"He likewise [established] enforced the truth of Revelation. vour. [Kindness] benevolence was ashamed to fa "His practice, which was once [very extensive] invidiously great. "There is scarcely any distemper of dreadful name [of] which he has not [shown] taught his reader how [it is to be opposed] to oppose. "Of this [contemptuous] indecent arrogance. [He wrote] but produced likewise a work of a different kind. "At least [written] compiled with integrity. "Faults which many tongues [were desirous] would have made haste to publish. But though he [had not] could not boast of much critical knowledge. "He [used] waited for no felicities of fancy. "Or had ever elated his [mind] views to that ideal perfection which every [mind] genius born to excel is condemned always to pursue and never overtake. "The [first great] fundamental principle of wisdom and of virtue." Various Readings in the Life of PHILIPS. "His dreadful [rival] antagonist Pope. 66 They [have not often much] are not loaded with thought. "In his translation from Pindar, he [will not be denied to have reached] found the art of reaching all the obscurity of the Theban bard.” Various Readings in the Life of CONGREVE. Congreve's conversation must surely have been at least equally pleasing with his writings. "It apparently [requires] presupposes a familiar knowledge of many characters. "Reciprocation of [similes] conceits. "The dialogue is quick and [various] sparkling. "Love for Love; a comedy [more drawn from life] of nearer alliance to life. 66 The general character of his miscellanies is, that they show little wit and [no] little virtue. "[Perhaps] certainly he had not the fire requisite for the higher species of lyrick poetry." 66 Various Readings in the Life of TICKELL. [Longed] long wished to peruse it. "At the [accession] arrival of King George. "Fiction [unnaturally] unskilfully compounded of Grecian deities and Gothick fairies." Various Readings in the Life of AKENSIDE. "For [another] a different purpose. 46 [A furious] an unnecessary and outrageous zeal. 66 [Something which] what he called and thought liberty. "A [favourer of innovation] lover of contradic tion. 66 Warburton's [censure] objections. "His rage [for liberty] of patriotism. "Mr. Dyson with [a zeal] an ardour of friendship." In the Life of LYTTELTON, Johnson seems to have been not favourably disposed towards that nobleman. Mrs. Thrale suggests that he was offended by Molly Aston's preference of his Lordship to him. I can by no means join in the 2 Let not my readers smile to think of Johnson's being a candidate for female favour; Mr. Peter Garrick assured me that he was censure bestowed by Johnson on his Lordship, whom he calls "poor Lyttelton," for returning thanks to the Critical Reviewers for having "kindly commended" his " Dialogues of the Dead." Such " acknowledgments (says my friend) never can be proper, since they must be paid either for flattery or for justice." In my opinion, the most upright man, who has been tried on a false accusation, may, when he is acquitted, make a bow to his jury. And when those, who are so much the arbiters of literary merit, as in a considerable degree to influence the publick opinion, review an authour's work, placido lumine, when I am told by a lady that in her opinion Johnson was a very seducing man." Disadvantages of person and manner may be forgotten, where intellectual pleasure is communicated to a susceptible mind; and that Johnson was capable of feeling the most delicate and disinterested attachment appears from the following letter, which is published by Mrs. Thrale, with some others to the same person, of which the excellence is not so apparent: "DEAREST MADAM, TO MISS BOOTHBY. January, 1775. "THOUGH I am afraid your illness leaves you but little leisure for the reception of airy civilities, yet I cannot forbear to pay you my congratulations on the new year; and to declare my wishes that your years to come may be many and happy. In this wish, indeed, I include myself, who have none but you on whom my heart reposes; yet surely I wish your good, even though your situation were such as should permit you to communicate no gratifications to, 66 DEAREST, DEAREST MADAM, 66 Your, &c. "SAM. JOHNSON." [There is still a slight mistake in the text. It was not Molly Aston, but Hill Boothby, for whose affections Johnson and Lord Lyttelton were rival candidates. See Mrs. Piozzi's "Anecdotes", p. 160. After mentioning the death of Mrs. Fitzherbert (who was a daughter of Mr. Meynell, of Bradley, in Derbyshire), and Johnson's high admiration of her, she adds, "the friend of this lady, Miss Boothby, succeeded her in the management of Mr. Fitzherbert's family, and in the esteem of Dr. Johnson; though, he told me, she pushed her piety to bigotry, her devotion to enthusiasm; that she somewhat disqualified herself for the duties of this life, by her perpetual aspirations after the next: such was, however, the purity of her mind, he said, and such the graces of her manner, that Lord Lytteltoǹ and he used to strive for her preference with an emulation that afraid mankind in general are better pleased with severity, he may surely express a grateful sense of their civility. Various Readings in the Life of LYTTELTON. "He solaced [himself] his grief by writing a long poem to her memory. 66 The production rather [of a mind that means well than thinks vigorously] as it seems of leisure than of study, rather effusions than compositions. His last literary [work] production. "[Found the way] undertook to persuade." As the introduction to his critical examination occasioned hourly disgust, and ended in lasting animosity. You may see (said he to me, when the Poets' Lives were printed) that dear Boothby is at my heart still." Miss Hill Boothby, who was the only daughter of Brook Boothby, Esq. and his wife, Elizabeth Fitzherhert, was somewhat older than Johnson. She was born October 27, 1708, and died January 16, 1756. Six Letters, addressed to her by Johnson in the year 1755, are printed in Mrs. Piozzi's Collection; and a Prayer composed by him on her death may be found in his "Prayers and Meditations." His affection for her induced him to preserve and bind up in à volume thirty-three of her Letters, which were purchased from the widow of his servant, Francis Barber, and published by R. Phillips, in 1805. But highly as he valued this lady, his attachment to Miss Molly Aston (afterwards Mrs. Brodie), appears to have been still more ardent. He burned (says Mrs. Piozzi) many letters in the last week [of his life], I am told, and those written by his mother drew from him a flood of tears, when the paper they were written on was all consumed. Mr. Sastres saw him cast a melancholy look upon their ashes, which he took up and examined, to see if a word was still legible.-Nobody has ever mentioned what became of Miss Aston's letters, though he once told me himself, they should be the last papers he would destroy, and added these lines with a very faltering voice: Then from his closing eyes thy form shall part, Additions to Mrs. Piozzi's Collection of of the genius and writings of YOUNG, he did Mr. Herbert Croft, then a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn, now a clergyman, the honour to adopt a Life of Young written by that gentleman, who was the friend of Dr. Young's son, and wished to vindicate him from some very erroneous remarks to his prejudice. Mr. Croft's performance was subjected to the revision of Dr. Johnson, as appears from the following note to Mr. John Nichols3: "This Life of Dr. Young was written by a friend of his son. What is crossed with black is expunged by the authour, what is crossed with red is expunged by me. If you find any thing more that can be well omitted, I shall not be sorry to see it yet shorter." It has always appeared to me to have a considerable share of merit, and to display a pretty successful imitation of Johnson's style. When I mentioned this to a very eminent literary character, he opposed me vehemently, exclaiming, "No, no, it is not a good imitation of Johnson; it has all his pomp without his force; it has all the nodosities of the oak without its strength.' This was an image so happy that one might have thought he would have been satisfied with it; but he was not. And setting his mind again to work, he added, with exquisite felicity, "It has all the contortions of the Sibyl, without the inspiration." Mr. Croft very properly guards us against supposing that Young was a gloomy man; and mentions, that "his parish was indebted to the good humour of the authour of the Night Thoughts' for an Assembly and a Bowling Green." A letter from a noble foreigner is quoted, in which he 3 Gentleman's Magazine, vol. iv. p. 10. |