My friend was of opinion that when a man of rank appeared in that character, he deserved to have his merit handsomely allowed'. In this I think he was more liberal than Mr. William Whitehead, in his "Elegy to Lord Villiers," in which, under the pretext of "superiour toils, demanding all their care," he discovers a jealousy of the great paying their court to the Muses: to the chosen few Who dare excel, thy fost'ring aid afford; Their arts, their magick powers, with honours due Johnson had called twice on [Dr. Barnard] the Bishop of Killaloe before his lordship set out for Ire Men of rank and fortune, however, should be pretty well assured of having a real claim to the approbation of the publick, as writers, before they venture to stand forth. Dryden, in his preface to "All for Love," thus expresses himself:-") "Men of pleasant conversation (at least esteemed so) and endued with a trifling kind of fancy, perhaps helped out by a smattering of Latin, are ambitious to distinguish themselves from the herd of gentlemen by their poetry: 'Rarus enim fermè sensus communis in illa And is not this a wretched affectation, not to be contented with what fortune has done for them, and sit down quietly with their estates, but they must call their wits in question, and needlessly expose their nakedness to publick view? Not considering that they are not to expect the same approbation from sober men which they have found from their flatterers after the third bottle: if a little glittering in discourse has passed them on us for witty men, where was the necessity of undeceiving the world? Would a man who has an ill title to an estate, but yet is in possession of it--would he bring it out of his own accord to be tried at Westminster? We who write, if we want the talents, yet have the excuse that we do it for a poor subsistence; but what can be urged in their defence, who, not having the vocation of poverty to scribble, out of mere wantonness take pains to make themselves ridiculous? Horace was certainly in the right where he said, That no man is satisfied with his own condition. A poet is not pleased because he is not rich; and the rich are discontented because the poets will not admit them of their number."-BOSWELL. [Mr. Boswell seems to insinuate that Lord Carlisle had no claim to the approbation of the public as a writer, and that he exposed himself to ridicule by this publication; and Lord Byron, in one of those wayward fits which too often distorted the views of that extraordinary person, recorded the same opinion with the bitterness and exaggeration of a professed satirist. In these judgments the Editor cannot concur. Lord Carlisle was not, indeed, a great poet, but he was superior to many whom Mr. Boswell was ready enough to admit into the "sacred choir." His verses have good sense, sweetness, and elegance. It should be added, in justice both to Lord Carlisle and Lord Byron, that the latter very much regretted the flippant and unjust sarcasms he had uttered against his noble friend and relation.—ED.] land, having missed him the first time. He said, "It would have hung heavy on my heart if I had not seen him. No man ever paid more attention to another than he has done to me; and I have neglected him, not wilfully, but from being otherwise occupied. Always, sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you." This gave me very great pleasure, for there had been once a pretty smart altercation' between Dr. Barnard and him, upon a question, whether a man could improve himself after the age of forty-five; when Johnson in a hasty humour expressed himself in a manner not quite civil. Dr. Barnard made it the subject of a copy of pleasant verses, in which he supposed himself to learn different perfections from different men. The concluding stanza is a delicate irony on Dr. Johnson. I know not whether Johnson ever saw the poem, but I had occasion to find that, as Dr. Barnard and he knew each other better, their mutual regard increased 3. [This, as Miss Reynolds remarks, was one of the ED. few occasions in which Johnson appeared anxious to make atonement for conversational rudeness, and she adds the following account of it: Recoll. "I shall never forget with what regret he spoke Reyn. of the rude reply he made to Dr. Barnard, on his saying that men never improved after the age of [This incident took place about 1776.-ED.] 2 The Editor does not think the last stanza very happy, as it seems to mix up awkwardly enough truth and irony.—ED.] 3 [This account of Dr. Johnson's rudeness to Dr. Barnard, Mr. Boswell had thrown into a note, and had quoted only the last stanza of the dean's poetical retaliation; but as an interesting incident in the history of Johnson's social life, the Editor has removed it to the text, and has added the whole anecdote from Miss Reynolds's Recollections ED.] Recoll. Reyn. froty-five. That's not true, sir,' said Johnson. You, who perhaps are forty-eight, may still improve, if you will try I wish you would set about it; and I am afraid,' he added, there is great room for it;' and this was said in rather a large party of ladies and gentlemen at dinner. Soon after the ladies withdrew from the table, Dr. Johnson followed them, and, sitting down by the lady of the house', he said, 'I am very sorry for having spoken so rudely to the dean.' 'You very well may, sir.' 'Yes,' he said, 'it was highly improper to speak in that style to a minister of the gospel, and I am the more hurt on reflecting with what mild dignity he received it.' When the dean came up into the drawing-room, Dr. Johnson immediately rose from his seat, and made him sit on the sofa by him, and with such a beseeching look for pardon, and with such fond gestures - literally smoothing down his arms and his knees--tokens of penitence, which were so graciously received by the dean as to make Dr. Johnson very happy, and not a little added to the esteem and respect he had previously entertained for his character. "The next morning the dean called on Sir Joshua Reynolds with the following verses :— Encouraged thus to mend my faults, Which way I could apply it; Then come, my friends, and try your skill; (My books are at a distance); With you I'll live and learn, and then So lend me your assistance. Dear knight of Plympton 1, teach me how And smile serene as thine, The jest uncouth and truth severe; And calmly drink my wine. Thy temper mild, thy genius fine, Thy art of pleasing teach me, Garrick, A second time read o'er; Oh! could we read thee backwards too, If I have thoughts and can't express 'em, In terms select and terse; Jones teach me modesty and Greek; Smith, how to think; Burke, how to speak; Let Johnson teach me how to place Copy his free and easy style, And from the roughness of his file Johnson told me that he was once much pleased to find that a carpenter who lived near him was very ready to show him some things in his business which [Sir Joshua Reynolds was born at Plympton in Devon.-ED.] [A humorous attempt of Garrick's to read one of Cumberland's odes backwards. Sec ante, vol. iii. p. 408.-ED.] Reyn. he wished to see: "It was paying," said he, "respect to literature." I asked him if he was not dissatisfied with having so small a share of wealth, and none of those distinctions in the state which are the objects of ambition. He had only a pension of three hundred a year. Why was he not in such circumstances as to keep his coach? Why had he not some considerable office? JOHNSON. "Sir, I have never complained of the world; nor do I think that I have reason to complain. It is rather to be wondered at that I have so much. My pension is more out of the usual course of things than any instance that I have known. Here, sir, was a man avowedly no friend to government at the time, who got a pension without asking for it. I never courted the great; they sent for me; but I think they now give me up. They are satisfied: they have seen enough of me." Upon my observing that I could not believe this, for they must certainly be highly pleased by his conversation; conscious of his own superiority, he answered, "No, sir; great lords and great ladies don't love to have their mouths stopped." This was very expressive of the effect which the force of his understanding and brilliancy of his fancy could not but produce; and, to be sure, they must have found themselves strangely diminished in his company. When I warmly declared how happy I was at all times to hear him,-" Yes, sir," said he; "but if you were lord chancellor it would not be so: you would then consider your own dignity." There was much truth and knowledge of human nature in this remark. But certainly one should think that in whatever elevated state of life a man who knew the value of the conversation of Johnson might be placed, though he might prudently avoid a situation in which he might appear lessened by com |