be in Parliament, Sir." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, unless you come resolved to support any administration, you would be the worse for being in Parliament, because you would be obliged to live more expensively." BOSWELL. "Perhaps, Sir, I should be the less happy for being in Parliament. I never would sell my vote, and I should be vexed if things went wrong." JOHNSON. "That's cant, Sir. It would not vex you more in the house, than in the gallery. Publick affairs vex no man." BOSWELL. "Have not they vexed yourself a little, Sir? Have not you been vexed by all the turbulence of this reign, and by that absurd vote of the House of Commons, That the influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished?'" JOHNSON. "Sir, I have never slept an hour less, nor eat an ounce less meat. I would have knocked the factious dogs on the head, to be sure; but I was not vexed.” BOSWELL "I declare, Sir, upon my honour, I did imagine I was vexed, and took a pride in it. But it was, perhaps, cant; for I own I neither eat less nor slept less." JOHNSON. "My dear friend, clear your mind of cant. You may talk as other people do. You may say to a man, 'Sir, I am your most humble servant.' are not his most humble servant. You may say, 'These are sad times; it is a melancholy thing to be reserved to such times.' You don't mind the times. You tell a man, I am sorry you had such bad weather the last day of your journey, and were so much wet.' You don't care six-pence whether he was wet or dry. You may talk in this manner; it is a mode of talking in Society but don't think foolishly." You I talked of living in the country. JOHNSON. "Don't set up for what is called hospitality; it is a waste of time, and a waste of money; you are eat up, and not the more respected for your liberality. If your house be like an inn, nobody cares for you. A man who stays a week with another, makes him a slave for a week." BOSWELL. "But there are people, Sir, who make their houses a home to their guests, and are themselves quite easy." JOHNSON. "Then, Sir, home must be the same to the guests, and they need not come." Here he discovered a notion common enough in persons not much accustomed to entertain company; that there must be a degree of elaborate attention otherwise company will think themselves neglected; and such attention is no doubt very fatiguing. He proceeded, "I would not, however, be a stranger in my own county; I would visit my neighbours, and receive their visits; but I would not be in haste to return visits. If a gentleman comes to see me, I tell him he does me a great deal of honour. I do not go to see him perhaps for ten weeks, then we are very complaisant to each other. No, Sir, you will have much more influence by giving or lending money where it is wanted, than by hospitality." On Saturday, May 17, I saw him for a short time. Having mentioned that I had that morning been with old Mr. Sheridan, he remembered their former intimacy with a cordial warmth, and said to me, "Tell Mr. Sheridan, I shall be glad to see him and shake hands with him."1 BOSWELL. "It is to me very wonderful that resentment should be kept up so long." JOHNSON. “Why, Sir, it is not altogether resentment that he does not visit me; it is partly falling out of the habit-partly disgust, as one has at a drug that has made him sick. Besides, he knows that I laugh at his oratory." Another day I spoke of one of our friends, of whom he, as well as I, had a very high opinion. He expatiated in his praise; but added, "Sir, he is a cursed Whig, a bottomless Whig, as they all are now." I mentioned my expectations from the interest of an eminent person then in power; adding, "but I have no claim but the claim of friendship. However, some people will go a great way from 1 This was one of the earliest of these little acts of reparation which mark the tenderness of Johnson's character. His death was not far off, and he was setting his house in order. As we to 2 Not Lord Mountstuart, as Mr. Croker speculates, but Mr. Burke, who had just been appointed to the Pay Office. have seen, Boswell was hoping for advancement through his interest. There were so "many eminent persons' whom Boswell was looking for interest and promotion that it sometimes becomes difficult to discover who was his special patron. Lords Eglington, Marchmont, Thurlow, and Mountstuart "my Maecenas ;" and, finally, Mr. Pitt and Lord Lonsdale were his chief patrons. As he took up each of these he became rapturous in their public praise. He thus says of Lonsdale-"Let not the Scottish spirit be bowed; let Lowther come forth and support us! We are his neighbours, Paries proximus ardet. We all know what he can do: He upon whom the thousands of Whitehaven depend for three of the elements: He whose soul is all great-whose resentment is terrible: but whose liberality is boundless. know that he is dignified by having hosts of enemies. But I have fixed his character in my mind upon no slight I enquiry. I have traversed Cumberland and Westmoreland: I have sojourned at Carlisle and at Kendal: I know of the Lonsdale Club at Lancaster-Lowther i be kindly entreated! come over to Macedonia and help us.'"-Letter to People of Scotland.) Lord Lonsdale every day showed him more and more regard, and three of his friends assured Mr. Boswell that he might expect a seat in Parliament from his interest. Such patronage promised well, and he received some stately congratulations from Bishop Percy on the enjoyment of such favour. To this important nobleman, who "when he pleased, had great power in any administration," Mr. Boswell was later indebted for the Recordership of Carlisle. It will be worth while seeing how disastrously this connection ended for poor Mr. Boswell. that motive." JOHNSON. "Sir, they will go all the way from that motive." A gentleman talked of retiring. "Never think of that," said Johnson. The gentleman urged, "I should then do no ill." JOHNSON. "Nor no good either. Sir, it would be a civil suicide." On Monday, May 26, I found him at tea, and the celebrated Miss Burney, the authour of "Evelina and Cecilia" with him. I asked if there would be any speakers in parliament, if there were no places to be obtained? JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir. "Yes, Sir. Why do you speak here? Either to instruct and entertain, which is a benevolent motive; or for distinction, which is a selfish motive." I mentioned "Cecilia." JOHNSON. (with an air of animated satisfaction) "Sir, if you talk of 'Cecilia,' talk on." We talked of Mr. Barry's exhibition of his pictures. JOHNSON. "Whatever the hand may have done, the mind has done its part. There is a grasp of mind there which you find no where else." a I asked whether a man naturally virtuous, or one who has overcome wicked inclinations is the best. JOHNSON. "Sir, to you, the man who has overcome wicked inclinations is not the best. He has more merit to himself. I would rather trust my money to a man who has no hands, and so a physical impossibility to steal, than to a man of the most honest principles. There is a witty * In Mr. Barry's printed analysis, or description of these pictures, he speaks of Johnson's character in the highest terms. and said, 'I suppose you thought I was to bring you into Parliament; I never had any such intention.' In short he expressed himself in the most degrading manner, in presence of a low man from Carlisle, and one of his menial servants! The miserable state of low spirits I had, as you too well know, laboured under for some time before, made me almost sink under such unexpected insulting behaviour. He insisted rigorously on my having solicited the office of Recorder of Carlisle; and that I could not, without using him ill, resign it, until the duties which were now required of it were fulfilled, and without a sufficient time being given for the election of a successor. Thus was I dragged away, as wretched as a convict; and in my fretfulness I used such expressions as irritated him almost to fury, so that he used such expressions towards me that I should have, according to the irrational laws of honour sanctioned by the world, been under the necessity of risking my life, had not an explanation taken place. This happened during the first stage. The rest of the journey was barely tolerable we got to Lancaster on Saturday night, and there I left him to the turmoil of a desperate attempt in electioneering. I proceeded to Carlisle last night, and today have been signing orders as to poor's-rates. I am alone at an inn, in wretched spirits, and ashamed and sunk on account of the disappointment of hopes, which led me to endure such grievances. I deserve all that I suffer. I am quite in a fever. O my old and most intimate friend, what a shocking state am I now reduced to! I entreat of you, if you possibly can, to afford me some consolation, directed to me here, and pray do not divulge my mortification. I will endeavour to appear indifferent; and, as I now resign my Recordership, I shall gradually get rid of all communication with this brutal fellow... "Ever most affectionately yours, satirical story of Foote. He had a small bust of Garrick placed upon his bureau. 'You may be surprized (said he) that I allow him to be so near my gold; but you will observe he has no hands,"" On Friday, May 29, being to set out for Scotland next morning, I passed a part of the day with him in more than usual earnestness; as his health was in a more precarious state than at any time when I had parted from him. He however was quick and lively, and critical as usual. I mentioned one who was a very learned man. JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir, he has a great deal of learning; but it never lies straight. There is never one idea by the side of another; 'dis all entangled: and then he drives it so aukwardly upon conversation." I stated to him an anxious thought, by which a sincere Christian might be disturbed, even when conscious of having lived a good life, so far as is consistent with human infirmity; he might fear that he should afterwards fall away, and be guilty of such crimes as would render all his former religion vain. "Could there be, upon this aweful subject, such a thing as balancing of accounts? Suppose a man who has led a good life for seven years, commits an act of wickedness, and instantly dies; will his former good life have any effect in his favour?" JOHNSON. "Sir, if a man has led a good life for seven years, and then is hurried by passion to do what is wrong, and is suddenly carried off, depend upon it he will have the reward of his seven years' good life; GOD will not take a catch of him. Upon this principle Richard Baxter believes, that a Suicide may be saved. If (says he) it should be objected that what I maintain may encourage suicide, I answer, I am not to tell a lie to prevent it.'” BOSWELL. "But does not the text say, 'As the tree falls, so it must lye?'" JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir; as the tree falls. But (after a little pause)—that is meant as to the general state of the tree, not what is the effect of a sudden blast." In short, he interpreted the expression as referring to condition, not to position. The common notion, therefore, seems to be erroneous; and Shenstone's witty remark on Divines trying to give the tree a jerk upon a death-bed, to make it lye favourably, is not well founded. I asked him what works of Richard Baxter's I should read. said, "Read any of them; they are all good." He He said, "Get as much force of mind as you can. Live within your income. Always have something saved at the end of the year. Let your imports be more than your exports, and you'll never go far wrong.” I assured him, that in the extensive and various range of his acquaintance there never had been any one who had a more sincere respect and affection for him than I had. He said, "I believe it, Sir. Were I in distress, there is no man to whom I should sooner come than to you. I should like to come and have a cottage in your park, toddle about, live mostly on milk, and be taken care of by Mrs, Boswell. She and I are good friends now; are we not?" Talking of devotion, he said, "Though it be true that 'GOD. dwelleth not in temples made with hands,' yet in this state of being our minds are more piously affected in places appropriated to divine worship, than in others. Some people have a particular room in their house where they say their prayers, of which I do not disapprove, as it may animate their devotion." He embraced me, and gave me his blessing, as usual when I was leaving him for any length of time. I walked from his door today with a fearful apprehension of what might happen before I returned. To the Right Honourable WILLIAM WINDHAM. “SIR,-The bringer of this letter is the father of Miss Philips, a singer, who comes to try her voice on the stage at Dublin. "Mr. Philips is one of my old friends; and as I am of opinion that neither he nor his daughter will do any thing that can disgrace their benefactors, I take the liberty of entreating you to countenance and protect them so far as may be suitable to your station and character; and shall consider myself as obliged by any favourable notice which they shall have the honour of receiving from you. I am, Sir, your most humble servant, "London, May 31, 1783." "SAM. JOHNSON. The following is another instance of his active benevolence: To Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS. "DEAR SIR,-I have sent you some of my god-son's performances, of which I do not pretend to form any opinion. When I took the liberty of mentioning him to you, I did not know what I have since been told, that Mr. Moser had admitted him among the Cor. et Ad.-Line 18: On "Philips" put the following note :- "Now the celebrated Mrs. Crouch." Ibid.-Line 23: On "station " put the following note:-" Mr. Windham was at this time in Dublin, Secretary to the Earl of Northington, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland." -"Young Paterson, the Ibid.-Line 31: On "god-son's" put the following note :son of Mr. Samuel Paterson." |