sought his fortune on a different arena, had fate so, ordained it. In conversation he was full of anec-. dote and humour; he delighted in society, and was the life of it. But on grave occasions, Mr. Turner could be grave. He never forgot the dignity of the clerical character, and the duties which his sacred office imposed upon him; and in maintaining the integrity and purity of the Established Church, or in opposing any innovations upon it, no man was more zealous. Nor was his zeal less conspicuous in his loyalty to his Sovereign, and his attachment to the glorious Constitution under which we live, and which he never failed, when the. opportunity presented itself, to defend, both in conversation and in writing, with an earnestness and uncompromising spirit, which proved how much his heart and soul were devoted to the subject. His literary attainments were considerable. Besides a thorough knowledge of the Latin and Greek classics, his reading was extensive; and being blessed with a remarkably retentive memory, he acquired very general information on all subjects connected with literature. Though unacquainted with the Hebrew (which he often lamented) yet when engaged on the "Songs of Solyma," he would, by the aid of dictionaries and commentaries, and through the assistance of literary friends, dive into biblical learning, and examine difficult passages, even in the original language, with much critical acumen. In the retirement which the seclusion of a country life imposed upon him, he relieved many a heavy hour by his literary pursuits; and the volumes of manuscripts he left behind him, besides his few published works, attest how much of his time and attention was devoted to these subjects. Mr. Turner died in Dorset-place, Mary-le-bone, May 18, 1826, in his $7th year, leaving a son and daughter, three grandchildren, and two great-grand children surviving him. His eldest son, William, who had embraced the military profession, and was a Captain in the 81st regiment, sacrificed his life in the cause of his country, early in the war. 1. Rev. B. N. TURNER to Mr. NICHOLS. "Denton, near Grantham, July 11, 1799. "I have taken the liberty of sending the inclosed for the reason which is there expressed. I thought it might as well be addressed in the third person; and I have signed it 'an old Correspondent,' which indeed I am. But as this signature may perhaps belong to some known correspondent of yours, you may alter it to any initials, such as ' A. B.' &c. or, if you please, to 'Anti-jacobin,' a title perhaps not yet used in your Miscellany, and to which I have some right, as I believe I was one of the first, if not the very first, Anti-jacobin in the kingdom, as might perhaps be proved by Essays in the Gentleman's Magazine so far back as the years 1776 and 1777, long before the name had a meaning. If you approve of the article I now send, I should be obliged to you to insert it in the present month*, or at least in the next; and I may have an opportunity of pointing it out to my old friend the Bishop of Cloyne, to whom I have already written something on the subject. Should you have any objection to publishing it, I will thank you to return it to my son, J. Turner, Esq. No. 3, Essex-court, Temple. "I am still in a state of uncertainty with respect to the Second Part of the Infant Institutes; I should be glad, therefore, if your Reviewer could make it convenient to notice the First Part soon. I am afraid that from the title, some have been led to fancy it only a book for children, though it is in fact a political satire; and was meant, I am sure, not merely to amuse, but to do good, if it should succeed. "I find you have been engraving for your History of Leicestershire, some of the Fossil-fish belonging to my brother-in-law William Easton, of Barrow. If I could have the pleasure of seeing either yourself or Mr. Pridden here, I have a little Museum in which are some things that might be worth engraving, though not for the History of Leicestershire, yet for the Gentleman's Magazine. Amongst others I have a petrefaction of a skeleton of probably some quadruped, about three feet and a half long and two feet broad, which I believe cannot any where be matched. Your obedient servant, B. N. TURNER." *The article appears not to have been inserted. 2. Johnsonian Letter the First, addressed to the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. "MR. EDITOR, Denton, Lincolnshire, Oct. 17, 1818. "To specify the reasons why the following communication has been so long delayed, might be difficult in itself, and certainly is not of the smallest importance. Suffice it to own myself in your debt ever since the year 1814, for an elucidation of a note to one of the Letters on Etymology in your two first volumes, of which I acknowledge myself the author, under the assumed name of Humfree Tellfair. The note in question (see vol. II. p. 525) is as follows: Johnson-Farmer. Though liberties have been here taken with the former of these great men, yet the writer of these papers knew him well, which is the same thing as saying, loved and revered him. Early in 1765 he had the singular happiness of introducing these two literary luminaries, to their first personal interview, at Emanuel-college, Cambridge, and of enjoying the intellectual banquets that ensued, especially that attempted to be described by Dr. Sharp, of Bene't, in the Gentleman's Magazine for March of that year *.' After almost despairing for some time of being able to send you a narrative of Johnson's journey to Cambridge, worthy of your acceptance, I now hope, through the assistance of a dear and very old friend, to transmit you something not derogatory to its illustrious subject. The gentleman here alluded to is the Rev. J. Lettice, then Fellow of Sidney-college, (since Rector of Peasmarsh, Sussex,) of whose merits, as a writer, the public is already well apprized, and whom, in the following narrative, I shall always mention as my friend. "My first introduction to Dr. Johnson was owing to the following circumstance. My friend and I had agreed upon attempting a new taanslation of Plutarch's Lives; but previously, as I was just then going to town, my friend wished me to consult Johnson about it, with whom he himself was well acquainted. In consequence, when in town, I procured an interview with Levett †, who willingly next morning introduced It was certainly written to some friend at that time, but it appears not to have found its way into the Gentleman's Magazine until twenty years afterwards, viz. in March 1785. + Dr. Levett, as he was called, was a native of Hull, and in early life became a waiter in a coffee-house at Paris. The surgeons who frequented it, finding him attentive to their conversation, raised a subscription for him among themselves, and gave him some instructions in anatomy. He also obtained by the same means admission to the lectures on medicine, and thus was enabled to set up for himself; but whether he ever took any degree is uncertain. The rest of his life also is unknown, till he became acquainted with Johnson, who made him his domestic physician, gave him apartments in his house, and treated him with great kindness. After breakfasting with the Doctor, he usually went round among his patients, then attended Hunter's lectures, and returned at night. "All his physical knowledge," said Johnson, "and it is not me to breakfast with the great man. His residence was then in some old fashioned rooms called, I think, Inner Temple-lane, No. 1. At the top of a few steps the door opened into a dark and dingy looking old wainscotted anti-room, through which was the study, and into which, a little before noon, came rolling, as if just roused from his cabin, the truly uncouth figure of our literary Colossus, in a strange black wig, too little for him by half, but which, before our next interview, was exchanged for that very respectable brown one in which his friend, Sir Joshua, so faithfully depicted him. I am glad, however, I saw the queer black bob, as his biographers have noticed it, and as it proved that the lustre of native genius can break through the most disfiguring habiliments. He seemed pleased to see a young Cantab in his rooms, and on my acquainting him with the business on which I had taken the liberty of consulting him, he rather encouraged our undertaking than otherwise; though after working at it for a few months we found the work too tedious and incompatible with other pursuits, and were obliged to relinquish it. After this, the great man questioned me about Cambridge, and whatever regarded literature, and attended to my answers with great complacency. The situation of these apartments I well remember. I called once more before I left town, but the Doctor was absent, and when Francis Barber, his black servant, opened the door to tell me so, a group of his African countrymen were sitting round a fire in the gloomy anti-room; and on their all turning their sooty faces at once to stare at me, they presented a curious spectacle. I repeatedly afterwards visited him, both in Johnson's-court and Bolt-court. "Though I meant at first to confine myself solely to his Cambridge excursion, yet, that we may not lose, as Garrick says, one drop of this immortal man,' permit me to say a few words respecting these different calls. When alone he sometimes asked me to take tea with him; and I can truly say, that I never found him morose or overbearing, though I freely contradicted him, with which he seemed pleased, and in order to lead a young man into a sort of controversy or discussion, he would now and then advance what he did not think. He has been aptly compared to a ghost, as he would seldom speak first, but would sit liberating in his chair till a question was asked, upon which he would promptly and fluently dilate. The reason for this seems, as a first-rate genius, who feels himself equally preinconsiderable, was obtained through the ear. Though he buys books, he seldom looks into them, or discovers any power hy which he can be supposed to judge of an author's merit." Before be became an inmate of the Doctor's, he married a common strumpet, who passed herself off upon him as a heiress, while he did the same upon her as a physician of great practice. They were separated by the intervention of Johnson, with whom Levett resided above twenty years, and died at his house, January 1782. His memory was honoured by his old patron, with a poetical tribute of affection. pared to discuss whatever subject may be started, must deem it, more to his own honour that he should not chuse the topic him-, self. When I saw the Doctor again, after we had given up Plutarch, I told him that my friend and Professor Martyn had undertaken to give an edition in English, with the plates, of the Herculaneum Antiquities. Johnson. They don't know what they have undertaken; the engravers will drive them mad, Sir.', And this, perhaps, with other reasons, might prevent their executing more than one volume. At another time he said, 'That Mr. Farmer, of your College, is a very clever man indeed, Sir.' And on my asking him whether he knew the fact with respect to the learning of Shakspeare, before that gentleman's publication? Johnson. Why, yes, Sir, I knew in general that the ' fact was as he represents it; but I did not know it, as Mr. Farmer has now taught it me, by detail, Sir.' I was several times the bearer of messages between them; and my suggesting and ' expressing a hope that we should some time or other have the pleasure of seeing him at Cambridge, when I should be most happy to introduce them to each other, might somewhat conduce to his taking the journey I am about to describe. The last time I called upon him was long after the Cambridge visit, and I found with him Mr. Strahan, his son the Vicar of Islington †, and two or three other gentlemen, one of *The Rev. Thomas Martyn, Fellow of Sidney-college, and Botanical Professor at Cambridge. See vol. V. of this Work, p. 752. † George Strahan, D. D. was the second of the three sons of the eminent printer, William Strahan, Esq. M. P. and elder brother to Andrew Strahan, Esq. M. P. Printer to the King; see the "Literary Anecdotes," vol. III. p. 397. He was educated at University-college, Oxford, where he was contemporary with the two celebrated brothers, Lord Stowell and Lord Chancellor Eldon; and through a long life enjoyed the honour of their friendship. He took the degree of M. A. April 17, 1771; and the degrees of B. and D. D. as a Grand Compounder, June 18, 1807. He was presented to the Vicarage of Islington in 1772; to the Rectory of Little Thurrock in Essex in 1783 (which he afterwards resigned); and of Cranham in the same county, by dispensation, in 1786 (also afterwards resigned). In 1805 he was elected one of the Prebendaries of Rochester; and by the Dean and Chapter of that Cathedral was presented, in 1820, to the Rectory of Kingsdown in Kent.-The most interesting feature in Dr. Strahan's life, was his close intimacy with Dr. Samuel Johnson. Between the father of Dr. Strahan and Dr. Johnson, there existed a long and sincere friendship, which was extended by the good Doctor to the young divine, to whom in early life he shewed the strongest mark of affection, and who was, during Dr. Johnson's last ill |