Walker', of the Treasury, Dublin, I have obtained a copy of the following letter from Johnson to the venerable author of "Dissertations on the History of Ireland."

JOHNSON TO CHS. O'CONNOR, ESQ.2 "London, April 9. 1757. "SIR, I have lately, by the favour of Mr. Faulkner, seen your account of Ireland, and cannot forbear to solicit a prosecution of your design. Sir William Temple complains that Ireland is less known than any other country, as to its ancient state. The natives have had little leisure, and little encouragement for inquiry; and strangers, not knowing the language, have had no ability.

"I have long wished that the Irish literature were cultivated.3 Ireland is known by tradition to have been once the seat of piety and learning; and surely it would be very acceptable to all those who are curious either in the original of nations, or the affinities of languages, to be further informed of the revolution of a people so ancient, and once so illustrious.

"What relation there is between the Welsh and Irish language, or between the language of Ireland and that of Biscay, deserves inquiry. Of these provincial and unextended tongues, it seldom happens that more than one are understood by any one man; and, therefore, it seldom happens that a fair comparison can be made. I hope you will continue to cultivate this kind of learning, which has too long lain neglected, and which, if it be suffered to remain in oblivion for another century, may,

perhaps, never be retrieved. As I wish well to all

useful undertakings, I would not forbear to let you know how much you deserve, in my opinion, from all lovers of study, and how much pleasure your work has given to, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON."

JOHNSON TO THOMAS WARTON. "[London,] June 21. 1757. "DEAR SIR, - Dr. Marsili, of Padua, a learned gentleman, and good Latin poet, has a mind to see

1 Mr. Walker was a member of the Royal Irish_Academy, author of the "Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards," an "Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy," &c. He died in 1810. CROKER,

2 Mr. Walker writes to me as follows:-"Perhaps it would gratify you to have some account of Mr. O'Connor. He is an amiable, learned, venerable old gentleman, of an independent fortune, who lives at Ballynegar, in the county of Roscommon: he is an admired writer, and member of the Irish Academy. The above letter is alluded to in the preface to the second edition of his Dissert.' p. 3." Mr. O'Connor afterwards died at the age of eighty-two, July 1. 1791. well-drawn character of him in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for August, 1791. BOSWELL.

See a

Of this gentleman, who died at his seat at Ballynegar, in the county of Roscommon, July, 1791, in his eighty-second year, some account may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine of that date. Of the " Dissertations on the History of Ireland" a second and much improved edition was published in 1776.- MALONE. See another letter from him, post, May 9. 1777. CROKER.

3 The celebrated orator, Mr. Flood, [who died, December, 1791] has shown himself to be of Dr. Johnson's opinion; having by his will bequeathed his estate, after the death of his wife, Lady Frances, to the University of Dublin; "desiring that immediately after the said estate shall come into their possession, they shall appoint two professors, one for the study of the native Erse or Irish Language, and the other for the study of Irish antiquities and Irish history, and for the study of any other European language illustrative of, or auxiliary to, the study of Irish antiquities or Irish history;

Oxford. I have given him a letter to Dr. Huddesford, and shall be glad if you will introduce him, and shew him any thing in Oxford.

"I am printing my new edition of Shakspeare. "I long to see you all, but cannot conveniently come yet. You might write to me now and then, if you were good for any thing. But honores mutant mores. Professors forget their friends. I shall certainly complain to Miss Jones. I am, your, &c., SAM. JOHNSON." "Please to make my compliments to Mr.Wise." JOHNSON TO [THOMAS WARTON.]*

-

"Oct. 27. 1757.

"DEAR SIR, I have been thinking and talking with Mr. Allen about some literary business for an inhabitant of Oxford. Many schemes might be plausibly proposed, but at present these may be sufficient. 1. An Ecclesiastical History of England. In this there are a great many materials which must be compressed into a narrow compass. This book must not exceed 4 vols. 8vo. 2. A History of the Reformation, (not of England only, but of Europe;) this must not exceed the same bulk, and will be full of and very entertaining.

3. The Life of Richard the First. 4. The Life of Edward the Confessor.

“All these are works for which the requisite materials may be found at Oxford, and any of them well executed would be well received. I impart these designs to you in confidence, that what you do not make use of yourself shall revert to me uncommunicated to any other. The schemes of a fore they must not be made common. writer are his property and his revenue, and thereI am, Sir, SAM. JOHNSON." your most humble servant,

and that they shall give yearly two liberal premiums for two compositions, one in verse, and the other in prose, in the Irish language.' - BOSWELL. Since the above was written (May, 1793), Mr. Flood's will has been set aside, after a trial at bar, in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland. - MALONE. 4 Mr. Warton was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford in the preceding year. WARTON.

5 Miss Jones lived at Oxford, and was often of our parties. She was a very ingenious poetess, and published a volume of poems; and, on the whole, was a most sensible, agreeable, and amiable woman. She was sister to the Rev. River Jones, Chanter of Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford, and Johnson used to call her the Chantress. I have heard him often address her in this passage from "Il Penseroso :" "Thee, Chantress, oft the woods among I woo," &c.

She died unmarried. Warton.

6 This letter was found by Mr. Peter Cunningham, in the papers of Allen, the printer, and was intended, no doubt, for Thomas Warton, though, perhaps, from some change of opinion, not forwarded to him.-CROKER.

7 This letter is dated June 28. 1758, and so placed by Mr. Boswell; but this must be a mistake; for it is evidently written on Mr. Langton's entrance into college life; now Langton entered Trinity College, Oxford, 7th July, 1757, and no doubt began to reside in the following autumn, and we shall see in a subsequent letter dated June 1. 1758, that Langton had been already some time the pupil of Warton. The true date, therefore, of this letter, was, probably, January and not June. - CROKER.

upon an old account, I think it my part to write first. This, indeed, I do not only from complaisance but from interest; for living on in the old way, I am very glad of a correspondent so capable as yourself to diversify the hours. You have, at present, too many novelties about you to need any help from me to drive along your time.

I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed. You, who are very capable of anticipating futurity, and raising phantoms before your own eyes, must often have imagined to your self an academical life, and have conceived what would be the manners, the views, and the conversation of men devoted to letters; how they would choose their companions, how they would direct their studies, and how they would regulate their lives. Let me know what you expected, and what you have found. At least record it to yourself, before custom has reconciled you to the scenes before you, and the disparity of your discoveries to your hopes has vanished from your mind. It is a rule never to be forgotten, that whatever strikes strongly, should be described while the first impression remains fresh upon the mind.

"I love, dear Sir, to think on you, and therefore should willingly write more to you, but that the post will not now give me leave to do more than send my compliments to Mr. Warton, and tell you that I am, dear Sir, most affectionately, your very humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON."

Mr. Burney having enclosed to him an extract from the review of his Dictionary in the Bibliothèque des Savans [t. iii. p. 482.] and a list of subscribers to his Shakspeare, which Mr. Burney had procured in Norfolk, he wrote the following answer:

JOHNSON TO BURNEY,

At Lynne, Norfolk.

"Gough Square, Dec. 24. 1757. "SIR,That I may shew myself sensible of your favours, and not commit the same fault a second time, I make haste to answer the letter which I received this morning. The truth is, the other likewise was received, and I wrote an answer; but being desirous to transmit you some proposals and receipts, I waited till I could find a convenient conveyance, and day was passed after day, till other things drove it from my thoughts; yet not so, but that I remember with great pleasure your commendation of my Dictionary. Your praise was welcome, not only because I believe it was sincere, but because praise has been very scarce. A man of your candour will be surprised when I tell you, that among all my acquaintance there were only two, who upon the publication of my book did not endeavour to depress me with threats of

Here Mr. Boswell had inserted a letter to Mr. Langton, dated, by mistake, June 9. 1758, which, from its internal evidence, clearly belongs to 1759, where it will be found.-CROKES.

censure from the public, or with objections learned from those who had learned them from my own preface. Yours is the only letter of good-will that I have received; though, indeed, I am promised something of that sort from Sweden.

"How my new edition [of Shakspeare] will be received I know not; the subscription has not been very successful. I shall publish about March.

"If you can direct me how to send proposals, I should wish they were in such hands.

"I remember, Sir, in some of the first letters with which you favoured me, you mentioned your lady. May I inquire after her? In return for the favours which you have shewn me, it is not much to tell you, that I wish you and her all that can conduce to your happiness. I am, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON."

In 1758 we find him, it should seem, in as easy and pleasant a state of existence, as constitutional unhappiness ever permitted him to enjoy.'

JOHNSON TO BURNEY,

At Lynne, Norfolk.

"London, March 1. 1758. "SIR, Your kindness is so great, and my claim to any particular regard from you so little, that I am at a loss how to express my sense of your favours; but I am, indeed, much pleased to be thus distinguished by you.

"I am ashamed to tell you that my Shakspeare will not be out so soon as I promised my subscribers; but I did not promise them more than I promised myself. It will, however, be published before summer.

I have sent you a bundle of proposals, which, I think, do not profess more than I have hitherto performed. I have printed many of the plays, and have hitherto left very few passages unexplained; where I am quite at loss, I confess my ignorance, which is seldom done by commentators.

"I have likewise enclosed twelve receipts; not that I mean to impose upon you the trouble of pushing them with more importunity than may seem proper, but that you may rather have more than fewer than you shall want. The proposals you will disseminate as there shall be an opportunity. I once printed them at length in the Chronicle, and some of my friends (I believe Mr. Murphy, who formerly wrote the Gray's-Inn Journal) introduced them with a splendid encomium.

"Since the Life of Brown, I have been a little engaged, from time to time, in the Literary Magazine, but not very lately. I have not the collection by me, and therefore cannot draw out a catalogue of my own parts, but will do it, and send it. Do not buy them, for I will gather all those that have anything of mine in them, and send them to Mrs. Burney, as a small token of gratitude for the regard which she is pleased to bestow upon me. "I ain, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON."

2 This letter was an answer to one, in which was enclosed a draft for the payment of some subscriptions to his Shakspeare. BoSWELL.

Dr. Burney has kindly favoured me with the following memorandum, which I take the liberty to insert in his own genuine easy style. I love to exhibit sketches of my illustrious friend by various eminent hands.

"Soon after this, Mr. Burney, during a visit to the capital, had an interview with him in Gough Square, where he dined and drank tea with him, and was introduced to the acquaintance of Mrs. Williams. After dinner, Mr. Johnson proposed to Mr. Burney to go up with him into his garret, which being accepted, he there found about five or six Greek folios, a deal writing-desk, and a chair and a half. Johnson, giving to his guest the entire seat, tottered himself on one with only three legs and one arm. Here he gave Mr. Burney Mrs. Williams's history, and showed him some volumes of Shakspeare already printed, to prove that he was in earnest. Upon Mr. Burney's opening the first volume, at the Merchant of Venice, he observed to him that he seemed to be more severe on Warburton than Theobald. O poor Tib! (said Johnson) he was ready knocked down to my hands; Warburton stands between me and him.'-'But, Sir, (said Mr. Burney) you'll have Warburton upon your bones, won't you?'' 'No, Sir; he'll not come out: he'll only growl in his den.' 'But you think, Sir, that Warburton is a superior critic to Theobald?' 'O, Sir, he'd make twoand-fifty Theobalds, cut into slices! The worst of Warburton is, that he has a rage for saying something, when there's nothing to be said. Mr. Burney then asked him whether he had seen the letter which Warburton had written in answer to a pamphlet, addressed 'To the most impudent man alive.' He answered in the negative. Mr. Burney told him it was supposed to be written by Mallet. The controversy now raged between the friends of Pope and Bolingbroke; and Warburton and Mallet were the leaders of the several parties. Mr. Burney asked him then if he had seen Warburton's book against Bolingbroke's Philosophy? 'No, Sir; I have never read Bolingbroke's impiety, and therefore am not interested about its confutation.'"

1 Of this period of his life, Hawkins says, "The profits accruing from the sale of this paper, and the subscriptions which, from the year 1756, he was receiving for the edition of Shakspeare by him proposed, were the only known means of his subsistence for a period of near four years, and we may suppose them hardly adequate to his wants, for, upon finding the balance of the account for the Dictionary against him, he quitted his house in Gough Square, and took chambers in Gray's Inn; and Mrs. Williams, upon this removal, fixed herself in lodgings at a boarding-school, in the neighbourhood of their former dwelling." And Mr. Murphy tells us, that "he retired to Gray's Inn, and soon removed to chambers in the Inner Temple Lane, where he lived in poverty, total idleness, and the pride of literature. Mr. Fitzherbert (the father of Lord St. Helen's), a man distinguished through life for his

CHAPTER XIII.

1758-1759.

Mrs.

"The Idler." - - Letters to Warton and Langton. ——— Johnson's Mother. Letters to her, and to Miss Porter. - Her Death. -"Rasselas." - - Miscellanies. Excursion to Oxford. - Francis Barber. Wilkes. Smollett. Mrs. Montagu. · Ogle. Mylne the Architect. ON the fifteenth of April he began a new periodical paper, entitled "THE IDLER," which came out every Saturday in a weekly newspaper, called " The Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette," published by Newbery. These essays were continued till April 5. 1760. Of one hundred and three, their total number, twelve were contributed by his friends; of which, Nos. 33. 93. and 96. were written by Mr. Thomas Warton; No. 67. by Mr. Langton; and Nos. 76. 79. and 82. by Sir Joshua Reynolds; the concluding words of No. 82."and pollute his canvas with deformity," being added by Johnson, as Sir Joshua informed me."

The Idler is evidently the work of the same mind which produced the Rambler, but has less body and more spirit. It has more variety of real life, and greater facility of language. He describes the miseries of idleness, with the lively sensations of one who has felt them; and in his private memorandums while engaged in it, we find, "This year I hope to learn diligence." [Pr. and Med., p. 30.] Many of these excellent essays were written as hastily as an ordinary letter. Mr. Langton remembers Johnson, when on a visit to Oxford, asking him one evening how long it was till the post went out; and on being told about half an hour, he exclaimed, "then we shall do very well." He upon this instantly sat down and finished an Idler, which it was necessary should be in London the next day. Mr. Langton having signified a wish to read it, "Sir, (said he) you shall not do more than I have done myself." He then folded it up and sent it off.

Yet there are in the Idler several papers which show as much profundity of thought, and labour of language, as any of this great man's writings. No. 14. "Robbery of time;' No. 24. "Thinking;" No. 41. "Death of a friend;" No. 43. "Flight of time;" No. 51. "Domestic greatness unattainable;" No. 52. "Self-denial;" No. 58. " Actual, how short of

benevolence and other amiable qualities, used to say, that he paid a morning visit to Johnson, intending from his chambers to send a letter into the city; but, to his great surprise, he found an author by profession without pen, ink, or paper. The present Bishop of Salisbury [Douglas] was also among those who endeavoured, by constant attention, to soothe the cares of a mind which he knew to be afflicted with gloomy apprehensions."--CROKER.

This is a slight mistake. The first number of "The Idler" appeared on the 15th of April, 1758, in No. 2. of the Universal Chronicle, &c., which was published by J. Payne, for whom also the Rambler had been printed. On the 29th of April this newspaper assumed the title of "Payne's Universal Chronicle," &c.- MALONE.

fancied, excellence;" No. 89. " Physical evil moral good;" and his concluding paper on "The horror of the last," will prove this assertion. I know not why a motto, the usual trapping of periodical papers, is prefixed to very few of the Idlers, as I have heard Johnson commend the custom: and he never could be at a loss for one, his memory being stored with innumerable passages of the classics. In this series of essays he exhibits admirable instances of grave humour, of which he had an uncommon share. Nor on some occasions has he repressed that power of sophistry which he possessed in so eminent a degree. In No. 11. he treats with the utmost contempt the opinion that our mental faculties depend, in some degree, upon the weather; an opinion, which they who have never experienced its truth are not to be envied, and of which he himself could not but be sensible, as the effects of weather upon him were very visible. Yet thus he declaims:

"Surely, nothing is more reproachful to a being endowed with reason, than to resign its powers to the influence of the air, and live in dependence on the weather and the wind for the only blessings which nature has put into our power, tranquillity and benevolence. This distinction of seasons is produced only by imagination operating on luxury. To temperance, every day is bright; and every hour is propitious to diligence. He that shall resolutely excite his faculties, or exert his virtues, will soon make himself superior to the seasons; and may set at defiance the morning mist and the evening damp, the blasts of the east, and the clouds of the south."

Alas! it is too certain, that where the frame has delicate fibres, and there is a fine sensibility, such influences of the air are irresistible. He might as well have bid defiance to the ague, the palsy, and all other bodily disorders. Such boasting of the mind is false elevation.

"I think the Romans call it Stoicism." But in this number of his Idler his spirits seem to run riot'; for in the wantonness of his disquisition he forgets, for a moment, even the reverence for that which he held in high respect; and describes "the attendant on a Court," as one "whose business is to watch the looks of a being, weak and foolish as himself." &

His unqualified ridicule of rhetorical gesture eraction is not, surely, a test of truth; yet we cannot help admiring how well it is adapted to produce the effect which he wished:

by laboured gesticulations, or believe any man the more because he rolled his eyes, or puffed his cheeks, or spread abroad his arms, or stamped the ground, or thumped his breast; or turned his eyes sometimes to the ceiling, and sometimes to the floor."

A casual coincidence with other writers, or an adoption of a sentiment or image which has been found in the writings of another, and afterwards appears in the mind as one's own, is not unfrequent. The richness of Johnson's fancy, which could supply his page abundantly on all occasions, and the strength of his memory, which at once detected the real owner of any thought, made him less liable to the imputation of plagiarism than, perhaps, any of our writers. In the Idler, however, there is a paper, in which conversation is assimilated to a bowl of punch, where there is the same train of comparison as in a poem by Blacklock, in his collection published in 1756; in which a parallel is ingeniously drawn between human life and that liquor. It ends,—

"[London,] April 14. 1758. "DEAR SIR, – Your notes upon my poet were very acceptable. I beg that you will be so kind as to continue your searches. It will be reputable to my work, and suitable to your professorship, to have something of yours in the notes. As you have given no directions about your name, I shall therefore put it. I wish your brother would take the same trouble. fortuitous discoveries of many men in devious walks A commentary must arise from the of literature. Some of your remarks are on plays already printed: but I purpose to add an Appendix of Notes, so that nothing comes too late.

"You give yourself too much uneasiness, dear Sir, about the loss of the papers.5 The loss is nothing, if nobody has found them; nor even then, perhaps, if the numbers be known. You are not the only friend that has had the same mischance.

You

may repair your want out of a stock, which is

deposited with Mr. Allen, of Magdalen Hall; or

out of a parcel which I have just sent to Mr. Chambers, for the use of any body that will be so kind as to want them. Mr. Langtons are well; and Miss Roberts, whom I have at last brought to

Dr. Burney has kindly favoured me with the following memorandum, which I take the liberty to insert in his own genuine easy style. I love to exhibit sketches of my illustrious friend by various eminent hands.

"Soon after this, Mr. Burney, during a visit to the capital, had an interview with him in Gough Square, where he dined and drank tea with him, and was introduced to the acquaintance of Mrs. Williams. After dinner, Mr. Johnson proposed to Mr. Burney to go up with him into his garret, which being accepted, he there found about five or six Greek folios, a deal writing-desk, and a chair and a half. Johnson, giving to his guest the entire seat, tottered himself on one with only three legs and one arm. Here he gave Mr. Burney Mrs. Williams's history, and showed him some volumes of Shakspeare already printed, to prove that he was in earnest. Upon Mr. Burney's opening the first volume, at the Merchant of Venice, he observed to him that he seemed to be more severe on Warburton than Theobald. O poor Tib! (said Johnson) he was ready knocked down to my hands; Warburton stands between me and him.'-'But, Sir, (said Mr. Burney) you'll have Warburton upon your bones, won't you?' 'No, Sir; he'll not come out he'll only growl in his den.' 'But you think, Sir, that Warburton is a superior critic to Theobald?' 'O, Sir, he'd make twoand-fifty Theobalds, cut into slices! The worst of Warburton is, that he has a rage for saying something, when there's nothing to be said.' Mr. Burney then asked him whether he had seen the letter which Warburton had written in answer to a pamphlet, addressed To the most impudent man alive.' He answered in the negative. Mr. Burney told him it was supposed to be written by Mallet. The controversy now raged between the friends of Pope and Bolingbroke; and Warburton and Mallet were the leaders of the several parties. Mr. Burney asked him then if he had seen Warburton's book against Bolingbroke's Philosophy? - No, Sir; I have never read Bolingbroke's impiety, and therefore am not interested about its confutation."

1. Of this period of his life, Hawkins says, "The profits ac eruing Nom the sale of this paper, and the subscriptions which, from the year 1736 he was receiving for the edition of Shakspeare by him proposed, were the only known means of his subsistence for a period of near four years, and we mar suppose them hardly adequate to his wants, for, upon finding the balance of the account for the Dictionary against him, he quitted his house in Goagh Square, and took chambers in Gray's lung and Mrs. Wiers, upon this removal, fixed herself in lodgings at a board,ag-school, m the ne ghocurhood at their former dwelling. And Mr. Marphy tells us, that " he retired to Gingy`s Làn, and son removed to chambers in the humer Temple I ese, where he lived is poverty, total süles heax, and the pende of i tera are. Mr Proberbert (the father of Lord St. Helen's), a man distingu shod through l ́e for his

Ox the fifteenth of April he began a new periodical paper, entitled "THE IDLer,” which came out every Saturday in a weekly newspaper, called "The Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette," published by Newbery. These essays were continued till April 5. 1760. Of one hundred and three, their total number, twelve were contributed by his friends; of which, Nos. 33. 93. and 96. were written by Mr. Thomas Warton; No. 67. by Mr. Langton; and Nos. 76. 79. and 82. by Sir Joshua Reynolds; the concluding words of No. 82."and pollute his canvas with deformity," being added by Johnson, as Sir Joshua informed me."

The Idler is evidently the work of the same mind which produced the Rambler, but has less body and more spirit. It has more variety of real life, and greater facility of language. He describes the miseries of idleness, with the lively sensations of one who has felt them; and in his private memorandums while engaged in it, we find, "This year I hope to learn diligence." [Pr. and Med., p. 30.] Many of these excellent essays were written as hastily as an ordinary letter. Mr. Langton remembers Johnson, when on a visit to Oxford, asking him one evening how long it was till the post went out; and on being told about half an hour, he exclaimed, "then we shall do very well." He upon this instantly sat down and finished an Idler, which it was necessary should be in London the next day. Mr. Langton having signified a wish to read it, "Sir, (said he) you shall not do more than I have done myself." He then folded it up and sent it off.

Yet there are in the Idler several papers which show as much profundity of thought, and labour of language, as any of this great man's writings. No. 14. "Robbery of time;" No. 24. "Thinking ;" No. 41. "Death of a friend;" No. 43. "Flight of time;" No. 51. Domestic greatness unattainable;" No. 52. "Self-denial;" No. 58. “ Actual, how short of

66

benevolence and other amiable qualities, used to say, that he paid a morning visit to Johnson, intending from his chambers to send a letter into the city; but, to his great surprise, he found an author by profession without pen, ink, or paper The present Bishop of Salisbury Douglas] was also among those who endeavoured, by constant attention, to soothe the cares of a mind which he knew to be afflicted with gloomy apprehensions "—CROKER.

This is a sight mistake. The first number of “The 1dler" appeared on the 15th of April, 1758, in No. 2. of the Universal Chronicle, &c., which was published by J. Payne for whom also the Rambler had been printed. On the 29th of Apm) this newspaper assumed the title of Payne's Uni versal Chronicle,” &c.—MALONE.