Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 by Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill

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This, it must be allowed, was a singular beginning of connubial
felicity; but there is no doubt that Johnson, though he thus shewed a
manly firmness, proved a most affectionate and indulgent husband to the
last moment of Mrs. Johnson's life: and in his _Prayers and
Meditations_, we find very remarkable evidence that his regard and
fondness for her never ceased, even after her death.

[Page 97: His School at Edial. AEtat 27.]

He now set up a private academy[291], for which purpose he hired a large
house, well situated near his native city. In the _Gentleman's Magazine_
for 1736, there is the following advertisement:

'At Edial, near Lichfield[292], in Staffordshire, young gentlemen are
boarded and taught the Latin and Greek languages, by SAMUEL JOHNSON.'

But the only pupils that were put under his care were the celebrated
David Garrick and his brother George, and a Mr. Offely, a young
gentleman of good fortune who died early. As yet, his name had nothing
of that celebrity which afterwards commanded the highest attention and
respect of mankind. Had such an advertisement appeared after the
publication of his _London_, or his _Rambler_, or his _Dictionary_, how
would it have burst upon the world! with what eagerness would the great
and the wealthy have embraced an opportunity of putting their sons under
the learned tuition of SAMUEL JOHNSON. The truth, however, is, that he
was not so well qualified for being a teacher of elements, and a
conductor in learning by regular gradations, as men of inferiour powers
of mind. His own acquisitions had been made by fits and starts, by
violent irruptions into the regions of knowledge; and it could not be
expected that his impatience would be subdued, and his impetuosity
restrained, so as to fit him for a quiet guide to novices. The art of
communicating instruction, of whatever kind, is much to be valued; and I
have ever thought that those who devote themselves to this employment,
and do their duty with diligence and success, are entitled to very high
respect from the community, as Johnson himself often maintained[293]. Yet
I am of opinion that the greatest abilities are not only not required
for this office, but render a man less fit for it.

[Page 98: Garrick Johnson's pupil. A.D. 1736.]

While we acknowledge the justness of Thomson's beautiful remark,

'Delightful task! to rear the tender thought,
And teach[294] the young idea how to shoot!'

we must consider that this delight is perceptible only by 'a mind at
ease,' a mind at once calm and clear; but that a mind gloomy and
impetuous like that of Johnson, cannot be fixed for any length of time
in minute attention, and must be so frequently irritated by unavoidable
slowness and errour in the advances of scholars, as to perform the duty,
with little pleasure to the teacher, and no great advantage to the
pupils[295]. Good temper is a most essential requisite in a Preceptor.
Horace paints the character as _bland_:

'... _Ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi
Doctores, elementa velint ut discere_[296].'

[Page 99: Mrs. Johnson. AEtat 27.]

Johnson was not more satisfied with his situation as the master of an
academy, than with that of the usher of a school; we need not wonder,
therefore, that he did not keep his academy above a year and a half.
From Mr. Garrick's account he did not appear to have been profoundly
reverenced by his pupils. His oddities of manner, and uncouth
gesticulations, could not but be the subject of merriment to them; and,
in particular, the young rogues used to listen at the door of his
bed-chamber, and peep through the key-hole, that they might turn into
ridicule his tumultuous and awkward fondness for Mrs. Johnson, whom he
used to name by the familiar appellation of _Tetty_ or _Tetsey_, which,
like _Betty_ or _Betsey_, is provincially used as a contraction for
_Elisabeth_, her Christian name, but which to us seems ludicrous, when
applied to a woman of her age and appearance. Mr. Garrick described her
to me as very fat, with a bosom of more than ordinary protuberance, with
swelled cheeks of a florid red, produced by thick painting, and
increased by the liberal use of cordials; flaring and fantastick in her
dress, and affected both in her speech and her general behaviour. I have
seen Garrick exhibit her, by his exquisite talent of mimickry, so as to
excite the heartiest bursts of laughter; but he, probably, as is the
case in all such representations, considerably aggravated the
picture[297].

That Johnson well knew the most proper course to be pursued in the
instruction of youth, is authentically ascertained by the following
paper[298] in his own hand-writing, given about this period to a relation,
and now in the possession of Mr. John Nichols:

'SCHEME _for the_ CLASSES _of a_ GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

'When the introduction, or formation of nouns and verbs, is perfectly
mastered, let them learn:

'Corderius by Mr. Clarke, beginning at the same time to translate out of
the introduction, that by this means they may learn the syntax. Then let
them proceed to:

'Erasmus, with an English translation, by the same authour.

'Class II. Learns Eutropius and Cornelius Nepos, or Justin, with the
translation.

'N.B. The first class gets for their part every morning the rules which
they have learned before, and in the afternoon learns the Latin rules of
the nouns and verbs.

[Page 100: A scheme of study. A.D. 1736.]

'They are examined in the rules which they have learned every Thursday
and Saturday.

'The second class does the same whilst they are in Eutropius; afterwards
their part is in the irregular nouns and verbs, and in the rules for
making and scanning verses. They are examined as the first.

'Class III. Ovid's Metamorphoses in the morning, and Caesar's
Commentaries in the afternoon.

'Practise in the Latin rules till they are perfect in them; afterwards
in Mr. Leeds's Greek Grammar. Examined as before.

'Afterwards they proceed to Virgil, beginning at the same time to write
themes and verses, and to learn Greek; from thence passing on to Horace,
&c. as shall seem most proper.

'I know not well what books to direct you to, because you have not
informed me what study you will apply yourself to. I believe it will be
most for your advantage to apply yourself wholly to the languages, till
you go to the University. The Greek authours I think it best for you to
read are these:

'Cebes.
'AElian. }
'Lucian by Leeds. } Attick.
'Xenophon. }
'Homer. Ionick.
'Theocritus. Dorick.
'Euripides. Attick and Dorick.

'Thus you will be tolerably skilled in all the dialects, beginning with
the Attick, to which the rest must be referred.

'In the study of Latin, it is proper not to read the latter authours,
till you are well versed in those of the purest ages; as Terence, Tully,
Caesar, Sallust, Nepos, Velleius Paterculus, Virgil, Horace, Phaedrus.

'The greatest and most necessary task still remains, to attain a habit
of expression, without which knowledge is of little usc. This is
necessary in Latin, and more necessary in English; and can only be
acquired by a daily imitation of the best and correctest authours.

'SAM. JOHNSON.'

While Johnson kept his academy, there can be no doubt that he was
insensibly furnishing his mind with various knowledge; but I have not
discovered that he wrote any thing except a great part of his tragedy of
_Irene_. Mr. Peter Garrick, the elder brother of David, told me that he
remembered Johnson's borrowing the _Turkish History_[299] of him, in order
to form his play from it. When he had finished some part of it, he read
what he had done to Mr. Walmsley, who objected to his having already
brought his heroine into great distress, and asked him, 'how can you
possibly contrive to plunge her into deeper calamity?' Johnson, in sly
allusion to the supposed oppressive proceedings of the court of which
Mr. Walmsley was register, replied, 'Sir, I can put her into the
Spiritual Court!'

[Page 101: Johnson tries his fortune in London. AEtat 27.]

Mr. Walmsley, however, was well pleased with this proof of Johnson's
abilities as a dramatick writer, and advised him to finish the tragedy,
and produce it on the stage.

Johnson now thought of trying his fortune in London, the great field of
genius and exertion, where talents of every kind have the fullest scope,
and the highest encouragement. It is a memorable circumstance that his
pupil David Garrick went thither at the same time[300], with intention to
complete his education, and follow the profession of the law, from which
he was soon diverted by his decided preference for the stage.

This joint expedition of those two eminent men to the metropolis, was
many years afterwards noticed in an allegorical poem on Shakspeare's
Mulberry Tree, by Mr. Lovibond, the ingenious authour of _The Tears of
Old-May-day_[301].

They were recommended to Mr. Colson[302], an eminent mathematician and
master of an academy, by the following letter from Mr. Walmsley:

[Page 102: Mr. Walmsley's Letter. A.D. 1737.]

'To THE REVEREND MR. COLSON.

'Lichfield, March 2, 1737.

'DEAR SIR,

'I had the favour of yours, and am extremely obliged to you; but I
cannot say I had a greater affection for you upon it than I had before,
being long since so much endeared to you, as well by an early
friendship, as by your many excellent and valuable qualifications; and,
had I a son of my own, it would be my ambition, instead of sending him
to the University, to dispose of him as this young gentleman is.

'He, and another neighbour of mine, one Mr. Samuel Johnson, set out this
morning for London together. Davy Garrick is to be with you early the
next week, and Mr. Johnson to try his fate with a tragedy, and to see to
get himself employed in some translation, either from the Latin or the
French. Johnson is a very good scholar and poet, and I have great hopes
will turn out a fine tragedy-writer. If it should any way lie in your
way, doubt[303] not but you would be ready to recommend and assist your
countryman.

'G. WALMSLEY.'

[Page 103: Like in London. AEtat 28.]

How he employed himself upon his first coming to London is not
particularly known[304]. I never heard that he found any protection or
encouragement by the means of Mr. Colson, to whose academy David Garrick
went. Mrs. Lucy Porter told me, that Mr. Walmsley gave him a letter of
introduction to Lintot[305] his bookseller, and that Johnson wrote some
things for him; but I imagine this to be a mistake, for I have
discovered no trace of it, and I am pretty sure he told me that Mr. Cave
was the first publisher by whom his pen was engaged in London.

He had a little money when he came to town, and he knew how he could
live in the cheapest manner. His first lodgings were at the house of Mr.
Norris, a staymaker, in Exeter-street, adjoining Catharine-street, in
the Strand. 'I dined (said he) very well for eight-pence, with very good
company, at the Pine Apple in New-street, just by. Several of them had
travelled. They expected to meet every day; but did not know one
another's names. It used to cost the rest a shilling, for they drank
wine; but I had a cut of meat for six-pence, and bread for a penny, and
gave the waiter a penny; so that I was quite well served, nay, better
than the rest, for they gave the waiter nothing[306].'

[Page 104: Abstinence from wine. A.D. 1737.]

He at this time, I believe, abstained entirely from fermented liquors: a
practice to which he rigidly conformed for many years together, at
different periods of his life[307].

[Page 105: An Irish Ofellus. AEtat 28.]

His Ofellus in the _Art of Living in London_, I have heard him relate,
was an Irish painter, whom he knew at Birmingham, and who had practised
his own precepts of oeconomy for several years in the British
capital[308]. He assured Johnson, who, I suppose, was then meditating to
try his fortune in London, but was apprehensive of the expence, 'that
thirty pounds a year was enough to enable a man to live there without
being contemptible. He allowed ten pounds for clothes and linen. He said
a man might live in a garret at eighteen-pence a week; few people would
inquire where he lodged; and if they did, it was easy to say, 'Sir, I am
to be found at such a place.' By spending three-pence in a coffee-house,
he might be for some hours every day in very good company; he might dine
for six-pence, breakfast on bread and milk for a penny, and do without
supper. On _clean-shirt-day_ he went abroad, and paid visits.' I have
heard him more than once talk of this frugal friend, whom he recollected
with esteem and kindness, and did not like to have one smile at the
recital. 'This man (said he, gravely) was a very sensible man, who
perfectly understood common affairs: a man of a great deal of knowledge
of the world, fresh from life, not strained through books[309]. He
borrowed a horse and ten pounds at Birmingham. Finding himself master of
so much money, he set off for West Chester[310], in order to get to
Ireland. He returned the horse, and probably the ten pounds too, after
he got home.'

[Page 106: Mr. Henry Hervey. A.D. 1737.]

Considering Johnson's narrow circumstances in the early part of his
life, and particularly at the interesting aera of his launching into the
ocean of London, it is not to be wondered at, that an actual instance,
proved by experience of the possibility of enjoying the intellectual
luxury of social life, upon a very small income, should deeply engage
his attention, and be ever recollected by him as a circumstance of much
importance. He amused himself, I remember, by computing how much more
expence was absolutely necessary to live upon the same scale with that
which his friend described, when the value of money was diminished by
the progress of commerce. It maybe estimated that double the money might
now with difficulty be sufficient.

Amidst this cold obscurity, there was one brilliant circumstance to
cheer him; he was well acquainted with Mr. Henry Hervey[311], one of the
branches of the noble family of that name, who had been quartered at
Lichfield as an officer of the army, and had at this time a house in
London, where Johnson was frequently entertained, and had an opportunity
of meeting genteel company. Not very long before his death, he mentioned
this, among other particulars of his life, which he was kindly
communicating to me; and he described this early friend, 'Harry Hervey,'
thus: 'He was a vicious man, but very kind to me. If you call a dog
HERVEY, I shall love him.'

He told me he had now written only three acts of his _Irene_, and that
he retired for some time to lodgings at Greenwich, where he proceeded in
it somewhat further, and used to compose, walking in the Park[312]; but
did not stay long enough at that place to finish it.

At this period we find the following letter from him to Mr. Edward Cave,
which, as a link in the chain of his literary history, it is proper to
insert:

[Page 107: Johnson returns to Lichfield. AEtat 28.]

'To MR. CAVE.

'Greenwich, next door to the Golden Heart,
'Church-street, July 12, 1737.

'SIR,

'Having observed in your papers very uncommon offers of encouragement to
men of letters, I have chosen, being a stranger in London, to
communicate to you the following design, which, I hope, if you join in
it, will be of advantage to both of us.

'The History of the Council of Trent having been lately translated into
French, and published with large Notes by Dr. Le Courayer[313], the
reputation of that book is so much revived in England, that, it is
presumed, a new translation of it from the Italian, together with Le
Courayer's Notes from the French, could not fail of a favourable
reception.

'If it be answered, that the History is already in English, it must be
remembered, that there was the same objection against Le Courayer's
undertaking, with this disadvantage, that the French had a version by
one of their best translators, whereas you cannot read three pages of
the English History without discovering that the style is capable of
great improvements; but whether those improvements are to be expected
from the attempt, you must judge from the specimen, which, if you
approve the proposal, I shall submit to your examination.

'Suppose the merit of the versions equal, we may hope that the addition
of the Notes will turn the balance in our favour, considering the
reputation of the Annotator.

'Be pleased to favour me with a speedy answer, if you are not willing to
engage in this scheme; and appoint me a day to wait upon you, if you
are.

'I am, Sir,

'Your humble servant,

'SAM. JOHNSON.'

It should seem from this letter, though subscribed with his own name,
that he had not yet been introduced to Mr. Cave. We shall presently see
what was done in consequence of the proposal which it contains.

[Page 108: Irene. A.D. 1737.]

In the course of the summer he returned to Lichfield, where he had left
Mrs. Johnson, and there he at last finished his tragedy, which was not
executed with his rapidity of composition upon other occasions, but was
slowly and painfully elaborated. A few days before his death, while
burning a great mass of papers, he picked out from among them the
original unformed sketch of this tragedy, in his own hand-writing, and
gave it to Mr. Langton, by whose favour a copy of it is now in my
possession. It contains fragments of the intended plot, and speeches for
the different persons of the drama, partly in the raw materials of
prose, partly worked up into verse; as also a variety of hints for
illustration, borrowed from the Greek, Roman, and modern writers. The
hand-writing is very difficult to be read, even by those who were best
acquainted with Johnson's mode of penmanship, which at all times was
very particular. The King having graciously accepted of this manuscript
as a literary curiosity, Mr. Langton made a fair and distinct copy of
it, which he ordered to be bound up with the original and the printed
tragedy; and the volume is deposited in the King's library[314]. His
Majesty was pleased to permit Mr. Langton to take a copy of it for
himself.

The whole of it is rich in thought and imagery, and happy expressions;
and of the _disjecta membra_[315] scattered throughout, and as yet
unarranged, a good dramatick poet might avail himself with considerable
advantage. I shall give my readers some specimens of different kinds,
distinguishing them by the Italick character.

'Nor think to say, here will I stop,
Here will I fix the limits of transgression,
Nor farther tempt the avenging rage of heaven.
When guilt like this once harbours in the breast,
Those holy beings, whose unseen direction
Guides through the maze of life the steps of man,
Fly the detested mansions of impiety,
And quit their charge to horrour and to ruin.'

A small part only of this interesting admonition is preserved in the
play, and is varied, I think, not to advantage:

'The soul once tainted with so foul a crime,
No more shall glow with friendship's hallow'd ardour,
Those holy beings whose superior care
Guides erring mortals to the paths of virtue,
Affrighted at impiety like thine,
Resign their charge to baseness and to ruin[316].'
'_I feel the soft infection
Flush in my cheek, and wander in my veins.
Teach me the Grecian arts of soft persuasion.'

'Sure this is love, which heretofore I conceived the dream of idle
maids, and wanton poets.'

'Though no comets or prodigies foretold the ruin of Greece, signs which
heaven must by another miracle enable us to understand, yet might it be
foreshewn, by tokens no less certain, by the vices which always bring it
on_.'

This last passage is worked up in the tragedy itself, as follows:

LEONTIUS.

'----That power that kindly spreads
The clouds, a signal of impending showers,
To warn the wand'ring linnet to the shade,
Beheld, without concern, expiring Greece,
And not one prodigy foretold our fate.

DEMETRIUS.

'A thousand horrid prodigies foretold it;
A feeble government, eluded laws,
A factious populace, luxurious nobles,
And all the maladies of sinking States.
When publick villainy, too strong for justice,
Shows his bold front, the harbinger of ruin,
Can brave Leontius call for airy wonders,
Which cheats interpret, and which fools regard?
When some neglected fabrick nods beneath
The weight of years, and totters to the tempest,
Must heaven despatch the messengers of light,
Or wake the dead, to warn us of its fall[317]?'

MAHOMET (to IRENE). 'I have tried thee, and joy to find that thou
deservest to be loved by Mahomet,--with a mind great as his own. Sure,
thou art an errour of nature, and an exception to the rest of thy sex,
and art immortal; for sentiments like thine were never to sink into
nothing. I thought all the thoughts of the fair had been to select the
graces of the day, dispose the colours of the flaunting (flowing) robe,
tune the voice and roll the eye, place the gem, choose the dress, and
add new roses to the fading cheek, but--sparkling.'

[Page 110: Johnson settles in London. A.D. 1737.]

Thus in the tragedy:

'Illustrious maid, new wonders fix me thine;
Thy soul completes the triumphs of thy face:
I thought, forgive my fair, the noblest aim,
The strongest effort of a female soul
Was but to choose the graces of the day,
To tune the tongue, to teach the eyes to roll,
Dispose the colours of the flowing robe,
And add new roses to the faded cheek[318].'

I shall select one other passage, on account of the doctrine which it
illustrates. IRENE observes,

'That the Supreme Being will accept of virtue, whatever outward
circumstances it may be accompanied with, and may be delighted with
varieties of worship: _but is answered_, that variety cannot affect that
Being, who, infinitely happy in his own perfections, wants no external
gratifications; nor can infinite truth be delighted with falsehood; that
though he may guide or pity those he leaves in darkness, he abandons
those who shut their eyes against the beams of day.'

Johnson's residence at Lichfield, on his return to it at this time, was
only for three months; and as he had as yet seen but a small part of the
wonders of the Metropolis, he had little to tell his townsmen. He
related to me the following minute anecdote of this period: 'In the last
age, when my mother lived in London, there were two sets of people,
those who gave the wall, and those who took it; the peaceable and the
quarrelsome. When I returned to Lichfield, after having been in London,
my mother asked me, whether I was one of those who gave the wall, or
those who took it. _Now_ it is fixed that every man keeps to the right;
or, if one is taking the wall, another yields it; and it is never a
dispute[319].'

He now removed to London with Mrs. Johnson; but her daughter, who had
lived with them at Edial, was left with her relations in the country[320].
His lodgings were for some time in Woodstock-street, near
Hanover-square, and afterwards in Castle-street, near Cavendish-square.
As there is something pleasingly interesting, to many, in tracing so
great a man through all his different habitations, I shall, before this
work is concluded, present my readers with an exact list of his lodgings
and houses, in order of time, which, in placid condescension to my
respectful curiosity, he one evening dictated to me[321], but without
specifying how long he lived at each. In the progress of his life I
shall have occasion to mention some of them as connected with particular
incidents, or with the writing of particular parts of his works. To
some, this minute attention may appear trifling; but when we consider
the punctilious exactness with which the different houses in which
Milton resided have been traced by the writers of his life, a similar
enthusiasm may be pardoned in the biographer of Johnson.

[Page 111: The Gentleman's Magazine. AEtat 28.]

His tragedy being by this time, as he thought, completely finished and
fit for the stage, he was very desirous that it should be brought
forward. Mr. Peter Garrick told me, that Johnson and he went together to
the Fountain tavern, and read it over, and that he afterwards solicited
Mr. Fleetwood, the patentee of Drury-lane theatre, to have it acted at
his house; but Mr. Fleetwood would not accept it, probably because it
was not patronized by some man of high rank[322]; and it was not acted
till 1749, when his friend David Garrick was manager of that theatre.

_The Gentleman's Magazine_, begun and carried on by Mr. Edward Cave,
under the name of SYLVANUS URBAN[323], had attracted the notice and esteem
of Johnson, in an eminent degree, before he came to London as an
adventurer in literature. He told me, that when he first saw St. John's
Gate, the place where that deservedly popular miscellany[324] was
originally printed, he 'beheld it with reverence[325].' I suppose, indeed,
that every young authour has had the same kind of feeling for the
magazine or periodical publication which has first entertained him, and
in which he has first had an opportunity to see himself in print,
without the risk of exposing his name. I myself recollect such
impressions from '_The Scots Magazine_,' which was begun at Edinburgh in
the year 1739, and has been ever conducted with judgement, accuracy, and
propriety. I yet cannot help thinking of it with an affectionate regard.
Johnson has dignified the _Gentleman's Magazine_, by the importance with
which he invests the life of Cave; but he has given it still greater
lustre by the various admirable Essays which he wrote for it.