visionary. I would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government rather than another. It is of no moment to the happiness of an individual. Sir, the danger of the abuse of power is nothing to a private man. What Frenchman is prevented from passing his life as he pleases?"— SIR ADAM: "But, Sir, in the British Constitution it is surely of importance to keep up a spirit in the people, so as to preserve a balance against the crown."-JOHNSON: "Sir, I perceive you are a vile Whig. Why all this childish jealousy of the power of the

188

SILENT SORROWS.

crown? The crown has not power enough. When I say that all governments are alike, I consider that in no government can power be abused long. Mankind will not bear it. If a sovereign oppresses his people to a great degree, they will rise and cut off his head. There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government. Had not the people of France thought themselves honoured in sharing the brilliant actions of Louis XIV., they would not have endured him; and we may say the same of the King of Prussia's people.”—Sir Adam introduced the ancient Greeks and Romans.-JOHNSON: "Sir, the mass of both of them were barbarians. The mass of every people must be barbarous where there is no printing, and consequently knowledge is not generally diffused. Knowledge is diffused among our people by the newspapers."-Sir Adam mentioned the orators, poets, and artists of Greece.-JOHNSON: "Sir, I am talking of the mass of the people. We see even what the boasted Athenians were. The little effect which Demosthenes' orations had upon them shows that they were barbarians."

But far below this broad and strong current of public talk, in which everything that floated looked brilliant, and self-confident, and victorious, there had been running all the while a dark and narrow stream of private communing with his own heart, bearing on its surface nothing but doubts and difficulties, fears and selfupbraidings. Let us, in closing this chapter, look for one moment into that black and troubled flood: "My mind is unsettled and my memory confused. I have of late turned my thoughts, with a very useless earnestness, upon past incidents. I have yet got no command over my thoughts; an unpleasing incident is almost certain to hinder my rest."

Of all this sore distress the world knew nothing: one or two of his very closest friends may have occasionally divined something of it; but, on the whole, he mastered his sorrows well. A grand silent man! "The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger intermeddleth not with its joy."

To those who find all life uninteresting which is not crowded with incidents, ever new, and each more striking than the last, Johnson's life must seem an uneventful one indeed. Lying in bed till mid-day, dining at some friend's house or at a tavern, taking two or three teas in the evening, and often sitting up till four o'clock next morning: such has been for many years our Author's London existence-a monotony only varied hitherto by an occasional trip to Oxford or Lichfield, and by more frequent yisits to Mr. Thrale's villa at Streatham, on the Sussex Downs. What, then, is the charm of this man's life? The answer must always be Johnson's character-his marked individuality, his strong personality, himself. In a world in which the tendency is for everybody to become like everybody else, and for nobody to remain himself for a very long time, the mere existence of a man so original as Samuel Johnson is a notable phenomenon. This entire uniqueness appears in every little thing the Doctor does, and in every big thing he says. He was emphatically a great man, and, it need scarcely be added, the finest talker that ever opened lips. But one who spoke so much, and so well, may be safely left now to speak for himself.

Johnson's only publication in 1773 was a new edition of his Dictionary, with additions and corrections. His Shakespeare, also, was republished this year by Stephens, whose labours may be thought by some to have done credit to himself, though they nave certainly done little honour to Shakespeare.

190

LETTER TO THE REV. MR. WHITE.

"DEAR SIR,

"TO THE REVEREND MR. WHITE.

"Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London, "March 4, 1773.

"Your kindness for your friends accompanies you across the Atlantic. It was long since observed by Horace, that no ship could leave care behind: you have been attended in your voyage by other powers, by benevolence and constancy; and I hope care did not often show her face in their company.

"I received the copy of 'Rasselas.' The impression is not magnificent, but it flatters an author, because the printer seems to have expected that it would be scattered among the people. The little book has been well received, and is translated into Italian, French, German, and Dutch. It has now one honour more by an American edition.

"I know not that much has happened since your departure that can engage your curiosity. Of all public transactions the whole world is now informed by the newspapers. Opposition seems to despond; and the dissenters, though they have taken advantage of unsettled times, and a government much enfeebled, seem not likely to gain any immunities.

"Dr. Goldsmith has a new comedy in rehearsal at Coventgarden, to which the manager predicts ill-success. I hope he will be mistaken. I think it deserves a very kind reception.

"I shall soon publish a new edition of my large Dictionary: I have been persuaded to revise it, and have mended some faults, but added little to its usefulness.

"No book has been published since your departure, of which much notice is taken. Faction only fills the town with pamphlets, and greater subjects are forgotten in the noise of discord.

"Thus have I written, only to tell you how little I have to tell. Of myself I can only add that, having been afflicted many weeks with a very troublesome cough, I am now recovered.

"I take the liberty which you give me of troubling you with a