greater than Hughes, seem never to have thought. The reason why the authors, which are yet read, of the sixteenth century, are so little understood, is, that they are read alone; and no help is borrowed from those who lived with them, or before them. Some part of this ignorance I hope to remove by my book, which now draws towards its end; but which I cannot finish to my mind without visiting the libraries of Oxford, which I therefore hope to see in a fortnight. I know not how long I shall stay, or where I shall lodge: but shall be sure to look for you at my arrival, and we shall easily settle the rest. I am, dear Sir, your most obedient, &c. "SAM. JOHNSON.

"[London] July 16, 1754."

Of his conversation while at Oxford at this time, Mr. Warton preserved and communicated to me the following memorial, which, though not written with all the care and attention which that learned and elegant writer bestowed on those compositions which he intended for the public eye, is so happily expressed in an easy style, that I should injure it by any

alteration:

"When Johnson came to Oxford in 1754, the long vacation was beginning, and most people were leaving the place. This was the first time of his being there, after quitting the University. The next morning after his arrival he wished to see his old College, Pembroke. I went with him. He was highly pleased to find all the Collegeservants which he had left there still remaining, particularly a very old butler; and expressed great satisfaction at being recognized by them, and conversed with them familiarly. He waited on the master, Dr. Radcliffe, who received him very coldly. Johnson at least expected, that the master would order a copy of his Dictionary now near publication; but the master did not choose to talk on the subject, never asked Johnson to dine, nor even to visit him, while he stayed at Oxford. After we had left the lodgings, Johnson said to me, 'There lives a man, who lives by the revenues of literature, and will not move a finger to support it. If I come to live at Oxford, I shall take up my abode at Trinity.' We then called on the Reverend Mr. Meeke, one of the Fellows, and of Johnson's standing. Here was a most cordial greeting on both sides. On leaving him, Johnson said, "I used to think Meeke had

1 His Dictionary. Warton. B.

2 He came to Oxford within a fortnight, and stayed about five weeks. He lodged at a house called Kettel-hall, near Trinity College. But during this visit at Oxford, he collected nothing in the libraries for his Dictionary. Warton. B. Kettel-Hall (once known as Perles, Peverels, or Perilous Hall) was founded in 1615 by Dr. Ralph Kettel, President of Trinity College, as a subsidiary building to that Society. It is now a private house.

I told him, I thought it a very sonorous hexameter. I did not tell him, it was not in the Virgilian style. He much regretted that his first tutor was dead; for whom he seemed to been a whole morning sliding in Christ-Church retain the greatest regard. He said, 'I once had meadows and missed his lecture in logic. After dinner he sent for me to his room. I expected a sharp rebuke for my idleness, and went with a beating heart. When we were seated, he told me he had sent for me to drink a glass of wine with him, and to tell me, he was not angry with most severe reprimand. Some more of the boys me for missing his lecture. This was, in fact, a were then sent for, and we spent a very pleasant afternoon.' Besides Mr. Meeke, there was only one other Fellow of Pembroke now resident: from both of whom Johnson received the greatest civilities during this visit, and they pressed him very much to have a room in the College.

I

In the course of this visit (1754) Johnson and walked three or four times to Ellsfield, a village beautifully situated about three miles from Oxford, to see Mr. Wise, Radclivian librarian, with whom Johnson was much pleased. At this place, Mr. Wise had fitted up a house and gardens, in a singular manner, but with great taste. Here was an excellent library; particularly, a valuable collection of books in Northern literature, with which Johnson was often very busy. One day Mr. Wise read to us a dissertation which he was preparing for the press, entitled, 'A History and Chronology of the fabulous Ages.' Some old Divinities of Thrace, related to the Titans, and called the CABIRI, made a very important part of the theory of this piece; and in conversation afterwards, Mr. Wise talked much of his CABIRI. As we returned to Oxford in the evening, I outwalked Johnson, and he cried out Sufflamina, a Latin word which came from his mouth with peculiar grace, and was as much as to say, Put on your drag chain. Before we got home I again walked too fast for him; and he now cried out, 'Why, you walk as if you were pursued by all the CABIRI in a body.' In an evening we frequently took long walks from Oxford into the country, returning to supper. Once, in our way home, we viewed the ruins of the abbeys of Oseney and Rewley, near Oxford. After at least an hour's silence, Johnson said, 'I viewed them with indignation! We had then a long conversation on Gothic buildings; and in talking of the form of old halls, he said, 'In these halls the fire-place was anciently always in

the middle of the room, till the Whigs removed it on one side.'-About this time there had been an execution of two or three criminals at Oxford on a Monday. Soon afterwards, one day at dinner, I was saying that Mr. Swinton, the chaplain of the jail, and also a frequent preacher before the University, a learned man, but often thoughtless and absent, preached the condemnation sermon on repentance, before the convicts, on the preceding day, Sunday; and that in the close he told his audience, that he should give them the remainder of what he had to say on the subject, the next Lord's Day. Upon which, one of our company, a Doctor of Divinity, and a plain matter-of-fact man, by way of offering an apology for Mr. Swinton, gravely remarked, that he had probably preached the same sermon before the University: "Yes, Sir,' says Johnson, but the University were not to be hanged the next morning.'

I forgot to observe before, that when he left Mr. Meeke (as I have told above), he added. 'About the same time of life, Meeke was left behind at Oxford to feed on a Fellowship, and I went to London to get my living: now, Sir, see the difference of our literary characters!""

The following letter was written by Dr. Johnson to Mr. Chambers, of Lincoln College, afterwards Sir Robert Chambers, one of the judges in India :1

"TO MR. CHAMBERS, OF LINCOLN COLLEGE. "DEAR SIR,

"THE Commission which I delayed to trouble you with at your departure, I am now obliged to send you; and beg that you will be so kind as to carry it to Mr. Warton, of Trinity, to whom I should have written immediately, but that I know not if he be yet come back to Oxford.

"In the Catalogue of MSS. of Gr. Brit. see vol. I. pag. 18. MSS. Bodl. MARTYRIUM XV martyrum sub Juliano, auctore Theophylacto. "It is desired that Mr. Warton will inquire, and send word, what will be the cost of transcribing this manuscript.

"Vol. II. p. 32. Num. 1022. 58. COLL. Nov. -Commentaria in Acta Apostol.-Comment. in Septem Epistolas Catholicas.

"He is desired to tell what is the age of each of these manuscripts: and what it will cost to have a transcript of the two first pages of each.

"If Mr. Warton be not in Oxford, you may try if you can get it done by any body else; or stay till he comes, according to your own convenience. It is for an Italian literato.

"The answer is to be directed to his Excellency Mr. Zon, Venetian Resident, Soho-square.

"I hope, dear Sir, that you do not regret the change of London for Oxford. Mr. Baretti is well, and Miss Williams; 2 and we shall all b

1 Communicated by the Reverend Mr. Thomas Warton, who had the original. B.

2 I presume she was a relation of Mr Zachariah Williams, who died in his eighty-third year, July 12, 1755. When Dr. Johnson was with me at

glad to hear from you, whenever you shall be so kind as to write to, Sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON. "Nov. 21, 1754."

The degree of Master of Arts, which, it has been observed, could not be obtained for him at an early period of his life, was now considered as an honour of considerable importance, in order to grace the title-page of his Dictionary; and his character in the literary world being by this time deservedly high, his friend thought that, if proper exertions were made, the University of Oxford would pay him the compliment.

"TO THE REVEREND MR. THOMAS WARTON. DEAR SIR,

"I AM extremely obliged to you and to Mr. Wise, for the uncommon care which you have taken of my interest :3 if you can accomplish your kind design, I shall certainly take me a little habitation among you.

"The books which I promised to Mr. Wise, I 4 have not been able to procure: but I shall send

him a Finnick Dictionary, the only copy, perhaps, in England, which was presented me by a learned Swede: but I keep it back, that it may make a set of my own books of the new edition, with which I shall accompany it, more welcome. You will assure him of my gratitude.

"Poor dear Collins ! 5-Would a letter give him any pleasure? I have a mind to write.

Oxford, in 1755, he gave to the Bodleian Library a thin quarto of twenty-one pages, a work in Italian, with an English translation on the opposite page. The English title-page is this: An Account of an Attempt to ascertain the Longitude at Sea, by an exact Variation of the Magnetical Needle, &c. By Zachariah Williams. London, printed for Dodsley, 1755. The English translation, from the strongest internal marks, is unquestionably the work of Johnson. In a blank leaf, Johnson has written the age, and time of death, of the author Z. Williams, as I have said above. On another blank leaf, is pasted a paragraph from a newspaper, of the death and character of Williams, which is plainly written by Johnson. He was very anxious about placing this book in the Bodleian: and, for fear of any omission or mistake, he entered, in the great Catalogue, the title-page of it with his own hand. Warton, B. There is a mistake here for which

"I AM extremely sensible of the favour done me, both by Mr. Wise and yourself. The book 3 cannot, I think, be printed in less than six weeks nor probably so soon; and I will keep back the title-page, for such an insertion as you seem to promise me. Be pleased to let me know what money I shall send you, for bearing the expense of the affair; and I will take care that you may have it ready at your hand.

"I had lately the favour of a letter from your brother, with some account of poor Collins, for whom I am much concerned. I have a notion, that by very great temperance, or more properly abstinence, he may yet recover.

"There is an old English and Latin book of poems by Barclay, called 'The Ship of Fools'; at the end of which are a number of Eglogues; so he writes it, from Egloga, which are probably the first in our language. If you cannot find the book, I will get Mr. Dodsley to send it you.

"I shall be extremely glad to hear from you again, to know, if the affair proceeds. I have mentioned it to none of my friends, for fear of being laughed at for my disappointment.

"You know poor Mr. Dodsley has lost his wife; I believe he is much affected. I hope he will not suffer so much as I yet suffer for the loss of mine.

Οἴμοι· τί δ' οἴμοι ; θνῆτα γὰρ πεπόνθαμεν.5

I have ever since seemed to myself broken off from mankind; a kind of solitary wanderer in the wild of life, without any direction, or fixed point of view: a gloomy gazer on the world to which I have little relation. Yet I would endeavour, by the help of you and your brother, to supply the

the most deplorable languor of body, and dejection of mind. Warton. B. He died in 1756, in his thirty-sixth year.

1 Of publishing a volume of observations on th e best of Spenser's works. It was hindered by my Warton. taking pupils in this College. B. 2 Young students of the lowest rank at Oxford are so called. Warton. B.

3 His Dictionary. Warton. B.

4 Of the degree at Oxford. Warton. B. 5 A fragment from the lost Bellerophon of Euripides. "Alas! yet why alas? we have but suffered the common lot of mortality."

"TO THE REVEREND MR. THOMAS WARTON. "DEAR SIR,

"I WROTE to you some weeks ago, but believe did not direct accurately, and therefore know not whether you had my letter. I would, likewise, write to your brother, but know not where to find him. I now begin to see land, after having wandered, according to Mr. Warburton's phrase, in this vast sea of words. What reception I shall meet with on the shore, I know not; whether the sound of bells, and acclamations of the people, which Ariosto talks of in his last Canto, or a general murmur of dislike, I know not whether I shall find upon the coast a Calypso that will court, or a Polypheme that will resist. But if Polypheme comes, have at his eye. hope, however, the critics will let me be at peace; for though I do not much fear their skill and strength, I am a little afraid of myself, and would not willingly feel so much ill-will in my bosom as literary quarrels are apt to excite.

I

"Mr. Baretti is about a work for which he is in great want of Crescimbeni, which you may have again when you please.

"There is nothing considerable done or doing among us here. We are not, perhaps, as innocent as villagers, but most of us seem to be as idle. I hope, however, you are busy; and should be glad to know what you are doing. I am, dearest Sir, your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON.

"[London,] Feb. 4, 1755.'

"I RECEIVED Your letter this day, with great sense of the favour that has been done me; 6 for which I return my most sincere thanks: and entreat you to pay to Mr. Wise such returns as I ought to make for so much kindness so little deserved.

"I sent Mr. Wise the Lexicon, and afterwards wrote to him; but know not whether he had either the book or letter. Be so good as to contrive to inquire.

"But why does my dear Mr. Warton tell me Where hangs the new nothing of himself?

6 His degree had now past, according to the usual form, the suffrages of the heads of Colleges; but was not yet finally granted by the University. It was carried without a single dissentient voice. Warton. B.

volume? Can I help? Let not the past labour be lost, for want of a little more: but snatch what time you can from the Hall, and the pupils, and the coffee-house, and the parks, and complete your design. I am, dear Sir, &c.

"[London,] Feb. 4, 1755."

"DEAR, SIR,

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'SAM. JOHNSON.

"TO THE SAME.

"I HAD a letter last week from Mr. Wise, but have yet heard nothing from you, nor know in what state my affair 2 stands; of which I beg you to inform me, if you can, to-morrow, by the return of the post.

"Mr. Wise sends me word, that he has not had the Finnick Lexicon yet, which I sent some time ago; and if he has it not, you must inquire after it. However, do not let your letter stay for that.

"Your brother, who is a better correspondent than you, and not much better, sends me word, that your pupils keep you in College: but do they keep you from writing too? Let them, at least, give you time to write to, dear Sir, your most affectionate, &c.

"[London,] Feb. 13, 1755."

"DEAR SIR,

"SAM. JOHNSON.

"TO THE SAME.

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93

To the Reverend Dr. HUDDESFORD, ViceChancellor of the University of Oxford; to be communicated to the Heads of Houses, and proposed in Convocation.

"MR. VICE-CHANCELLOR, AND GENTLEMEN,

"MR. SAMUEL JOHNSON, who was formerly of Pembroke College, having very eminently distinguished himself by the publication of a series of essays, excellently calculated to form the manners of the people, and in which the cause of religion and morality is every where maintained by the strongest powers of argument and language; and who shortly intends to publish a Dictionary of the English Tongue formed on a new plan, and executed with the greatest labour and judgment; I persuade myself that I shall act agreeable to the sentiments of the whole University, in desiring that it may be proposed in convocation to confer on him the degree of Master of Arts by diploma, to which I readily give my consent; and am,

"Mr. Vice-Chancellor, and Gentlemen, "Your affectionate friend and servant, "Grosvenor-street, Feb. 4, 1755."

Term. Scti.

"ARRAN

Hilarii. "DIPLOMA MAGISTRI JOHNSON.

1755.

"CANCELLARIUS, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis omnibus ad quos hoc præsens scriptum pervenerit, salutem in Domino sempiternam.

"Cum eum in finem gradus academici a majoribus nostris instituti fuerint, ut viri ingenio et doctrina præstantes titulis quoque præter cæteros insignirentur; cumque vir doctissimus Samuel Johnson e Collegio Pembrochiensi, scriptis suis popularium mores informantibus dudum literato orbi innotuerit; quin et linguæ patriæ tum ornandæ tum stabiliendæ (Lexicon scilicet Anglicanum summo studio, summo a se judicio congestum propediem editurus) etiam nunc utilissimam impendat operam; Nos igitur virum de literis humanioribus optime meritum Cancellarius, Magistri, et Scholares antedicti, ne diutius inhonoratum prætereamus, in solenni Convocatione Doctorum, Magistrorum, Regentium, et non Regentium, decimo die Mensis Februarii Anno Domini Millesimo Septingentesimo Quinquagesimo quinto habita, præfatum

virum Samuelem Johnson (conspirantibus omnium suffragiis) Magistrum in Artibus renunciavimus et constituimus; eumque, virtute præsentis diplomatis, singulis juribus, privilegiis et honoribus ad istum gradum quaqua pertinentibus frui et guadere jussimus.

"In cujus rei testimonium sigillum Universitatis Oxoniensis præsentibus apponi fecimus. "Datum in Domo nostræ Convocationis die 20° mensis Feb. Anno Dom. prædicto.

"Diploma supra scriptum per Registrarium lectum erat, et ex decreto venerabilis Domus communi Universitatis sigillo munitum."7

7 The original is in my possession. B.

"INGRATUS plane et tibi et mihi videar, nisi quanto me gaudio affecerint, quos nuper mihi honores (te, credo, auctore,) decrevit Senatus Academicus, literarum, quo tamen nihil levius, officio significem : ingratus etiam, nisi comitatem, qua vir eximius mihi vestri testimonium amoris in manus tradidit, agnoscam et laudem. Si quid est, unde rei tam gratæ accedat gratia, hoc ipso magis mihi placet, quod eo tempore in ordines Academicos denuo cooptatus sim, quo tuam imminuere auctoritatem, famamque Oxonii lædere, omnibus modis conantur homines vafri, nec tamen acuti: quibus ego, prout viro umbratico licuit, semper restiti, semper restiturus. Qui enim, inter has rerum procellas, vel tibi vel Academiæ defuerit, illum virtuti et literis, sibique et posteris, defuturum existimo. Vale.'

TO THE REVEREND MR. THOMAS WARTON, "DEAR SIR,

"AFTER I received my diploma, I wrote you a letter of thanks, with a letter to the ViceChancellor, and sent another to Mr. Wise: but have heard from nobody since, and begin to think myself forgotten. It is true, I sent you a double letter, and you may fear an expensive correspondent; but I would have taken it kindly, if you had returned it treble: and what is a double letter to a petty king, that having fellowship and fines, can sleep without a Modus in his head?2

"Dear Mr. Warton, let me hear from you, and tell me something, I care not what, so I hear it but from you. Something, I will tell you:-I hope to see my Dictionary bound and lettered next week;-vasta mole superbus. And I have a great mind to come to Oxford at Easter; but you will not invite me. Shall I come uninvited, or stay here where nobody perhaps would miss me if I went? A hard choice! But such is the world to, dear Sir, yours, &c.

"SAM. JOHNSON.

"TO THE SAME.

"DEAR SIR, "THOUGH not to write, when a man can write so well, is an offence sufficiently heinous,

1 We may conceive what a high gratification it must have been to Johnson to receive his diploma from the hands of the great Dr. KING, whose principles were so congenial with his own. B. Dr. King was a red-hot Jacobite. He claimed in his Anecdotes to have been presented to Prince Charles Edward on his secret visit to England in 1750 (1753), and spoke of the Duke of Cumberland after the rebellion of 1745 as a man "who fears all things but God."

yet I shall pass it by. I am very glad that the Vice-Chancellor was pleased with my note. I shall impatiently expect you at London, that we may consider what to do next. I intend in the winter to open a Bibliotheque, and remember, that you are to subscribe a sheet a year let us try, likewise, if we cannot persuade your brother to subscribe another. My book is now coming in luminis oras. What will be its fate I know not, nor think much, because thinking is to no purpose. It must stand the censure of the great vulgar and the small; of those that understand it, and that understand it not. But in all this, I suffer not alone; every writer has the same difficulties, and, perhaps, every writer talks of them more than he thinks.

"You will be pleased to make my compliments to all my friends; and be so kind, at every idle hour, as to remember, dear Sir, yours, &c. SAM. JOHNSON. "[London,] March 25, 1755.'

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Dr. Adams told me, that this scheme of a Bibliotheque was a serious one : for upon his visiting him one day, he found his parlour floor covered with parcels of foreign and English literary journals, and he told Dr. Adams he meant to undertake a Review. "How, Sir," said Dr. Adams,

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branches of knowledge must be considered can you think of doing it alone? All in it. Do you know Mathematics? Do you know Natural History?" Johnson answered, "Why, Sir, I must do as well as I can. My chief purpose is to give my countrymen a view of what is doing in literature upon the continent; and I shall have, in a good measure, the choice of my subject, for I shall select such books as I best understand." Dr. Adams suggested, that as Dr. Maty had just then finished his Bibliotheque Britannique, which was well-executed work, giving foreigners an account of British publications, he might with great advantage assume him as an assistant. "He," said Johnson, "the little black dog! I'd throw him into the Thames." The scheme, however, was dropped.3

a

In one of his little memorandum-books I find the following hints for his intended Review or Literary Journal : The

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