RECEPTION OF "IRENE” till it came to the conclusion, when Mrs. Pritchard, the Heroine of the piece, was to be strangled upon the stage, and was to speak two lines with the bow-string round her neck. The audience cried out 'Murder! Murder!' She several times attempted to speak; but in vain. At last she was obliged to go off the stage alive. This passage was afterwards struck out, and she was carried off to be put to death behind the scenes, as the play now has it. The Epilogue, as Johnson informed me, was written by Sir William Yonge. I know not how his play came to be thus graced by the pen of a person then so eminent in the political world. 1 Notwithstanding all the support of such performers as Garrick, Barry, Mrs. Cibber, Mrs. Pritchard, and every advantage of dress and decoration, the tragedy of "Irene" did not please the public. Mr. Garrick's zeal carried it through for nine nights, so that the author had his three nights' profits; and from a receipt signed by him, now in the hands of Mr. James Dodsley, it appears that his friend, Mr. Robert Dodsley, gave him 100l. for the copy, with his usual reservation of the right of one edition.2 "IRENE," considered as a poem, is entitled to the praise of superior excellence. Analysed into parts, it will furnish a rich store of noble sentiments, fine imagery, and beautiful language: but it is deficient in pathos, in that delicate power of touching the human feelings, which is the principal end of the drama. Indeed Garrick has complained No snares to captivate the judgment spreads, Nor bribes your eyes to prejudice your heads. Unmov'd, though witlings sneer and rivals rail, Studious to please, yet not asham'd to fail. 66 65 to me, that Johnson not only had not the faculty of producing the impressions of tragedy, but that he had not the sensibility to perceive them. His great friend Mr. Walmsley's prediction, that he would turn out a fine tragedy writer," was, therefore, ill-founded. Johnson was wise enough to be convinced that he had not the talents necessary to write successfully for the stage, and never made another attempt in that species of composition. When asked how he felt upon the illsuccess of his tragedy, he replied, "Like the Monument;" meaning that he continued firm and unmoved as that column. And let it be remembered, as an admonition to the genus irritabile of dramatic writers, that this great man, instead of peevishly complaining of the bad taste of the town, submitted to its decision without a murmur. He had indeed, upon all occasions a great deference for the general opinion: "A man," said he, "who writes a book, thinks himself wiser or wittier than the rest of mankind; he supposes that he can instruct or amuse them, and the public to whom he appeals must, after all, be the judges of his pretensions." On occasion of this play being brought upon the stage, Johnson had a fancy that as a dramatic author his dress should be more gay than what he ordinarily wore; he therefore appeared behind the scenes, and even in one of the side boxes, in a scarlet waistcoat, with rich gold lace, and a gold-laced hat. He humorously observed to Mr. Langton, "That when in that dress he could not treat people with the same ease as when in his usual plain clothes." Dress indeed, we must allow has more effect even upon strong minds He scorns the meek address, the suppliant than one should suppose, without having strain, With merit needless, and without it vain. 1 Sir William Yonge was Secretary at War in Walpole's administration. He is said to have been a good speaker; to judge by this Epilogue he was certainly not a good writer. 2 Including this sum Johnson's receipts appear ve amounted altogether to 2957. 175. Aaron Hill (Vol. II. p. 355,) in a letter to Mallet, gives the following account of Irene having seen it: "I was at the anomalous Johnson's benefit, and found the play his had the experience of it. His necessary attendance while his play was in rehearsal, and during its performance, brought him acquainted with many of the performers of both sexes, which produced a more favourable opinion of their profession than Savage." With some of them he kept he had harshly expressed in his "Life of up an acquaintance as long as he and proper representative; strong sense ungraced by sweetness or decorum." B. F ler," With what devout and conscientious sentiments this paper was undertaken, is evidenced by the following prayer, which he composed and offered up on the occasion. Almighty GoD, the giver of all good things, without whose help all labour is ineffectual, and without whose grace all wisdom is folly: grant, I beseech Thee, that in this my undertaking thy Holy Spirit may not be withheld from me, but that I may promote thy glory, and the salvation both of myself and others: grant this, O Lord, for the sake of thy son, JESUS Christ. Amen.' (Prayers and Meditations, p. 9.) " they lived, and was ever ready to shew them acts of kindness. He for a considerable time used to frequent the GreenRoom, and seemed to take delight in dissipating his gloom, by mixing in the sprightly chit-chat of the motley circle then to be found there. Mr. David Hume related to me from Mr. Garrick, that Johnson at last denied himself this amusement, from considerations of rigid virtue, saying: "I'll come no more behind your scenes, David; for the silk stockings and white bosoms of your actresses excite my amorous propensities." In 1750 he came forth in the character The first paper of the "Rambler" was for which he was eminently qualified, a published on Tuesday the 20th of March, majestic teacher of moral and religious 1749-50; and its author was enabled to wisdom. The vehicle which he chose continue it, without interruption, every was that of a periodical paper, which he Tuesday and Saturday, till Saturday the knew had been, upon former occasions, 17th of March,2 1752, on which day it employed with great success. The "Tat-closed. This is a strong confirmation of ""Spectator," and “Guardian," were the last of the kind published in England which had stood the test of a long trial; and such an interval had now elapsed since their publication, as made him justly think that, to many of his readers, this form of instruction would, in some degree, have the advantage of novelty. A few days before the first of his Essays came out, there started another competitor for fame in the same form, under the title of "The Tatler Revived," which I believe was born but to die." Johnson was, I think, not very happy in the choice of his title "The Rambler ; which certainly is not suited to a series of grave and moral discourses; which the Italians have literally, but ludicrously, translated by Il Vagabondo; and which has been lately assumed as the denomination of a vehicle of licentious tales, "The Rambler's Magazine.' He Sir gave Joshua Reynolds the following account of its getting this name: What must be done, Sir, will be done. When I was to begin publishing that paper, I was at a loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bedside, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its title. The 'Rambler' seemed the best that occurred, and I took it. "1 1 I have heard Dr. Warton mention, that he was at Mr. Robert Dodsley's with the late Mr. the truth of a remark of his, which I have وو and Moore, and several of his friends, considering what should be the name of the periodical paper which Moore had undertaken. Garrick proposed The Salad, which, by a curious coincidence, was afterwards applied to himself by Goldsmith: "Our Garrick's a salad, for in him we see Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree!" At last, the company having separated, without any thing of which they approved having been offered, Dodsley himself thought of The World. B. 2 Malone has pointed out that this date sho be the 14th of March. 3 Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 3rd p. 28. B. "THE RAMBLER" Posterity will be astonished when they are told, upon the authority of Johnson himself, that many of these discourses, which we should suppose had been laboured with all the slow attention of literary leisure, were written in haste as the moment pressed, without even being read over by him before they were printed. It can be accounted for only in this way; that by reading and meditation, and a very close inspection of life, he had accumulated a great fund of miscellaneous knowledge, which by a peculiar promptitude of mind, was ever ready at his call, and which he had constantly accustomed himself to clothe in the most apt and energetic expression. Sir Joshua Reynolds once asked him by what means he had attained his extraordinary accuracy and flow of language. He told him, that he had early laid it down as a fixed rule to do his best on every occasion, and in every company: to impart what ever he knew in the most forcible language he could put it in; and that by constant practice, and never suffering any careless expressions to escape him, or attempting to deliver his thoughts without arranging them in the clearest manner, it became habitual to him. 67 Much of the same kind is Johnson's "Adversaria" (Life of Johnson, p. 268). But the truth is, that there is no resemblance at all between them. Addison's note was a fiction, in which unconnected fragments of his lucubrations were purposely jumbled together, in as odd a manner as he could, in order to produce a laughable effect. Whereas Johnson's abbreviations are all distinct, and applicable to each subject of which the head is mentioned. For instance, there is the following specimen : Youth's Entry, &c. Volu "Baxter's account of things in which he had changed his mind as he grew up. minous. No wonder.- If every man was to tell, or mark, on how many subjects he has changed, observed by man's self.-From pleasure to bus. it would make vols. but the changes not always [business] to quiet; from thoughtfulness to reflect. to piety; from dissipation to domestic. by impercept. gradat. but the change is certain. back, consider what was thought at some dist. non progredi, progress. esse conspicimus. Look period. Dial indulges unpleasing thoughts. The world lies "Fear of disgrace-Bashfulness-Finds things Yet he was not altogether unprepared as a periodical writer; for I have in my possession a small duodecimo volume, in which he has written, in the form of " Mr. Locke's Common-Place Book," a variety of hints for essays on different subjects. "Confidence in himself. Long tract of life He has marked upon the first blank leaf before him.-No thought of sickness.-Embarof it, "To the 128th page, collections for rassment of affairs.-Distraction of family. Public calamities. -No sense of the prevalence of bad 'the RAMBLER';" and in another place, habits. Negligent of time-ready to undertake In fifty-two there were seventeen pro-careless to pursue all changed by time. vided; in 97-21; in 190-25.' subsequent period (probably after the work was finished) he added, "In all, taken of provided materials, 30." 66 وو At a Sir John Hawkins, who is unlucky upon all occasions, tells us, that "This method of accumulating intelligence had been practised by Mr. Addison, and is humorously described in one of the "Spectators," wherein he feigns to have dropped his paper of notanda, consisting of a diverting medley of broken sentences and loose hints, which he tells us he had collected, and meant to make use of. "Confident of others-unsuspecting as unexneglect, never imagines they will venture to treat perienced-imagining himself secure against him ill. Ready to trust; expecting to be trusted. Convinced by time of the selfishness, the meanness, the cowardice, the treachery of men. "Youth ambitious, as thinking honours easy to be had. "Different kinds of praise pursued at different periods. Of the gay in youth.-dang. hurt. &c. despised. "Of the fancy in manhood. Ambit.-stocks bargains. Of the wise and sober in old ageseriousness-formality-maxims, but general delusion of youthful prospect has not been used 1 This most beautiful image of the enchanting in any of Johnson's essays. B. I shall This, it will be observed, is the sketch of No. 196 of the "Rambler." gratify my readers with another specimen "Confederacies difficult; why. "Seldom in war a match for single personsnor in peace; therefore kings make themselves absolute. Confederacies in learning-every great work the work of one. Bruy. Scholars' friendship like ladies. Scribebamus, &c. Mart. The apple of discord-the laurel of discord-the poverty of criticism. Swift's opinion of the power of six geniuses united. That union scarce possible. His remarks just;-man a social, not steady nature. Drawn to man by words, repelled by passions. Orb drawn by attraction, rep. [repelled] by centrifugal. "Common danger unites by crushing other passions-but they return. Equality hinders compliance. Superiority produces insolence and Too much regard in each to private envy. interest; too little. "The mischiefs of private and exclusive societies. The fitness of social attraction diffused through the whole. The mischiefs of too partial love of our country. Contraction of moral duties.-Οι φιλοι ου φιλος. "Every man moves upon his own centre, and therefore repels others from too near a contact, though he may comply with some general laws. "Öf confederacy with superiors every one knows the inconvenience. With equals, no authority;-every man his own opinion-his own interest. "Man and wife hardly united ;-scarce ever without children. Computation, if two to one against two, how many against five? If confederacies were easy-useless;-many oppresses many. -If possible only to some, dangerous. Principum amicitias.' Here we see the embryo of No. 45 of the "Adventurer"; and it is a confirmation of what I shall presently have occasion to mention, that the papers in that collection marked T. were written by Johnson. This scanty preparation of materials will not, however, much diminish our wonder at the extraordinary fertility of his mind; for the proportion which they bear to the number of essays which he wrote, is very small; and it is remarkable, that those for which he had made no preparation, are as rich and as highly finished, as those for which the hints were lying by him. It is also to be observed, that the papers formed from his hints are worked up with such strength and elegance, that we almost lose sight of the hints which become like "drops in the bucket. Indeed, in several instances, he has made of them remain still unapplied.1 a very slender use of them, so that many As the "Rambler" was entirely the work of one man, there was, of course, such a uniformity in its texture, as very much to exclude the charm of variety; and the grave and often solemn cast of thinking, which distinguished it from other periodical papers, made it, for some time, not generally liked. So slowly did this excellent work, of which twelve editions have now issued from the press, gain upon the world at large, that even in the closing number the author says, "I have never been much of a favourite of the public." Yet, very soon after its commencement, there were who felt and acknowledged its uncommon excellence. Verses in its praise appeared in the newspapers; and the editor of the "Gentleman's Magazine " mentions, in October, his having received several letters to the same purpose from the learned. "The Student, or Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany," in which Mr. Bonnel Thornton and Mr. Colman were the principal writers, describes it as "A work that exceeds any thing of the kind ever published in this kingdom, some of 1 Sir John Hawkins has selected from this little collection of materials, what he calls the "Rudiments of two of the papers of the 'Rambler.'" But he has not been able to read the manuscript distinctly. Thus he writes, p. 266, "Sailor's fate any mansion;" whereas the original is, "Sailor's life my aversion." He has also transcribed the unappropriated hints on Writers for bread, in which he deciphers these notable passages, one fama; Johnson having in his mind what Thuanus in Latin, fatui non famæ, instead of fami non says of the learned German antiquary and linguist, Xylander, who, he tells us, lived in such poverty, that he was supposed fami non famæ scribere; and another in French, Degenté de fate et affamé d'argent, instead of Degouté de fame (an old word for renommée), et affamé d'argent. The manuscript being written in an exceedingly would have been better to have left blanks than small hand, is indeed very hard to read; but it to write nonsense. B. PUBLIC OPINION OF IT the 'Spectators' excepted, -if indeed they It Johnson told me, with an amiable fond、 ness, a little pleasing circumstance relative to this work. Mrs. Johnson, in whose judgment and taste he had great confidence, said to him, after a few numbers of the "Rambler" had come out, "I thought very well of you before; but I did not imagine you could have written any thing equal to this." Distant praise, from whatever quarter, is not so delightful as that of a wife whom a man loves and esteems. Her approbation may be said to come home to his bosom ;" and being so near, its effect is most sensible and permanent. 69 incline you to forgive me. I am often, very often, I am glad that you still find encouragement to proceed in your publication, and shall beg the favour of six more volumes to add to my former six, when you can, with any convenience, send them me. Please to present a set, in my name, to Mr. Ruddiman, of whom, I hear, that his learning is not his highest excellence. I have transcribed the mottoes, and returned them, I hope not too late, of which I think many very happily performed. Mr. Cave has put the last in the magazine, in which I think he did well. I beg of you to write soon, and to write often, and to write long letters, which I hope in time to repay you; but you must be a patient creditor. I have, however, this of gratitude, that I think of you with regard when I do not, perhaps, give the proofs which I ought, of being, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." This year he wrote to the same gentleanother letter upon a mournful man occasion. Mr. James Elphinston, who has since published various works, and who was ever esteemed by Johnson as a worthy man, happened to be in Scotland while the "Rambler" was coming out in single With a laudable zeal papers at London. at once for the improvement of his countrymen, and the reputation of his friend, he suggested and took the charge of an edition of those Essays at Edinburgh, which "You have, as I find by every kind of followed progressively the London pub-evidence, lost an excellent mother; and I hope lication.1 The following letter written at this time, though not dated, will shew how much pleased Johnson was with this publication, and what kindness and regard he had for Mr. Elphinston. "TO MR. JAMES ELPHINSTON. "DEAR SIR, [No date.] "I CANNOT but confess the failures of my correspondence, but hope the same regard which you express for me on every other occasion, will 1 It was executed in the printing-office of Sands, Murray, and Cochran, with uncommon elegance, upon writing paper of a duodecimo size, and with the greatest correctness: and Mr. Elphinston enriched it with translations of the mottoes. When "TO MR. JAMES ELPHINSTON. "DEAR SIR, 66 September 25, 1750. completed, it made eight handsome volumes. It is, unquestionably, the most accurate and beautiful edition of this work; and there being but a small impression, it is now become scarce, and sells at a very high price. B. 2 Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, the learned Grammarian of Scotland, well known for his various excellent works, and for his accurate editions of several authors. He was also a man of a most worthy private character. His zeal for the royal House of Stuart did not render him less estimable in Dr. Johnson's eye. B. Thomas Ruddiman (1674-1757), a native of Banffshire, preceded David Hume as librarian of the Advocate's Library at Edinburgh. He was said to have been the best Latin scholar that Scotland had produced since Buchanan. James Elphinston (1721-1809) published a translation of Martial, of which Johnson is reported to have said that there was too much folly in it for madness, and too much madness for folly. |