Boswell's Life of Johnson
whom it was given by the son of Mr. Richardson the painter, the person
to whom it is addressed. I have transcribed it with minute exactness,
that the peculiar mode of writing, and imperfect spelling of that
celebrated poet, may be exhibited to the curious in literature. It
justifies Swift's epithet of 'Paper-sparing Pope,' for it is written
on a slip no larger than a common message-card, and was sent to Mr.
Richardson, along with the Imitation of Juvenal.
'This is imitated by one Johnson who put in for a Publick-school in
Shropshire, but was disappointed. He has an infirmity of the convulsive
kind, that attacks him sometimes, so as to make him a sad Spectacle. Mr.
P. from the Merit of this Work which was all the knowledge he had of him
endeavour'd to serve him without his own application; & wrote to my Ld
gore, but he did not succeed. Mr. Johnson published afterwds another
Poem in Latin with Notes the whole very Humerous call'd the Norfolk
Prophecy. P.'
Johnson had been told of this note; and Sir Joshua Reynolds informed
him of the compliment which it contained, but, from delicacy, avoided
shewing him the paper itself. When Sir Joshua observed to Johnson that
he seemed very desirous to see Pope's note, he answered, 'Who would not
be proud to have such a man as Pope so solicitous in inquiring about
him?'
The infirmity to which Mr. Pope alludes, appeared to me also, as I have
elsewhere observed, to be of the convulsive kind, and of the nature
of that distemper called St. Vitus's dance; and in this opinion I am
confirmed by the description which Sydenham gives of that disease. 'This
disorder is a kind of convulsion. It manifests itself by halting or
unsteadiness of one of the legs, which the patient draws after him like
an ideot. If the hand of the same side be applied to the breast, or any
other part of the body, he cannot keep it a moment in the same
posture, but it will be drawn into a different one by a convulsion,
notwithstanding all his efforts to the contrary.' Sir Joshua Reynolds,
however, was of a different opinion, and favoured me with the following
paper.
'Those motions or tricks of Dr. Johnson are improperly called
convulsions. He could sit motionless, when he was told so to do, as well
as any other man; my opinion is that it proceeded from a habit which
he had indulged himself in, of accompanying his thoughts with certain
untoward actions, and those actions always appeared to me as if they
were meant to reprobate some part of his past conduct. Whenever he was
not engaged in conversation, such thoughts were sure to rush into his
mind; and, for this reason, any company, any employment whatever, he
preferred to being alone. The great business of his life (he said) was
to escape from himself; this disposition he considered as the disease of
his mind, which nothing cured but company.
'One instance of his absence and particularity, as it is characteristick
of the man, may be worth relating. When he and I took a journey together
into the West, we visited the late Mr. Banks, of Dorsetshire; the
conversation turning upon pictures, which Johnson could not well see, he
retired to a corner of the room, stretching out his right leg as far as
he could reach before him, then bringing up his left leg, and stretching
his right still further on. The old gentleman observing him, went up to
him, and in a very courteous manner assured him, that though it was not
a new house, the flooring was perfectly safe. The Doctor started from
his reverie, like a person waked out of his sleep, but spoke not a
word.'
While we are on this subject, my readers may not be displeased with
another anecdote, communicated to me by the same friend, from the
relation of Mr. Hogarth.
Johnson used to be a pretty frequent visitor at the house of Mr.
Richardson, authour of Clarissa, and other novels of extensive
reputation. Mr. Hogarth came one day to see Richardson, soon after the
execution of Dr. Cameron, for having taken arms for the house of Stuart
in 1745-6; and being a warm partisan of George the Second, he
observed to Richardson, that certainly there must have been some very
unfavourable circumstances lately discovered in this particular case,
which had induced the King to approve of an execution for rebellion so
long after the time when it was committed, as this had the appearance of
putting a man to death in cold blood, and was very unlike his Majesty's
usual clemency. While he was talking, he perceived a person standing at
a window in the room, shaking his head, and rolling himself about in a
strange ridiculous manner. He concluded that he was an ideot, whom his
relations had put under the care of Mr. Richardson, as a very good man.
To his great surprise, however, this figure stalked forwards to where he
and Mr. Richardson were sitting, and all at once took up the argument,
and burst out into an invective against George the Second, as one,
who, upon all occasions was unrelenting and barbarous; mentioning many
instances, particularly, that when an officer of high rank had been
acquitted by a Court Martial, George the Second had with his own hand,
struck his name off the list. In short, he displayed such a power of
eloquence, that Hogarth looked at him with astonishment, and actually
imagined that this ideot had been at the moment inspired. Neither
Hogarth nor Johnson were made known to each other at this interview.
1740: AETAT. 31.]--In 1740 he wrote for the Gentleman's Magazine the
'Preface,' 'Life of Sir Francis Drake,' and the first parts of those of
'Admiral Blake,' and of 'Philip Baretier,' both which he finished the
following year. He also wrote an 'Essay on Epitaphs,' and an 'Epitaph
on Philips, a Musician,' which was afterwards published with some other
pieces of his, in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies. This Epitaph is so
exquisitely beautiful, that I remember even Lord Kames, strangely
prejudiced as he was against Dr. Johnson, was compelled to allow it very
high praise. It has been ascribed to Mr. Garrick, from its appearing at
first with the signature G; but I have heard Mr. Garrick declare, that
it was written by Dr. Johnson, and give the following account of the
manner in which it was composed. Johnson and he were sitting together;
when, amongst other things, Garrick repeated an Epitaph upon this
Philips by a Dr. Wilkes, in these words:
'Exalted soul! whose harmony could please
The love-sick virgin, and the gouty ease;
Could jarring discord, like Amphion, move
To beauteous order and harmonious love;
Rest here in peace, till angels bid thee rise,
And meet thy blessed Saviour in the skies.'
Johnson shook his head at these common-place funereal lines, and said to
Garrick, 'I think, Davy, I can make a better.' Then, stirring about his
tea for a little while, in a state of meditation, he almost extempore
produced the following verses:
'Philips, whose touch harmonious could remove
The pangs of guilty power or hapless love;
Rest here, distress'd by poverty no more,
Here find that calm thou gav'st so oft before;
Sleep, undisturb'd, within this peaceful shrine,
Till angels wake thee with a note like thine!'
1742: AETAT. 33.]--In 1742 he wrote . . . 'Proposals for Printing
Bibliotheca Harleiana, or a Catalogue of the Library of the Earl of
Oxford.' He was employed in this business by Mr. Thomas Osborne the
bookseller, who purchased the library for 13,000l., a sum which Mr.
Oldys says, in one of his manuscripts, was not more than the binding of
the books had cost; yet, as Dr. Johnson assured me, the slowness of
the sale was such, that there was not much gained by it. It has been
confidently related, with many embellishments, that Johnson one day
knocked Osborne down in his shop, with a folio, and put his foot upon
his neck. The simple truth I had from Johnson himself. 'Sir, he was
impertinent to me, and I beat him. But it was not in his shop: it was in
my own chamber.'
1744: AETAT. 35.]--He produced one work this year, fully sufficient to
maintain the high reputation which he had acquired. This was The Life
of Richard Savage; a man, of whom it is difficult to speak impartially,
without wondering that he was for some time the intimate companion of
Johnson; for his character was marked by profligacy, insolence, and
ingratitude: yet, as he undoubtedly had a warm and vigorous, though
unregulated mind, had seen life in all its varieties, and been much in
the company of the statesmen and wits of his time, he could communicate
to Johnson an abundant supply of such materials as his philosophical
curiosity most eagerly desired; and as Savage's misfortunes and
misconduct had reduced him to the lowest state of wretchedness as
a writer for bread, his visits to St. John's Gate naturally brought
Johnson and him together.
It is melancholy to reflect, that Johnson and Savage were sometimes in
such extreme indigence,* that they could not pay for a lodging; so that
they have wandered together whole nights in the streets. Yet in these
almost incredible scenes of distress, we may suppose that Savage
mentioned many of the anecdotes with which Johnson afterwards enriched
the life of his unhappy companion, and those of other Poets.
* Soon after Savage's Life was published, Mr. Harte dined
with Edward Cave, and occasionally praised it. Soon after,
meeting him, Cave said, 'You made a man very happy t'other
day.'--'How could that be.' says Harte; 'nobody was there
but ourselves.' Cave answered, by reminding him that a
plate of victuals was sent behind a screen, which was to
Johnson, dressed so shabbily, that he did not choose to
appear; but on hearing the conversation, was highly
delighted with the encomiums on his book--MALONE.
He told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that one night in particular, when Savage
and he walked round St. James's-square for want of a lodging, they were
not at all depressed by their situation; but in high spirits and brimful
of patriotism, traversed the square for several hours, inveighed against
the minister, and 'resolved they would stand by their country.'
In Johnson's Life of Savage, although it must be allowed that its moral
is the reverse of--'Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo,' a very
useful lesson is inculcated, to guard men of warm passions from a too
free indulgence of them; and the various incidents are related in so
clear and animated a manner, and illuminated throughout with so much
philosophy, that it is one of the most interesting narratives in the
English language. Sir Joshua Reynolds told me, that upon his return from
Italy he met with it in Devonshire, knowing nothing of its authour, and
began to read it while he was standing with his arm leaning against a
chimney-piece. It seized his attention so strongly, that, not being able
to lay down the book till he had finished it, when he attempted to move,
he found his arm totally benumbed. The rapidity with which this work was
composed, is a wonderful circumstance. Johnson has been heard to say, 'I
wrote forty-eight of the printed octavo pages of the Life of Savage at a
sitting; but then I sat up all night.'
It is remarkable, that in this biographical disquisition there appears a
very strong symptom of Johnson's prejudice against players; a prejudice
which may be attributed to the following causes: first, the imperfection
of his organs, which were so defective that he was not susceptible
of the fine impressions which theatrical excellence produces upon the
generality of mankind; secondly, the cold rejection of his tragedy; and,
lastly, the brilliant success of Garrick, who had been his pupil,
who had come to London at the same time with him, not in a much more