Vic Johnson Getting Rich With Ebooks Download
Niranjan Gerrero
Being disappointed in my hopes of meeting Johnson this year,so that I could hear none of his admirable sayings, I shallcompensate for this want[1] by inserting acollection of them, for which I am indebted to my worthy friendMr. Langton, whose kind communications have been separatelyinterwoven in many parts of this work. Very few articles of thiscollection were committed to writing by himself, he not havingthat habit; which he regrets, and which those who know thenumerous opportunities he had of gathering the rich fruits ofJohnsonian wit and wisdom, must ever regret. I howeverfound, in conversations with him, that a good store ofJohnsoniana treasured in his mind[2]; and I compared it toHerculaneum, or some old Roman field, which when dug, fullyrewards the labour employed. The authenticity of every article isunquestionable. For the expression, I, who wrote them down in hispresence, am partly answerable.
'Theocritus is not deserving of very high respect as a writer;as to the pastoral part, Virgil is very evidently superiour. Hewrote when there had been a larger influx of knowledge into theworld than when Theocritus lived. Theocritus does not abound indescription, though living in a beautiful country: the mannerspainted are coarse and gross. Virgil has much more description,more sentiment, more of Nature, and more of art. Some of the mostexcellent parts of Theocritus are, where Castor and Pollux, goingwith the other Argonauts, land on the Bebrycian coast, and therefall into a dispute with Amycus, the King of that country; whichis as well conducted as Euripides could have done it; and thebattle is well related. Afterwards they carry off a woman, whosetwo brothers come to recover her, and expostulate with Castor andPollux on their injustice; but they pay no regard to thebrothers, and a battle ensues, where Castor and his brother aretriumphant. Theocritus seems not to have seen that the brothershave the advantage in their argument over his Argonaut heroes.The Sicilian Gossips is a piece of merit.'
'Callimachus is a writer of little excellence. The chief thingto be learned from him is his account of Rites and Mythology;which, though desirable to be known for the sake of understandingother parts of ancient authours, is the least pleasing orvaluable part of their writings.'
'Mattaire's account of the Stephani[3] is a heavy book. Heseems to have been a puzzle-headed man, with a large share ofscholarship, but with little geometry or logick in his head,without method, and possessed of little genius. He wrote Latinverses from time to time, and published a set in his old age,which he called 'Senilia;' in which he shews so littlelearning or taste in writing, as to make Carteret adactyl[4]. Inmatters of genealogy it is necessary to give the bare names asthey are; but in poetry, and in prose of any elegance in thewriting, they require to have inflection given to them. His bookof the Dialects[5]is a sad heap of confusion; the only way to write on them is totabulate them with Notes, added at the bottom of the page, andreferences.'
'Having asked Mr. Langton if his father and mother had sat fortheir pictures, which he thought it right for each generation ofa family to do, and being told they had opposed it, he said,"Sir, among the anfractuosities[9] of the human mind, Iknow not if it may not be one, that there is a superstitiousreluctance to sit for a picture."'
'John Gilbert Cooper[10] related, that soonafter the publication of his Dictionary, Garrick beingasked by Johnson what people said of it, told him, that amongother animadversions, it was objected that he cited authoritieswhich were beneath the dignity of such a work, and mentionedRichardson. "Nay, (said Johnson,) I have done worse than that: Ihave cited thee, David[11]."'
'Talking of expence, he observed, with what munificence agreat merchant will spend his money, both from his having it atcommand, and from his enlarged views by calculation of a goodeffect upon the whole. "Whereas (said he) you will hardly everfind a country gentleman who is not a good deal disconcerted atan unexpected occasion for his being obliged to lay out tenpounds[12]."'
'When in good humour he would talk of his own writings with awonderful frankness and candour, and would even criticise themwith the closest severity. One day, having read over one of hisRamblers, Mr. Langton asked him, how he liked that paper; heshook his head, and answered, "too wordy." At another time, whenone was reading his tragedy of Irene to a company at ahouse in the country, he left the room; and somebody having askedhim the reason of this, he replied, Sir, I thought it had beenbetter[13].'
'Talking of a point of delicate scrupulosity[14] of moral conduct, hesaid to Mr. Langton, "Men of harder minds than ours will do manythings from which you and I would shrink; yet, Sir, they willperhaps do more good in life than we. But let us try to help oneanother. If there be a wrong twist it may be set right. It is notprobable that two people can be wrong the same way."'
'He related, that he had once in a dream a contest of wit withsome other person, and that he was very much mortified byimagining that his opponent had the better of him. "Now, (saidhe,) one may mark here the effect of sleep in weakening the powerof reflection; for had not my judgement failed me, I should haveseen, that the wit of this supposed antagonist, by whosesuperiority I felt myself depressed, was as much furnished by me,as that which I thought I had been uttering in my owncharacter."'
'One evening in company, an ingenious and learned gentlemanread to him a letter of compliment which he had received from oneof the Professors of a foreign University. Johnson, in anirritable fit, thinking there was too much ostentation, said, "Inever receive any of these tributes of applause from abroad. Oneinstance I recollect of a foreign publication, in which mentionis made of l'illustre Lockman[16]."'
'He repeated to Mr. Langton, with great energy, in the Greek,our SAVIOUR'S gracious expression concerning the forgiveness ofMary Magdalen, "[Greek: Ae pistis sou sesoke se poreuou eiseiraeuaeu.] Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace[17]." He said, "themanner of this dismission is exceedingly affecting."'
'He thus defined the difference between physical and moraltruth; "Physical truth, is, when you tell a thing as it actuallyis. Moral truth, is, when you tell a thing sincerely andprecisely as it appears to you. I say such a one walked acrossthe street; if he really did so, I told a physical truth. If Ithought so, though I should have been mistaken, I told a moraltruth."'
'Huggins, the translator of Ariosto, and Mr. Thomas Warton, inthe early part of his literary life, had a dispute concerningthat poet, of whom Mr. Warton in his Observations on Spenser'sFairy Queen, gave some account, which Huggins attempted toanswer with violence, and said, "I will militate no longeragainst his nescience." Huggins was master of the subject,but wanted expression. Mr. Warton's knowledge of it was thenimperfect, but his manner lively and elegant[18]. Johnson said, "Itappears to me, that Huggins has ball without powder, and Wartonpowder without ball."'
'Talking of the Farce of High Life below Stairs[19], he said, "Here is aFarce, which is really very diverting when you see it acted; andyet one may read it, and not know that one has been reading anything at all."'
'He used at one time to go occasionally to the green room ofDrury-lane Theatre[20], where he was muchregarded by the players, and was very easy and facetious withthem. He had a very high opinion of Mrs. Clive's comick powers,and conversed more with her than with any of them. He said,"Clive, Sir, is a good thing to sit by; she always understandswhat you say[21]."And she said of him, "I love to sit by Dr. Johnson; he alwaysentertains me." One night, when The Recruiting Officer wasacted, he said to Mr. Holland[22], who had beenexpressing an apprehension that Dr. Johnson would disdain theworks of Farquhar; "No, Sir, I think Farquhar a man whosewritings have considerable merit."'
'His friend Garrick was so busy in conducting the drama, thatthey could not have so much intercourse as Mr. Garrick used toprofess an anxious wish that there should be[23]. There might, indeed,be something in the contemptuous severity as to the merit ofacting, which his old preceptor nourished in himself, that wouldmortify Garrick after the great applause which he received fromthe audience. For though Johnson said of him, "Sir, a man who hasa nation to admire him every night, may well be expected to besomewhat elated[24];" yet he would treattheatrical matters with a ludicrous slight. He mentioned oneevening, "I met David coming off the stage, drest in a woman'sriding-hood, when he acted in The Wonder[25]; I came full uponhim, and I believe he was not pleased."'
'Once he asked Tom Davies, whom he saw drest in a fine suit ofclothes, "And what art thou to-night?" Tom answered, "The Thaneof Ross[26];"(which it will be recollected is a very inconsiderablecharacter.) "O brave!" said Johnson.'
'Of Mr. Longley, at Rochester, a gentleman of veryconsiderable learning, whom Dr. Johnson met there, he said, "Myheart warms towards him. I was surprised to find in him such anice acquaintance with the metre in the learned languages; thoughI was somewhat mortified that I had it not so much to myself, asI should have thought[27]."'
'Talking of the minuteness with which people will record thesayings of eminent persons, a story was told, that when Pope wason a visit to Spence[28] at Oxford, as theylooked from the window they saw a Gentleman Commoner, who wasjust come in from riding, amusing himself with whipping at apost. Pope took occasion to say, "That young gentleman seems tohave little to do." Mr. Beauclerk observed, "Then, to be sure,Spence turned round and wrote that down;" and went on to say toDr. Johnson, "Pope, Sir, would have said the same of you, if hehad seen you distilling[29]." JOHNSON. "Sir, ifPope had told me of my distilling, I would have told him of hisgrotto[30]."'
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