quently indulged himself in colloquial pleasantry; and the heartiest merriment was often enjoyed in his company; with this great advantage, that, as it was entirely free from any poisonous tincture of vice or impiety, it was salutary to those who shared in it. He had accustomed himself to such accuracy in his common conversation,1 that he at all times expressed his thoughts with great force, and an elegant choice of language, the effect of which was aided by his having a loud voice, and a slow deliberate utterance. In him were united a most logical head with a most fertile imagination, which gave him an extraordinary advantage in arguing: for he could reason close or wide, as he saw best for the moment. Exulting in his intellectual strength and dexterity, he could, when he pleased, be the greatest sophist that ever contended in the lists of declamation; and, from a spirit of contradiction, and a delight in shewing his powers, he would often maintain the wrong side with equal warmth and ingenuity; so that, when there was an audience, his real opinions could seldom be gathered from his talk; though when he was in company with a single friend, he would discuss a subject with genuine fairness; but he was too conscientious to make errour permanent and pernicious, by deliberately writing it; and, in all his numerous works, he 1 Though a perfect resemblance of Johnson is not to be found in any age, parts of his character are admirably expressed by Clarendon, in drawing that of Lord Falkland, whom the noble and masterly historian describes at his seat near Oxford :-"Such an immenseness of wit, such a solidity of judgement, so infinite a fancy, bound in by a most logical ratiocination.-His acquaintance was cultivated by the most polite and accurate men, so that his house was an University in less volume, whither they came, not so much for repose as study, and to examine and refine those grosser propositions, which laziness and consent made current in conversation." Bayle's account of Menage may also be quoted as exceedingly applicable to the great subject of this work." His illustrious friends erected a very glorious monument to him in the collection entitled Menagiana. Those who judge of things aright, will confess that this collection is very proper to shew the extent of genius and learning which was the character of Menage. And I may be bold to say, that the excellent works he published will not distinguish him from other learned men so advantageously as this. To publish books of great learning, to make Greek and Latin verses exceedingly well turned, is not a common talent, I own; neither is it extremely rare. It is incomparably more difficult to find men who can furnish discourse about an infinite number of things, and who can diversify them an hundred ways. How many authours are there, who are admired for their works, on account of the vast learning that is displayed in them, who are not able to sustain a conversation. Those who know Menage only by his books, might think he resembled those learned men: but if you show the MENAGIANA, you distinguish him from them, and make him known by a talent which is given to very few learned men. There it appears that he was a man who spoke off-hand a thousand good things. His memory extended to what was ancient and modern; to the court and to the city; to the dead and to the living languages; to things serious and things jocose; in a word, to a thousand sorts of subjects. That which appeared a trifle to some readers of the Menagiana, who did not consider circumstances, caused admiration in other readers, who minded the difference between what a man speaks without preparation, and that which he prepares for the press. And, therefore, we cannot sufficiently commend the care which his illustrious friends took to erect a monument so capable of giving him immortal glory. They were not obliged to rectify what they had heard him say; for, in so doing, they had not been faithful historians of his conversation." earnestly inculcated what appeared to him to be the truth; his piety being constant, and the ruling principle of all his conduct. Such was SAMUEL JOHNSON, a man whose talents, acquirements, and virtues were so extraordinary, that the more his character is considered, the more he will be regarded by the present age, and by posterity, with admiration and reverence. INDEX ABINGDON, Lord, bon mot of, II. 310 n. Absentees from their estates, how far justi- Academy, Royal, instituted, I. 354 Actors, I. 97, 468-469, 586; II. 134-135 Adams, Rev. Dr., I. 27, 35, 38, 73, 74, his style compared with Johnson's, I. 420; II. 23 his early friendship with Charles his "Pleasures of the Imagination," Akerman, Mr., Keeper of Newgate, Alfred, 103 his will, II. 409 Allen, Mr., printer, II. 194, 562, 583 America and Americans, I. 512-513, 526- Amyat, Dr., his anecdote of Dr. Johnson, I. 233 Articles, Thirty-nine, I. 376, 411-412 BACON, Viscount St. Albans, II. 141 Johnson's letters to, I. 64; II. 560 his voyages, I. 409 Johnson's letters to, I. 352, 384, 385 Baretti, Joseph, his trial, I. 370-371 Johnson's letters to, I. 223, 229, 235 his death, II. 302 his library sold, II. 388-389 "Beggars' Opera," I. 559-560; II. 229, Bentley, Dr., verses by, II. 332 Bibliotheca Harle:ana, I. 87-88, 102 Birch, Rev. Dr. Thomas, I. 85, 86 n., 92 Bishops, II. 368-369 Blacklock's poetry, I. 289 Blair, Rev. Dr. Hugh, his sermons, II. Blair, Rev. Robert, his poem of "The Blake, Admiral, Johnson's Life of, I. 83 Boerhaave, Johnson's Life of, I. 79 Boswell, James, his introduction to John- Johnson's letters to, I. 293, 312, 323, his account of Corsica, I. 342 Brocklesby, Dr., II. 439, 475 seq. - 131 his style, how far imitated by John- Brutes, the hardships suffered by them 619 Buchanan, I. 285; II. 445 471 "Essay on the Sublime," etc., I. 367 his Life of Rochester, II. 140 Johnson's letters to, I. 173, 196, 199; his anecdotes of Johnson, I. 200, 589, Burney, Miss, and her works, II. 470-471, Cock-lane Ghost, I. 252; II. 192 Congreve, his works, I. 365, 370 Conversation, I. 616; II. 38, 392, 432- Johnson's, Mrs. Thrale's simile of, Cook, Captain, II. 9 Corn-laws of Ireland, I. 396 Country life, II. 183, 217, 252, 551 Cowley, Johnson's Life of, considered by Crabbe, Rev. Mr., his "Village," II. 438 DAVIES, Mr. Thomas, I. 241-243, 301, 352- Death, I. 377-378; II. 212, 425, 512 Johnson's fear of, I. 368, 377-378, 516; Desmoulins, Mrs. Johnson's generosity to, Dr. Hurd's sermon upon, II. 520-521 Dodd, Rev. Dr., II. 87, 88-89, 94, 114, Johnson's efforts on his behalf, and Dodsley, Robert, I. 106, 107, 116, 118 n., Drake, Sir Francis, Johnson's Life of, I. Drummond, Mr. William, Johnson's letters Drunkenness. See Wine Dryden, compared with Pope, I. 313, 365 Duelling, I. 430, 463; II. 463-464 433, 522 France and the French, Johnson's opinion Frederick the Great, Johnson's criticism Frenchman, difference between an English- story of his ghost, II. 249 any of the Northern dialects, I. 296 GAMING, I. 427; II. 18 anecdotes of, 52, 54 n., 84, 97, 146, George II., I. 544 Ghosts, I. 251-252, 429, 433; II., 167, 213, Gibbon, Edward, Esq., I. 547, 559; II. anecdotes of, I. 126, 256-258, 260, 262, Johnson's opinion of him and his his bon mots on Johnson, I. 354, 466 Guardians to children, instructions relative Guthrie, William, Esq., I. 64, 345 Habeas Corpus, I. 358 Habits, early, not conquerable without un- Hailes, Lord (Sir David Dalrymple, Bart.), his "Annals of Scotland," II. 39 Happiness, I. 113, 211, 315, 441, 549; II. in a future state, II. 207, 208, 210 Johnson's letters to, II. 363, 364, 365 119 remarks on his life of Johnson, I. 6, contradicted and corrected, I. 70 n., a great deal in it that the world did Hector, Mr. Edmund, I. 19, 20, 24 N., 47, Hell, paved with good intentions, I. 555 Hervey, Hon. Thomas, I. 334 History and historians, I. 268, 361, 440, Homer, I. 395 critiques on, II. 141, 236, 237, 338 Hospitality, II. 328, 469 promiscuous, does not procure lasting in London, I. 460 Hume, David, his style french, I. 272 |