* [Sir J. Hawkins, who gives us to understand Dr. Turton, the physician, writer of this certifithat he had seen Cave's answer, says, that "hecate, who died in April, 1806, in his 71st year, therein accepted the services of Johnson, and retained him as a correspondent and contributor to his Magazine" (p. 29), but his subsequent correspondence with Cave seems to negative this early connexion.-ED.]

The myrtle, ensign of supreme command,
Consign'd by Venus to Melissa's hand;
Not less capricious than a reigning fair,
Now grants, and now rejects a lover's prayer.
In myrtle shades oft sings the happy swain,
In myrtle shades despairing ghosts complain:
The myrtle crowns the happy lovers' heads,
The unhappy lover's grave the myrtle spreads;
O then the meaning of thy gift impart,
And ease the throbbings of an anxious heart!

Soon must this bough, as you shall fix his doom,
Adorn Philander's head, or grace his tomb '."

1 Mrs. Piozzi gives the following account of this little composition from Dr. Johnson's own relation to her, on her inquiring whether it was rightly attributed to him."I think it is now just forty years ago, that a young fellow had a sprig of myrtle given him by a girl he courted, and asked me to write him some verses that he might present her in return. I promised, but forgot; and when he called for his lines at the time agreed on -Sit still a moment, (says I) dear Mund, and

I'll fetch them thee-so stepped aside for five minutes, and wrote the nonsense you now keep such a stir about."—Anecdotes, p. 34.

His juvenile attachments to the fair sex were, however, very transient: and it is certain, that he formed no criminal connexion whatsoever. Mr. Hector, who lived with him in his younger days in the utmost intimacy and social freedom, has assured me, that even at that ardent season his conduct was strictly virtuous in that respect; and that though he loved to exhilarate himself with wine, he never knew him

intoxicated but once.

tions, which tended to excite at once surprise and ridicule. Mrs. Porter was

In a man whom religious education has secured from licentious indulgences, the passion of love, when once it has seized him, is exceedingly strong; being unimpaired by dissipation, and totally concentrated in one object. This was experienced by Johnson, when he became the fervent admirer of Mrs. Porter, after her first husband's death. Miss Porter told me, that when he was first introduced to her mother, his appearance was very forbidding; he was then lean and lank, so that his immense structure of bones was hideously In my first edition I was induced to doubt the striking to the eye, and the scars of the authenticity of this account, by the following cir- scrofula were deeply visible. He also wore cumstantial statement in a letter to me from Miss his hair, which was straight and stiff, and Seward of Lichfield:-"I know those verses were separated behind; and he often had, seemaddressed to Lucy Porter, when he was ena-ingly, convulsive starts and odd gesticulamoured of her in his boyish days, two or three years before he had seen her mother, his future wife. He wrote them at my grandfather's [Mr. Hunter, the schoolmaster], and gave them to Lucy in the presence of my mother, to whom he showed them on the instant. She used to repeat them to me, when I asked her for the Verses Dr. Johnson gave her on a Sprig of Myrtle, which he had stolen or begged from her bosom. We all know honest Lucy Porter to have been incapable of the mean vanity of applying to herself a compliment not intended for her." Such was this lady's statement, which I make no doubt she supposed to be correct; but it shows how dangerous it is to trust too implicitly to traditional testimony and ingenious inference; for Mr. Hector has lately assured me that Mrs. Piozzi's account is in this instance accurate, and that he was the person [as his name Edmund additionally proves] for whom Johnson wrote those verses, which have been erroneously ascribed to Mr. Hammond. I am obliged in so many instances to notice Mrs. Piozzi's incorrectness of relation, that I gladly seize this opportunity of acknowledging, that however often, she is not always inaccurate.

The authour having been drawn into a controversy with Miss Anna Seward, in consequence of the preceding statement (which may be found in "the Gentleman's Magazine," vol. Ixiii. and Ixiv.), received the following letter from Mr. Hector, on the subject:

"DEAR SIR,-I am sorry to see you are engaged in altercation with a lady, who seems unwilling to be convinced of her errors. Surely it would be more ingenuous to acknowledge than to persevere.

"Lately, in looking over some papers I meant to burn, I found the original manuscript of the

myrtle, with the date on it, 1731, which I have enclosed.

"The true history (which I could swear to) is as follows: Mr. Morgan Graves, the elder brother of a worthy clergyman near Bath, with whom I was acquainted, waited upon a lady in this neighbourhood, who at parting presented him the branch. He showed it me, and wished much to return the compliment in verse. I applied to Johnson, who was with me, and in about half an hour dictated the verses which I sent to my friend.

"I most solemnly declare, at that time, Johnson was an entire stranger to the Porter family; and it was almost two years after that I introduced him to the acquaintance of Porter, whom I bought my clothes of.

If you intend to convince this obstinate woman, and to exhibit to the publick the truth of your narrative, you are at liberty to make what use you please of this statement.

"I hope you will pardon me for taking up so much of your time. Wishing you multos et felices annos, I shall subscribe myself your obliged humble servant, E. HECTOR.—Birmingham, Jan. 9th, 1794."-BOSWELL. [Of the supposed attachment of Dr. Johnson to the daughter of his wife there is no evidence whatsoever, but the assertion of Miss Seward, whose anecdotes have turned out to be in almost every instance worse than nothing; and, in this case, if it were worth while to seek for any evidence beyond Mr. Hector's, the dates would disprove Miss Seward's statement, which it is but too evident that she made with the view of disparaging and ridiculing Dr. Johnson.-ED.]

not to be made the slave of caprice; and I resolved to begin as I meant to end. I therefore pushed on briskly, till I was fairly out of her sight. The road lay between two hedges, so I was sure she could not miss it; and I contrived that she should soon come up with me. When she did, I observed her to be in tears."

This, it must be allowed, was a singular beginning of connubial felicity; but there is no doubt that Johnson, though he thus showed a manly firmness, proved a most affectionate and indulgent husband to the last moment of Mrs. Johnson's life: and in his "Prayers and Meditations," we find very remarkable evidence that his regard and fondness for her never ceased, even after her death.

[For instance:

much engaged by his conversation that she overlooked all these external disadvantages, and said to her daughter, "this is the most sensible man that I ever saw in my life." Though Mrs. Porter was double the age of Johnson, and her person and manner, as described to me by the late Mr. Garrick, were by no means pleasing to others2, she must have had a superiority of understanding and talents, as she certainly inspired him with more than ordinary passion; and she having signified her willingness to accept of his hand, he went to Lichfield to ask his mother's consent to the marriage; which he could not but be conscious was a very imprudent scheme, both on account of their disparity of years, and her want of fortune. But Mrs. Johnson knew too well the ardour of her son's temper, and was too tender a parent to oppose his inclinations 3. "Wednesday, March 28, 1770. I know not for what reason the marriage "This is the day on which, in 1752, I ceremony was not performed at Birming-was deprived of poor dear Tetty. Having ham; but a resolution was taken that it left off the practice of thinking on her with should be at Derby, for which place the some particular combinations, I have recallbride and bridegroom set out on horseback, ed her to my mind of late less frequently; I suppose in very good humour. But though but when I recollect the time in which we Mr. Topham Beauclerk used archly to men- lived together, my grief for her departure is tion Johnson's having told him with much not abated; and I have less pleasure in any gravity, "Sir, it was a love-marriage on good that befals me, because she does not both sides," I have had from my illustrious partake it. On many occasions, I think what friend the following curious account of their she would have said or done. When I saw journey to church upon the nuptial morn: the sea at Brighthelmistone, I wished for her (9th July)" Sir, she had read the old to have seen it with me. But with respect romances, and had got into her head the to her, no rational wish is now left, but that fantastical notion that a woman of spirit we may meet at last where the mercy of should use her lover like a dog. So, sir, at God shall make us happy, and perhaps first she told me that I rode too fast, and make us instrumental to the happiness of she could not keep up with me; and, when each other. It is now eighteen years." I rode a little slower, she passed me, and complained that I lagged behind. I was

1 Though there was a great disparity of years between her and Dr. Johnson, she was not quite so old as she here represented, having only completed her forty-eighth year in the month of February preceding her marriage, as appears by the following extract from the parish-register of Great Peatling, in Leicestershire, which was obligingly made at my request, by the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Ryder, rector of Lutterworth, in that county:

"Anno Dom. 1688-9, Elizabeth, daughter of William Jervis, Esq. and Mrs. Anne, his wife, was born the 4th day of February and mane, baptized 16th day of the same month by Mr. Smith, curate of Little Peatling.

"John Allen, Vicar."-MALONE. [Johnson's size, hard features, and decided manners, probably made him look older than he really was, and diminished the apparent disproportion.-ED.]

That in Johnson's eyes she was handsome, appears from the epitaph which he caused to be inscribed on her tomb-stone not long before his own death, and which may be found in a subsequent page, under the year 1752.—MALONE. [See ante, p. 11, n.—ED.]

He now set up a private academy, for which purpose he hired a large house, well situated near his native city. In the Gentleman's Magazine for 17364, there is the following advertisement:

"At Edial, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, young gentlemen are boarded and taught the Latin and Greek languages, by SAMUEL JOHNSON 5."

But the only pupils that were put under his care were the celebrated David Garrick and his brother George, and a Mr. Offely,

his marriage, for the advertisement appears in the
4 [This project must have been formed before
Magazine for June and July, 1736.
Is it not pos-
sible, that the obvious advantage of having a wo-
man of experience to superintend an establishment
of this kind may have contributed to a match so
disproportionate in point of age?-ED.]

5 [It may be observed, as an additional proof of the public respect for, and curiosity about, Dr. Johnson, that one of the few plates in Harwood's History of Lichfield is a view of " Edial Hall, the residence of Dr. Samuel Johnson;" and Mr. Harwood adds, "the house has undergone no material alteration since it was inhabited by this illustrious tenant."-Har. Hist. Lich. p. 564.—ED.]

a young gentleman of good fortune who died early. As yet, his name had nothing of that celebrity which afterwards commanded the highest attention and respect of mankind. Had such an advertisement appeared after the publication of his London, or his Rambler, or his Dictionary, how would it have burst upon the world! with what eagerness would the great and the wealthy have embraced an opportunity of putting their sons under the learned tuition of Samuel Johnson! The truth, however, is, that he was not so well qualified for being a teacher of elements, and a conductor in learning by regular gradations, as men of inferior powers of mind. His own acquisitions had been made by fits and starts, by violent irruptions into the regions of knowledge; and it could not be expected that his impatience would be subdued, and his impetuosity restrained, so as to fit him for a quiet guide to novices. The art of communicating instruction, of whatever kind, is much to be valued; and I have ever thought that those who devote themselves to this employment, and do their duty with diligence and success, are entitled to very high respect from the community, as Johnson himself often maintained. Yet I am of opinion, that the greatest abilities are not only not required for this office, but render a man less fit for it.

While we acknowledge the justness of Thomson's beautiful remark,

"Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, And teach the young idea how to shoot!" we must consider that this delight is perceptible only by "a mind at ease," a mind at once calm and clear; but that a mind gloomy and impetuous, like that of Johnson, cannot be fixed for any length of time in minute attention, and must be so frequently irritated by unavoidable slowness and errour in the advances of scholars, as to perform the duty, with little pleasure to the teacher, and no great advantage to the pupils. Good temper is a most essential requisite in a preceptor. Horace paints the character as bland:

-Ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi Doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima." Johnson was not more satisfied with his situation as the master of an academy, than with that of the usher of a school; we need not wonder, therefore, that he did not keep his academy above a year and a half. From Mr. Garrick's account he did not appear to

have been profoundly reverenced by his pupils. His oddities of manner, and uncouth gesticulations, could not but be the subject of merriment to them; and in particular, the young rogues used to listen at the door of his bedchamber, and peep through the keyhole, that they might turn into ridicule his tumultuous and awkward fondness for Mrs. Johnson, whom he used to name by the familiar appellation of Tetty or Tetsey, which, like Betty or Betsey, is provincially used as a contraction for Elizabeth, her christian name, but which to us seems ludicrous, when applied to a woman of her age and appearance. Mr. Garrick described her to me as very fat, with a bosom of more than ordinary protuberance, with swelled cheeks, of a florid red, produced by thick painting, and increased by the liberal use of cordials; flaring and fantastick in her dress, and affected both in her speech and her general behaviour 2. I have seen Garrick exhibit her, by his exquisite talent of mimickry, so as to excite the heartiest bursts of laughter; but he, probably, as is the case in all such representations, considerably aggravated the picture.

That Johnson well knew the most proper course to be pursued in the instruction of youth 3, is authentically ascertained by the following paper in his own hand-writing, given about this period to a relation, and now in possession of Mr. John Nichols: "Scheme for the Classes of a Grammar School.

"When the introduction, or formation of nouns and verbs, is perfectly mastered, let them learn

"Corderius by Mr. Clarke, beginning at

2 [In Loggan's drawing of the company at Tonbridge Wells, in 1748, engraved and published in Richardson's Correspondence, vol. 3, Mrs Johnson's figure is not inferior to that of the other ladies (some of whom were fashionable beauties) either in shape or dress; but it is a slight sketch, and too small and indistinct to be relied upon for details: but she must have been a silly woman to have contracted so disproportionate an alliance.-ED.]

3 [That this crude sketch, for the arrangement of the lower classes of a grammar school "authentically ascertains that Johnson well knew struction of youth," is a bold and illogical asthe most proper course to be pursued in the insertion. It may even be doubted whether it is with authors of inferior latinity, and allowing good as far as goes, and whether the beginning the assistance of translations, be indeed the most proper course of classical instruction; nor are we, while ignorant of the peculiar circumstances for which the paper was drawn up, entitled to conclude that it contains Dr. Johnson's mature and ' [Thomson's beautiful remark is just, only be- general sentiments, on even the narrow branch of cause the poet applies it to the first education of education to which it refers. Indeed, in the seca child by its own fond parents, and not to the ond paper, Johnson advises his friend not to read drudgery of hired instruction in the advanced" the latter authours till you are well versed in stages of learning.-ED.] those of the purer ages."―ED.]

the same time to translate out of the intro- I duction, that by this means they may learn the syntax. Then let them proceed to

Erasmus, with an English translation, by the same authour.

"Class II. learns Eutropius and Cornelius Nepos, or Justin, with the translation. "N. B. The first class gets for their part every morning the rules which they have learned before, and in the afternoon learns the Latin rules of the nouns and verbs.

"They are examined in the rules which they have learned, every Thursday and Saturday.

"The second class does the same whilst they are in Eutropius; afterwards their part is in the irregular nouns and verbs, and in the rules for making and scanning verses. They are examined as the first.

"Class III. Ovid's Metamorphoses in the morning, and Cæsar's Commentaries in the afternoon.

"Practise in the Latin rules till they are perfect in them; afterwards in Mr. Leeds' Greek Grammar. Examined as before.

"Afterwards they proceed to Virgil, beginning at the same time to write themes and verses, and to learn Greek; from thence passing on to Horace, &c. as shall seem most proper1.

"I know not well what books to direct you to, because you have not informed me what study you will apply yourself to. I believe it will be most for your advantage to apply yourself wholly to the languages, till you go to the university. The Greek authours I think it best for you to read are these:

"Theocritus.

Euripides.

Ionick.

Dorick.

Attick and Dorick. "Thus you will be tolerably skilled in all the dialects, beginning with the Attick, to which the rest must be referred.

"In the study of Latin, it is proper not to read the latter authours, till you are well versed in those of the purest ages; as Terence, Tully, Cæsar, Sallust, Nepos, Velleius Paterculus, Virgil, F race, Phædrus. "The greatest and most necessary task till remains, to attain a habit of expression, without which knowledge is of little use. This is necessary in Latin, and more necessary in English; and can only be acquired by a daily imitation of the best and correctest authours.

"SAM. JOHNSON."

[Mr. Boswell and all subsequent editors have printed these as one paper; but it seems clear that they are two separate schemes, the first for a school, the second for the individual studies of some young friend.—ED.]

While Johnson kept his academy, there can be no doubt that he was insensibly furnishing his mind with various knowledge; but I have not discovered that he wrote any thing except a great part of his tragedy of IRENE. Mr. Peter Garrick, the elder brother of David, told me that he remembered Johnson's borrowing the Turkish History of him, in order to form his play from it. When he had finished some part of it, he read what he had done to Mr. Walmsley, who objected to his having already brought his heroine into great distress, and asked him, "how can you possibly contrive to plunge her into deeper calamity!" Johnson, in sly allusion to the supposed oppressive proceedings of the courts of which Mr. Walmsley was registrar, replied, "Sir, I can put her into the Spiritual Court!"

Mr. Walmsley, however, was well pleased with this proof of Johnson's abilities as a dramatick writer, and advised him to finish the tragedy, and produce it on the stage.

Johnson now thought of trying his fortune in London, the great field of genius and exertion, where talents of every kind have the fullest scope, and the highest encouragement. It is a memorable circumstance that his pupil David Garrick went thither at the same time 2, with intent to complete his education, and follow the profession of the law, from which he was soon diverted by his decided preference for the stage.

This joint expedition of these two eminent men to the metropolis, was many years afterwards noticed in an allegorical poem on Shakspeare's Mulberry-tree, by Mr. Lovibond 3, the ingenious authour of " the Tears of Old May-day."

2 Both of them used to talk pleasantly of this their first journey to London. Garrick, evidently meaning to embellish a little, said one day in my hearing, "We rode and tied.” And the Bishop of Killaloe (Dr. Barnard) informed me, that at another time, when Johnson and Garrick were dining together in a pretty large company, Johnson humorously ascertaining the chronology of something, expressed himself thus: "That was the year when I came to London with twopence halfpenny in my pocket." Garrick, overhearing him, exclaimed, "Eh? what do you say? with twopence halfpenny in your pocket?"JOHNSON: Why, yes; when I came with twopence halfpenny in my pocket, and thou, Davy, with three halfpence in thine."-BoSWELL. [This may have been said in raillery, but could not have been true. Indeed Boswell, in the next page, acknowledges that Johnson had a little money at his arrival; but, however that may be, Garrick, a young gentleman coming to town, not as an adventurer, but to complete his education and prepare for the bar, could not have been in such indigent circumstances.- ED.]

3 [Edward Lovibond, esq. was a gentleman residing at Hampton, who wrote, it seems, for his own amusement (and probably succeeded