disguise. Euphelia and Rhodoclea talk as finely as Imlac the poet, or Seged, Emperor of Ethiopia. The gay Cornelia describes her reception at the country-house of her relations, in such terms as these: "I was surprised, after 5 the civilities of my first reception, to find, instead of the leisure and tranquillity which a rural life always promises, and, if well conducted, might always afford, a confused wildness of care, and a tumultuous hurry of diligence, by which every face was clouded, and every motion agitated." 10 The gentle Tranquilla informs us, that she “had not passed the earlier part of life without the flattery of courtship, and the joys of triumph; but had danced the round of gaiety amidst the murmurs of envy and the gratulations of applause, had been attended from pleasure to 15 pleasure by the great, the sprightly, and the vain, and had seen her regard solicited by the obsequiousness of gallantry, the gaiety of wit, and the timidity of love." Surely Sir John Falstaff himself did not wear his petticoats with a worse grace. The reader may well cry 20 out, with honest Sir Hugh Evans, "I like not when a 'oman has a great peard: I spy a great peard under her muffler. ""*

But our article is

We would fain

38. We had something more to say. already too long; and we must close it. 25 part in good-humour from the hero, from the biographer, and even from the editor, who, ill as he has performed his task, has at least this claim to our gratitude, that he has induced us to read Boswell's book again. As we close it, the club-room is before us, and the table on which stands 30 the omelet for Nugent, and the lemons for Johnson. There are assembled those heads which live for ever on the

*It is proper to observe that this passage bears a very close resemblance to a passage in the Rambler (No. 20). The resemblance may possibly be the effect of unconscious plagiarism.— Macaulay's Note.

canvass of Reynolds. There are the spectacles of Burke and the tall thin form of Langton, the courtly sneer of Beauclerk, and the beaming smile of Garrick, Gibbon tapping his snuff-box, and Sir Joshua with his trumpet in his ear. In the foreground is that strange figure which is as 5 familiar to us as the figures of those among whom we have been brought up, the gigantic body, the huge massy face seamed with the scars of disease, the brown coat, the black worsted stockings, the grey wig with the scorched foretop, the dirty hands, the nails bitten and pared to the quick. 10 We see the eyes and mouth moving with convulsive twitches; we see the heavy form rolling; we hear it puffing; and then comes the "Why, sir!" and the What then, sir?" and the "No, sir!" and the "You don't see your way through the question, sir!”

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15

39. What a singular destiny has been that of this remarkable man! To be regarded in his own age as a classic, and in ours as a companion. To receive from his contemporaries that full homage which men of genius have in general received only from posterity! To be more inti- 20 mately known to posterity than other men are known to their contemporaries! That king of fame which is commonly the most transient is, in his case, the most durable. The reputation of those writings, which he probably expected to be immortal, is every day fading; while those 25 peculiarities of manner and that careless table-talk, the memory of which, he probably thought, would die with him, are likely to be remembered as long as the English language is spoken in any quarter of the globe.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON.

11. Eminent English writers of the eighteenth century. See Chronological Table.

1 4. Lichfield. A clear idea of geographical relations is indispensable to an intelligent grasp of literary history; the student, therefore, should keep a map near him, and fix in mind the location of the places associated with important persons and

events.

1 11. Churchman. A member of the Established Church of England as distinguished from Nonconformists or Dissenters, i.e., the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, the Baptists, etc. For the struggle between religious parties in England, which is a long story, beginning in the reign of Henry VIII., at the time of the Reformation in Germany, see histories of England.

1 13. The sovereigns in possession were, first, William and Mary, who ascended the throne at the Revolution of 1688, which dethroned James II.; and, afterwards, Anne, who succeeded William and Mary in 1702. Some acquaintance with the political history of this period, which may be gained from any history of England, is necessary to a full understanding of the life of Johnson.

1 14. Jacobite. From "Jacobus," the Latin form of "James." An adherent of James II. after he was deposed, or of his son James Edward, the "Old Pretender"; or of his grandson Charles Edward, the " "Young Pretender ; hence, an opposer of

the Revolution of 1688.

1 15. A picture of Johnson's birthplace may be seen in G. Birkbeck Hill's edition of Boswell's Johnson.

1 26. The royal touch. It is a very old superstition that

scrofula can be cured by a touch of the sovereign's hand; hence, the disease is popularly called “the king's evil.” See Macbeth, IV., iii., and Addison's account of Sir Roger de Coverley's visit to Westminster Abbey (Lowell's edition, in this series, p. 146). Queen Anne was the last English sovereign to touch for "the evil." For more information on the subject, see Chambers's Book of Days, vol. i., pp. 82–85.

25. Her hand was applied in vain. Perhaps the father accounted for the failure, as did many Jacobites on similar occasions, by the reflection that Mary, William, and Anne were usurpers," ," and therefore could not be expected to have inherited a power which came only with “divine right” !

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2 11. A picture of the Grammar School at Lichfield, which was attended by Johnson, Garrick, and Addison, is shown in Hill's edition of Boswell's Johnson.

2 22. Attic. Attica was Athens was the principal city.

the district of Greece in which

2 26. Augustan delicacy of taste. The reign of Augustus Cæsar (B.c. 27-A.D. 14) was the golden age of Roman literature

and art.

2 27. The great public schools of England are Winchester, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Westminster, Charterhouse, Shrewsbury, St. Paul's, and Merchant Taylors', which are supported, not by taxation, like the free "public schools" of America, but by endowments and the tuition of pay scholars.

2 31. The great restorers of learning. During the "Dark Ages (A.D. 600–1200), the civilization which Rome had spread over Europe decayed, and European society fell back into a state of semi-barbarism. The term "Revival of Learning" is usually applied to the special outburst of enthusiasm for Greek and Latin literature and art which originated with Italian scholars in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and which is more properly called the "Renaissance." Foremost among the restorers of learning were Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Politian (Italy), Erasmus (Holland), Casaubon (France), and Sir Thomas

More (England).

2 33. Petrarch.

and an ardent scholar. He wrote both in Latin and in Italian, The greatest lyric poet of Italy (1304-1374), himself prizing most his Latin works; but he is

now more

famous for his beautiful Italian lyrics. See Byron's Childe Harold, canto iv., stanzas 30-34 (lines 262-306).

3 10. England has five universities: two ancient, Oxford and Cambridge; and three modern, London (1836), Durham (1837), and the Victoria University (1880).

3 13. Pembroke College. One of the twenty colleges that compose the University of Oxford. For an account of the English universities see the encyclopædias under "6 University," "Oxford," and " "Cambridge."

3 20. Macrobius. An obscure Latin author (circa 400 A.D.). 3 27. Christ Church. One of the most fashionable of the

Oxford colleges.

3 32. Gentleman commoner.

One who pays for his commons,

i.e., a student who is not dependent on any foundation for support, but pays all the university charges; corresponding, in some American schools, to a "pay scholar " as distinguished from one on a scholarship.

4 8. Pope's "Messiah." Pope's place in English literature is so important that the details of his life and work should be looked up in the encyclopædias or the histories of English literature. A good short biography will be found in the English Men of Letters Series. No poet except Shakespeare is oftener quoted. The Messiah was originally contributed to the Spectator. 6 11. Usher of a grammar school in Leicestershire. In Great Britain, " grammar schools" are those in which Latin and Greek are taught as the principal subjects of instruction. In their curricula they do not differ from the "public" schools. See note to 2 27. "Usher " means, of course, an "assistant master."

6 19. Politian (1454–1494). The friend of Lorenzo de' Medici (the great patron of Italian learning), and one of the leaders of the Italian Renaissance. See note to 2 31.

6 24. Mrs. Elizabeth Porter was twenty years older than Johnson.

6 29. The Queensberrys and Lepels. English families of high rank.

6 33. Titty. A nickname for "Elizabeth."

7 22. David Garrick. One of the greatest of English actors, equally at home in tragedy and comedy. Garrick was so promi