afterwards mentioned this to him, he said, with equal truth and politeness, Madam, if I had thought so, I certainly should not have said it.' Another evening Johnson's kind indulgence towards me had a pretty difficult trial. I had dined at the Duke of Montrose's with a very agreeable party, and his Grace, according to his usual custom, had circulated the bottle very freely. Lord Graham and I went together to Miss Monckton's, where I certainly was in extraordinary spirits, and above all fear or awe. In the midst of a great number of persons of the first rank, amongst whom I recollect, with confusion, a noble lady of the most stately decorum, I placed myself next to Johnson, and thinking myself now fully his match, talked to him in a loud and boisterous manner, desirous to let the company know how I could contend with Ajax. I particularly remember pressing him upon the value of the pleasures of the imagination, and as an illustration of my argument, asking him, 'What, sir, supposing I were to fancy that the

(naming the most charming Duchess in his Majesty's dominions) were in love with me, should I not be very happy?' My friend, with much address, evaded my interrogatories, and kept me as quiet as possible; but it may easily be conceived how he must have felt. However, when a few days afterwards I waited upon him and made an apology, he behaved with the most friendly gentleness.

While I remained in London this year, Johnson and I dined together at several places. I recollect a placid day at Dr. Butter's, who had now removed from Derby to Lower Grosvenor Street, London; but of his conversation on that and other occasions, during this period, I neglected to keep any regular record, and shall

1 Next day I endeavoured to give what had happened the most ingenious turn I could, by the following

verses:

TO THE HONOURABLE MISS MONCKTON.
Not that with th' excellent Montrose
I had the happiness to dine;
Not that I late from table rose,

From Graham's wit, from generous wine.
It was not these alone which led

On sacred manners to encroach:

And made me feel what most I dread,

Johnson's just frown, and self-reproach.
But when I enter'd not abash'd,

From your bright eyes were shot such rays,
At once intoxication flash'd,

And all my frame was in a blaze!

But not a brilliant blaze, I own.

Of the dull smoke I'm yet asham'd;

I was a dreary ruin grown,

And not enlighten'd though inflam'd.
Victim at once to wine and love,
I hope, Maria, you'll forgive;
While I invoke the powers above,

That henceforth I may wiser live.

The lady was generously forgiving, returned me an obliging answer, and I thus obtained an Act of Oblivion, and took care never to offend again.-BosWELL.

therefore insert here some miscellaneous articles which I find in my Johnsonian notes.

His disorderly habits, when 'making provision for the day that was passing over him,' appear from the following anecdote, communicated to me by Mr. John Nichols :-'In the year 1763, a young bookseller, who was an apprentice to Mr. Whiston, waited on him with a subscription to his Shakspeare; and observing that the Doctor made no entry in any book of the subscriber's name, ventured diffidently to ask whether he would please to have the gentleman's address, that it might be properly inserted in the printed list of subscribers.-"I shall print no List of Subscribers," said Johnson, with great abruptness; but almost immediately recollecting himself, added, very complacently, "Sir, I have two very cogent reasons for not printing any list of subscribers ;--one, that I have lost all the names,-the other, that I have spent all the money.'

Johnson could not brook appearing to be worsted in argument, even when he had taken the wrong side, to show the force and dexterity of his talents. When, therefore, he perceived that his opponent gained ground, he had recourse to some sudden mode of robust sophistry. Once, when I was pressing upon him with visible advantage, he stopped me thus: 'My dear Bos well, let's have no more of this; you'll make nothing of it. I'd rather have you whistle a Scotch tune.'

Care, however, must be taken to distinguish between Johnson when he talked for victory,' and Johnson when he had no desire but to inform and illustrate.-'One of Johnson's principal talents,' says an eminent friend of his,'

was shown in maintaining the wrong side of an argument, and in a splendid perversion of the truth. If you could contrive to have his fair opinion on a subject, and without any bias from personal prejudice, or from a wish to be victorious in argument, it was wisdom itself, not only convincing, but overpowering.'

He had, however, all his life habituated himself to consider conversation as a trial of intellectual vigour and skill; and to this, I think, we may venture to ascribe that unexampled richness and brilliancy which appeared in his own. As a proof at once of his eagerness for colloquial distinction, and his high notion of this eminent friend, he once addressed him thus:we now have been several hours together; and you have said but one thing for which I envied you.'

He disliked much all speculative desponding considerations, which tended to discourage men from diligence and exertion. He was in this like Dr. Shaw, the great traveller, who, Mr. Daines Barrington told me, used to say, 'I hate

1 The late Right Hon. William Gerrard Hamilton.MALONE.

a cui bono man.' Upon being asked by a friend what he should think of a man who was apt to say non est tanti,-'That he's a stupid fellow, sir,' answered Johnson. 'What would these tarti men be doing the while?' When I, in a low-spirited fit, was talking to him with indifference of the pursuits which generally engage us ia a course of action, and inquiring a reason for taking so much trouble; 'Sir,' said he, in an animated tone, 'it is driving on the system of life.'

He told me that he was glad I had, by General Oglethorpe's means, become acquainted with Dr. Shebbeare. Indeed, that gentleman, whatever objections were made to him, had knowledge and abilities much above the class of ordinary writers, and deserves to be remembered as a respectable name in literature, were it only for his admirable Letters on the English Nation, under the name of 'Battista Angeloni, a Jesuit.' Johnson and Shebbeare1 were frequently named together, as having in former reigns had no predilection for the family of Hanover. The author of the celebrated Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers, introduces them in one line, in a list of those who tasted the sweets of his present Majesty's reign.' Such was Johnson's candid relish of the merit of that satire, that he allowed Dr. Goldsmith, as he told me, to read it to him from beginning to end, and did not refuse his praise to its execution.

Johnson had called twice on the Bishop of Killaloe before his Lordship set out for Ireland, having missed him the first time. He said, 'It would have hung heavy on my heart if I had not seen him. No man ever paid more attention to another than he has done to me;1 and I have neglected him, not wilfully, but from being otherwise occupied. Always, sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you.'

Johnson told me that he was once much pleased to find that a carpenter, who lived near him, was very ready to show him some things in his business which he wished to see. 'It was paying,' said he, ‘respect to literature.’

I asked him if he was not dissatisfied with having so small a share of wealth, and none of those distinctions in the state which are the objects of ambition. He had only a pension of three hundred a year. Why was he not in such circumstances as to keep his coach? Why had he not some considerable office? JOHNSON: 'Sir, I have never complained of the world; nor do I think that I have reason to complain. It is rather to be wondered at that I have so much. My pension is more out of the usual course of things than any instance that I have known. Here, sir, was a man avowedly no friend to Government at the time, who got a pension without asking for it. I never courted the great; they sent for me; but I think they now give me up. They are satisfied: they have seen enough of me.' Upon my observing that I could not believe this, for they must certainly be

Johnson praised the Earl of Carlisle's poems, which his Lordship had published with his name, as not disdaining to be a candidate for literary fame. My friend was of opinion, that when a man of rank appeared in that character, he deserved to have his merit handsomely allowed. In this I think he was more liberal than Mr. William Whitehead, in his Elegy to Lord Villiers, in which, under the pretext of 'superior toils demanding all their care,' he discovers a jealousy of the great paying their court to the Muses: to the chosen few

Who dare excel, thy fost'ring aid afford; Their arts, their magic powers, with honours due Exalt-but be thyself what they record.'

1 I recollect a ludicrous paragraph in the newspapers, that the King had pensioned both a He-bear and a Sheber.-BOSWELL.

2 Frederick Howard, fifth Earl of Carlisle. He was born in 1748, and died in 1825. He is well known as the guardian of Lord Byron.

of his own superiority, he answered, 'No, sir; great lords and great ladies don't love to have their mouths stopped.' This was very expressive of the effect which the force of his understanding and brilliancy of his fancy could not but produce; and, to be sure, they must have

1 This gave me very great pleasure; for there had been once a pretty smart altercation between Dr. Barnard and him, upon a question whether a man could improve himself after the age of forty-five; when Johnson, in a hasty humour, expressed himself in a manner not quite civil. Dr. Barnard made it the subject of a copy of pleasant verses, in which he supposed himself to learn different perfections from different men. They concluded with delicate irony:

'Johnson shall teach me how to place
In fairest light each borrow'd grace;
From him I'll learn to write,-
Copy his clear, familiar style,
And, by the roughness of his file,
Grow, like himself, polite !'

I know not whether Johnson ever saw the poem, but
I had occasion to find that as Dr. Barnard and he
knew each other better, their mutual regard increased.
-BOSWELL

found themselves strangely diminished in his company. When I warmly declared how happy I was at all times to hear him ;-'Yes, sir,' said he; but if you were Lord Chancellor, it would not be so; you would then consider your own dignity.'

There was much truth and knowledge of human nature in this remark. But certainly one should think, that in whatever elevated state of life a man who knew the value of the conversation of Johnson might be placed, though he might prudently avoid a situation in which he might appear lessened by comparsion, yet he would frequently gratify himself in private with the participation of the rich intellectual entertainment which Johnson could furnish. Strange, however, is it, to consider how few of the great sought his society; so that if one were disposed to take occasion for satire on that account, very conspicuous objects present themselves. His noble friend, Lord Elibank, well observed, that if a great man procured an interview with Johnson, and did not wish to see him more, it showed a mere idle curiosity, and a wretched want of relish for extraordinary powers of mind. Mrs. Thrale justly and wittily accounted for such conduct by saying, that Johnson's conversation was by much too strong for a person accustomed to obsequiousness and flattery; it was mustard in a young child's mouth!

One day, when I told him that I was a zealous Tory, but not enough according to knowledge,' and should be obliged to him for a reason,' he was so candid, and expressed himself so well, that I begged of him to repeat what he had said, and I wrote down as follows:

'OF TORY AND WHIG.

'A wise Tory and a wise Whig, I believe, will agree. Their principles are the same, though their modes of thinking are different. A high Tory makes government unintelligible; it is lost in the clouds. A violent Whig makes it impracticable; he is for allowing so much liberty to every man, that there is not power enough to govern any man. The prejudice of the Tory is for establishment; the prejudice of the Whig is for innovation. A Tory does not wish to give more real power to Government, but that Government should have more reverence. Then they differ as to the Church. The Tory is not for giving more legal power to the Clergy, but wishes they should have a considerable influence, founded on the opinion of mankind: the Whig is for limiting and watching them with a narrow jealousy.'

TO MR. PERKINS.

'June 2, 1781. 'SIR, However often I have seen you, I have hitherto forgotten the note, but I have now

sent it; with my good wishes for the prosperity of you and your partner,' of whom, from our short conversation, I could not judge otherwise than favourably.—I am, sir, your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON.'

On Saturday, June 2, I set out for Scotland, and had promised to pay a visit in my way, as I sometimes did, at Southill, in Bedfordshire, at the hospitable mansion of Squire Dilly, the elder brother of my worthy friends the booksellers in the Poultry. Dr. Johnson agreed to be of the party this year, with Mr. Charles Dilly and me, and to go and see Lord Bute's seat at Luton Hoe. He talked little to us in the carriage, being chiefly occupied in reading Dr. Watson's second volume of Chemical Essays, which he liked very well, and his own Prince of Abyssinia, cn which he seemed to be intensely fixed; having told us that he had not looked at it since it was first finished. I happened to take it out of my pocket this day, and he seized upon it with avidity. He pointed out to me the following remarkable passage: 'By what means,' said the Prince, ‘are the Europeans thus powerful; or why, since they can so easily visit Asia and Africa for trade or conquest, cannot the Asiatics and Africans invade their coasts, plant colonies in their ports, and give laws to their natural princes? The same wind that carried them back would bring us thither.' 'They are more powerful, sir, than we,' answered Imlac, 'because they are wiser. Knowledge will always predominate over ignorance, as man governs the other animals. But why their knowledge is more than ours, I know not what reason can be given, but the unsearchable will of the Supreme Being.' He said, 'This, sir, no man can explain otherwise.'

We stopped at Welwyn, where I wished much to see, in company with Johnson, the residence of the author of Night Thoughts, which was then possessed by his son, Mr. Young. Here some address was requisite, for I was not acquainted with Mr. Young; and had I proposed to Dr. Johnson that we should send to him, he would have checked my wish, and perhaps been offended. I therefore concerted with Mr. Dilly, that I should steal away from Dr. Johnson and him, and try what reception I could procure from Mr. Young; if unfavourable, nothing was to be said; but if agreeable, I should return and notify it to them. I hastened to Mr. Young's, found he was at home, sent in word that a gentleman desired to wait upon him, and was

1 Mr. Barclay, a descendant of Robert Barclay, of Ury, the celebrated apologist of the people called Quakers, and remarkable for maintaining the principles of his venerable progenitor, with as much of the elegance of modern manners as is consistent with primitive simplicity.-BoswELL.

2 Afterwards Bishop of Llandaff.-BOSWELL.

The Phoenicians and Carthaginians did plant colonies in Europe.-KEARNEY.

shown into a parlour, where he and a young lady, his daughter, were sitting. He appeared to be a plain, civil country gentleman; and when I begged pardon for presuming to trouble him, but that I wished much to see his place, if he would give me leave, he behaved very courteously, and answered, ‘By all means, sir; we are just going to drink tea; will you sit down?' I thanked him, but said that Dr. Johnson had come with me from London, and I must return to the inn to drink tea with him; that my name was Boswell; I had travelled with him in the Hebrides. 'Sir,' said he, 'I should think it a great honour to see Dr. Johnson here. Will you allow me to send for him?' Availing myself of this opening, I said that 'I would go myself and bring him, when he had drunk tea; he knew nothing of my calling here.' Having been thus successful, I hastened back to the inn, and informed Dr. Johnson that 'Mr. Young, son of Dr. Young, the author of Night Thoughts, whom I had just left, desired to have the honour of seeing him at the house where his father lived.' Dr. Johnson luckily made no inquiry how this invitation had arisen, but agreed to go; and when we entered Mr. Young's parlour he addressed him with a very polite bow, 'Sir, I had a curiosity to come and see this place. I had the honour to know that great man, your father.' We went into the garden, where we found a gravel walk, on each side of which was a row of trees, planted by Dr. Young, which formed a handsome Gothic arch; Dr. Johnson called it a fine grove. I beheld it with

reverence.

We sat some time in the summer-house, on the outside wall of which was inscribed, 'Ambulantes in horto audiebant vocem Dei;' and, in reference to a brook by which it is situated, 'Vivendi rectè qui prorogat horum,' etc. I said to Mr. Young, that I had been told his father was cheerful. 'Sir,' said he, he was too wellbred a man not to be cheerful in company; but he was gloomy when alone. He never was cheerful after my mother's death, and he had met with many disappointments.' Dr. Johnson observed to me afterward, 'That this was no favourable account of Dr. Young; for it is not becoming in a man to have so little acquiescence in the ways of Providence, as to be gloomy because he has not obtained as much preferment as he expected; nor to continue gloomy for the loss of his wife. Grief has its time.' The last part of this censure was theoretically made. Practically, we know that grief for the loss of a wife may be continued very long, in proportion as affection has been sincere. No man knew this better than Dr. Johnson.

We went into the church, and looked at the monument erected by Mr. Young to his father. Mr. Young mentioned an anecdote, that his father had received several thousand pounds of subscription-money for his Universal Passion,

but had lost it in the South-sea. Dr. Johnson thought this must be a mistake, for he had never seen a subscription-book.

Upon the road we talked of the uncertainty of profit with which authors and booksellers engage in the publication of literary works. JOHNSON: ‘My judgment, I have found, is no certain rule as to the sale of a book.' BoswELL: 'Pray, sir, have you been much plagued with authors sending you their works to revise?' JOHNSON: 'No, sir; I have been thought a sour, surly fellow.' BOSWELL: 'Very lucky for you, sir, in that respect.' I must, however, observe, that notwithstanding what he now said, which he no doubt imagined at the time to be the fact, there was, perhaps, no man who more frequently yielded to the solicitations even of very obscure authors, to read their manuscripts, or more liberally assisted them with advice and correction.

He found himself very happy at Squire Dilly's, where there is always abundance of excellent fare, and a hearty welcome.

On Sunday, June 3, we all went to Southill Church, which is very near to Mr. Dilly's house. It being the first Sunday in the month, the holy sacrament was administered, and I stayed to partake of it. When I came afterwards into Dr. Johnson's room, he said, 'You did right to stay and receive the communion; I had not thought of it.' This seemed to imply that he did not choose to approach the altar without a previous preparation, as to which good men entertain different opinions, some holding that it is irreverent to partake of that ordinance without considerable premeditation; others, that whoever is a sincere Christian, and in a proper frame of mind to discharge any other ritual duty of our religion, may, without scruple, discharge this most solemn one. A middle notion I believe to be the just one, which is, that communicants need not think a long train of preparatory forms indispensably necessary; but neither should they rashly and lightly venture upon so awful and mysterious an institution. Christians must judge each for himself, what degree of retirement and self-examination is necessary upon each occasion.

Being in a frame of mind which I hope, for the felicity of human nature, many experience, in fine weather, at the country-house of a friend, consoled and elevated by pious exercises, I expressed myself with an unrestrained fervour to my 'Guide, Philosopher, and Friend:' 'My dear sir, I would fain be a good man; and I am very good now. I fear God, and honour the King; I wish to do no ill, and to be benevolent to all mankind.' He looked at me with a benignant indulgence; but took occasion to give me

1 This assertion is disproved by a comparison of dates. The first four satires of Young were published in 1725. The South-sea scheme (which appears to be meant) was in 1720.—MALONE.