article, upon which he had fully employed his he had hope, he was of all men most miserable." mind, and settled certain principles of duty, but He loved praise, when it was brought to him; only in his manners, and in the display of argu- but was too proud to seek for it. He was some ment and fancy in his talk. He was prone to what susceptible of flattery. As he was general superstition, but not to credulity. Though his and unconfined in his studies, he cannot be conimagination might incline him to a belief of the sidered as master of any one particular science; marvellous and the mysterious, his vigorous but he had accumulated a vast and various colreason examined the evidence with jealousy. He lection of learning and knowledge, which was so was a sincere and zealous Christian, of high arranged in his mind as to be ever in readiness Church of England and monarchical principles, to be brought forth. But his superiority over which he would not tamely suffer to be ques- other learned men consisted chiefly in what tioned; and had, perhaps, at an early period, may be called the art of thinking, the art of narrowed his mind somewhat too much, both as to using his mind-a certain continual power of religion and politics. His being impressed with seizing the useful substance of all that he knew, the danger of extreme latitude in either, though and exhibiting it in a clear and forcible manner; he was of a very independent spirit, occasioned so that knowledge, which we often see to be no his appearing somewhat unfavourable to the pre- better than lumber in men of dull understanding, valence of that noble freedom of sentiment which was in him true, evident, and actual wisdom. is the best possession of man. Nor can it be His moral precepts are practical; for they denied that he had many prejudices, which, how- are drawn from an intimate acquaintance with ever, frequently suggested many of his pointed human nature. His maxims carry conviction; sayings, that rather show a playfulness of fancy for they are founded on the basis of common than any settled malignity. He was steady and sense, and a very attentive and minute survey inflexible in maintaining the obligations of re- of real life. His mind was so full of imagery, ligion and morality; both from a regard for that he might have been perpetually a poet; yet the order of society, and from a veneration for it is remarkable, that however rich his prose is the Great Source of all order; correct, nay, stern in this respect, his poetical pieces, in general, in his taste; hard to please, and easily offended; have not much of that splendour, but are rather impetuous and irritable in his temper, but of a distinguished by strong sentiment, and acute most humane and benevolent heart, which observation, conveyed in harmonious and enshowed itself not only in a most liberal charity, ergetic verse, particularly in heroic couplets. as far as his circumstances would allow, but in Though usually grave, and even awful in his a thousand instances of active benevolence. He deportment, he possessed uncommon and pecuwas afflicted with a bodily disease, which made liar powers of wit and humour; he frequently him often restless and fretful; and with a con- indulged himself in colloquial pleasantry; and stitutional melancholy, the clouds of which the heartiest merriment was often enjoyed in his darkened the brightness of his fancy, and gave company; with this great advantage, that it was a gloomy cast to his whole course of thinking; entirely free from any poisonous tincture of vice we, therefore, ought not to wonder at his sallies or impiety-it was salutary to those who shared of impatience and passion at any time, especially in it. He had accustomed himself to such acwhen provoked by obtrusive ignorance, or pre-curacy in his common conversation,* that he at suming petulance; and allowance must be made for his uttering hasty and satirical sallies even against his best friends. And, surely, when it is considered that "amidst sickness and sorrow he exerted his faculties in so many works for the benefit of mankind, and particularly that he achieved the great and admirable Dictionary of our language, we must be astonished at his resolution. The solemn text, "Of him to whom much is given, much will be required," seems to have been ever present to his mind, in a rigorous sense, and to have made him dissatisfied with his labours and acts of goodness, however comparatively great; so that the unavoidable consciousness of his superiority was, in that respect, a cause of disquiet. He suffered so much from this, and from the gloom which perpetually haunted him, and made solitude frightful, that it may be said of him, "If in this life only 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, by a most logical ratiocination. His acquaintance was such a solidity of judgment, so infinite a fancy bound in 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 monu ment to him in the collection entitled Menagiana. Those who judge of things aright will confess that this collection is very proper to show 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 advantageously as this. will not distinguish him from other learned men so 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 num ber of things, and who can diversify them a hundred ways. How many authors 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 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 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, with out 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."-BOSWELL. Exult or wide, as he saw best for the moment. ing 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 showing 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 error permanent and pernicious, by deliberately writing it; and in all his numerous works, he 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. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF DR. JOHNSON'S WORKS. The works to which an asterisk (*) is affixed are those of which Dr. Johnson acknowledged the authorship to his friends, while those marked by a dagger (†) are ascertained to be his by internal evidence. In this list, drawn up by the biographer, the poetical works are not included. These consist of a Latin translation of Pope's "Messiah, "London," and "The Vanity of Human Wishes," imitated from Juvenal; a Prologue on the Opening of Drury-lane Theatre by Mr. Garrick; and "Irene," a Tragedy, besides some minor pieces. 512 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF DR. JOHNSON'S WORKS. Essay on the Description of China, from 1753. the French of Du Halde.t 1743. Dedication to Dr. Mead of Dr. James's FOR THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, Parliamentary Debates under the name of clusive.* A Letter, announcing that the Life of Mr. Advertisement for Osborne concerning the 1744. Life of Richard Savage.* Preface to the Harleian Miscellany.* FOR THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, Preface.t 1745. Miscellaneous observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, with remarks on Sir T. H.'s (Sir Thomas Hanmer's) Edition of Shakspeare, and proposals for a new Edition of that Poet.* 1747. Plan for a Dictionary of the English Language, addressed to Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield.* FOR THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, 1748. Life of Roscommon.* 1750. Foreign History, November.† FOR MR. DODSLEY'S PRECEPTOR. Preface.* Vision of Theodore the Hermit.* The Rambler," the first Paper of which was published 20th of March this year, and the last 17th of March, 1752, the day on which Mrs. Johnson died.* (a) Letter in "The General Advertiser "9 to excite the attention of the Public to the performance of "Comus," which was next day to be acted at Drury-lane Playhouse for the benefit of Milton's Granddaughter.* Preface and Postscript to Lauder's Pamphlet, entitled, "An Essay on Milton's Use and Imitation of the Moderns in his Paradise Lost."* 1751. Life of Cheynel, in the Miscellany called "The Student."* Letter for Lauder, addressed to the Rev. Dr. John Douglas, acknowledging his Fraud concerning Milton, in terms of suitable Contrition.* Dedication to the Earl of Middlesex, of Mrs. Charlotte Lennox's "Female Quixote." + (a) This is a mistake. The last number of "The Rambler" appeared on the fourteenth of March, three days before Mrs. Johnson died.-MALONE. 1754. 1755. 1756. Dedication to John, Earl of Orrery, of Shakspeare Illustrated, by Mrs. Charlotte Lennox.* During this and the following year he wrote and gave to his much-loved friend Dr. Bathurst, the Papers in The Adventurer," signed T.* Life of Edward Cave in "The Gentleman's Magazine."* A Dictionary, with a Grammar and History of the English Language.” * An Account of an Attempt to ascertain the Longitude at Sea, by an exact Theory of the Variations of the Magnetical Needle, with a Table of the Variations at the most remarkable Cities in Europe, from the year 1660 to 1860.* This he wrote for Mr. Zachariah Williams, an ingenious ancient Welsh Gentleman, father of Mrs. Ann Williams, whom he for many years kindly lodged in his house. It was published with a Translation into Italian by Signor Baretti. In a Copy of it, which he presented to the Bodleian Li brary at Oxford, is pasted a character of the late Mr. Zachariah Williams, plainly written by Johnson.t " An Abridgment of his Dictionary.* Several Essays in "The Universal Visitor," which there is some difficulty in ascer taining. All that are marked with two asterisks have been ascribed to him, although I am confident, from internal evidence, that we should except from these "The Life of Chaucer,' "Reflections on the State of Portugal," and "Ar Essay on Architecture: and from the same evidence I am confident that he wrote "Further Thoughts on Agriculture," and "A Dissertation on the State of Literature and Authors." The Dissertation on the Epitaphs written by Pope he afterwards acknowledged, and added to his "Idler." Life of Sir T. Browne, prefixed to a new edition of his Christian Morals.* IN THE LITERARY MAGAZINE, OR Which began in January, 1756, his Original The Preliminary Address. † An Introduction to the Political State of Remarks on the Militia Bill.t Memoirs of Frederick III. King of In the same Magazine his Reviews are of CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF DR. JOHNSON'S WORKS. Polybius."-"Sir Isaac Newton's Argu- 1760 1761. -"Keith's Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops."-"Philosophical Transactions, vol. xlix. "Miscellanies, by Elizabeth Harrison."-"Evans's Map, and Account of the Middle Colonies in America.' "The Cadet, a Military Treatise.""The Conduct of the Ministry relating to the present War impartially examined."t "Mrs. Lennox's Translation of Sully's Memoirs."-"Letter on the Case of Admiral Byng."-"Appeal to the People concerning Admiral Byng."—"Hanway's 1762. Eight Days' Journey, and Essay on Tea."-"Some further Particulars in Relation to the Case of Admiral Byng, by a gentleman of Oxford."* Mr. Jonas Hanway having written an angry Answer to the Review of his Essay on Tea, Johnson, in the same Collection, made a reply to it. This is the only instance, it is believed, when he condescended to take notice of anything that had been written against him; and here his chief intention seems to have been to make sport. Dedication to the Earl of Rochford of, and Preface to, Mr. Payne's Introduction to the Game of Draughts.* Introduction to "The London Chronicle," an evening paper which still subsists with deserved credit. * 1763. 1757. Speech on the subject of an Address to the The first two paragraphs of the Preface 1758. "The Idler," which began April 5, in this 513 cerning the best plan for Blackfriars Bridge.* Address of the Painters to George III. on Review in "The Gentleman's Magazine," of Mr. Tytler's acute and able Vindication of Mary Queen of Scots.* Introduction to the Proceedings of the Committee for Clothing the French Prisoners.* Preface to "Rolt's Dictionary of Trade and Commerce."* Corrections and Improvements for Mr. Gwyn the Architect's Pamphlet, entitled, "Thoughts on the Coronation of George III."* Dedication to the King, of the Rev. Dr. Kennedy's "Complete System of Astronomical Chronology, unfolding the Scriptures," 4to edition. Preface to the Catalogue of the Artists' Exhibition.t Character of Collins in "The Poetical Calendar," published by Fawkes and Woty. Dedication to the Earl of Shaftesbury of the edition of Roger Ascham's English Works, published by the Rev. Mr. Bennet.* The Life of Ascham, also prefixed to that edition.* Review of "Telemachus," a Masque, by the Rev. George Graham, of Eton College, in "The Critical Review."* Dedication to the Queen, of Mr. Hoole's "Translation of Tasso."* Account of the Detection of the Imposture of the Cock-lane Ghost, published in the Newspapers and "Gentleman's Maga zine. Part of a Review of Grainger's "Sugar Review of Goldsmith's "Traveller, a 1765. 1766. "The Fountains, a Fairy Tale," in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies. An Essay on the Bravery of the English Common Soldiers was added to it when published in volumes.* 1767. Dedication to the King, of Mr. Adams's "Treatise on the Globes."* 1759. Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, a Tale.* Advertisement for the Proprietors of "The Idler" against certain persons who pirated those Papers as they came out singly, in a Newspaper called "The Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette."+ For Mrs. Charlotte Lennox's English Ver- 1773. Argument in support of the Law of Vicious Intromission; dictated to me for the Court of Session in Scotland.* Preface to Macbean's "Dictionary of Ancient Geography." Argument in Favour of the Rights of Lay Patrons; dictated to me for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.* L L 514 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF DR. JOHNSON'S WORKS. 1774. The Patriot.* 1775. A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.* Proposals for publishing the Works of Mrs. Charlotte Lennox, in three volumes quarto.* Preface to Baretti's Easy Lessons in Italian Taxation no Tyranny; an answer to the Caledonian Mercury," against the Society of Procurators in Edinburgh, for having inserted in his paper a ludicrous Paragraph against them; demonstrating that it was not an injurious Libel; dictated to me.* 1782. The greatest part, if not the whole, of a Reply, by the Reverend Mr. Shaw, to a person at Edinburgh, of the name of Clarke, refuting his arguments for the authenticity of the Poems published by Mr. James Macpherson as Translations from Ossian.t Argument on the Case of Dr. Memis; dictated to me for the Court of Session 1784. in Scotland.* Argument to prove that the Corporation of Stirling was corrupt; dictated to me for the House of Lords.* 1776. Argument in Support of the Right of immediate and personal Reprehension from the Pulpit; dictated to me.* Proposals for publishing an Analysis of the Scotch Celtic Language, by the Reverend William Shaw.* 1777. Dedication to the King of the Posthumor:s Works of Dr. Pearce, Bishop of Rochester.* Additions to the Life and Character of that 1780. Advertisement for his friend Mr. Thrale to the Worthy Electors of the Borough of Southwark. * The first Paragraph of Mr. Thomas Davies's On the Distinction between Tory and Argument in favour of Joseph Knight, an List of the Authors of the Universal History, deposited in the British Museum, and printed in "The Gentleman's Magazine" for December, this year.* VARIOUS YEARS. Letters to Mrs. Thrale.* Prayers and Meditations, which he delivered to the Rev. Mr. Strahan, enjoin. ing him to publish them.* Sermons, left for publication by John Taylor, LL.D. Prebendary of Westminster, and given to the World by the Rev. Samuel Hayes, A.M.† (a) Such was the number and variety of the prose works of this extraordinary man, which I have been able to discover, and am at liberty to mention; but we ought to keep in mind, that there must undoubtedly have been many more which are yet concealed; and we may add to the account the numerous Letters which he wrote, of which a considerable part are yet unpublished. It is hoped that those persons in whose possession they are will favour the world with them. Notice of Mr. Edward Cave's death, inserted in the last page of the Index. IN THE LITERARY MAGAZINE. in the Court of Session in Scotland, and 1756. "Observations on the foregoing Letter:" Le.. A obtained.it; dictated to me.* Defence of Mr. Robertson, Printer of "The Letter on the American Colonies, vol. I. P. 66, MALONE. |
