Boswell's Life of Johnson
prosperous state than himself, and whose talents he undoubtedly rated
low, compared with his own. His being outstripped by his pupil in the
race of immediate fame, as well as of fortune, probably made him feel
some indignation, as thinking that whatever might be Garrick's merits
in his art, the reward was too great when compared with what the most
successful efforts of literary labour could attain. At all periods of
his life Johnson used to talk contemptuously of players; but in this
work he speaks of them with peculiar acrimony; for which, perhaps, there
was formerly too much reason from the licentious and dissolute manners
of those engaged in that profession. It is but justice to add, that in
our own time such a change has taken place, that there is no longer room
for such an unfavourable distinction.
His schoolfellow and friend, Dr. Taylor, told me a pleasant anecdote of
Johnson's triumphing over his pupil David Garrick. When that great actor
had played some little time at Goodman's fields, Johnson and Taylor went
to see him perform, and afterwards passed the evening at a tavern with
him and old Giffard. Johnson, who was ever depreciating stage-players,
after censuring some mistakes in emphasis which Garrick had committed in
the course of that night's acting, said, 'The players, Sir, have got
a kind of rant, with which they run on, without any regard either to
accent or emphasis.' Both Garrick and Giffard were offended at this
sarcasm, and endeavoured to refute it; upon which Johnson rejoined,
'Well now, I'll give you something to speak, with which you are little
acquainted, and then we shall see how just my observation is. That shall
be the criterion. Let me hear you repeat the ninth Commandment, "Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."' Both tried at it,
said Dr. Taylor, and both mistook the emphasis, which should be upon not
and false witness. Johnson put them right, and enjoyed his victory with
great glee.
Johnson's partiality for Savage made him entertain no doubt of his
story, however extraordinary and improbable. It never occurred to him
to question his being the son of the Countess of Macclesfield, of whose
unrelenting barbarity he so loudly complained, and the particulars of
which are related in so strong and affecting a manner in Johnson's
life of him. Johnson was certainly well warranted in publishing his
narrative, however offensive it might be to the lady and her relations,
because her alledged unnatural and cruel conduct to her son, and
shameful avowal of guilt, were stated in a Life of Savage now lying
before me, which came out so early as 1727, and no attempt had been made
to confute it, or to punish the authour or printer as a libeller: but
for the honour of human nature, we should be glad to find the shocking
tale not true; and, from a respectable gentleman connected with the
lady's family, I have received such information and remarks, as
joined to my own inquiries, will, I think, render it at least somewhat
doubtful, especially when we consider that it must have originated from
the person himself who went by the name of Richard Savage.
1746: AETAT. 37.]--It is somewhat curious, that his literary career
appears to have been almost totally suspended in the years 1745 and
1746, those years which were marked by a civil war in Great-Britain,
when a rash attempt was made to restore the House of Stuart to the
throne. That he had a tenderness for that unfortunate House, is well
known; and some may fancifully imagine, that a sympathetick anxiety
impeded the exertion of his intellectual powers: but I am inclined to
think, that he was, during this time, sketching the outlines of his
great philological work.
1747: AETAT. 38.]--This year his old pupil and friend, David Garrick,
having become joint patentee and manager of Drury-lane theatre, Johnson
honoured his opening of it with a Prologue, which for just and manly
dramatick criticism, on the whole range of the English stage, as well as
for poetical excellence, is unrivalled. Like the celebrated Epilogue to
the Distressed Mother, it was, during the season, often called for by
the audience.
But the year 1747 is distinguished as the epoch, when Johnson's
arduous and important work, his DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, was
announced to the world, by the publication of its Plan or Prospectus.
How long this immense undertaking had been the object of his
contemplation, I do not know. I once asked him by what means he had
attained to that astonishing knowledge of our language, by which he was
enabled to realise a design of such extent, and accumulated difficulty.
He told me, that 'it was not the effect of particular study; but that it
had grown up in his mind insensibly.' I have been informed by Mr. James
Dodsley, that several years before this period, when Johnson was one day
sitting in his brother Robert's shop, he heard his brother suggest to
him, that a Dictionary of the English Language would be a work that
would be well received by the publick; that Johnson seemed at first
to catch at the proposition, but, after a pause, said, in his abrupt
decisive manner, 'I believe I shall not undertake it.' That he, however,
had bestowed much thought upon the subject, before he published his
Plan, is evident from the enlarged, clear, and accurate views which it
exhibits; and we find him mentioning in that tract, that many of the
writers whose testimonies were to be produced as authorities, were
selected by Pope; which proves that he had been furnished, probably
by Mr. Robert Dodsley, with whatever hints that eminent poet had
contributed towards a great literary project, that had been the subject
of important consideration in a former reign.
The booksellers who contracted with Johnson, single and unaided, for the
execution of a work, which in other countries has not been effected
but by the co-operating exertions of many, were Mr. Robert Dodsley, Mr.
Charles Hitch, Mr. Andrew Millar, the two Messieurs Longman, and the
two Messieurs Knapton. The price stipulated was fifteen hundred and
seventy-five pounds.
The Plan, was addressed to Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield, then one
of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State; a nobleman who was very
ambitious of literary distinction, and who, upon being informed of the
design, had expressed himself in terms very favourable to its success.
There is, perhaps in every thing of any consequence, a secret history
which it would be amusing to know, could we have it authentically
communicated. Johnson told me, 'Sir, the way in which the Plan of my
Dictionary came to be inscribed to Lord Chesterfield, was this: I had
neglected to write it by the time appointed. Dodsley suggested a desire
to have it addressed to Lord Chesterfield. I laid hold of this as a
pretext for delay, that it might be better done, and let Dodsley have
his desire. I said to my friend, Dr. Bathurst, "Now if any good comes of
my addressing to Lord Chesterfield, it will be ascribed to deep policy,
when, in fact, it was only a casual excuse for laziness."'
Dr. Adams found him one day busy at his Dictionary, when the following
dialogue ensued. 'ADAMS. This is a great work, Sir. How are you to get
all the etymologies? JOHNSON. Why, Sir, here is a shelf with Junius, and
Skinner, and others; and there is a Welch gentleman who has published
a collection of Welch proverbs, who will help me with the Welch. ADAMS.
But, Sir, how can you do this in three years? JOHNSON. Sir, I have no
doubt that I can do it in three years. ADAMS. But the French Academy,
which consists of forty members, took forty years to compile their
Dictionary. JOHNSON. Sir, thus it is. This is the proportion. Let me
see; forty times forty is sixteen hundred. As three to sixteen hundred,
so is the proportion of an Englishman to a Frenchman.' With so much
ease and pleasantry could he talk of that prodigious labour which he had
undertaken to execute.
For the mechanical part he employed, as he told me, six amanuenses;
and let it be remembered by the natives of North-Britain, to whom he
is supposed to have been so hostile, that five of them were of that
country. There were two Messieurs Macbean; Mr. Shiels, who we shall
hereafter see partly wrote the Lives of the Poets to which the name of
Cibber is affixed; Mr. Stewart, son of Mr. George Stewart, bookseller at
Edinburgh; and a Mr. Maitland. The sixth of these humble assistants was
Mr. Peyton, who, I believe, taught French, and published some elementary
tracts.
To all these painful labourers, Johnson shewed a never-ceasing kindness,
so far as they stood in need of it. The elder Mr. Macbean had afterwards
the honour of being Librarian to Archibald, Duke of Argyle, for many
years, but was left without a shilling. Johnson wrote for him a Preface
to A System of Ancient Geography; and, by the favour of Lord Thurlow,
got him admitted a poor brother of the Charterhouse. For Shiels, who
died of a consumption, he had much tenderness; and it has been thought
that some choice sentences in the Lives of the Poets were supplied by
him. Peyton, when reduced to penury, had frequent aid from the bounty
of Johnson, who at last was at the expense of burying both him and his
wife.
While the Dictionary was going forward, Johnson lived part of the time
in Holborn, part in Gough-square, Fleet-street; and he had an upper room
fitted up like a counting-house for the purpose, in which he gave to
the copyists their several tasks. The words, partly taken from other
dictionaries, and partly supplied by himself, having been first written
down with spaces left between them, he delivered in writing their
etymologies, definitions, and various significations. The authorities
were copied from the books themselves, in which he had marked the
passages with a black-lead pencil, the traces of which could easily be
effaced. I have seen several of them, in which that trouble had not
been taken; so that they were just as when used by the copyists. It is
remarkable, that he was so attentive in the choice of the passages in
which words were authorised, that one may read page after page of
his Dictionary with improvement and pleasure; and it should not pass
unobserved, that he has quoted no authour whose writings had a tendency
to hurt sound religion and morality.
The necessary expense of preparing a work of such magnitude for the
press, must have been a considerable deduction from the price stipulated
to be paid for the copy-right. I understand that nothing was allowed by
the booksellers on that account; and I remember his telling me, that a
large portion of it having by mistake been written upon both sides of
the paper, so as to be inconvenient for the compositor, it cost him
twenty pounds to have it transcribed upon one side only.
He is now to be considered as 'tugging at his oar,' as engaged in a
steady continued course of occupation, sufficient to employ all his time
for some years; and which was the best preventive of that constitutional
melancholy which was ever lurking about him, ready to trouble his quiet.
But his enlarged and lively mind could not be satisfied without more
diversity of employment, and the pleasure of animated relaxation. He
therefore not only exerted his talents in occasional composition
very different from Lexicography, but formed a club in Ivy-lane,
Paternoster-row, with a view to enjoy literary discussion, and amuse his
evening hours. The members associated with him in this little society
were his beloved friend Dr. Richard Bathurst, Mr. Hawkesworth,
afterwards well known by his writings, Mr. John Hawkins, an attorney,
and a few others of different professions.
1749: AETAT. 40.]--In January, 1749, he published the Vanity of human
Wishes, being the Tenth Satire of Juvenal imitated. He, I believe,