THE DOCTOR'S "LITTLE LANGUAGE.” 211

CHAPTER XXIII.

A MEMORABLE LAUGH-TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES-DEATH OF GOLDSMITH-TOUR IN WALES.

(1773-1774.)

LIKE almost all men possessed of large hearts and kindly natures, Johnson had a fond "little language" of affection which he reserved for those he most loved.

One very marked use he made of it was in abbreviating his friends' names: Beauclerk became Beau; Boswell, Bozzy; Murphy, Mur; Goldsmith, Goldy; Langton, Lanky; Sheridan, Sherry-passing, in process of time, into Sherry derry. Then, he could laugh too, and in the grand style; sending forth a true Teufelsdröckian peal which shook his own huge sides and made heaven and earth resound. The rest of the company did not always see the joke, to be sure, and therefore could not always understand the explosion; but the sense of humour was in full operation all the same-and that is enough for us. One evening, for example, when he and Boswell were at Mr. Chambers's in the Temple, the idea of that gentleman's having that very day been commissioned to draw up a common friend's will, struck Johnson as so inordinately funny that it was meat and drink to him for hours after. He called his friend a testator, adding, "I dare say he thinks he has done a mighty thing. He won't stay till he gets home to his seat in the country, to produce this wonderful deed: he'll call up the landlord of the first inn on the road; and, after a suitable preface upon the mortality and the uncertainty of life, will tell him that he should not delay making his will; and here, Sir,' will he say, 'is my will, which I have just made, with the assistance of one of the ablest lawyers in the kingdom;' and he will read it to him (laughing all the time). He believes he has made this will; but he did not make it: you, Chambers, made it for him. I trust you have had more con

212

WAKENING THE ECHOES.

science than to make him say, 'being of sound understanding;' ha, ha, ha! I hope he has left me a legacy. I'd have his will turned into verse, like a ballad."

Mr. Chambers, not quite liking this boisterous display, since he felt that some of it was at his own expense, though all of it was unintelligible to him, was uneasy till his guests chose to take their leave. But the laughter did not cease with their exit into the street it continued, peal after peal, till they got within the Temple-gate. There the Doctor almost fell into a convulsion; had to lay hold of one of the posts at the side of the foot-pavement to keep his body together; and gave birth to burst upon burst, each more extraordinary than the last,—while, in the silence of the night, all the region round, from Temple Bar to Fleet Street, echoed the unwonted sounds. Johnson's laugh was entirely his own, like everything else in and about him. It was a kind of grand growl rather than a laugh of the common sort: Tom Davies used to say, "The Doctor laughs like a rhinoceros." But what chiefly interests us is, that his laughter filled the whole man, and made noise enough to waken the echoes. Salvation is always possible to a man who can laugh at all; but a man who could laugh in that way hardly needed to be saved. We have seen Doctor Johnson in many attitudes, and with admiration in almost all of them; but this, of the author of the "Rambler" holding on by a post in the Temple-gate till he shall get his glorious laugh out, is not the least striking and attractive. He has thrashed a bookseller, bearded an earl, and stood before a king: he has looked into the open grave of his dead Tetty, knelt and prayed by the bedside of his dying old nurse, and worshipped devoutly in the church of St. Clement Danes: he has walked round and round St. James's Square at midnight, resolving to "stand by his country" shoulder to shoulder with poor Savage; and here he is now, on the street at midnight once more, shouting joyously till the very heavens ring again. This man's career on earth was a life, and it does one's heart good to linger over it.

If Johnson was not now giving much out, except in the form of conversation, his diary of this year (1773) shows that he was

JOHNSON'S PASSION FOR KNOWLEDGE. 213

taking a good deal in; in short, that he was not idle. The tender conscience of the Doctor himself may be allowed to rebuke him for not doing all that he might-that is beautiful and touching; but it is quite time that we should have done groaning over the idleness of a man who spoke so much and so well. He did what he could: other authors wrote their works, while he spoke his; but that does not constitute a radical distinction between the two kinds of labour. Johnson might have published twenty volumes without producing half the results of his speech.

"Between Easter and Whitsuntide [1773], having always considered that time as propitious to study, I attempted to learn the Low Dutch language." His progress, he adds, was interrupted by a fever," which, by the imprudent use of a small print, left an inflammation in my useful eye." This passion for knowledge burned in him to the last. Not six months before his death he wished Dr. Burney to teach him the Scale of Music:-" Dr. Burney, teach me at least the alphabet of your language." That was not the desire of an idle man: yet, on January 1st, 1774, we see him reviewing the past year thus:-" This year has passed with so little improvement, that I doubt whether I have not rather impaired than increased my learning."

"DEAR SIR,

"TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.

"I shall set out from London on Friday the

“August 3, 1773.

6th of this month, Which day I shall

and purpose not to loiter much by the way. be at Edinburgh I cannot exactly tell. I suppose I must drive to an inn, and send a porter to find you.'

"I am afraid Beattie will not be at his College soon enough for us, and I shall be sorry to miss him; but there is no staying for the concurrence of all conveniences.

We will do as well as

we can.

"I am, Sir,

"Your most humble servant,

"SAM. JOHNSON."

"Not being at Mr. Thrale's when your letter came, I had written the enclosed paper and sealed it; bringing it hither for a frank, I found yours. If anything could repress my ardour, it would be such a letter as yours. To disappoint a friend is unpleasing; and he that forms expectations like yours must be disappointed. Think only when you see me, that you see a man who loves you, and is proud and glad that you love him.

"I came hither last night, and hope, but do not absolutely promise, to be in Edinburgh on Saturday. Beattie will not come

so soon.

"I am, Sir;

"Your most humble servant,

"SAM. JOHNSON."

"My compliments to your lady."

"TO THE SAME.

"Saturday Night.

"Mr. Johnson sends his compliments to Mr. Boswell, being just arrived at Boyd's."

His stay in Scotland extended from the 18th of August, the day of his arrival in Edinburgh, to the 22nd of November, that of his departure for London. This period included his famous tour to the Hebrides, the accomplishment of which had been his chief purpose in doing North Britain the honour of a visit. We can only indicate his route here, referring the reader who desires the full details of this interesting excursion to Boswell's Journal of the

TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES.

215

Tour and the Doctor's own "Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland." He came by the way of Berwick-upon-Tweed to Edinburgh; stayed there a few days; went by St. Andrews, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Fort Augustus, to the Hebrides; travelled through Argyleshire by Inverary; thence to Glasgow by Loch Lomond and Dumbarton; then by Loudon to Auchinleck in Ayrshire [Boswell's residence]; thence by Hamilton back to Edinburgh, where he again spent some time. Boswell accompanied him throughout the whole tour, and was found an invaluable companion-as we learn from a letter of the Doctor's to Mrs. Thrale, dated November 3rd, 1773:-" Boswell will praise my resolution and perseverance, and I shall in return celebrate his good humour and perpetual cheerfulness. He has better faculties than I had imagined; more justness of discernment, and more fecundity of images. It is very convenient to travel with him: for there is no house where he is not received with kindness and respect."

Wherever the travellers went they were well entertained : luxuriously and respectfully by the rich, hospitably and kindly by the poor. Johnson was indeed annoyed at the national selfassertiveness he encountered at every turn; but the genial welcome he always met with, both in humble cottage and lordly hall, flattered his pride and touched his heart. It must never be forgotten that Johnson took a critic's eye with him wherever he went; and such an eye can never be satisfied, however greatly charmed. Referring to a party at which the Doctor had been, some one asked him if he had been gratified. "Not gratified, Sir; but I had fewer objections than usual." This retort, we dare say, expresses with tolerable accuracy his state of mind on leaving Scotland and the Scotch.

"DEAR SIR,

66

TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.

"Nov. 27, 1773.

"I came home last night without any incommodity, danger, or weariness, and am ready to begin a new journey. I shall go to Oxford on Monday. I know Mrs. Boswell wished me well to go; her wishes have not been disappointed.