and I suppose it is fit that the claimant should give some proofs of his relation. I would gladly know, from the gentleman that thinks himself R. Levet's brother, "TO JOSEPH FOWKE, ESQ. "DEAR SIR,-To show you that neither length of time, nor distance of Gent. Mag "In what year, and in what parish, R. Levet place, withdraws you from my memory, I was born? "Where or how was he educated? "What was his early course of life? 1817, have sent you a little present, which will p. 590 "What were the marks of his person; his because I had none to make. Of the death of stature; the colour of his eyes? "Was he marked by the small-pox? "Had he any impediment in his speech? "What relations had he, and how many are now living? "His answer to these questions will show whether he knew him; and he may then proceed to show that he is his brother. "He may be sure, that nothing shall be hastily wasted or removed. I have not looked into his boxes, but transferred that business to a gentleman in the neighbourhood, of character above suspicion. "He is not to think his copy wantonly defaced. A wet sponge will wash all the red lines away, and leave the page clear. His dedication will be least liked. It were better to contract it into a short sprightly address. "I do not doubt Mr. Crabbe's success. sir, your most humble servant, I am, "SAM. JOHNSON." the unfortunate man (meaning Nundocomar) I believe Europe thinks as you think; but it was past prevention; and it was not fit for me to move a question in publick which I was not qualified to discuss, as the inquiry could then do no good; and I might have been silenced by a hardy denial of facts, which, if denied, I could not prove. "Since we parted, I have suffered much sickness of body and perturbation of mind. My mind, if I do not flatter myself, is unimpaired, except that sometimes my memory is less ready; but my body, though by nature very strong, has given way to repeated shocks. "Genua labant, vastos quatit æger En anhelitus artus. This line might have been written on purpose for me. You will see, however, that I have not totally forsaken literature. I can apply better to books than I could in some more vigorous parts of my life-st least than I did; and I have one more reason for reading-that time has, by taking away my com panions, left me less opportunity of conversation I have led an inactive and careless life; it is time at last to be diligent: there is yet provision to be made for eternity. "Let me know, dear sir, what you are doing. Are you accumulating gold, or picking up diamonds? Or are you now sated with Indian wealth, and content with what you have? Have you Whatever you do, I do not suspect you of plisvigour for bustle, or tranquillity for inaction? ging or oppressing; and shall rejoice to see you return with a body unbroken, and a mind uncor rupted. 66 You and I had hardly any common friends, and therefore I have few anecdotes to relate to you. Mr. Levet, who brought us into acquaintance, died suddenly at my house last year, in his seventy-eighth year, or about that age. Mrs. Williams, the blind lady, is still with Gent me, but much broken by a very and obstinate disease. She is, however, p. not likely to die; and it would delight me if you would send her some petty token your remembrance: you may send me one too. wearisome Mag 1817. "Whether we shall ever meet again in this world, who can tell? Let us, however, wish well to each other : prayers can pass the Live and the Tropics. I am, dear sir, yours sincerely, "SAM. JOHNSON." "TO MR. NICHOLS. 12th April, 1784. “SIR,—I have sent you enclosed a very cutous proposal from Mr. Hawkins, the son of Sir John Hawkins, who, I believe, will take care 1 For this work Dr. Johnson had contributed several that whatever his son promises shall be performed. hints towards the Life of Anthony Blackwall, to whom, when very young, he had been some time an usher at Market Bosworth school. Blackwall died in April, 1730, before Johnson was one and twenty.-NICHOLS. “If you are inclined to publish this compila 2 A collection of the Doctor's Works.-NICHOLS. tion, the editor will agree for an edition on the following terms, which I think liberal enough. "That you shall print the book at your own charge. "That the sale shall be wholly for your benefit till your expenses are repaid; except that at the time of publication you shall put into the hands of the editor, without price,... copies for his friends. "That, when you have been repaid, the profits arising from the sale of the remaining copies shall be divided equally between you and the editor. "That the edition shall not comprise fewer than five hundred. I am, sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." My health was for some time quite at a stand, if it did not rather go backwards; but for a week past it flatters me with appearances of amendment, which I dare yet hardly credit. My breath has been certainly less obstructed for eight days; and yesterday the water seemed to be disposed to a fuller flow. But I get very little sleep; and my legs do not like to carry me. "You were kind in paying my forfeits at the club; it cannot be expected that many should meet in the summer; however, they that continue in town should keep up appearances as well as they can. I hope to be again among you. "I wish you had told me distinctly the mistakes in the French words. The French is but a secondary and subordinate part of your design; exactness, however, in all parts is necessary, though complete exactness cannot be attained; and the French are so well stocked with dictionaries, that a little attention may easily keep you safe from gross faults; and as you work on, your vigilance will be quickened, and your observation regulated; you will better know your own wants, and learn better whence they may be supplied. Let me know minutely the whole state of your negotiations. Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true. "The weather here is very strange summer weather; and we are here two degrees nearer the north than you. I was, I think, loath to think a fire necessary in July, till I found one in the servants' hall, and thought myself entitled to as much warmth as them. "I wish you would make it a task to yourself to write to me twice a week; a letter is a great relief to, dear sir, your, &c." "TO THE SAME. "Ashbourne, 2d September, 1784. "DEAR SIR,-Your critick seems to be an exquisite Frenchman; his remarks are nice; they would at least have escaped me. I wish you better luck with your next specimen; though if such slips as these are to condemn a dictionary, I know not when a dictionary will be made. I cannot yet think that gourmander is wrong; but I have here no means of verifying my opinion. "My health, by the mercy of God, still improves; and I have hope of standing the English winter, and of seeing you, and reading Petrarch at Bolt-court; but let me not flatter myself too much. I am yet weak, but stronger than I was. "I suppose the Club is now almost forsaken; but we shall I hope meet again. We have lost poor Allen; a very worthy man, and to me a very kind and officious neighbour. "Of the pieces ascribed by Bembo to Virgil, the Dirce (ascribed, I think, to Valerius Cato), the Copa and the Moretum are, together with the Culex and Ceiris, in Scaliger's Appendix ad Virgilium. The rest I never heard the name of before. "I am highly pleased with your account of the gentleman and lady with whom you lodge; such characters have sufficient attractions to draw me towards them; you are lucky to light upon them in the casual commerce of life. "Continue, dear sir, to write to me; and let me hear any thing or nothing, as the chance of the day may be. I am, sir, your, &c," "TO THE SAME. "Ashbourne, 16th September, 1784. "DEAR SIR,-What you have told me of your landlord and his lady at Brompton has made them such favourites, that I am not sorry to hear how you are turned out of your lodgings, because the good is greater to them than the evil is to you. The death of dear Mr. Allen gave me pain. When after some time of absence I visit a town, I find my friends dead; when I leave a place, I am followed with intelligence, that the friend whom I hope to meet at my return is swallowed in the grave. This is a gloomy scene; but let us learn from it to prepare for our own removal. Allen is gone; Sastres and Johnson are hasting after him; may we be both as well prepared! "I again wish your next specimen success. Paymistress can hardly be said without a preface (it may be expressed by a word perhaps not in use, pay mistress). "The club is, it seems, totally deserted; but as the forfeits go on, the house does not suffer; and all clubs, I suppose, are unattended in the summer. We shall, I hope, meet in winter, and be cheerful. "After this week, do not write to me till you hear again from me, for I know not well where I shall be; I have grown weary of the solitude of this place, and think of removal. I am, sir, your, &c." cal. The asthma has remitted for a time, but is now very troublesome; the weakness still continues, but the dropsy has disappeared; and has twice, in the summer, yielded to medicine. I hope to return with a body somewhat, however little, relieved, and with a mind less dejected. "I hope your dear lady and dear little ones are all well, and all happy; I love them all. I am, dear sir, your most humble servant, vol. ii. p. 410. "SAM. JOHNSON." "DR. JOHNSON TO MR. SASTRES. "Lichfield, 20th October, 1784. "SIR,-You have abundance of Letters, naughty tricks; is this your way of writing to a poor sick friend twice a week? Post comes after post, and brings no letter from Mr. Sastres. If you know any thing, write and tell it; if you know nothing, write and say that you know nothing. "What comes of the specimen? If the booksellers want a specimen, in which a keen critick can spy no faults, they must wait for another generation. Had not the Crusca faults? Did not the academicians of France commit many faults? It is enough that a dictionary is better than others of the same kind. A perfect performance of any kind is not to be expected, and certainly not a perfect dictionary. "Mrs. Desmoulins never writes, and I know not how things go on at home; tell me, dear sir, what you can. "If Mr. Seward be in town, tell me his direction, for I ought to write to him. "I am very weak, and have had bad nights. I am, dear sir, your, &c." "TO THE SAME. "Lichfield, 1st November, 1784. "DEAR SIR,-i beg you to continue the frequency of your letters; every letter is a cordial; but you must not wonder that I do not answer with exact punctuality. You may always have something to tell you live among the various orders of mankind, and may make a letter from the exploits, sometimes of the philosopher, and sometimes of the pickpocket. You see some balloons succeed and some miscarry, and a thousand strange and a thousand foolish things. But I see nothing; I must make my letter from what I feel, and what I feel with so little delight, that I cannot love to talk of it. "I am certainly not to come to town, but do not omit to write; for I know not when I shall come, and the loss of a letter is not much, I am, dear sir, your, &c." "It will be kind if you will gather the Lives of Denham, Butler, and Waller, and bind them in half-binding in a small volume, and let me have it to show my friends as soon as may be. I sincerely hope the press shall stand no more?. "SAM. JOHNSON.". “August, 1778. "You have now the Life of Dryden, and you see it is very long. It must, however, have an Appendix. 1. The invocation to the Georgicks, from Milbourne. (This in the small print). 2 Dryden's Remarks on Rymer; which are ready transcribed. 3. Dryden's Letter, from Lambeth; which is promised me." "26th November, 1778. "Mr. Johnson will hope for Mr. Nichols's company to tea, about six this afternoon, to talk of the Index, and settle the terms.-Monday. 66 "I am very well contented that the Inder is settled; for though the price is low, it is not penurious. Mr. M. having been for some time out of business, is in some little perplexities, from which twelve guineas will set him free. This, we hope, you will advance; and, during the continuance of the work subject to your inspection, he desires a weekly payment of sixteen shillings, the rest to remain till it is completed. "SAM. JOHNSON.” "1st March, 1779. "Mr. Johnson purposes to make his next attempt upon Prior, at least to consider him very soon; and desires that some volumes published of his papers, in two vols. 8vo. may be procured. "The Turtle and Sparrow can be but a fable*. The Conversation I never read. "SAM. JOHNSON." "In examining this book, I find it necessary to add to the Life the preface to the British Enchanters;' and you may add, if you will, the notes on Unnatural Flights.' I am, sir, &c.Friday." "There is a copy of verses by Fenton on the First Fit of the Gout,' in Pope's Miscellanies, and I think in the last volumes of Dryden. In Pope's I am sure. Answ. "I should have given Fenton's birth to Shelton in Staffordshire, but that I am afraid there is no such place. The rest I have, except his secretaryship, of which I know not what to make. When Lord Orrery was in an office, Lewis was his secretary. Lewis lived in my time; I knew him. The gout verses were always given to Fenton, when I was young, and he was living. Lord Orrery told me that Fenton was his tutor; but never thought he was his father's secretary'. Pray let me see the Oxford and Cambridge [Verses], &c. [1707]. If you are sure it was published by Fenton, I shall take notice of it." "Mr. Johnson desires Mr. Nichols to send him Ruff head's Life of Pope, Pope's works, Swift's works with Dr. Hawkesworth's Life, Lyttelton's works; and with these he hopes to have done. The first to be got is Lyttelton." "Mr. Johnson, being now at home, desires the last leaves of the criticism on Pope's epitaphs, and he will correct them. Mr. N. is entreated to save the proof sheets of Pope, because they are promised to a lady, who desires to have them." "In reading Rowe in your edition, which is very impudently called mine, I observed a little piece unnaturally and odiously obscene. I was offended, but was still more offended when I could not find it in Rowe's genuine volumes *. To admit it, had been wrong; to interpolate it, is surely worse. If I had known of such a piece in the whole collection, I should have been angry. What can be done?" "24th May, 1780. "Mr. Johnson is obliged to Mr. Nichols for his communication", and must have Hammond again. Mr. Johnson would be glad of Blackmore's Essays for a few days." "16th June, 1730. "I have been out of order, but by bleeding and physick think I am better, and can go again to work. Your note on Broome 6 will do me much good. Can you give me a few dates for A. Phillips? I wrote to Cambridge about them, but have had no answer." "Dr. Warton tells me that Collins's first piece 7 is in the Gent. Mag. for August, 1739. In August there is no such thing. Amasius was at that time the poetical name of Dr. Swan, who translated Sydenham. Where to find Collins I know not. I think I must make some short addition to Thomson's sheet, but will send it to-day." "This Life of Dr. Young was written by a friend of his son [Mr. Croft]. What is crossed with black is expunged by the authour; what is 1 Dr. Johnson retracted this opinion, as Fenton in his Life is styled "secretary." Fenton was secretary to Lord Orrery when he commanded a regiment in Flanders, and was dismissed in 1705, four years before Dr. Johnson was born.-NICHOLS. (There is some mistake in the statement of Dr. Johnson. The first mention of Lord Orrery was probably a slip of the pen for Oxford, whose secretary Lewis was.-ED.] 2 See Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. p. 111.-NICHOLS. 3 Probably to Miss Burney.-NICHOLS. 4 The epigram on a lady at the tragedy of Cato, which has not only appeared in the works of Rowe, but has been transplanted by Pope into the "Miscellanies" he published in his own name and that of Dean Swift. NICHOLS. [This would have been a sufficient excuse (if one were needed) for the Editor's omission of two or three indelicate expressions which escaped from Mr. Boswell in the course of his work.-ED.] Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. p. 185.-NICHOLS. "Brighthelmstone, 26th Oct. 1780. "I think you never need send back the revises unless something important occurs. Little things, if I omit them, you will do me the favour of setting right yourself. Our post is awkward, as you will find, and I fancy you will find it best to send two sheets at once. "" "16th April, 1781. "Mr. Johnson desires Mr. Nichols to send him a set of the last Lives, and would be glad to know how the octavo edition goes forward."' "10th June, 1781. "My desire being to complete the sets of Lives which I have formerly presented to my friends, I have occasion for a few of the first volumes; of which, by some misapprehension, I have received a great number, which I desire to exchange for the latter volumes. I wish success to the new edition. Please to deliver to Mr. Steevens a complete set of the Lives in 12mo." "26th December, 1781. "Mr. Johnson, being much out of order, sent in search of the book, but it is not found. He will, if he is better, look himself diligently tomorrow. He thanks Mr. Nichols for all his favours." "28th October, 1782. "What will the booksellers give me for this new edition? I know not what to ask. I would have twenty-four sets bound in plain calf, and figured with the number of the volumes. For the rest, they may please themselves." IV. UNPUBLISHED Prayers by Dr. Johnson. Enable "Easter day, 15th April, 1759. "ALMIGHTY and most merciful Pearson Father, look down with pity upon my s sins. I am a sinner, good Lord; but let not my sins burthen me for ever. Give me thy grace to break the chain of evil custom. me to shake off idleness and sloth: to will and to do what thou hast commanded, grant me chaste in thoughts, words and actions; to love and frequent thy worship, to study and understand thy word; to be diligent in my calling, that I may support myself and relieve others. 66 Forgive me, O Lord, whatever my mother has suffered by my fault, whatever I have done amiss, and whatever duty I have neglected. Let me not sink into useless dejection; but so sanctify my affliction, O Lord, that I may be converted and healed; and that, by the help of thy holy Spirit, I may obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. "And O Lord, so far as it may be lawful, I commend unto thy fatherly goodness my father, brother, wife and mother, beseeching thee to make them happy for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." Rose MSS. "SCRUPLES. "O Lord, who wouldst that all men should be saved, and who knowest that without thy grace we can do nothing acEnable ceptable to thee, have mercy upon me. me to break the chain of my sins, to reject sensuality in thought, and to overcome and suppress vain scruples; and to use such diligence in lawful employment as may enable me to support myself and do good to others. O Lord, forgive me the time lost in idleness; pardon the sins which I have committed, and grant that I may redeem the time mispent, and be reconciled to thee by true repentance, that I may live and die in peace, and be received to everlasting happiness. Take not from me, O Lord, thy holy Spirit, but let me have support and comfort for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Transc. June 26th, 1768. Of this prayer there is no date, nor can I conjecture when it was composed." A POETICAL REVIEW of the Literary and Moral Character of the late SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D. with Notes by JOHN COURTENAY, Esq. Man is thy theme; his virtue, or his rage, Drawn to the life, in each elaborate page.-WALLER. immensæ veluti connexa carina Cymba minor.-STATIUS 2. London: Printed for Charles Dilly, in the Poultry, 1786. The following poem was never very popular, and is now so scarce that it was not without difficulty that a copy was procur [He seems to have taken leave of the kitchen as well as of the church at Streatham in Latin. See ante, p. 322. The phrase "ne intemperantii ad extremum peccaretur" is remarkable, and proves that this, which at first sight looks like burlesque, was written when in sober sadness.-ED.] 2 [These two mottos would suit Mr. Boswell's work better than Mr. Courtenay's. The reader will observe in the latter quotation the original of Pope's celebrated and beautiful compliment to St. John.-Essay on Man, Epist. iv. 1. 385.—ED.] ed on this occasion to print from. The subject, "sermoni proprior," is not favourable to poetry; the criticism is sometimes superficial and erroneous ; and the raillery frequently offends good feeling and good taste. It is, however, with all its defects, and, indeed, on account of these defects, deserving a place in this collection of Johnsoniana, not only as a tribute to the general excellence of Dr. Johnson's character, but in order that some of the errors it contains may be corrected. The authour, once a considerable person in the political and literary world, is fading so fast from public memory, that the Editor is glad to be able to present his readers with the following biographical notice of Mr. Courtenay, from the pen of their common friend, Sir James Mackintosh.-ED.] MackinLosh. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF MR. COURTENAY. JOHN COURTENAY was so intimate a friend of Boswell, and so long a member of the club, founded by Johnson, that a short account of him may not be misplaced in this work. He was born at Carlingford, in August, 1738. The first of his family in Ireland settled there in the reign of Elizabeth, and married a sister of the Deputy Chichester, as appears from a monument at Carrickfergus. His grandfather served under King William at the Boyne. His father, a younger son, obtained a situation in the revenue. He was himself educated at the school of Dundalk, where he read and relished the best writers of Greece and Rome; but he became so much infected with a passion for the army, or rather, for its show and dissipation, that he would not gratify his father by pursuing his studies at the university. In 1756 he purchased an ensigncy, and seems to have combined the conviviality of the time with desultory reading and careless composition. In 1765, when on the eve of purchasing a com pany, he was disappointed by an accident: be relinquished the army in a fit of ill humour, and applied the purchase-money to buy the place of a commissary of musters, thus unfortunately renouncing all regular advancement in a profession. He married, obtained leave to sell his place, and, after paying his debts, found himself possessed of six hundred pounds. About that time, Dr. Lucas, a man then popalar at Dublin, had published a severe pamphlet against the sentence of a court-martial. Courtenay, prompted by old military feelings, employed his very idle hours in an answer, which obtained some commendation, and earned for him the patronage of Lord Townshend, then lord-lieutenant. He soon after became one of the writers of the Bachelor," a government paper, conducted by Simcox, a clergyman, but chiefly written by Courtenay, Marlay 3, afterward a bishop, and Jephson, a dramatic poet of note. main part of the task of these advocates of the 3 [Ante, p. 283.-ED.] It was a 4 [Aute, vol. i. p. 260, and p. 337 of this vel.-ED.` |