I reminded him of a gentleman, who, Mrs. Cholmondeley said, was first talkative from affectation, and then silent from the same cause; that he first thought, "I shall be celebrated as the liveliest man in every company;" and then, all at once, "O! it is much more respectable to be grave and look wise." "He has reversed the Pythagorian discipline, by being first talkative, and then silent. He reverses the course of Nature too; he was first the gay butterfly, and then the creeping worm. Johnson laughed loud and long at this expansion and illustration of what he himself had told me.

11

We dined together with Mr. Scott (now Sir William Scott, his Majesty's Advocate General),* at his chambers in the Temple, nobody else there. The company being small, Johnson was not in such spirits as he had been the preceding day, and for a considerable time little was said. At last he burst forth: "Subordination is sadly broken down in this age. No man, now, has the same authority which his father had-except a gaoler. No master has it over his servants: it is diminished in our colleges; nay, in our grammar-schools." BOSWELL: "What is the cause of this, Sir?" JOHNSON: "Why, the coming in of the Scotch," (laughing sarcastically). BOSWELL: "That is to say, things have been turned topsy-turvy.-But your serious cause. JOHNSON: "Why, Sir, there are many causes, the chief of which is, I think, the great increase of money.. No man now depends upon the Lord of a Manor, when he can send to another country, and fetch provisions. The shoe-black at the entry of my court does not depend on me. I can deprive him but of a penny a day, which he hopes somebody else will bring him; and that penny I must carry to another shoe-black, so the trade suffers nothing. I have explained, in my Journey to the Hebrides," how gold and silver destroy feudal subordination. But, besides. there is a general relaxation of reverence. No son now depends upon his father, as in former times. Paternity used to be considered as of itself a great thing, which had a right to many claims. That is, in general, reduced to very small bounds. My hope is that as anarchy produces tyranny, this extreme relaxation will produce freni strictio."

Talking of fame, for which there is so great a desire, I observed how little there is of it in reality, compared with the other objects of human attention. "Let every man recollect, and he will be sensible how small a part of his time is employed in talking or thinking of Shakspeare, Voltaire, or any of the most celebrated men that have ever lived, or are now supposed to occupy the attention and admiration of the world. Let this be extracted and compressed; into what a narrow space will t go!" I then slily introduced Mr. Garrick's fame, and his assuming the airs of a great man. JOHNSON: "Sir, it is wonderful how little Garrick assumes.

No, Sir.

* [Now (1804) Judge of the Court of Admiralty, and Master of the Faculties. M.] † [Miss Hawkins says in her "Memoirs”: “At Hampton, and in its neighbourhood, Mr. and Mrs, Garrick took the rank of the noblesse-everything was in good taste, and his establishment distinguished-he drove four horses when going to town." "I see him now, in a dark blue coat, the button-holes bound with gold, a small cocked hat laced with gold, his waistcoat very open, and his countenaber never at rest, and indeed, seldom his person; for, in the relaxation of the country, he gave way to all his natural volatility, and with my father was perfectly at ease, sometimes sitting on a table, and then if he saw my brothers at a distance on the lawn, shooting off like an arrow out of a bow in a spirited chase of them round the garden. I remember-when my father, having me in his hand, met him on the common, riding his pretty pony-his moving my compassion by lamenting the misery of bein summoned to town in hot weather (I think August) to play before the King of Denmark. I thought him sincere, and his case pitiable, till my father assured me that he was in reality very well pleass and that what he groaned at as labour was an honour paid to his talents. The natural expression of his countenance was far from placidity. I confess I was afraid of him; more so than I was of Johnson whom I knew not to be, nor could suppose he ever would be thought to be, an extraordinary man Garrick had a frown, and spoke impetuously. Johnson was slow and kind in his way to children.' Croker.]

From an engraving by Anthony Cardon after a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A.

GARRICK BETWEEN TRAGEDY AND COMEDY

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Garrick fortunam reverenter habet. Consider, Sir; celebrated men, such as you have mentioned, have had their applause at a distance; but Garrick had it dashed in his face, sounded in his ears, and went home every night with the plaudits of a thousand in his cranium. Then, Sir, Garrick did not find, but made his way to the tables, the levées, and almost the bedchambers of the great. Then, Sir, Garrick had under him a numerous body of people; who, from fear of his power and hopes of his favour, and admiration of his talents, were constantly submissive to him. man who has advanced the dignity of his profession. Garrick has made a player a higher character." SCOTT: "And he is a very sprightly writer too." JOHNSON: Yes, Sir; and all this supported by great wealth, of his own acquisition. If all this had happened to me, I should have had a couple of fellows with long poles walking before me, to knock down everybody that stood in the way. Consider, if all this had happened to Cibber or Quin, they'd have jumped over the moon.-Yet Garrick speaks to us (smiling)." BOSWELL: "And Garrick is a very good man, a charitable man." JOHNSON : JOHNSON: "Sir, a liberal man. He has given away more money than any man in England. There may be a little vanity mixed: but he has shown that money is not his first object." BOSWELL: "Yet Foote used to say of him. that he walked out with an intention to do a generous action; but turning the corner of a street, he met with the ghost of a halfpenny, which frightened him." JOHNSON: Why, Sir, that is very true, too; for I never knew a man of whom it could be said with less certainty to-day, what he will do to-morrow, than Garrick ; it depends so much on his humour at the time." Scorr: "I am glad to hear of his liberality. He has been represented as very saving." JOHNSON: JOHNSON: "With his domestic saving we have nothing to do. I remember drinking tea with him long ago, when Peg Woffington made it, and he grumbled at her for making it too strong.* He had then begun to feel money in his purse, and did not know when he should have enough of it."

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On the subject of wealth, the proper use of it, and the effects of that art which is called economy, he observed, "It is wonderful to think how men of very large estates not only spend their yearly incomes, but are often actually in want of money. It is clear they have not value for what they spend. Lord Shelburne told me that a man of high rank, who looks into his own affairs, may have all that he ought to have, all that can be of any use, or appear with any advantage, for £5,000 a year. Therefore a great proportion must go in waste; and, indeed, this is the case with most people, whatever their fortune is." BOSWELL: "I have no doubt, Sir, of this But how is it? What is waste?" JOHNSON: "Why, Sir, breaking bottles, and a thousand other things. Waste cannot be accurately told, though we are sensible how destructive it is. Economy on the one hand, by which a certain income is made to maintain a man genteelly, and waste on the other, by which, on the same income another man lives shabbily, cannot be defined. It is a very nice thing; as one mar wears his coat out much sooner than another, we cannot tell how."

We talked of war. JOHNSON: "Every man thinks meanly of himself for no having been a soldier, or not having been at sea." BosWELL: BOSWELL: "Lord Mansfield does not." JOHNSON: "Sir, if Lord Mansfield were in a company of genera officers and admirals who have been in service, he would shrink; he'd wish to cree under the table." BOSWELL: "No; he'd think he could try them all." JOHNSON "Yes, if he could catch them but they'd try him much sooner. No, Sir; wer

*When Johnson told this little anecdote to Sir Joshua Reynolds, he mentioned a circumstanc which he omitted to-day :-" Why (said Garrick) it is as red as blood."

Etat. 69]

SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

773

Socrates and Charles the Twelfth of Sweden both present in any company, and Socrates to say, ' Follow me, and hear a lecture in philosophy;' and Charles, laying his hand on his sword, to say, 'Follow me, and dethrone the Czar;' a man would be ashamed to follow

Socrates. Sir, the impression is universal; yet it is strange. As to the sailor, when you look down from the quarter-deck to the space below, you see the utmost extremity of human misery: such crowding, such filth, such stench!" BOSWELL : "Yet sailors are happy." JOHNSON: "They are happy as brutes are happy, with a piece of fresh meat-with the grossest sensuality. But, Sir, the profession of soldiers and sailors has the dignity of danger. Mankind reverence those who have got over fear, which is so general a weakness." SCOTT: "But is not courage mechanical, and to be acquired?" JOHNSON: "Why, yes, Sir, in a collective sense. Soldiers consider themselves only as part of a great machine." SCOTT: "We find people fond of being sailors." JOHNSON: "I cannot account for that, any more than I can account for other strange perversions of imagination."

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His abhorrence of the profession of a sailor was uniformly violent; but in conversation he always exalted the profession of a soldier. And yet I have, in

From an engraving by Ridley

JAMES HARRIS (b. 1709, d. 1780)

born at Salisbury, matriculated at Wadham College, Oxford, and afterwards entered Lincoln's Inn. On the death of his father he inherited a fortune, and henceforth devoted himself to the study of the classics. He entered Parliament in 1761, and successively became a Lord of the Admiralty and of the Treasury, and in 1764 was appointed secretary and comptroller to Queen Charlotte. He was the author of "Art and Happiness," 1744, and "Hermes," an inquiry into universal grammar, 1751. His son James, the diplomatist, was created first Earl of Malmesbury.

my large and various collection of his writings, a letter to an eminent friend, in which he expresses himself thus: "My god-son called on me lately. He is weary, and rationally weary, of a military life. If you can place him in some other state, I think you may increase his happiness, and secure his virtue. A soldier's time is passed in distress and danger, or in idleness and corruption." Such was his cool reflection in his study; but whenever he was warmed and animated by the presence of company, he, like other philosophers, whose minds. are impregnated with poetical fancy, caught the common enthusiasm for splendid renown.

He talked of Mr. Charles Fox, of whose abilities he thought highly, but observed that he did not talk much at our CLUB. I have heard Mr. Gibbon remark "that Mr. Fox could not be afraid of Dr. Johnson; yet he certainly was very shy of saying

anything in Dr. Johnson's presence."

Mr. Scott now quoted what was said of Alcibiades by a Greek poet, to which Johnson assented.*

He told us that he had given Mrs. Montagu a catalogue of all Daniel Defoe's works of imagination; most, if not all of which, as well as of his other works, he now enumerated, allowing a considerable share of merit to a man who, bred a tradesman, had written so variously and so well. Indeed, his "Robinson Crusoe" is enough of itself to establish his reputation.

He expressed great indignation at the imposture of the Cock-lane Ghost, and related, with much satisfaction, how he had assisted in detecting the cheat, and had published an account of it in the newspapers. Upon this subject I incautiously offended him by pressing him with too many questions, and he showed his displeasure. I apologised, saying, “That I asked questions in order to be instructed and entertained; I repaired eagerly to the fountain; but that the moment he gave me a hint, the moment he put a lock upon the well, I desisted.”—“ But, Sir (said he), that is forcing one to do a disagreeable thing" and he continued to Nay, Sir (said I), when you have put a lock upon the well, so that I can no longer drink, do not make the fountain of your wit play upon me and wet me."

rate me.

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He sometimes could not bear being teased with questions. I was once present when a gentleman† asked so many, as, "What did you do, Sir? "-"What did you say, Sir?" that he at last grew enraged, and said, "I will not be put to the question. Don't you consider, Sir, that these are not the manners of a gentleman? I will not be baited with what and why; what is this? what is that? why is a cow's tail long? why is a fox's tail bushy? The gentleman, who was a good deal out of countenance, said, "Why, Sir, you are so good, that I venture to trouble you." JOHNSON: Sir, my being so good is no reason why you should

be so ill."

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Talking of the Justitio hulk at Woolwich, in which criminals were punished, by being confined to labour, he said, "I do not see that they are punished by this: they must have worked equally, had they never been guilty of stealing. They now only work; so, after all, they have gained; what they stole is clear gain to them; the confinement is nothing. Every man who works is confined: the smith to his shop, the tailor to his garret." BOSWELL: "And Lord Mansfield to his Court." JOHNSON: "Yes, Sir. You know the notion of confinement may be extended, as in the song, Every island is a prison.' There is, in Dodsley's collection, a copy of verses to the author of that song."

[Wishing to discover the ancient observation here referred to, I applied to Sir William Scott on the subject, but he had no recollection of it.-My old and very learned friend, Dr. Michael Kearney, formerly senior fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and now Archbishop of Raphoe in Ireland, has, however, most happily elucidated this passage. He remarks to me that Mr. Boswell's memory must here have deceived him; and that Mr. Scott's observation must have been that Mr. Fox, in the instance mentioned, might be considered as the reverse of Phoax, of whom, as Plutarch relates in the Life of Alcibiades, Eupolis the tragedian said, It is true he can talk, and yet he is no speaker.'

If this discovery had been made by a scholiast on an ancient author, with what ardour and exuberant praise would Bentley or Taylor have spoken of it !-Sir William Scott, to whom I communicated Dr. Kearney's remark, is perfectly satisfied that it is correct. For the other observations, signed K, we are indebted to the same gentleman. Every classical reader will lament that they are not more numerous. M.]

† [This was supposed to be Boswell himself.-Croker.]

[I have in vain examined Dodsley's collection for the verses here referred to. The song begins with the words "Welcome, welcome, brother debtor."-Malone. The song itself is to be found in Ritson's and other collections.-Croker.]