PART XXXII.

ANECDOTES, OPINIONS, AND REMARKS,

BY VARIOUS PERSONS.

597. Osborne knocked down with a Folio.(*)

TOM OSBORNE, the bookseller, was one of "that mercantile rugged race to which the delicacy of the poet is sometimes exposed;" (†) as the following anecdote will more fully evince. Mr. Johnson being engaged by him to translate a work of some consequence, he thought it a respect which he owed his own talents, as well as the credit of his employer, to be as circumspect in the performance of it as possible. In consequence of which, the work went on, according to Osborne's ideas, rather slowly: in consequence, he frequently spoke to Johnson of this circumstance; and, being a man of a coarse mind, sometimes by his expressions made him feel the situation of dependence. Johnson, however, seemed to take no notice of him, but went on according to the plan which he had prescribed to himself. Osborne, irritated by what he thought an unnecessary delay, went one day into the room where Johnson was sitting, and abused him in the most illiberal manner: amongst other things, he told Johnson, "he had been much mistaken in his man; that he was recommended to him as a good scholar, and a ready hand: but he doubted

(*) [Nos. 596-607, are from the "Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D." 8vo. published by G. Kearsley, in 1785.]

(†) Johnson's Life of Dryden.

both; for that Tom such-a-one would have turned out the work much sooner; and that being the case, the probability was, that by this here time the first edition would have moved off." Johnson heard him for some time unmoved; but, at last, losing all patience, he seized a huge folio, which he was at that time consulting, and, aiming a blow at the bookseller's head, succeeded so forcibly, as to send him sprawling to the floor. Osborne alarmed the family with his cries; but Johnson, clapping his foot on his breast, would not let him stir till he had exposed him in that situation; and then left him, with this triumphant expression, "Lie there, thou son of dulness, ignorance, and obscurity!" (*)

598. Savage.

Johnson was not unacquainted with Savage's frailties; but, as he, a short time before his death, said to a friend, on this subject, "he knew his heart, and that was never intentionally abandoned; for, though he generally mistook the love for the practice of virtue, he was at all times a true and sincere believer."

599. Trotter's Portrait of Johnson.

The head at the front of this book is esteemed a good likeness of Johnson; indeed, so much so, that when the Doctor saw the drawing, he exclaimed, "Well, thou art an ugly fellow; but still, I believe thou art like the original." The Doctor sat for this picture to Mr. Trotter, in February, 1782, at the request of Mr. Kearsley, who had just furnished him with a list of all his works; for he confessed he had forgot more than half what he had written. His face, however, was capable of great expression, both in respect to intelligence and mildness; as all those can witness who have seen him in the flow of conversation, or under the influence of grateful feelings.

(*) ["The identical book with which Johnson knocked down Osborne (Biblia Græca Septuaginta, fol. 1594, Frankfort; the note written by the Rev. - Mills) I saw in February, 1812, at Cambridge, in the possession of J. Thorpe, bookseller; whose catalogue, since published, contains particulars authenticating this assertion."-Nichols: Lit. Anec. viii. p. 446.]

600. Hawkesworth's "Ode on Life."

Some time previous to Hawkesworth's publication of his beautiful “Ode on Life,” he carried it down with him to a friend's house in the country to retouch. Johnson was of this party; and, as Hawkesworth and the Doctor lived upon the most intimate terms, the former read it to him for his opinion. "Why, sir," says Johnson, "I can't well determine on a first hearing; read it again, second thoughts are best." Hawkesworth did so; after which Johnson read it himself, and approved of it very highly. Next morning at breakfast, the subject of the poem being renewed, Johnson, after again expressing his approbation of it, said he had but one objection to make to it, which was, that he doubted its originality. Hawkesworth, alarmed at this, challenged him to the proof, when the Doctor repeated the whole of the poem, with only the omission of a few lines. "What do you say to that, Hawkey?" said the Doctor. 66 Only this," replied the other, "that I shall never repeat anything I write before you again; for you have a memory that would convict any author of plagiarism in any court of literature in the world." I have now the poem before me, and I find it contains no less than sixtyeight lines.

601. Projected Dictionary of Commerce.

Soon after the publication of the English Dictionary, Johnson made a proposal to a number of booksellers, convened for that purpose, of writing a Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. This proposal went round the room without any answer, when a well-known son of the trade, remarkable for the abruptness of his manners, replied, "Why, Doctor, what the devil do you know of trade and commerce?" The Doctor very modestly answered, "Why, sir, not much, I must confess, in the practical line; but I believe I could glean, from different authors of authority on the subject, such materials as would answer the purpose very well."

602. Cave.-St. John's Gate.

From his close intimacy with Cave, the proprietor of the Gentleman's Magazine, Johnson was much at St. John's