came out on the same morning with Pope's satire, entitled "1738;" so that England had at once its Juvenal and Horace as poetical monitors. The Reverend Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of Salisbury, to whom I am indebted for some obliging communications, was then a student at Oxford, and remembers well the effect which "London" produced. Every body was delighted with it; and there being no name to it, the first buz of the literary circles was, "here is an unknown poet, greater even than Pope." And it is recorded in the Gentleman's Magazine of that year, that it "got to the second edition in the course of a week."

One of the warmest patrons of this poem on its first appearance, was General OGLETHORPE, whose " strong benevolence of soul" was unabated during the course of a very long life; though it is painful to think,

that he had but too much reason to become cold, and callous, and discontented with the world, from the neglect which he experienced of his public and private worth, by those in whose power it was to gratify so gallant a veteran with marks of distinction. This extraordinary person was as remarkable for his learning and taste, as for his other eminent qualities; and no man was more prompt, active, and generous, in encouraging merit. I have heard Johnson gratefully acknowledge, in his presence, the kind and effectual support which he gave to his "London," though unacquainted with its

author.

Pope, who then filled the poetical throne without a rival, it may reasonably be presumed, must have been particularly struck by the sudden appearance of such a poet; and, to his credit, let it be remembered, that his feelings and conduct on the occasion were candid and liberal. He requested Mr. Richardson, son of the painter, to endeavour to find out who this new author was. Mr.

that his name was Johnson, and that he was

some obscure man, Pope said, "He will soon be deterre." We shall presently see, from a note written by Pope, that he was himself, afterward, more successful in his inquiries than his friend.

Ministry, which some years after ended in the downfal of Sir Robert Walpole; and as it has been said, that Tories are Whigs when out of place, and Whigs Tories when in place; so, as a Whig Administration ruled with what force it could, a Tory Opposition had all the animation and all the eloquence of resistance to power, aided by the common topics of patriotism, liberty, and independence! Accordingly, we find in Johnson's "London" the most spirited invectives against tyranny and oppression, the warmest predilection for his own country, and the purest love of virtue; interspersed with traits of his own particular character and situation, not omitting his prejudices as a "true-born Englishman," not only against foreign countries, but against Ireland and Scotland. On some of these topics I shall quote a few passages:

"The cheated nation's happy fav'rites see;

Mark whom the great caress, who frown on me." "Has heaven reserv'd, in pity to the poor,

No pathless waste, or undiscover'd shore?
No secret island in the boundless main?

No peaceful desert yet unclaim'd by Spain?
Quick let us rise, the happy seats explore,
And bear Oppression's insolence no more."
"How, when competitors like these contend,
Can surly Virtue hope to find a friend?"
"This mournful truth is eve'ry where confess'd,
SLOW RISES WORTH, BY POVERTY DEPRESS'D !"

+

We may easily conceive with what feeling by narrow circumstances, uttered this last a great mind like his, cramped and galled whole of the poem is eminently excellent, line, which he marked by capitals. The and there are in it such proofs of a knowledge of the world, and of a mature acquaintance with life, as cannot be contemplated without wonder, when we consider that he and had yet been so little in the "busy was then only in his twenty-ninth year, haunts of men."

Richardson, after some inquiry, having in-lence of this poem, candour obliges us to Yet, while we admire the poetical excelformed him that he had discovered only allow, that the flame of patriotism and zeal fraught, had no just cause. There was, in for popular resistance with which it is truth, no "oppression ;" the "nation” was not "cheated." Sir Robert Walpole was a wise and a benevolent minister, who thought that the happiness and prosperity of a commercial country like ours would be best promoted by peace, which he accordingly maintained with credit, during a very long acknowledged the merit of Walpole, whom period. Johnson himself afterward honestly he called a fixed star;" while he characterised his opponent, Pitt, as "a meteor." But Johnson's juvenile poem was naturally impregnated with the fire of opposition,

That in this justly-celebrated poem may be found a few rhymes which the critical precision of English prosody at this day would disallow, cannot be denied; but with this small imperfection, which in the general blaze of its excellence is not perceived, till the mind has subsided into cool attention, it is, undoubtedly, one of the noblest productions in our language, both for sentiment and expression. The nation was then in that ferment against the Court and the

It is, however, remarkable, that he uses the epithet, which undoubtedly, since the union between England and Scotland, ought to denominate the natives of both parts of our island:

"Was early taught a BRITON's rights to prize."

1

and upon every account was universally | whether that could be granted him as a admired. favour from the University of Oxford.But though he had made such a figure in the literary world, it was then thought too great a favour to be asked.

Though thus elevated into fame, and conscious of uncommon powers, he had not that bustling confidence, or, I may rather say, that animated ambition, which one might have supposed would have urged him to endeavour at rising in life. But such was his inflexible dignity of character, that he could not stoop to court the great; without which, hardly any man has made his way to a high station. He could not expect to produce many such works as his "London," and he felt the hardships of writing for bread; he was, therefore, willing to resume the office of a schoolmaster, so as to have a sure, though moderate, income for his life; and an offer being made to him of the mastership of a school, provided he could obtain the degree of Master of Arts, Dr. Adams was applied to, by a common friend, to know

In a billet written by Mr. Pope in the following year, this school is said to have been in Shropshire; but as it appears from a letter from Earl Gower, that the trustees of it were "some worthy gentlemen in Johnson's neighbourhood," I in my first edition suggested that Pope must have, by mistake, written Shropshire instead of Staffordshire. But I have since been obliged to Mr. Spearing, attorney-at-law, for the following information:-"William Adams, formerly citizen and haberdasher of London, founded a school at Newport, in the county of Salop, by deed dated 27th of November, 1656, by which he granted the yearly sum of sisty pounds to such able and learned schoolmaster, from time to time, being of godly life and conversation, who should have been educated at one of the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, and had taken the degree of Master of Arts, and was well read in the Greek and Latin tongues, as should be nominated from time to time by the said William Adams, during his life; and after the decease of the said William Adams by the governors (namely the Master and Wardens of the Haberdashers' Company of the city of London) and their successors. The manor and lands out of which the

Pope, without any knowledge of him but from his "London," recommended him to Earl Gower, who endeavoured to procure for him a degree froin Dublin, by the following letter to a friend of Dean Swift: SIR,

"MR. SAMUEL JOHNSON (author of LONDON, a satire, and some other poetical pieces) is a native of this country, and much respected by some worthy gentlemen in his neighbourhood, who are trustees of a charityschool now vacant; the certain salary is sixty pounds a year, of which they are desirous to make him master; but unfortunately, he is not capable of receiving their bounty, which would make him happy for life, by not being a Master of Arts; which, by the statutes of this school, the master of it must be.

"Now these gentlemen do me the honour to think that I have interest enough in you, to prevail upon you to write to Dean Swift, to persuade the University of Dublin to send a diploma to me, constituting this poor man Master of Arts in their University. They highly extol the man's learning and probity; and will not be persuaded, that the University will make any difficulty of conferring such a favour upon a stranger, if he is recommended by the Dean. They say, he is not afraid of the strictest examination, though he is of so long a journey; and will venture it, if the Dean thinks it necessary: choosing rather to die upon the road than be starved to death in translating for booksellers ; which has been his only subsistence for some time past.

revenues for the maintenance of the school were to issue are situate at Knighton and Adbaston, in the County of Stafford." From the foregoing account of this foundation, particularly the circumstances of the "I fear there is more difficulty in this salary being sixty pounds, and the degree of Master of Arts being a requisite qualification in the teacher, it affair, than those good-natured gentlemen seemed probable that this was the school in contem- apprehend; especially as their election canplation; and that Lord Gower erroneously supposed not be delayed longer than the 11th of next that the gentlemen who possessed the lands, out of which the revenues issued, were trustees of the charity. month. If you see this matter in the same Such was probable conjecture. But in "The Gen- light that it appears to me, I hope you will deman's Magazine" for May, 1793, there is a letter from burn this, and pardon me for giving you so Mr. Henn, one of the masters of the school of Appleby, in Leicestershire, in which he writes as follows: much trouble about an impracticable thing; "I compare time and circumstance together, in order to discover whether the school in question might but, if you think there is a probability of not be this of Appleby. Some of the trustees at that obtaining the favour asked, I am sure your period were worthy gentlemen of the neighbourhood humanity, and propensity to relieve merit of Lichfield. Appleby itself is not far from the neigh-in distress, will incline you to serve the poor bourhood of Lichfield: the salary, the degree requisite, together with the time of election, all agreeing with the statutes of Appleby. The election, as said in the letter, could not be delayed longer than the 11th of next month,' which was the 11th of September, just three months after the annual audit-day of Appleby school, which is always on the 11th of June; and the statutes enjoin, ne alius præceptorum electio diutius tribus mensibus mararetur, &c.

"These I thought to be convincing proofs that my conjecture was not ill-founded, and that, in a future edition of that book, the circumstances might be recorded as fact.

"But what banishes every shadow of doubt, is the Minute-book of the school, which declares the headmastership to be at that time VACANT."

I cannot omit returning thanks to this learned genfleman, for the very handsome manner in which he has in that letter been so good as to speak of this work.

man, without my adding any more to the
trouble I have already given you, than as-
suring you that I am, with great truth, Sir,
"Your faithful servant,
"GOWER."

"Trentham, Aug. 1, 1739.

It was, perhaps, no small disappointment to Johnson that this respectable application had not the desired effect: yet how much reason has there been, both for himself and his country, to rejoice that it did not succeed, as he might probably have wasted in

obscurity those hours in which he afterwards | produced his incomparable works.

About this time he made one other effort to emancipate himself from the drudgery of authorship. He applied to Dr. Adams, to consult Dr. Smallbroke of the Commons, whether a person might be permitted to practise as an advocate there, without a doctor's degree in Civil Law. "I am (said he) a total stranger to these studies; but whatever is a profession, and maintains numbers, must be within the reach of common abilities, and some degree of industry." Dr. Adams was much pleased with Johnson's design to employ his talents in that manner, being confident he would have attained to great eminence. And, indeed, I cannot conceive a man better qualified to make a distinguished figure as a lawyer; for, he would have brought to his profession a rich store of various knowledge, an uncommon acuteness, and a command of language, in which few could have equalled, and none have surpassed him. He, who could display eloquence and wit in defence of the decision of the House of Commons upon Mr. Wilkes's election for Middlesex, and of the unconstitutional taxation of our fellow-subjects in America, must have been a powerful advocate in any cause. But here, also, the want of a degree was an insurmountable bar.

He was therefore under the necessity of persevering in that course into which he had been forced; and we find, that his proposal from Greenwich to Mr. Cave, for a translation of Father Paul Sarpi's History, was accepted.

Some sheets of this translation were printed off, but the design was dropt; for it happened, oddly enough, that another person of the name of Samuel Johnson, Librarian of St. Martin's in the Fields, and Curate of that parish, engaged in the same undertaking, and was patronised by the Clergy, particularly by Dr. Pearce, afterwards Bishop of Rochester. Several light skirmishes passed between the rival translators, in the news

In the Weekly Miscellany, October 21, 1738, there appeared the following advertisement: "Just published, proposals for printing the History of the Council of Trent, translated from the Italian of Father Paul Sarpi; with the Author's Life, and Notes theological, historical, and critical, from the French edition of Dr. Le Courayer. To which are added, Observations on the History, and Notes and Illustrations from various Authors, both printed and manuscript. By S. Johnson. 1. The work will consist of two hundred sheets, and be two volumes in quarto, printed on good paper and letter. 2. The price will be 18s. each volume, to be paid half a guinea at the delivery of the first volume, and

the rest at the delivery of the second volume in sheets. 3. Two-pence to be abated for every sheet less than two

hundred. It may be had on a large paper, in three volumes, at the price of three guineas; one to be paid at the time of subscribing, another at the delivery of the first, and the rest at the delivery of the other volumes. The work is now in the press, and will be diligently prosecuted. Subscriptions are taken in by Mr. Dodsley in Pall-Mall, Mr. Rivington in St. Paul's Church-yard, by E. Cave at St. John's Gate, and the Translator, at No. 6, in Castle-street, by Cavendish-square."

I have in my possession, by the favour of Mr. John Nichols, a paper in Johnson's handwriting, entitled "Account between Mr. Edward Cave and Sam. Johnson, in relation to a version of Father Paul, &c. begun August the 2nd, 1738;" by which it that, from that day to the 21st of April, 1739, appears, Johnson received for this work 491. 7s. in sums of one, two, three, and sometimes four guineas at a time, most frequently two. And it is curious to observe the minute and scrupulous accuracy with which Johnson had pasted upon it a slip of paper, which he has entitled "Small account,'

and

which contains one article, “
Cave laid down 2s. 6d." There is subjoined
Sept. 9th, Mr.
to this account, a list of some subcribers to
the work, partly in Johnson's hand-writing,
partly in that of another person; and there
follows a leaf or two on which are written a
number of characters which have the appear-
ance of a short hand, which, perhaps, John-
son was then trying to learn.

SIR,

"TO MR. CAVE.

Wednesday.

"I DID not care to detain your servant while I wrote an answer to your letter, in which you seem to insinuate that I had If I have raised your expectations by any promised more than I am ready to perform. thing that may have escaped my memory, I am sorry; and if you remind me of it, shall thank you for the favour. If I made fewer alterations than usual in the Debates, it was only because there appeared, and still appears to be, less need of alteration. The verses to Lady Firebrace may be had when you please, for you know that such a subject neither deserves much thought, nor requires it.

any.

"The Chinese Stories + may be had folded down when you please to send, in which I do not recollect that you desired alterations to be made. "An answer to another query I am very willing to write, and had consulted with you about it last night, if there had been time; for I think it the most proper way of inviting such a correspondence as may be an advantage to the paper, not a load upon it.

They afterwards appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine with this title Verses to Lady Firebrace," at Bury Assizes."

ing by Mr. Cave in weekly numbers, whence Johnson Du Halde's Description of China was then publishwas to select pieces for the embellishment of the Magazine. N.

"As to the Prize Verses, a backwardness | face, that this translation was erroneously to determine their degrees of merit is not ascribed to him; and I have found this peculiar to me. You may, if you please, point ascertained, beyond all doubt, by the still have what I can say; but I shall en- following article in Dr. Birch's Manuscripts gage with little spirit in an affair, which I in the British Museum : shall hardly end to my own satisfaction, and certainly not to the satisfaction of the parties concerned.*

"As to Father Paul, I have not yet been just to my proposal, but have met with impediments, which, I hope, are now at an end; and if you find the progress hereafter not such as you have a right to expect, you can easily stimulate a negligent translator. "If any or all of these have contributed to your discontent, I will endeavour to remove it; and desire you to propose the question to which you wish for an answer. "I am, Sir, your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON."

"I AM pretty much of your opinion, that the Commentary cannot be prosecuted with any appearance of success; for as the names of the authors concerned are of more weight in the performance than its own intrinsic merit, the public will be soon satisfied with it. And I think the Examen should be pushed forward with the utmost expedition. Thus, This day, &c. An Examen of Mr. Pope's Essay, &c. containing a succinct Account of the Philosophy of Mr. Leibnitz on the System of the Fatalists, with a Confutation of their Opinions, and an Illustration of the Doctrine of Freewill;' [with what else you think proper.]

"It will, above all, be necessary to take notice, that it is a thing distinct from the Commentary.

"I was so far from imagining they stood still,+ that I conceived them to have a good deal before-hand, and therefore was less anxious in providing them more. But if ever they stand still on my account, it must doubtless be charged to me; and whatever else shall be reasonable, I shall not oppose; but beg a suspense of judgement till morning, when I must entreat you to send me a dozen proposals, and you shall then have copy to spare.

66

"I am, Sir, your's, impransus,

"SAM. JOHNSON." "Pray muster up the Proposals if you can, or let the boy recall them from the booksellers."

But although he corresponded with Mr. Cave concerning a translation of Crousaz's Examen of Pope's Essay on Man, and gave advice as one anxious for its success, I was long ago convinced, by a perusal of the Pre

• The premium of forty pounds, proposed for the best poem on the Divine Attributes, is here alluded to. N. + The compositors in Mr. Cave's printing-office, who appear by this letter to have then waited for copy. N.

"ELISA CARTERÆ, S. P. D. THOMAS BIRCHI.

"Versionem tuam Examinis Crousaziani jam perlegi. Summam styli et elegantiam, et in re difficillima proprietatem, admiratus.

"Dabam November 27° 1738.

ledged to Mr. Seward, that she was the Indeed, Mrs. Carter has lately acknowtranslator of the "Examen."

It is remarkable, that Johnson's last quoted letter to Mr. Cave concludes with a fair confession that he had not a dinner; and it is no less remarkable, that though in this state of want himself, his benevolent heart was not insensible to the necessities of an humble labourer in literature, as appears from the very next letter:

"You may remember I have formerly talked with you about a Military Dictionary. The eldest Mr. Macbean, who was with Mr. Chambers, has very good materials for such a work, which I have seen, and will do it at a very low rate. I think the terms of War and Navigation might be comprised, with good explanations, in one 8vo. Pica, which he is willing to do for 12s. a sheet, to be made up a guinea at the second impression. If you think on it, I will wait on you with him.

แ

"I am, Sir,your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." Pray lend me Topsel on Animals." I must not omit to mention, that this Mr. Macbean was a native of Scotland.

In the Gentleman's Magazine of this year, Johnson gave a Life of Father Paul; [*] and he wrote the Preface in the Volume, [+] which, though prefixed to it when bound, is always published with the Appendix, and is therefore the last composition belonging to it. The ability and nice adaptation with which he could draw up a prefatory address, was one of his peculiar excellencies.

It appears too, that he paid a friendly attention to Mrs. Elizabeth Carter; for, in a letter from Mr. Cave to Dr. Birch, November 28, this year, I find "Mr. Johnson advises Miss C. to undertake a translation of Boethius de Cons. because there is prose and verse, and to put her name to it when published." This advice was not followed; probably from an apprehension that the work was not sufficiently popular for an extensive sale. How well Johnson himself could have

Birch MSS. Brit. Mus. 4323.
This book was published.
F