Life of Johnson

cavils of petty minds; a poet overlooks the casual distinction of country and condition, as a painter, satisfied with the figure, neglects the drapery." (See Johnson's Ideals, § 3, p. xxi.)

30. 16. The Lord Privy Seal was then Earl Gower. Johnson narrated the incident to Boswell: "You know, sir, Lord Gower forsook the old Jacobite interest. When I came to the word Renegado, after telling that it meant 'one who deserts to the enemy, a revolter,' I added, Sometimes we say a Gower. Thus it went to the press; but the printer had more wit than I, and struck it out."

31. 5. As a matter of fact, Johnson's lofty independence was so feared that the offer was disclosed "by slow and studied approaches," and Johnson deliberated for many hours before accepting. He finally gave up his scruples, and remarked smilingly to Boswell, "Sir, I think that the pleasure of cursing the House of Hanover, and drinking King James's health, are amply overbalanced by £800 a year."

32. 6. These quotations are from Johnson's private journal of Prayers and Meditations, published after his death. Macaulay himself, by his own confession, "often felt this morbid incapacity to work." The year after the date of this Life, he wrote: "How the days steal away and nothing done! I think often of Johnson's lamentations repeated every Easter over his own idleness."

32. 17. It is surprising that even Macaulay should be guilty of such gross misrepresentation as this. Johnson was a mere investigator, who, by request, assisted in an examination of the phenomena by "many gentlemen eminent for their rank and character." It was unanimously decided by the investigators that the entire affair was an imposition, and a report to that effect, written by Johnson, was published in the newspapers. (See Index, "Cock Lane Ghost.")

32. 24. Churchill's poem was entitled The Ghost. The caricature of Johnson will be found in Book II. ll. 653-688, beginning:

"Pomposo, insolent and loud,

Vain idol of a scribbling crowd,

Whose very name inspires an awe,
Whose ev'ry word is Sense and Law."

The charge of fraud is made in Book III. 11. 801 + :

"He for subscribers baits his hook,

And takes their cash: but where's the book?

No matter where; wise fear, we know,

Forbids the robbing of a foe;

But what, to serve our private ends,

Forbids the cheating of our friends?"

Johnson was not himself disturbed by this attack (see ¶ 42), but his friends felt its sting, and persuaded him to hasten the completion of his work.

33. 1. More competent critics than Macaulay have praised Johnson's Preface for its impartial discussion of Shakespeare's merits and defects, its refutation of the dramatic unities, and its oft-quoted advice on the study of Shakespeare.

34. 2. As a matter of fact, Johnson himself asserted the necessity of such a preparation. In his prospectus, in the same paragraph quoted by Macaulay a little earlier, he expresses the hope "that, by comparing the works of Shakespeare with those of writers who lived at the same time, immediately preceded, or immediately followed him, he shall be able to ascertain his ambiguities," etc. (See Johnson's Ideals, § 6, p. xxii.)

37. 2. In his Life of Goldsmith, written shortly before the present essay, Macaulay speaks of "that celebrated fraternity which has sometimes been called the Literary Club, but which has always disclaimed that epithet, and still glories in the simple name of 'The Club.'" celebrated its centennial in 1864, and in every generation its members have included many leading Englishmen. Macaulay was elected unanimously in 1839, and after his first meeting, wrote in his diary: "I was amused, in turning over the records of the club, to come upon poor Bozzy's signature, evidently affixed when he was too drunk to guide his pen."

41. 27. This description of Johnson's dependents is considerably overcharged. On the death of Mrs. Williams, Johnson wrote that she "had been to me for thirty years in the place of a sister; her knowledge was great and her conversation pleasing." Others have testified to her engaging manners and her lively and entertaining conversation. Levett's character, says a contemporary, was rendered valuable by repeated proof of honesty, tenderness, and gratitude to his benefactor, as well as by an unwearied diligence in his profession." Johnson's affectionate regard for him is shown by his Ode on the Death of Levett, which has moved countless readers by its deep tenderness and pathos. 44. 26. “I desire exceedingly to dispute with you, if you are willing." 49. 22. Johnson did not consider himself underpaid, and constantly maintained that he had met with his deserts. When the Lives were completed, he remarked: "I always said that the booksellers were a generous set of men: the fact is not that they have paid me too little, but that I have written too much." Furthermore, it should be noted that Johnson soon after received another £100 in addition to the extra hundred mentioned by Macaulay.

52. 2. Macaulay is severely unjust to Mrs. Thrale. His account of her "degrading passion for Piozzi is pervaded by the narrow

prejudice of eighteenth-century society, by whom "a match with an Italian Roman Catholic musician was naturally regarded with excessive disapproval." Mrs. Thrale's first marriage had been one of convenience only and was marked by disagreement, but she never had occasion to regret her second marriage, and lived happily with Piozzi for many years.

52. 7. In the paper referred to, which is very short, and should be read entire, Johnson writes: "There are few things not purely evil, of which we can say, without some emotion of uneasiness, this is the last. . . . This secret horror of the last is inseparable from a thinking being, whose life is limited, and to whom death is dreadful."

53. 17. With the change only of a few names, this sentence became applicable to Macaulay himself exactly three years after the date of this essay, or exactly three-quarters of a century after the date of which he writes. Macaulay lies buried but a few paces from the grave of Johnson.

54. 6. This thought is elaborated in the last two paragraphs of the earlier Essay on Johnson. The conclusion of this Life should also be compared with the closing paragraphs in the essays on Milton and Addison.

54. 9. Macaulay alludes to a remark of Johnson's: "Among the anfractuosities of the human mind, I know not if it may not be one, that there is a superstitious reluctance to sit for a picture." In his Dictionary, he defined anfractuousness as "fulness of windings and turnings."