As the Rambler was entirely the work of one man, there was, of course, such a uniformity in its texture, as very much to exclude the charm of variety; and the grave and often solemn cast of thinking, which distinguished it from other periodical papers, made it, for some time, not generally liked. So slowly did this excellent work, of which twelve editions have now issued from the press, gain upon the world at large, that even in the closing number the author says, "I have never been much a favourite of the public." Yet, very soon after its commencement, there were who felt and acknowledged its uncommon excellence. Verses in its praise appeared in the newspapers; and the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine mentions, in October, his having received several letters to the same purpose from the learned. "The Student, or Oxford and Cambridge Monthly Miscellany," in which Mr. Bonnel Thornton and Mr. Colman 2 were the principal writers, describes it as "a work that exceeds any thing of the kind ever published in this kingdom, some of the Spectators excepted, if indeed they may be excepted." And afterwards, May the public favours crown his merits, and may not the English, under the auspicious reign of George the Second, neglect a man, who, had he lived in the first century, would 66 to read; but it would have been better to have left blanks than to write nonsense. - BOSWELL. The Ramblers, certainly, were little noticed at first. Smart, the poet, first mentioned them to me as excellent papers, before I had heard any one else speak of them. When I went into Norfolk, in the autumn of 1751, I found but one person (the Rev. Mr. Squires, a man of learning, and a general purchaser of new books) who knew any thing of them. Before I left Norfolk, in the year 1760, the Ramblers were in high favour among persons of learning and good taste. Others there were, devoid of both, who said that the hard trords in the Rambler were used by the author to render his Dictionary indispensably necessary. BURNEY. 2 I doubt if Colman wrote in this work. Smart was the principal contributor, and T. Warton a very considerable one. -A. CHALMERS. 3 Richardson, the author of Clarissa, to whom Cave had sent the first five numbers of the Rambler, became, as they proceeded, "so inexpressibly pleased with them," that he wrote to Cave in strong commendation, and intimated his conviction (the name of the author being still a secret), that Johnson was the only man who could write them. Cave, in his answer, dated "St. John's Gate, August 23. 1750," says:"Excuse this ramble from the purpose of your letter. I return to answer, that Mr. Johnson is the Great Ram ler, being, as you observe, the only man who can furnish two such papers in a week, besides his other great business, and has not been assisted with above three. I may discover to you, that the world is not so kind to itself as you wish it. The encouragement, as to sale, is not in proportion to the high character given to the work by the judicious, not to say the raptures expressed by the few that do read it; but its being thus relished in numbers gives hopes that the sets must go off, as it is a fine paper, and, considering the late hour of having the copy, tolerably printed. "When the author was to be kept private (which was the first scheme), two gentlemen, belonging to the Prince's court, came to me to inquire his name, in order to do him service; and also brought a list of seven gentlemen to be served with the Rambler. As I was not at liberty, an inference was drawn, that I was desirous to keep to myself so excellent a writer. Soon after Mr. Doddington [afterwards Lord Melcombe sent a letter directed to the Rambler, inviting him to his house, when he should be disposed to enlarge his acquaintance. In a subsequent number a kind of excuse was made, with a hint that a good writer might not appear to advantage in conversation. Since that time several circumstances, and Mr. Garrick and others, who knew the author's powers and style from the first, unadvisedly asserting their have been one of the greatest favourites of Augustus." This flattery of the monarch had no effect. It is too well known, that the second George never was an Augustus to learning or genius.3 Johnson told me, with an amiable fondness, a little pleasing circumstance relative to this work. Mrs. Johnson, in whose judgment and taste he had great confidence, said to him, after a few numbers of the Rambler had come out, "I thought very well of you before; but I did not imagine you could have written any thing equal to this." Distant praise, from whatever quarter, is not so delightful as that of a wife whom a man loves and esteems. Her approbation may be said to "come home to his bosom ;" and, being so near, its effect is most sensible and permanent. Mr. James Elphinston *, who has since published various works, and who was ever esteemed by Johnson as a worthy man, happened to be in Scotland while the Rambler was coming out in single papers at London. With a laudable zeal at once for the improvement of his countrymen, and the reputation of his friend, he suggested and took the charge of an edition of those Essays at Edinburgh, which followed progressively the London publication.5 The following letter, written at this time, (but) suspicions, overturned the scheme of secrecy. (About which there is also one paper.) "I have had letters of approbation from Dr. Young, Dr. Hartley, Dr. Sharp, Miss Carter, &c. &c., most of them, like you, setting them in a rank equal, and some superior, to the Spectators (of which I have not read many, for the reasons which you assign): but, notwithstanding such recommendation, whether the price of twopence, or the unfavourable season of their first publication, hinders the demand, no boast can be made of it. The author (who thinks highly of your writings) is obliged to you for contributing your endeavours; and so is, for several marks of your friendship, good Sir, your admirer, and very humble servant," &c. &c. The two Ramblers alluded to are probably Nos. 14. and 13. Richardson had said, in his letter to Cave, "I remember not any thing in those Spectators that I read, for I never found time to read them all, that half so much struck me." It seems very strange that men of literary habits, like Richardson and Cave, should have read the Spectator so imperfectly. It is the stranger, with regard to Richardson, for his only paper in the Rambler (No. 97.) is written in the character of a professed admirer of the Spectator. "- CROKER. 4 Mr. James Elphinston was born in Edinburgh, in 1721. He, when very young, was a private tutor in two or three eminent families: but about 1752 set up a boarding-school at Kensington, where Dr. Johnson sometimes visited him. He died at Hammersmith in 1809. His works are forgotten, or remembered for their absurdity. He translated Martial, of which Dr. Beattie says, "It is truly an unique - the specimens formerly published did very well to laugh at; but a whole quarto of nonsense and gibberish is too much. It is strange that a man not wholly illiterate should have lived so long in England without learning the language." — And it was, no doubt, of this strange work that Mrs. Piozzi relates (p. 47.), that" of a modern Martial, when it came out, Dr. Johnson said there are in these verses too much folly for madness, I think, and too much madness for folly." CROKER. 5 It was executed in the printing-office of Sands, Murray, and Cochran, with uncommon elegance, upon writing paper, of a duodecimo size, and with the greatest correctaess: and Mr. Elphinston enriched it with translations of the mottos. When completed, it made eight handsome volumes. It is, unquestionably, the most accurate and beautiful edition of this work; and there being but a small impression, it is now become scarce, and sells at a very high price. — BOSWELL. With respect to the correctness of this edition, my father probably derived his information from some other person, and appears to have been misinformed; for it was not accu F though not dated', will show how much pleased Johnson was with this publication, and what kindness and regard he had for Mr. Elphin ston. TO MR. JAMES ELPHINSTON. [No date.] "DEAR SIR, I cannot but confess the failures of my correspondence; but hope the same regard which you express for me on every other occasion, will incline you to forgive me. I am often, very often, ill; and, when I am well, am obliged to work and, indeed, have never much used myself to punctuality. You are, however, not to make unkind inferences, when I forbear to reply to your kindness; for, be assured, I never receive a letter from you without great pleasure, and a very warm sense of your generosity and friendship, which I heartily blame myself for not cultivating with more care. In this, as in many other cases, I go wrong, in opposition to conviction; for I think scarce any temporal good equally to be desired with the regard and familiarity of worthy men. I hope we shall be some time nearer to each other, and have a more ready way of pouring out our hearts. them me. "I am glad that you still find encouragement to proceed in your publication; and shall beg the favour of six more volumes to add to my former six, when you can, with any convenience, send Please to present a set, in my name, to Mr. Ruddiman, of whom, I hear, that his learning is not his highest excellence. I have transcribed the mottos, and returned them, I hope not too late, of which I think many very happily performed. Mr. Cave has put the last in the Magazine, in which I think he did well. I beg of you to write soon, and to write often, and to write long letters, which I hope in time to repay you; but you must be a patient creditor. I have, however, this of gratitude, that I think of you with regard, when I do not, perhaps, give the proofs which I ought, of being, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON." This year he wrote to the same gentleman another letter upon a mournful occasion. TO MR. JAMES ELPHINSTON. "September 25. 1750. "DEAR SIR, You have, as I find by every kind of evidence, lost an excellent mother; and I hope you will not think me incapable of partaking of your grief. I have a mother, now eighty-two years of age, whom, therefore, I must soon lose, unless it please God that she should rather mourn for me. I read the letters in which you relate your mother's death to Mrs. Strahan, and think I do myself honour, when I tell you that I read them with tears; but tears are neither to you nor to me of any further use, when once the tribute of nature has been paid. The business of life summons us away from useless grief, and calls us to the exercise of those virtues of which we are lamenting our deprivation. The greatest benefit which one friend can confer upon another is to guard, and excite, and elevate his virtues. This your mother will still perform, if you diligently preserve the memory of her life, and of her death: a life, so far as I can learn, useful, wise, and innocent; and a death resigned, peaceful, and holy. I cannot forbear to mention, that neither reason nor revelation denies you to hope, that you may increase her happiness by obeying her precepts; and that she may, in her present state, look with pleasure upon every act of virtue to which her instructions or example have contributed. Whether this be more than a pleasing dream, or a just opinion of separate spirits, is, indeed, of no great importance to us, when we consider ourselves as acting under the eye of GOD; yet, surely, there is something pleasing in the belief, that our separation from those whom we love is rately printed, as we learn from Mr. A. Chalmers. — J. BosWELL. Here is a slight misunderstanding. Elphinston's edition was correctly printed after the original folio numbers as they came out. Mr. Chalmers denies its accuracy, because it had not the various corrections subsequently made by Johnson when he republished the Rambler in volumes. CROKER. This letter, written, at soonest, in Oct. 1750, should have followed that of the 25th September. Mr. Boswell may have copied them from the Memoirs, where they happen to be misplaced. I have added to these, from the same volume, two other letters to Mr. Elphinston, of which, the second, at least, deserves to be rescued from oblivion.- CROKER, 1846. TO MR. ELPHINSTON. "20th April, 1749. "SIR,I have, for a long time, intended to answer the letter which you were pleased to send me, and know not why I have delayed it so long, but that I had nothing particular either of enquiry or information to send you; and the same reason might still have the same consequence, but I find, in my recluse kind of life, that I am not likely to have much more to say at one time than at another, and that, therefore, I may endanger, by an appearance of neglect long continued, the loss of such an acquaintance as I know not where to supply. I, therefore, write now to assure you how sensible I am of the kindness you have always expressed to me, and how much I desire the cultivation of that benevolence which perhaps nothing but the distance between us has hindered from ripening before this time into friendship. Of myself I have very little to say, and of any body else less; let me. however, be allowed one thing, and that in my own favour, that I am, dear Sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." TO MR. ELPHINSTON. "27th July, 1778. "SIR, Having myself suffered what you are now suffering, I well know the weight of your distress, how much need you have of comfort, and how little comfort can be given. A loss, such as yours, lacerates the mind, and breaks the whole system of purposes and hopes. It leaves a dismal vacuity in life, which affords nothing on which the affections can fix, or to which endeavour may be directed. All this I have known, and it is now, in the vicissitude of things, your turn to know it. "But in the condition of mortal beings, one must lose another. What would be the wretchedness of life, if there was not something always in view, some Being immutable and unfailing, to whose mercy man may have recourse. Toy πρῶτον κινοῦντα ἀκίνητον. Here we must rest. The Greatest Being is the most benevolent. We must not grieve for the dead as men without hope, because we know that they are in his hands. We have indeed not leisure to grieve long, because we are hastening to follow them. Your race and mine have been interrupted by many obstacles, but we must humbly hope for an happy end. I am, Sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." 2 Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, the learned grammarian of Scotland, well known for his various excellent works, and for his accurate editions of several authors. He was also a man of the most worthy private character. His zeal for the Royal House of Stuart did not render him less estimable in Dr. Johnson's eye. - BOSWELL. Ruddiman was born in 1674, and died at Edinburgh in 1757. CROKER. 3 Sister to Mr. Elphinston, and wife of Mr. Strahan, the king's printer. To this connexion, Johnson was indebted for many of the most respectable of his early acquaintance. — CROKER. merely corporeal; and it may be a great incitement to virtuous friendship, if it can be made probable, that that union that has received the divine approbation shall continue to eternity. "There is one expedient by which you may, in some degree, continue her presence. If you write down minutely what you remember of her from your earliest years, you will read it with great pleasure, and receive from it many hints of soothing recollection, when time shall remove her yet farther from you, and your grief shall be matured to veneration. To this, however painful for the present, 1 cannot but advise you, as to a source of comfort and satisfaction in the time to come; for all comfort and all satisfaction is sincerely wished you by, dear Sir, your most obliged, most obedient, and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." The Rambler has increased in fame as in age. Soon after its first folio edition was concluded, it was published in six duodecimo volumes'; and its author lived to see ten numerous editions of it in London, besides those of Ireland and Scotland. I profess myself to have ever entertained a profound veneration for the astonishing force and vivacity of mind, which the Rambler exhibits. That Johnson had penetration enough to see, and seeing, would not disguise, the general misery of man in this state of being, may have given rise to the superficial notion of his being too stern a philosopher. But men of reflection will be sensible that he has given a true representation of human existence, and that he has, at the same time, with a generous benevolence, displayed every consolation which our state affords us; not only those arising from the hopes of futurity, but such as may be attained in the immediate progress through life. He has not depressed the soul to despondency and indifference. He has everywhere inculcated study, labour, and exertion. Nay, he has shown in a very odious light, a man, whose practice is to go about darkening the views of others, by perpetual complaints of evil, and awakening those considerations of danger and distress, which are, for the most part, lulled into a quiet oblivion. This he has done very strongly in his character of Suspirius (No. 55.), from which Goldsmith took that of Croaker, in his comedy of "The Goodnatured Man," as Johnson told me he acknowledged to him, and which is, indeed, very obvious. To point out the numerous subjects which the Rambler treats, with a dignity and perspicuity which are there united in a manner which 1 This is not quite accurate. In the Gent. Mag. for Nov. 1751, while the work was yet proceeding, is an advertisement, announcing that four volumes of the Rambler would speedily be published; and it is believed that they were published in the next month. The fifth and sixth volumes, with tables of contents and translations of the mottos, were published in July, 1752, by Payne (the original publisher), three months after the close of the work. When the Rambler was collected into volumes, Johnson revised and corrected it throughout. The original octavo edition not having fallen into Mr. Boswell's hands, he was not aware of this circumstance, which we shall in vain look for any where else, would take up too large a portion of my book, and would, I trust, be superfluous, considering how nated. Even the most condensed and brilliant universally those volumes are now dissemisentences which they contain, and which have very properly been selected under the name of "BEAUTIES," 192 are of considerable bulk. But I may shortly observe, that the Rambler furnishes such an assemblage of discourses on practical religion and moral duty, of critical investigations, and allegorical and oriental tales, that no mind can be thought very deficient that has, by constant study and meditation, assimilated to itself all that may be found there. No. 7., written in Passion-week, on abstraction and self-examination, and No. 110., on penitence and the placability of the Divine Nature, cannot be too often read. No. 54., on the effect which the death of a friend should have upon us, though rather too dispiriting, may be occasionally very medicinal to the mind. Every one must suppose the writer to have been deeply impressed by a real scene; but he told me that was not the case: which shows how well his fancy could conduct him to the "house of mourning." Some of these more solemn papers, I doubt not, particularly attracted the notice of Dr. Young, the author of "The Night Thoughts," of whom my estimation is such, as to reckon his applause an honour even to Johnson. I have seen volumes of Dr. Young's copy of the Rambler, in which he has marked the passages which he thought particularly excellent, by folding down the corner of the page: and such as he rated in a super-eminent degree, are marked by double folds. I am sorry that some of the volumes are lost. Johnson was pleased when told of the minute attention with which Young had signified his approbation of his essays. I will venture to say, that in no writings whatever can be found more bark and steel for the mind, if I may use the expression; more that can brace and invigorate every manly and noble sentiment. No. 32., on patience, even under extreme misery, is wonderfully lofty, and as much above the rant of stoicism, as the sun of Revelation is brighter than the twilight of Pagan philosophy. I never read the following sentence without feeling my frame thrill:-"I think there is some reason for questioning whether the body and mind are not so proportioned, that the one can bear all which can be inflicted on the other; whether virtue cannot stand its ground as long as life, has lately been pointed out by Mr. Alexander Chalmers in his edition of the British Essayists.- MALONE. 2 Dr. Johnson was gratified by seeing this selection, and wrote to Mr. Kearsley, bookseller in Fleet Street, the following note: "Mr. Johnson sends compliments to Mr. Kearsley, and begs the favour of seeing him as soon as he can. Mr. Kearsley is desired to bring with him the last edition of what he has honoured with the name of BEAUTIES. May 20. 1782."BOSWELL. sad whether a soul well principled will not be soner separated than subdued." Though instruction be the predominant purpose of the Rambler, yet it is enlivened with a considerable portion of amusement. Nothing can be more erroneous than the notion which soute persons have entertained, that Johnson was then a retired author, ignorant of the world, and, of consequence, that he wrote only from his imagination, when he described chaPacters and manners. He said to me that, before he wrote that work, he had been "runwing about the world," as he expressed it, more sha aluost any body; and I have heard him relates with much satisfaction, that several of the characters in the Rambler were drawn so aturally, that when it first circulated in numbors a club in one of the towns in Essex 1 imagined themselves to be severally exhibited in it, and were much incensed against a person who they suspected, had thus made them obfects of public notice; nor were they quieted all authentic assurance was given them, that the Rambler was written by a person who had never heard of any one of them. Some of the characters are believed to have been actually drawn from the life, particularly that of Prospero No. 200.], from Garrick, who never entirely forgave its pointed satire.4 1 For instances of fertility of fancy, and accurate description of real life, I appeal to No. 19., a man who wanders from one profession to another, with most plausible reasons for every change: No. 34., female fastidiousness and timorous refinement: No. 82., a Virtuoso who has collected curiosities: No. 88., petty modes of entertaining a company, and conciliating kindness: No. 182., fortune-hunting: No. 194, 195., a tutor's account of the follies of his pupil: No. 197, 198., legacy-hunting. He has given a specimen of his nice observation of the 1 This anecdote was, according to Mrs. Piozzi, communicated to Johnson by Mr. Murphy, but (as the lady tells it), with details which savour more of a desire to make a good story than to tell a true one. -CROKER. That of Gelidus, in No. 24., from Professor Colson, and that of Euphues in the same paper, which, with many others, was doubtless drawn from the life. Euphues, I once thought, might have been intended to represent either Lord Chesterfield or Soame Jenyns; but Mr. Bindley, with more probability, thinks, that George Bubb Doddington, who was remarkable for the homeliness of his person, and the finery of his dress, was the person meant under that character.MALONE. Gelidus was certainly not meant for Professor Colson. See antè, p. 27. n. 3. The folly of such guesses at characters is forcibly exemplified in Mr. Malone's producing three such different candidates for that of Euphues, as Lord Chesterfield, Soame Jenyns, and Bubb Doddington! CHOKER. Having just seen Garrick's generous and successful endeavours to advance the fame and improve the fortunes of his friend, it were melancholy to be obliged, by the concurrent evidence of Boswell, Murphy, and Mrs. Piozzi, to believe that Johnson meant to satirize that amiable, inoffensive, and (to him) most friendly man, whose profession, as well as his personal feelings, rendered him peculiarly sensitive to such attacks. Hawkins, however, who seldom missed an opportunity of displaying Johnson's faults or frailties, does not, even when censuring his conduct towards Garrick, allude to this offence. (See Life, p. 421.) And in truth the picture has no distinctive resemblance to Garrick; I am therefore inclined to hope and believe that the biographers have been as much mistaken in their appropriation of the character of Prospero, as they certainly were as to those of Euphues and Gelidus.C. mere external appearances of life, in the following passage in No. 179., against affectation, that frequent and most disgusting quality :"He that stands to contemplate the crowds that fill the streets of a populous city, will see many passengers, whose air and motions it will be difficult to behold without contempt and laughter; but if he examine what are the appearances that thus powerfully excite his risibility, he will find among them neither poverty nor disease, nor any involuntary or painful defect. The disposition to derision and insult is awakened by the softness of foppery, the swell of insolence, the liveliness of levity, or the solemnity of grandeur; by the sprightly trip, the stately stalk, the formal strut, and the lofty mien; by gestures intended to catch the eye, and by looks elaborately formed as evidences of importance." 5 Every page of the Rambler shows a mind teeming with classical allusion and poetical imagery: illustrations from other writers are, upon all occasions, so ready, and mingled so easily in his periods, that the whole appears of one uniform vivid texture. The style of this work has been censured by some shallow critics as involved and turgid, and abounding with antiquated and hard words. So ill-founded is the first part of this objection, that I will challenge all who may honour this book with a perusal, to point out any English writer whose language conveys his meaning with equal force and perspicuity. It must, indeed, be allowed, that the structure of his sentences is expanded, and often has somewhat of the inversion of Latin; and that he delighted to express familiar thoughts in philosophical language; being in this the reverse of Socrates, who, it is said, reduced philosophy to the simplicity of common life. But let us attend to what he himself says in his concluding paper: 4 Mrs. Piozzi says, "Sophron was likewise a picture drawn from reality. The man immortalised for purring like a cat was, as he told me, one Busby, a proctor in the Commons. He who barked so ingeniously, and then called the drawer to drive away the dog, was father to Dr. Salter, of the Charterhouse. He who sung a song, and, by correspondent motions of his arm, chalked out a giant on the wall, was one Richardson, an attorney."- All these are characters alluded to in the conclusion of the 188th Rambler, but so slightly that it seems hardly worth while to inquire whether the hints were furnished by observation or invention. As to the anecdote told of the elder Dr. Salter, it could have only been, as Mr. Chalmers observed, the repetition of some story of his youthful days; for he was 70 years of age before he became a member of the Ivy Lane Club. - CROKER. 5 Mrs. Piozzi states that of the allegorical papers in the Rambler, Labour and Rest (No. 33.) was Johnson's favourite; but Serotinus (No. 165.), the man who returns late in life to receive honours in his native country, and meets with mortification instead of respect, was considered by him as a masterpiece in the science of life and manners."_ CROKER. 6 Yet his style did not escape the harmless shafts of pleasant humour: for the ingenious Bonnel Thornton published a mock Rambler in the Drury Lane Journal. — BOSWELL. And Mr. Murphy, in commenting on this passage, quotes the witty observation of Dryden:-"If so many foreign words are poured in upon us, it looks as if they were designed not to assist the natives, but to conquer them." Life, p. 157. -CROKER. "When common words were less pleasing to the ear, or less distinct in their signification, I have familiarised the terms of philosophy, by applying them to popular ideas." And, as to the second part of this objection, upon a late careful revision of the work, I can with confidence say, that it is amazing how few of those words, for which it has been unjustly characterised, are actually to be found in it; I am sure, not the proportion of one to each paper.' This idle charge has been echoed from one babbler to another, who have confounded Johnson's Essays with Johnson's Dictionary; and because he thought it right in a lexicon of our language to collect many words which had fallen into disuse, but were supported by great authorities, it has been imagined that all of these have been interwoven into his own compositions. That some of them have been adopted by him unnecessarily, may, perhaps, be allowed: but, in general, they are evidently an advantage; for without them his stately ideas would be confined and cramped. "He that thinks with more extent than another, will want words of larger meaning." [Idler, No. 70.] He once told me, that he had formed his style upon that of Sir William Temple, and upon Chambers's Proposal for his Dictionary. He certainly was 1 Mr. Boswell's zeal carries him too far: Johnson's style, especially in the Rambler, is frequently turgid, even to ridicule; but he has been sometimes censured with a malicious flippancy, which Boswell may be excused for resenting; and even graver critics have treated him with inconsiderate injustice; for instance, The Rev. Dr. Burrowes (Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and afterwards Dean of Cork), in an" Essay on the Style of Dr. Johnson, published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy (1787), observes: — "Johnson says, that he has rarely admitted any word not authorised by former writers; but where are we to seek authorities for resuscitation, orbity, volant, fatuity, divaricate, asinine, narcotic, vulnerary, empireumatic, papilionaceous,' and innumerable others of the same stamp, which abound in and disgrace his pages ?— for obtund, disruption, sensory, or panoply,' all occurring in the short compass of a single essay in the Rambler?or for cremation, horticulture, germination, and decussation,' within a few pages in his Life of Browne? They may be found, perhaps, in the works of former writers, but they make no part of the English language. They are the illegitimate offspring of learning by vanity." It is wonderful, that, instead of asking where these words were to be found, Dr. Burrowes did not think of referring to Johnson's own Dictionary. He would have found good authorities for almost every one of them; for instance, for resuscitation, Milton and Bacon; for volant, Milton and Phillips; for fatuity, Arbuthnot; for asinine, Milton; for narcotic and vulnerary, Browne; for germination, Bacon, and so on. But although these authorities, which Dr. Burrowes might have found in the Dictionary, are a sufficient answer to his question, let it be also observed, that many of these words were in use in more familiar authors than Johnson chose to quote, and that the majority of them are now become familiar which is a sufficient proof that the English language has not considered them as illegitimate. -Pope. For Use will father what's begot by Sense."-. - CROKER. ? This is a truism in the disguise of a sophism. "He that thinks with more extent will," no doubt, want words of a larger meaning," but the words themselves may be plain and simple; the number of syllables, and oro-rotundity (if one may venture to use the expression) of the sound of a word can never add much, and may, in some cases, do injury to the meaning. What words were ever written of a larger meaning than the following, which, however, are the most simple and elementary that can be found: -"God said, Let there be light, and there was light!" If we were to convert the proposition in the Idler, and say, that "he who thinks feebly, needs bigger words to cover his inanity," we should be nearer the truth. But it must be admitted (as Mr. Boswell soon after observes) that Johnson (though he, in some of his mistaken; or if he imagined at first that he was imitating Temple, he was very unsuccessful*; for nothing can be more unlike than the simplicity of Temple, and the richness of Johnson. Their styles differ as plain cloth and brocade. Temple, indeed, seems equally erroneous in supposing that he himself had formed his style upon Sandys's View of the State of Religion in the Western Parts of the World. The style of Johnson was, undoubtedly, much formed upon that of the great writers in the last century, Hooker, Bacon, Sanderson, Hakewill, and others; those " GIANTS," as they were well characterised by A GREAT PERSONAGE 5 whose authority, were I to name him, would stamp a reverence on the opinion. We may, with the utmost propriety, apply to his learned style that passage of Horace, a part of which he has taken as the motto to his Dictionary: — "Cum tabulis animum censoris sumet honesti ; works, pushed his peculiarities to an absurd extent) has been, on the whole, a benefactor to our language; he has introduced more dignity into our style, more regularity into our grammatical construction, and given a fuller and more sonorous sound to the march of our sentences and the cadence of our periods. See his own claims on this point stated with a kind of modest pride, in the last Rambler.CROKER. 3 Chambers's Proposal for a second edition of his Dictionary, was probably in circulation when Johnson first came to London. MALONE. 4 See under April 9. 1778; where, in a conversation at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, Johnson himself mentions the particular improvements which Temple made in the English style. MALONE. 5 Here is an instance of the difficulty of explaining, after a lapse of time, circumstances once of great notoriety. My learned and excellent friend Bishop Elrington desired me to "state that this Great Personage was his late majesty, George III. Every one knows it now, but who will know it fifty years hence?" There is no doubt of the fact, that when on some occasion the great divines of the eighteenth century were mentioned in the king's presence, his majesty said, "Yes-there were Giants in those days," in allusion to Genesis, vi. 4. But all my inquiries (and some of his majesty's illustrious family have condescended to permit these inquiries to extend even to them) have failed to ascertain to what person or on what occasion that happy expression was used. Boswell, in his first edition, attributed this anecdote to “one whose authority, &c.:" in his subsequent editions he changed "one" into "A GREAT PERSONAGE. CROKER. 6 Hawkins says, "Hooker he admired for his logical precision, Sanderson for his acuteness, and Taylor for his amazing erudition; Sir Thomas Browne for his penetration, and Cowley for the ease and unaffected structure of his periods. The tinsel of Sprat disgusted him, and he could but just endure the smooth verbosity of Tillotson. Hammond and Barrow he thought involved; and of the latter, that he was unnecessarily prolix." I have thought it right to repeat the foregoing, as the evidence of an eye-witness to Johnson's course of reading; though it may be well doubted whether Sir J. Hawkins has preserved exactly the characteristic qualities which he attributed to these illustrious men. It is not easy to conceive how the erudition of Taylor or the penetration of Browne could have improved Johnson's style; nor is it likely that Johnson would have celebrated the eloquent and subtile Taylor for erudition alone, or the pious and learned Browne for mere penetration. Johnson's friend, Mr. Fitzherbert, said (see post, April 8. 1775), that "it was not every man who could carry a bon mot; " certainly Hawkins was not a man likely to convey adequately Dr. Johnson's critical opinion of Jeremy Taylor. -CROKER. |