Boswell's Life of Johnson
who were then about him, to none of whom I give more credit than to Mr.
Francis Barber, his faithful negro servant, who came into his family
about a fortnight after the dismal event. These sufferings were
aggravated by the melancholy inherent in his constitution; and although
he probably was not oftener in the wrong than she was, in the little
disagreements which sometimes troubled his married state, during which,
he owned to me, that the gloomy irritability of his existence was more
painful to him than ever, he might very naturally, after her death, be
tenderly disposed to charge himself with slight omissions and offences,
the sense of which would give him much uneasiness. Accordingly we find,
about a year after her decease, that he thus addressed the Supreme
Being: 'O LORD, who givest the grace of repentance, and hearest the
prayers of the penitent, grant that by true contrition I may obtain
forgiveness of all the sins committed, and of all duties neglected in
my union with the wife whom thou hast taken from me; for the neglect of
joint devotion, patient exhortation, and mild instruction.' The kindness
of his heart, notwithstanding the impetuosity of his temper, is well
known to his friends; and I cannot trace the smallest foundation for
the following dark and uncharitable assertion by Sir John Hawkins: 'The
apparition of his departed wife was altogether of the terrifick kind,
and hardly afforded him a hope that she was in a state of happiness.'
That he, in conformity with the opinion of many of the most able,
learned, and pious Christians in all ages, supposed that there was a
middle state after death, previous to the time at which departed
souls are finally received to eternal felicity, appears, I think,
unquestionably from his devotions: 'And, O LORD, so far as it may be
lawful in me, I commend to thy fatherly goodness the soul of my departed
wife; beseeching thee to grant her whatever is best in her present
state, and finally to receive her to eternal happiness.' But this state
has not been looked upon with horrour, but only as less gracious.
He deposited the remains of Mrs. Johnson in the church of Bromley,
in Kent, to which he was probably led by the residence of his friend
Hawkesworth at that place. The funeral sermon which he composed for her,
which was never preached, but having been given to Dr. Taylor, has been
published since his death, is a performance of uncommon excellence,
and full of rational and pious comfort to such as are depressed by
that severe affliction which Johnson felt when he wrote it. When it is
considered that it was written in such an agitation of mind, and in the
short interval between her death and burial, it cannot be read without
wonder.
From Mr. Francis Barber I have had the following authentick and artless
account of the situation in which he found him recently after his wife's
death:
'He was in great affliction. Mrs. Williams was then living in his house,
which was in Gough-square. He was busy with the Dictionary. Mr. Shiels,
and some others of the gentlemen who had formerly written for him, used
to come about him. He had then little for himself, but frequently sent
money to Mr. Shiels when in distress. The friends who visited him at
that time, were chiefly Dr. Bathurst, and Mr. Diamond, an apothecary
in Cork-street, Burlington-gardens, with whom he and Mrs. Williams
generally dined every Sunday. There was a talk of his going to Iceland
with him, which would probably have happened had he lived. There were
also Mr. Cave, Dr. Hawkesworth, Mr. Ryland, merchant on Tower Hill,
Mrs. Masters, the poetess, who lived with Mr. Cave, Mrs. Carter, and
sometimes Mrs. Macaulay, also Mrs. Gardiner, wife of a tallow-chandler
on Snow-hill, not in the learned way, but a worthy good woman; Mr. (now
Sir Joshua) Reynolds; Mr. Millar, Mr. Dodsley, Mr. Bouquet, Mr. Payne
of Paternoster-row, booksellers; Mr. Strahan, the printer; the Earl of
Orrery, Lord Southwell, Mr. Garrick.'
Many are, no doubt, omitted in this catalogue of his friends, and, in
particular, his humble friend Mr. Robert Levet, an obscure practiser in
physick amongst the lower people, his fees being sometimes very small
sums, sometimes whatever provisions his patients could afford him; but
of such extensive practice in that way, that Mrs. Williams has told
me, his walk was from Hounsditch to Marybone. It appears from Johnson's
diary that their acquaintance commenced about the year 1746; and such
was Johnson's predilection for him, and fanciful estimation of
his moderate abilities, that I have heard him say he should not be
satisfied, though attended by all the College of Physicians, unless he
had Mr. Levet with him. Ever since I was acquainted with Dr. Johnson,
and many years before, as I have been assured by those who knew him
earlier, Mr. Levet had an apartment in his house, or his chambers, and
waited upon him every morning, through the whole course of his late and
tedious breakfast. He was of a strange grotesque appearance, stiff
and formal in his manner, and seldom said a word while any company was
present.
The circle of his friends, indeed, at this time was extensive and
various, far beyond what has been generally imagined. To trace his
acquaintance with each particular person, if it could be done, would be
a task, of which the labour would not be repaid by the advantage. But
exceptions are to be made; one of which must be a friend so eminent as
Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was truly his dulce decus, and with whom he
maintained an uninterrupted intimacy to the last hour of his life. When
Johnson lived in Castle-street, Cavendish-square, he used frequently to
visit two ladies, who lived opposite to him, Miss Cotterells, daughters
of Admiral Cotterell. Reynolds used also to visit there, and thus they
met. Mr. Reynolds, as I have observed above, had, from the first reading
of his Life of Savage, conceived a very high admiration of Johnson's
powers of writing. His conversation no less delighted him; and he
cultivated his acquaintance with the laudable zeal of one who was
ambitious of general improvement. Sir Joshua, indeed, was lucky enough
at their very first meeting to make a remark, which was so much above
the common-place style of conversation, that Johnson at once perceived
that Reynolds had the habit of thinking for himself. The ladies were
regretting the death of a friend, to whom they owed great obligations;
upon which Reynolds observed, 'You have, however, the comfort of being
relieved from a burthen of gratitude.' They were shocked a little at
this alleviating suggestion, as too selfish; but Johnson defended it in
his clear and forcible manner, and was much pleased with the MIND,
the fair view of human nature, which it exhibited, like some of the
reflections of Rochefaucault. The consequence was, that he went home
with Reynolds, and supped with him.
Sir Joshua told me a pleasant characteristical anecdote of Johnson
about the time of their first acquaintance. When they were one evening
together at the Miss Cotterells', the then Duchess of Argyle and another
lady of high rank came in. Johnson thinking that the Miss Cotterells
were too much engrossed by them, and that he and his friend were
neglected, as low company of whom they were somewhat ashamed, grew
angry; and resolving to shock their supposed pride, by making their
great visitors imagine that his friend and he were low indeed, he
addressed himself in a loud tone to Mr. Reynolds, saying, 'How much do
you think you and I could get in a week, if we were to WORK AS HARD as
we could?'--as if they had been common mechanicks.
His acquaintance with Bennet Langton, Esq. of Langton, in Lincolnshire,
another much valued friend, commenced soon after the conclusion of
his Rambler; which that gentleman, then a youth, had read with so much
admiration, that he came to London chiefly with the view of endeavouring
to be introduced to its authour. By a fortunate chance he happened to
take lodgings in a house where Mr. Levet frequently visited; and having
mentioned his wish to his landlady, she introduced him to Mr. Levet, who
readily obtained Johnson's permission to bring Mr. Langton to him; as,
indeed, Johnson, during the whole course of his life, had no shyness,
real or affected, but was easy of access to all who were properly
recommended, and even wished to see numbers at his levee, as his morning
circle of company might, with strict propriety, be called. Mr. Langton
was exceedingly surprised when the sage first appeared. He had not
received the smallest intimation of his figure, dress, or manner. From
perusing his writings, he fancied he should see a decent, well-drest, in
short, remarkably decorous philosopher. Instead of which, down from his
bed-chamber, about noon, came, as newly risen, a huge uncouth figure,
with a little dark wig which scarcely covered his head, and his clothes
hanging loose about him. But his conversation was so rich, so animated,
and so forcible, and his religious and political notions so congenial
with those in which Langton had been educated, that he conceived for him
that veneration and attachment which he ever preserved. Johnson was
not the less ready to love Mr. Langton, for his being of a very ancient
family; for I have heard him say, with pleasure, 'Langton, Sir, has
a grant of free warren from Henry the Second; and Cardinal Stephen
Langton, in King John's reign, was of this family.'
Mr. Langton afterwards went to pursue his studies at Trinity College,
Oxford, where he formed an acquaintance with his fellow student, Mr.
Topham Beauclerk; who, though their opinions and modes of life were so
different, that it seemed utterly improbable that they should at all
agree, had so ardent a love of literature, so acute an understanding,
such elegance of manners, and so well discerned the excellent qualities
of Mr. Langton, a gentleman eminent not only for worth and learning, but
for an inexhaustible fund of entertaining conversation, that they became
intimate friends.
Johnson, soon after this acquaintance began, passed a considerable time
at Oxford. He at first thought it strange that Langton should associate
so much with one who had the character of being loose, both in his
principles and practice; but, by degrees, he himself was fascinated.
Mr. Beauclerk's being of the St. Alban's family, and having, in some
particulars, a resemblance to Charles the Second, contributed, in
Johnson's imagination, to throw a lustre upon his other qualities;
and, in a short time, the moral, pious Johnson, and the gay, dissipated
Beauclerk, were companions. 'What a coalition! (said Garrick, when
he heard of this;) I shall have my old friend to bail out of the
Round-house.' But I can bear testimony that it was a very agreeable
association. Beauclerk was too polite, and valued learning and wit too
much, to offend Johnson by sallies of infidelity or licentiousness;
and Johnson delighted in the good qualities of Beauclerk, and hoped
to correct the evil. Innumerable were the scenes in which Johnson was
amused by these young men. Beauclerk could take more liberty with
him, than any body with whom I ever saw him; but, on the other hand,
Beauclerk was not spared by his respectable companion, when reproof
was proper. Beauclerk had such a propensity to satire, that at one time
Johnson said to him, 'You never open your mouth but with intention to
give pain; and you have often given me pain, not from the power of what
you said, but from seeing your intention.' At another time applying to
him, with a slight alteration, a line of Pope, he said,
'Thy love of folly, and thy scorn of fools--
Every thing thou dost shews the one, and every thing thou say'st the
other.' At another time he said to him, 'Thy body is all vice, and