Chapter IV: Part 4

A Ketch is, 'a _heavy_ ship;' and a Junk is, 'a _small_ ship of China.' A Sloop is, 'a small ship;' and a Brigantine is, 'a light vessel;' but, it would have required little learning or ingenuity to have said, that, in our marine, a sloop has only one mast, except sloops of war, which have three; and, that a brigantine is a merchant ship with two. A brig, a lugger, a hooker, a schooner, a galliot, a galleon, a proa, a punt, a xebeque, and a snow, are not inserted in this _compleat_ English Dictionary; but a Cutter is, 'a nimble boat that _cuts_ the water.' Did we ever hear of a boat that did not cut the water? This explanation, like that of at least twenty thousand others, is defective; because, besides a man of war's boat, the word Cutter is applied to a small vessel with one mast, rigged as a sloop, that sails very near the _wind_; from which peculiarity, its appellation is derived.

A Cannon is, 'a gun larger than can be managed by the hand.' Cannon-ball and Cannon shot are, 'the balls which are shot from great guns.' Mr Locke is cited to shew, that _cannot_ is compounded of _can_ and _not_. Menstruous is, 'having the catamenia;' and this last word is wanting, a frequent mode of _definition_ in this book. The Eye is, 'the organ of vision.' Eye-drop, (_eye_ and _drop_) 'tear.' See also Eye-ball, Eye-brow, Eye-glance, Eye-glass, Eyeless, Eye-lid, Eye-sight, Eye-sore, Eye-tooth, Eye-wink, Eye-witness. Eye-string is, 'the string of the eye[152].' The following names are cited to support the explanations: Dryden, Spencer, Newton, Milton, Garth, Bacon, Samuel, Peter, and Shakespeare four times. The man who can make such a pedantic parade of erudition, must be a mere quack in the business of book-building; and the reader who thinks himself edified by hearing, that an eye-wink is, 'a wink as a hint or token,' must be an object of pity. But there is no such reader. _Quere._ Do we never wink but as a hint or token? Achor is, 'a species of the _Herpes_;' and Hey, 'an expression of joy.' A Mocker is,'one who mocks;' and a Laughing-stock, (_laugh_ and _stock_) a 'butt, an object of ridicule.' Iron, a. is, 'made of iron;' and Iron, s. is said to be, 'a metal common to all parts of the world;' which is not the fact.

Numskull, _s._ (_numb_ and _skull_) 'a _Dullard_; a dunce; a dolt; a blockhead.' Numskulled, _a._ (from _Numskull_) 'dull; stupid; doltish.' Nun, _s._ 'a woman dedicated to the severer duties of religion, secluded in a cloister from the world.' The Nuns of London were _not_ employed in the severer duties of religion, which has nothing to do with severity. The institution of nunneries is the most atrocious insult upon human feelings, that ever disgraced the selfish and brutal policy of the Roman priesthood, and its consequences are the most shocking and criminal. The man who would palliate such an outrage on Christianity, deserves no quarter[153]. From this sample of his good sense and piety, one would hardly rank the Rambler above 'a domestic animal, that catches mice.'

Jack is, '1. The diminutive of John. 2. The name of _instruments_, which supply the place of a boy, _as an instrument_ to pull off boots.' Bronchocele, _s._ 'a tumor of that part of the _aspera tertia_, called the _Bronchos_,' and this last word is wanting. Broom is 'a shrub;' and Brogue 'a kind of shoe.' See also Broomstaff, Broomy, Broth, Brothel, and Brothelhouse. Bubo, 'the groin from the bending of the thigh to the _scrotum_;' but the _scrotum_ is not explained.

Snot. 'The mucus of the nose.' Nose. 'The prominence on the face, which is the organ of _scent_, and the emunctory of the brain.'

He should have said the organ of _smell_, for we do not say the sense of _scenting_. But from what he says of them, it appears that he is ignorant of the distinction between these two words. If the nose were the emunctory of the brain (which every surgeon's apprentice knows that it is _not_), in that case snot could not be the mucus of the nose, but the mucus of the brain. It belongs to neither. It is entirely, or principally formed in the glands of the throat, as we see every day in coughing. To contradict such inconsistencies, would be below the dignity of any writer, if they were found in a book less famous than the English Dictionary.

Rust. 'The red _Desquamation_ of old iron.' Desquamation. 'The act of scaling foul bones.' Sinew. '1. A tendon; the ligaments by which the joints are moved. 2. _Muscle_ or _nerve_!' Other metals rust as well as iron, and rust is not always red; that of copper for instance is blue or green. It is not quite clear why the word _Desquamation_ is introduced. But his account of _sinew_ exceeds every thing of the kind.

Highflier. 'One that carries his opinion to extravagance.' The word relates to a particular set of men in this country, and to them only. A Dervise, a Friar, and a Bramin, profess extravagant opinions; but an English writer would not call them _Highfliers_, nor would he be understood if he did.

Chervill. 'An _umbelliferous_ plant.' Periwig. '_Adscititious_ hair.' Chemist, and Chemistry are omitted, but Chymistry is, 'philosophy by FIRE;' and Chymist, 'a philosopher by FIRE!' With what inexpressible contempt would the youngest of Dr Black's audience hear these definitions? The folly of the man, who can scribble such jargon is eclipsed by the superlative ignorance of those who vindicate and admire him. Dr Johnson asserts, that Shakespeare 'has corrupted language by every mode of depravation[154].' The remark applies to himself. And his advocates must allow, that 'they endure in _him_ what they should in another loath and despise[155].' Indeed I can very well believe the Doctor, when he says, that his book was composed while he was in a state of DISTRACTION[156]. For the honour of his veracity, we may hope, that he was likewise _distracted_ when he observed of the social, facetious, and celebrated John Wilkes, Esq; that 'Lampoon would disdain to speak ill of him, of whom no man speaks well[157].'

Part of his book has merit; but take it altogether, and perhaps it is the strangest farrago which pedantry ever produced. It will be said that these are partial specimens, but we have traced him through various _ramifications_ of learning, and found his ignorance extreme. A sensible reader will try his own abilities, in judging of the Doctor's _great_ performance. Nor will he throw down this pamphlet without a candid perusal, because, by some unaccountable infatuation, the dictionary has for twenty seven years been admired by thousands and ten thousands, who have never _seen_ it. Let us exert that courage of thought, and that contempt of quackery, which to feel, and to display, is the privilege and the pride of a Briton. In a country where no man fears his king, can any man fear the sound of a celebrated name, or crouch behind the the banner of Dullness, because it is born by SAMUEL JOHNSON, A.M. & LL.D.?

I shall now take leave of this enormous compilation, and return, for a few pages, to the rest of his works.

* * * * *

Speaking of Pope's edition of Shakespeare, Dr Johnson observes, 'That on this undertaking, to which Pope was induced by a reward of two hundred and seventeen pounds, twelve shillings, he seems never to have reflected afterwards _without vexation_[158].' The Doctor ought never to reflect 'without vexation' on his own edition of Shakespeare. He published his proposals in 1756, but the work itself did not appear till 1768, and then, though the world was warmly prejudiced in his favour, and tho' he had plundered every thing which he thought valuable, from all his predecessors, yet his performance was received with general disregard. His preface was the particular butt of censure; his deficiencies were detected 'with all the insolence of victory;' and the public were, for once, inclined to say of him, what he says of Mr Theobald, viz. that he was 'a man of heavy diligence, with very slender powers[159].'

Indeed the Doctor persecutes the name of Theobald with the most rancorous spirit of revenge. In his proposals for printing Shakespeare, he tells us, 'that Mr Theobald, if fame be just to his memory, considered his learning only as an instrument of gain, and made no farther enquiry after his authour's meaning, when once he had notes sufficient to embellish his page with the expected decorations.' If Theobald was poor, he was certainly prudent in considering his learning as an instrument of gain. In this point, he has been exactly copied by no less a personage than Dr Johnson himself. But the Doctor has not ventured to say that Theobald was a venal prostituted dabbler in politics; that he insulted his King, till he received a pension; and that when he had received his pension, he insulted his country. No. 'The old books, the cold pedantry, and sluggish pertinacity of Theobald,' never excited the serious contempt or indignation of mankind. Dr Johnson asserts, 'That when Theobald published Shakespeare in opposition to Pope, the _best_ notes were supplied by Warburton[160].' This is an assertion without a proof, and merits no regard; for his veracity keeps pace with his candour.

The admirers of Pope will be sensible of the good nature and honesty of Dr Johnson, from the following unqualified assertion: 'The great object of his (Pope's) ridicule is _poverty_; the crimes with which he reproaches his antagonists are their debts, their habitation in the mint, and their want of a dinner. He seems to be of an opinion, not very uncommon in the world, that to want money is to want every thing[161].' The crimes with which Pope reproaches the Duncenian heroes are slander and _forgery_[162], most of them were not only bad writers, but bad men; and it is only in the latter point of view, that the poet considered them as fair objects of ridicule. Had Pope been capable of insulting honest indigence, his reputation and his glory must have been for ever blasted. The humanity of Englishmen would have rejected, with horror, such impious wit. The last part of this malicious paragraph is, after a few pages, contradicted by Dr Johnson himself. Had Pope been of opinion, that _to want money is to want every thing_, he would not have assisted Dodsley 'with a hundred pounds that he might open a shop--of the subscription of forty pounds a-year that he raised for Savage, TWENTY were paid by himself. He was accused of loving money, but his love was eagerness to gain, not solicitude to keep it. In the duties of friendship, he was zealous and constant. It does not appear that he lost a _single_ friend by coldness, or by injury; those who loved him once, continued their kindness[163].' This cannot be the picture of a man who insulted innocent misery.

The Doctor is perpetually giving us strokes of his own character. Thus, of Mr Thomson we are informed, 'that he was "more fat than bard beseems," of a _dull_ countenance, and a _gross, unanimated, uninviting_ appearance.' This is the Rambler's portrait, but when applied to the author of the Seasons, it is not true, for Mr Murdoch assures us, 'that his worst appearance was, when you saw him walking alone, in a thoughtful mood; but let a friend accost him, and enter into conversation, he would instantly brighten into a most amiable aspect, his features no longer the same, and his eye darting a peculiar animated fire. His looks always announced, and half expressed what he was about to say[164].'

The Doctor fills up several pages with blotted variations from Pope's manuscript translation of the Iliad. He exults in this precious production, and foresees that the wisest of his readers will wish for more. Having perused a few lines of it only, I cannot pretend to rate the value of this commodity: But a plain reader will be apt to suspect that the Doctor has on this, as on former occasions, adopted the prudent proverb,_ multum scribere, multum solvere_. If Lexiphanes _overflows with Greek_, he may, by comparing Pope with Homer, afford much entertainment.

'Wives and husbands are, indeed, incessantly complaining of each other[165].'--Not unless both are fools, nor always then. For the credit of its author, I suppress the sequel of this unhappy period.

Dr Johnson observes, that Mr Addison, 'by a serious display of the beauties of Chevy Chace, exposed himself to the ridicule of Wagstaff.--In Chevy Chace there is _not much_ of either bombast or affectation, but there is chill and lifeless imbecility. The story cannot possibly be told in a manner that shall make _less_ impression on the mind[166].' This is a most scandalous criticism; no man who ever heard the ballad, will hear it with patience. The Doctor's pious intention seems to have been to lessen the reputation of Addison. Let him who falsifies without shame, be chastised without mercy[167].

Though Dr Johnson long acted as Reviewer of books for the Gentleman's Magazine, and though he often exercised his pen in that capacity with the most grovelling insolence, yet he cannot speak with patience of his rivals in that branch of trade. 'We have now,' says he, 'among other disturbers of human quiet, a numerous body of Reviewers and Remarkers[168].' He is angry with Lord Lyttleton, for having once condescended to correspond with the Critical Reviewers. He observes, that the CRITICAL REVIEWERS, 'can satisfy their hunger only by devouring their brethren. I am far from imagining that they are naturally more ravenous or blood-thirsty, than those on whom they fall with so much violence and fury; but they are _hungry_, and _hunger_ must be satisfied; and these SAVAGES, when their bellies are full, will fawn on those whom they now bite[169].' They have lately[170] celebrated the Doctor's great candour, of which this passage is the best evidence that 'will easily be found.'

I finish this essay by reciting the circumstance which gave it birth.

In 1778, Mr William Shaw published an Analysis of the Gaelic language. He quoted specimens of Gaelic poetry, and harangued on its beauties, with the aukward elocution of one who did not understand them. A few months ago, he printed a pamphlet. He traduced decent characters. He denied the existence of Gaelic poetry, and his name was echoed in the newspapers as a miracle of candour. Is there in the annals of Grubaean impudence any parallel to this? Is there any nation in the world except _one_, perpetually deluded by a succession of impostors? Are these the blessed fruits of that freedom which patriots perish to defend? If there be no pillory, no whipping post for such accumulated guilt, we may truly say with Shakespeare, that 'Liberty plucks Justice by the nose.' This incomparable bookbuilder, who writes a dictionary before he can write grammar, had previously boasted what a harvest he would reap from English credulity. He was not deceived. The bait was caught; and the voice of truth was for some time drowned in the clamours of the rabble. Mr Shaw wants only money. He thinks only how to get it, and with a courage that is respectable, avowed his intentions. But better things might have been expected from the moral and majestic author of the Rambler. He must have seen the Analysis of the Gaelic language, for Shaw mentions him as the patron of that work. He must have seen the specimens of Celtic poetry there inserted. That he is likewise the patron of this poor scribble, no man, I suppose, will offer to deny. From this single circumstance, Dr Johnson stands convicted of _an illiberal intention to deceive_. Candour can hardly hesitate to sum up his character in the vulgar but expressive pollysyllable.

It will be demanded, why a private individual, without interest or connections, presumes to interfere in the quarrels of the learned? But when the most shameless of mankind, is _hired_ to abuse the characters of his countrymen, to blast the reputations of the living and the dead; when _such_ a tool is employed for _such_ a purpose, that those who are insulted cannot with propriety stoop to a reply,--THEN the highest degree of goodness may degenerate into the lowest degree of weakness, silence becomes approbation, and tenderness and delicacy deserve different names. He is unfit to be the friend of virtue who cannot defend her dignity; who dares not execute her vengeance. In this shameful affair, one circumstance does honour to Dr Johnson. _His friendship is not exhausted in a compliment._ He does not excite expectation merely to disappoint it. He resembles not some perfidious wretches, whom his intrepid eloquence hath so properly pointed out to public indignation. Exerting the generosity which often ennobles the character of an Englishman, he engages not his dependant in a performance for which he scruples to pay.

To glean the tithe of this man's absurdities cannot be of peculiar consequence to me: But the world is long since weary of his arrogant pedantry, his officious malice, his detested assiduity to undermine his superiors, and overbear his equals. Reformation is never quite hopeless, and by submitting to make a catalogue of his errors, there is a chance to humble and reform him. Perhaps indeed, like '_The drudges of sedition_, HE will hear in sullen silence, HE will feel conviction without shame, and be confounded, but not abashed[171].' I have not arrested a few careless expressions, which, in the glow of composition, will sometimes escape, but by fair, and copious quotations from Dr Johnson's ponderous abortions, have attempted to illustrate his covetous and shameless prolixity; his corruptions of our language; his very limited literature; his entire want of general learning; his antipathy to rival merit; his paralytick reasoning; his solemn trifling pedantry; his narrow views of human life; his adherence to contradictions; his defiance of decency; and his contempt of truth. I have not been sporting in the mere wantonness of assertion. I have produced such various, such invincible, such damning proofs, that the Doctor himself must feel a burst of conviction. To collect every particle of _inanity_ which may be found in our _patriot's_ works is infinitely beyond the limits of an eighteen-pence pamphlet. I stop at present here, but the subject seems _inexhaustible_[172]!

_FINIS._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Read Mr Mason's Ode to Truth, and pick out a single sentiment if you can.

[2] World, No. 100.

[3] Swift had the splendid misfortune to be a man of genius. By a very singular felicity, he excelled both in verse and prose. He boasted, that no _new_ word was to be found in his volumes; though, in glory above all writers of his time, he did not fancy _that_ entitled him to ingross or insult conversation. He was no less remarkably clean, than _some_ are remarkably dirty. His love of fame never led him into the lowest of all vices; and a sense of his own dignity made him respect the importance and the feelings of others. He often went many miles on foot, that he might be able to bestow on the poor, what a coach would have cost him. He raised some hundreds of families from beggary, by lending them five pounds a-piece only. He inspired his footmen with Celtic attachment. Whatever was his pride, he shewed none of it in 'the venerable presence of misery.' Though a poet he was free from vanity; though an author and a divine, his example did not fall behind his precepts; though a courtier, he disdained to fawn on his superiors; though a patriot, he never, like our successive generations of blasted orators, sacrificed his principles to his passions. 'His meanest talent was his wit.' His learning had no pedantry, his piety no superstition; his benevolence almost no parallel. His intrepid eloquence first pointed out to his oppressed countrymen, that path to Independence, to happiness, and to glory, which their posterity, at this moment, so nobly pursue. His treatise on the conduct of their foreign allies, first taught the English nation the dangers of a continental war, dispelled their delusive dreams of conquest, and stopt them in the full career to ruin.

[4] See parallel between Diogenes and Dr Johnson in Town and Country Magazine. In his life of Swift, the Doctor tells us, that 'he relieved without pity, and assisted without kindness.'

[5] Idler, No. 70.

[6] Preface to Shakespeare.

[7] Life of Pope.

[8] The following extracts from the Doctor's Dictionary are a key to his political tenets: EXCISE, a hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged, not by the common judges of property, but _wretches_ hired by those to whom excise is paid. _Gazetteer_, was lately a term of the utmost infamy, being usually applied to wretches that were _hired_ to vindicate the court. _Pension_, an allowance made to any one without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country. _Pensioner_, a slave of state, hired by a stipend to obey his master. KING, monarch, supreme governour. _Monarch_, a governour invested with _absolute_ authority, a _King_. _Whig_, 1. whey, 2. the name of a _faction_. _Tory_, one who adheres to the _antient_ constitution of the state, and the apostolical hierarchy of the church of England, opposed to a _whig_. _Johnson's fol. Dic._ The word _faction_ is always used in a _bad_ sense; though, in defining it, the Doctor did not, and, after what he had said of a whig, perhaps durst not say, that a faction is always a term for the supposed disturbers of public peace. 'The most obsequious of the slaves of pride, the most rapturous of the gazers upon wealth, the most officious of the whisperers of greatness, are collected from seminaries appropriated to the study of wisdom and of virtue;' _Rambler_, No. 180. That is to say, men of learning are a set of the most sneaking, pitiful, time-serving rascals. The reader will make his own applications.

[9] See _Political tracts by the author of the Rambler_. His character of Hambden, the reader will find in the 1st page of Waller's life. Of Milton, he says, that 'his impudence had been at least equal to his other powers. Such was his malignity, that hell grew darker at his frown. He thought women born only for obedience, and men only for rebellion.' There is much more in the same tone; and, with what justice his epithets are applied, let Englishmen judge.

[10] Taxation no tyranny.

[11] Ibid, No. 89.

[12] Idler, No. 85.

[13] Tour, p. 59.

[14] Tour, p. 84.

[15] Idler, No. 82.

[16] He should have said _causes_, for he mentions _two_.--What is the Doctor's distinction here between habit and custom?

[17] _Quere_, Are we more accustomed to beauty than deformity? or is not the fact otherwise.--Did habit ever make a sick man fond of disease, or a poor man fond of poverty?

[18] Vide Preface to folio Dict.

[19] Dr Campbell of Aberdeen, on the use of new words, says, 'That nothing can be juster than Johnson's manner of arguing on this subject, in regard to what Swift a little chimerically proposeth, that though new words be introduced, none should be suffered to become obsolete.' This Gentleman ought to have consulted Swift himself. Let him peruse the 'petty treatise,' and then let him blush for having trusted an author void of fidelity.

[20] As the venerable and admirable father of _the_ English Dictionary has treated the names of such men as Young and Lyttleton with so little ceremony, the reader will perhaps forgive the insertion of his own character, as drawn by Chesterfield. 'I am almost in a fever, whenever I am in his company. His figure (without being deformed) seems made to disgrace or ridicule the common structure of the human body. His legs and arms are never in the position, which, according to the situation of his body, they ought to be in; but constantly employed in committing acts of hostility upon the graces. He throws any where but down his throat, whatever he means to drink; and only mangles what he means to carve. _Inattentive to all the regards of social life_, he mistimes, or misplaces every thing. He disputes with heat, and indiscriminately, mindless of the rank, character, and situation, of those with whom he disputes; absolutely ignorant of the several gradations of familiarity or respect, he is exactly the same to his superiors, his equals, and his inferiors; and therefore by a necessary consequence absurd to two of the three. Is it possible to love such a man? No. The utmost I can do for him, is to consider him as a respectable Hottentot.' Churchill's account of our hero comes nearly to the same. And I presume that the inimitable Dr Smollet, has exhibited a third picture of this illustrious original in Humphry Clinker, Vol. 1.--Dr Johnson's letter to the Earl of Chesterfield concludes in these words: 'Whatever be the event of my endeavours, I shall _not easily_ regret an attempt which has procured me the honour of appearing thus publicly, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient, and most humble servant, Sam. Johnson.' These extracts afford a striking contrast between the severity of the polite peer, and the humble politeness (for _once_) of the rugged pedant.

[21] Lives of English poets, vol. iii. p. 243 and 284. 12_mo_ edit.

[22] Vide Life of Dryden.

[23] Vid. Dict. article Blood.

[24] _Excogitation_, this combination of letters is to be found in the Doctor's works, though not in his Dictionary.

[25] Rasselas, chap. vi.

[26] He meant to say _there_.

[27] Tour, p. 16. and 18. &c.

[28] Tour, p. 186.

[29] Ibid, p. 21.

[30] Rambler, No. 79.

[31] Tour, p. 369 &c.

[32] Tour, p. 373.

[33] Ibid, p. 55.

[34] Vid. folio Dictionary.

[35] Tour, p. 242.

[36] Butler's life.

[37] Rambler, No. 59.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Vid. Plutarch.

[40] Tour, p. 283.

[41] Tour, p. 124.

[42] Ibid, p. 154.

[43] The Doctor ought to have said, 'For _these reasons_,' as he mentions several.

[44] Pope's life.

[45] He should have said, _no poet_; for that was his meaning, if he had any. No _writer_, includes prose as well as verse; and this sample may give us a fair idea of the Doctor's _accuracy_ in point of style.

[46] Life of Pope.

[47] Ibid.

[48] Gray's life.

[49] Gray's life.

[50] Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XVII.

[51] Gray's life.

[52] Ibid.

[53] Ibid.

[54] Edinburgh Review, Vol. III. P. 55. _et seq._

[55] Gray's life.

[56] Ibid.

[57] Ibid.

[58] Life of Pope.

[59] Gray's life.

[60] Ibid.

[61] Gray's life.

[62] Ibid.

[63] Pastor cum traheret per freta navibus, &c.

[64] Gray's life. Dr. Beattie of Aberdeen differs very widely from Dr. Johnson on the merit of this poem. He says, 'I have heard the finest Ode in the world (meaning Gray's Bard) blamed for the boldness of its figures, and for what the critic was pleased to call obscurity.' Beattie's Essays on poetry and musick, 3d edit. p. 269. This is, certainly very strong; yet he seems in some danger of contradicting himself, when he says in another place, That 'for energy of words, vivacity of description, and _apposite_ variety of numbers, Dryden's Feast of Alexander is superior to any ode of Horace or Pindar now extant.' Ibid, p. 17. One would have been apt to suppose that the Lyrick Poem which eclipsed Horace, if not the finest, is at least one of 'the finest in the world.'--But an author has novelty to recommend him, when he affirms that Gray is superior to Dryden, and Dryden to all Antiquity.

[65] Gray's life.

[66] Ibid.

[67] Ibid.

[68] Gray's life.

[69] Gray's life.

[70] A favourite phrase of the Rambler's.

[71] Gray's life.

[72] Ibid.

[73] Taxation no Tyranny.

[74] Taxation no Tyranny.

[75] Dryden's life.

[76] Ibid.

[77] Rambler, No. 150.

[78] Rambler, No. 9.

[79] Vide the life of Garrick by Mr Davies.

[80] Rambler, No. 160.

[81] Ibid.

[82] Churchill's Apology.

[83] Vide Life of Cowley. His impressions had been very slight, for Crowley has nothing of the melody, or magnificence of the Fairy Queen. Of its great author we know little but that he was praised, and neglected, unfortunate, and poor: and, from his epitaph, that he died young. His subject is not happy, his words are often obsolete, and his stanza can hardly please us long. But we may presume that he wanted leisure to study the great models of antiquity: That he wanted that tranquillity of mind so requisite to the success of a poet: And that his defects are owing to the bad taste of his age, and the hardships of his life. Had he lived longer, and had he enjoyed that competence which a prudent shoeblack seldom fails to enjoy, Spenser would have been second in fame to Shakespeare only.

[84] Dr Johnson on Cymbeline. The same sentiment is started in his account of Pope, 'To the particular species of excellence men are directed, not by an ascendant planet, or predominant humour, but by the first book which they read, some early conversation which they heard, or some accident which excited ardour and emulation.'--The Doctor is in this passage censuring Pope's ignorance of human nature--while his own marvellous and extreme stupidity makes him almost beneath censure. The reader will not realize Montesquieu's remark, That _when we attempt to prove things so evident we are sure never to convince_.

[85] Annual Register 1779, Part II. p. 148. I abridge his words, but give their full meaning.

[86] Life of Waller.

[87] Life of Rowe.

[88] Life of Milton.

[89] Life of Swift.

[90] Preface to Shakespeare.

[91] Ibid.

[92] Preface to Shakespeare.

[93] 'He has scenes of _undoubted_ and _perpetual_ excellence.' Ibid. Is there not some inconsistency in these various assertions.

[94] See in the same style his observations on Prior, Akenside, and others.

[95] _Quere._ Did ever Shakespeare, or any other man, compose a single page, or even a single line, on any subject, without either straining his faculties, or at least soliciting his invention. It is very possible that the Doctor did not suspect the full extent of his expression.

[96] Vide Dictionary.

[97] Life of Pope.

[98] Ibid.

[99] Pope's life.

[100] Eloisa, Letter 83.

[101] Pope's life.

[102] Preface to Shakespeare.

[103] Pope's life.

[104] Ibid.

[105] Rambler, No. 36.

[106] Ibid.

[107] Thomson's life.

[108] The author has no intention here to disseminate political opinions--His only meaning is to prove, that _somebody_ has neither principle, nor consistency, nor shame.

[109] Life of Shenstone.

[110] Gentleman's Magazine.

[111] Vide life of Milton.

[112] Life of Smith.

[113] Tour, p. 8, 12mo edit.

[114] The Crucifix--Gulliver's Travels.

[115] 'And read their history in a nation's eyes.' GRAY'S ELEGY.

[116] On this subject nothing liberal could be expected from Dr Johnson, who, in spite of his murmurs about Excise, and his actual benevolence in private life, has always been the firm advocate of oppression. His project of hiring the Cherokees to massacre the North Americans (vide supra p. 32) may serve to inform us what he himself would have done, had he been seated in the saddle of authority. But what shall be said for some Scottish historians who have adopted the same ideas? One of them tells us, that Beaton had prepared a list of three hundred and sixty of the leaders of the Protestant party, whose lives and fortunes were to be sacrificed to the rapacity and the pride of this ambitious prelate. Yet he pronounces the killing of such a dangerous monster to be a most execrable deed. He dwells with studied exultation on the execution of Charles I. but if our King really deserved his fate, Was not Beaton by many degrees more criminal? An author can hardly spend his time worse, than in writing to flatter the prejudices, and to corrupt the common sense of the world.

[117] Preface to Shakespeare.

[118] _Quere._ What is _unquenchable_ curiosity? and how can a play excite curiosity which cannot be satisfied by its conclusion?

[119] Preface to Shakespeare.

[120] Ibid.

[121] Weekly Mirror, No. 12.

[122] Monthly Review, on Dr Graham's Pindaricks.

[123] Dr Johnson's life of Pope.

[124] Vide Terence and the Careless Husband.

[125] Vide Dr Johnson's life of Shenstone.

[126] Vide Preface to Dr Johnson's octavo Dictionary, 4th edition.

[127] Vide Measure for measure.

[128] Vide Dictionary.

[129] Optics, P. 349.

[130] Chem. I. P. 399. 614.

[131] Preface to Folio Dictionary.

[132] Perhaps he means, in defining _Thunder_, _Plum porridge_, the particle _But_, &c.

[133] Letter to the Earl of Chesterfield.

[134] Preface to folio dictionary.

[135] Ibid.

[136] Ibid.

[137] Ibid.

[138] It is said that this word is not to be found in any book previous to the reign of James II. and that it was derived from the Priests who surrounded him.

[139] SOLIDITY. '1. Fullness of matter; _not hollowness_. 2. Firmness; hardness; compactness; _density_;' &c. &c. Dr Johnson's dictionary. Every page is replete with jargon of this kind.

[140] Essay, &c. Book II. Chap. iv. Sect. 6.

[141] History of Manchester, Vol. II.

[142] Preface to the octavo dictionary.

[143] Vid. Preface to folio Dictionary.

[144] Vide Life of Pope.

[145] Vide Rambler.

[146] The Booksellers, vide Life of Dryden.

[147] Vide Dictionary, article WATER.

[148] Dr Johnson's Dictionary, 4th edition, folio.

[149] Ibid.

[150] It is needless to observe, that there is no such coin in existence.

[151] Idler, No. 94.

[152] What string does the Doctor mean? for, besides the optic nerve, there are six muscles, four straight, and two oblique, and other small nervous branches.

[153] It is surprising how some persons acquire the reputation of piety. The fervour of Dr Johnson's devotion cannot be denied by those who have seen him rise in the midst of a large company--fall down on his knees behind his chair, repeat his Pater noster, and then resume his seat. This is one way to get a character for holiness, and it is an absolute fact.

Laud proved his title to the dignity of a saint, by doing all the mischief that lay in his power. He lighted up the flames of discord through three kingdoms. They were extinguished in the course of twenty years, by rivers of blood.

'Knocking Jack of the North' founded his reputation, by railing at the damnable sin of fornication, destroying great numbers of fine buildings, and insulting the person of his Sovereign. His character was completely detestable, which is evident from the whole tenor of his life and writings, from his 'Blast against Women,' and above all, from his insolence to Queen Mary, a Princess the most admired, the most beautiful, the most injured, and the most unfortunate of her age.

[154] Preface to Shakespeare.

[155] Ibid. Dr Johnson on Shakespeare.

[156] Preface to Folio Dictionary.

[157] False Alarm.

[158] Life of Pope.

[159] Life of Pope.

[160] Ibid.

[161] Ibid.

[162]

Let Budgell charge low Grubstreet on my quill--
And write whate'er he please, _except my_ WILL!

Epistle to Arbuthnot.

[163] Life of Pope.

[164] Vide life prefixed to his works.

[165] Rambler, No. 45.

[166] Life of Addison.

[167] Dr Johnson's reputation is raised to such a height, that many writers do not think their productions can be successful, unless they have his liberty to acknowledge their obligations to him. This tribute of gratitude generally occupies a splendid dedication, or the second paragraph in the author's preface, and we are sometimes reminded in a marginal note of his particular respect for the Doctor. By a man of tolerable information, such eulogiums cannot be perused without intense disgust. But one of these gentlemen has boasted of the Doctor's approbation of a work, which, had he ever been consulted, he would have _damned beyond all depth_. Dr Percy has published three volumes of English ballads, and as an apology for this work, he says in his preface, that he could refuse nothing to such judges as the late Mr Shenstone, and--the author of the RAMBLER. Now take notice, that the very first poem in the collection, and one of the very best in the whole of it, is Chevy Chace! Dr Percy admires it. Dr Johnson ridicules it in the roughest terms. What are we to think of this; and what must Dr Percy feel when he reads the passage just now quoted from his friend? If Dr Johnson thinks Chevy Chace so insufferably dull, how must he have sickened in the perusal of many pieces in that collection.

[168] Fugitive pieces. Vol. II. p. 136.

[169] Ibid, p. 26.

[170] Review for August 1782.

[171] Vide False Alarm.

[172] Though Dr Johnson has on all occasions expressed the utmost contempt and aversion for the Scots, yet they have in general been solicitous to soothe his pride. Dr Smollet says, that 'Johnson, inferior to none in philosophy, philology, and poetry, stands foremost as an essayist, justly celebrated for the strength, dignity, and variety of his stile, &c.' And Beattie affirms, that his dictionary, considered as the work of one man, is a _most wonderful_ performance! The Doctor's capital enemies have likewise been Caledonians. The great author of Lexiphanes was a Scot, and the Rambler is yet smarting under the rough but irresistible _remarks_ of a Highland reviewer.

Our ingenious advocate for the second sight (vid. Tour) has long been duped by a succession of rascals. Lawder persuaded him to believe, that Paradise Lost was compiled from scraps of modern Latin poetry; his pamphlet bears strong internal evidence that part of it at least (as has been long alledged) is the production of the Doctor's pen. Compare in particular the preface with such attempts in prose as we know to be Lawder's own. Vide Gentleman's Magazine.

Mr Shaw has of late renewed his _enquiries_. They are only to be regarded as the desperate ravings of a man who believes that, in consequence of the _new light_, his moral and his literary character have sunk together into final perdition; that his name, like Lawder's, will be remembered only to his infamy, and _that_ Dr Johnson himself despises and abhors him. Do you think me too severe on the Doctor's infirmities? Can you forgive his injustice to the memory of his benefactors--his political duplicity--his thirst for blood--his inveterate antipathy to the most sacred rights of mankind?

Dr Johnson says, that one of the lowest of all human beings is a Commissioner of Excise. This can hardly be the case, unless himself or his reverend friend Mr Shaw shall arrive at that dignity. But in the meantime, there is a Commissioner of Excise, or Customs, (no matter which) who in the scale of human beings is not much _lower_ than Lexiphanes himself. This couple stand in the most striking contrast: and to draw the character of the first is to write an oblique but most severe censure on the character of the second. Dr Smith's language is a luscious and pure specimen of strength, elegance, precision, and simplicity. His _Enquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations_ deserves to be studied by every member of the community, as one of the most accurate, profound, and persuasive books that ever was written. In _that_ performance he displays an intimate and extensive knowledge of mankind, in every department of life, from the cabinet to the cottage; a supreme contempt of national prejudice, and a fearless attachment to liberty, to justice, and to truth. His work is admired as a mass of excellence, a condensation of reasonings, the most various, important, original, and just.

* * * * *

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The Society's purpose is to publish rare Restoration and eighteenth-century works (usually as facsimile reproductions). All income of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication and mailing.

Correspondence concerning memberships in the United States and Canada should be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, California. Correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to the General Editors at the same address. Manuscripts of introductions should conform to the recommendations of the MLA _Style Sheet_. The membership fee is $5.00 a year in the United States and Canada and L1.19.6 in Great Britain and Europe. British and European prospective members should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back issues in print may be obtained from the Corresponding Secretary.

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Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1970-1971

145-146. Thomas Shelton, _A Tutor to Tachygraphy, or,
Short-writing_, 1642, and _Tachygraphy_, 1647. Introduction
by William Matthews.

147-148. _Deformities of Dr. Samuel Johnson_, 1782.
Introduction by Gwin J. Kolb and J. E. Congleton.

149. _POETA DE TRISTIBUS: or, the Poet's Complaint_, 1682.
Introduction by Harold Love.

150. Gerard Langbaine, _Momus Triumphans: or, the Plagiaries of
the English Stage_ [_A New Catalogue of English Plays_], 1687.
Introduction by David Rodes.

Members of the Society will receive copies of Clark Library seminar papers.

SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1969-1970-1971

Gerard Langbaine, _An Account of the English Dramatick Poets_
(1691), Introduction by John Loftis. 2 Volumes. Approximately
600 pages. Price to members of the Society, $7.00 for the first
copy (both volumes), and $8.50 for additional copies. Price to
non-members, $10.00.

Already published in this series:

1. John Ogilby, _The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse_
(1668), with an Introduction by Earl Miner. 228 pages.

2. John Gay, _Fables_ (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by
Vinton A. Dearing. 366 pages.

3. _The Empress of Morocco and Its Critics_ (Elkanah Settle,
_The Empress of Morocco_ [1673] with five plates; _Notes and
Observations on the Empress of Morocco_ [1674] by John Dryden,
John Crowne and Thomas Shadwell; _Notes and Observations on the
Empress of Morocco Revised_ [1674] by Elkanah Settle; and _The
Empress of Morocco. A Farce_ [1674] by Thomas Duffett), with an
Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. 348 pages.

4. _After THE TEMPEST_ (the Dryden-Davenant version of _The
Tempest_ [1670]; the "operatic" _Tempest_ [1674]; Thomas
Duffett's _Mock-Tempest_ [1675]; and the "Garrick" _Tempest_
[1756]), with an Introduction by George Robert Guffey. 332
pages.

Price to members of the Society, $3.50 for the first copy of each title, and $4.25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $5.00. Standing orders for this continuing series of Special Publications will be accepted. British and European orders should be addressed to B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.

THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT

1948-1949

16. Henry Nevil Payne, _The Fatal Jealousie_ (1673).

18. Anonymous, "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III,
No. 10 (1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720).

1949-1950

19. Susanna Centlivre, _The Busie Body_ (1709).

20. Lewis Theobald, _Preface to the Works of Shakespeare_ (1734).

22. Samuel Johnson, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749), and two
_Rambler_ papers (1750).

23. John Dryden, _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681).

1951-1952

26. Charles Macklin, _The Man of the World_ (1792).

31. Thomas Gray, _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard_ (1751).
and _The Eton College Manuscript_.

1952-1953

41. Bernard Mandeville, _A Letter to Dion_ (1732).

1963-1964

104. Thomas D'Urfey, _Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the
Birds_ (1706).

1964-1965

110. John Tutchin, _Selected Poems_ (1685-1700).

111. Anonymous, _Political Justice_ (1736).

112. Robert Dodsley, _An Essay on Fable_ (1764).

113. T. R., _An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning_
(1698).

114. _Two Poems Against Pope_: Leonard Welsted, _One Epistle to
Mr. A. Pope_ (1730), and Anonymous, _The Blatant Beast_ (1742).

1965-1966

115. Daniel Defoe and others, _Accounts of the Apparition of
Mrs. Veal_.

116. Charles Macklin, _The Covent Garden Theatre_ (1752).

117. Sir Roger L'Estrange, _Citt and Bumpkin_ (1680).

118. Henry More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus_ (1662).

119. Thomas Traherne, _Meditations on the Six Days of the
Creation_ (1717).

120. Bernard Mandeville, _Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of
Fables_ (1704).

1966-1967

123. Edmond Malone, _Cursory Observations on the Poems
Attributed to Mr. Thomas Rowley_ (1782).

124. Anonymous, _The Female Wits_ (1704).

125. Anonymous, _The Scribleriad_ (1742). Lord Hervey, _The
Difference Between Verbal and Practical Virtue_ (1742).

1967-1968

129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to _Terence's Comedies_ (1694) and
_Plautus's Comedies_ (1694).

130. Henry More, _Democritus Platonissans_ (1646).

132. Walter Harte, _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the
Dunciad_ (1730).

1968-1969

133. John Courtenay, _A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral
Character of the Late Samuel Johnson_ (1786).

134. John Downes, _Roscius Anglicanus_ (1708).

135. Sir John Hill, _Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise_
(1766).

136. Thomas Sheridan, _Discourse ... Being Introductory to His
Course of Lectures on Elocution and the English Language_ (1759).

137. Arthur Murphy, _The Englishman From Paris_ (1736).

138. [Catherine Trotter], _Olinda's Adventures_ (1718).

1969-1970

139. John Ogilvie, _An Essay on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients_
(1762).

140. _A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1726) and _Pudding
Burnt to Pot or a Compleat Key to the Dissertation on Dumpling_
(1727).

141. Selections from Sir Roger L'Estrange's _Observator_
(1681-1687).

142. Anthony Collins, _A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony
in Writing_ (1729).

143. _A Letter From A Clergyman to His Friend, With An Account of
the Travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver_ (1726).

144. _The Art of Architecture, A Poem. In Imitation of Horace's
Art of Poetry_ (1742).

Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.

Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of $8.00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request. Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus.

* * * * *

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

The text indicated quotes by repeating the open quote character on each new line. This has not been followed in this transcription.

The text used the 'long s', as is common pre-1800. This has been converted to a standard 's'.

The text used an 'oe' ligature for several words, which has been changed to 'oe' in the text edition:

[oe]conomy
[oe]gnimatical
Gonnorh[oe]a

The following misprints have been corrected in the text:

Page iii "ignominious end". 'ignominous' in page image.
Page 14. "_False Alarm_". Initial F not italicised in page image.
Page 24. "'The design". Initial quote doubled in page image.
Page 35. "a specimen". 'speimen' in page image.
Page 36. "procure it.'" Removed extra end quote.
Page 48. "_a parte post_". 'a' not italisised in page image.
Page 49. "that ingredient". 'ingre-(newline)gredient' on page.
Page 51. "his only difficulty". 'difficuly' in page image.
Page 53. "Pissburnt". On page 'Piss-(newline)burnt'
Page 72. "(for I dare". Open bracked missing in page image.
Page 75. "for he". Printed as 'forhe'.
Page 80. "Brothelhouse". On page 'brothel-(newline)house'
Page 86. "or blood-thirsty". '-' unclear in page image.

Missing singlequote has been added at the end as indicated below:

Page 17. "these: 'They'"
Page 24. footnote. "_these reasons_,'"
Page 27. "have seen;'"
Page 36. "a poet.'"
Page 40. "fine sleeves;'"
Page 53. "animal water. _Pope._'"
Page 70. "say less'"
Page 78. "or write;'"
Page 78. "heavy ship;'"

In addition, missing period has been added as shown below:

Page 12. "too old to learn."
Page 13. "the victory. _Cibber_"
Page 22 footnote. "Ibid, p. 55."
Page 54. "divert school boys."
Page 54. "_s._ Fiddlefaddle"
Page 55. "Yet, _ad._"
Page 68. "hope and fear."
Page 74. "_Dryden._' Whoredom"
Page 74. "piece of bread."
Page 75. "consisting of three.'"
Page 75 footnote. "in existence."

The alphabetical list on pages 71-72 has several entries out of order. The order has been kept from the text, rather than corrected.

On page 73 there is a footnote, "Vide Rambler.", with no footnote marker on the page. This footnote has been placed where it is in the first edition.