But there has been another story of his infant precocity generally circulated, and generally believed, the truth of which I am to refute upon his own authority. It is told, that, when a child of three years old, he chanced to tread upon a duckling, the eleventh of a brood, and killed it; upon which, it is said, he dictated to his mother the following epitaph : "Here lies good master duck, Whom Samuel Johnfon trod on; There is furely internal evidence that this little compofition combines in it, Young Johnson had the misfortune to be much afflicted with the fcrophula, or king's evil, which disfigured a countenance naturally well formed, and 9 Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson by Hefter Lynch Piozzi, p. 11.-Life of Dr. Johnson by Sir John Hawkins. p. 6. • This anecdote of the duck, though disproved by internal and external evidence, has nevertheless, upon fuppofition of its truth, been made the foundation of the following ingenious and fanciful reflections by Mifs Seward, amongft the communications concerning Dr. Johnfon with which she has been pleased to favour me.- -"Thefe infant numbers contain the feeds of those propenfities which through his life fo ftrongly marked his character, of that poetick talent which afterwards bore fuch rich and plentiful fruits; for, excepting his orthographick works, every thing which Dr. Johnson wrote was Poetry, whofe effence confifts not in numbers, or in jingle, but in the strength and glow of a fancy, to which all the ftores of nature and of art stand in prompt administration; and in an eloquence which conveys their blended illuftrations in a lan guage ⚫ more tuneable than needs or rhyme or verse to add more harmony.' "The above little verfes alfo fhew that fuperftitious bias which grew with his growth, and strengthened with his strength,' and of late years particularly injured his happiness, by presenting to him the gloomy fide of religion, rather than that bright and cheering one which gilds the period of clofing life, with the light of pious hope." This is fo beautifully imagined, that I would not fupprefs it. But, like many other theories, it is deduced from a fuppofed fact, which is, indeed, a fiction. 1 hurt his vifual nerves fo much, that he did not fee at all with one of his eyes, though its appearance was little different from that of the other. There is amongst his prayers, one infcribed "When my EYE was restored to its use2," which afcertains a defect that many of his friends knew he had, though I never perceived it. I fuppofed him to be only near-fighted; and indeed I must observe, that in no other refpect could I difcern any defect in his vision; on the contrary, the force of his attention and perceptive quicknefs made him fee and distinguish all manner of objects, whether of nature or of art, with a nicety that is rarely to be found. When he and I were travelling in the Highlands of Scotland, and I pointed out to him a mountain which I obferved refembled a cone, he corrected my inaccuracy by fhewing me, that it was indeed pointed at the top, but that one fide of it was larger than the other. And the ladies with whom he was acquainted agree, that no man was more nicely and minutely critical in the elegance of female drefs. When I found that he faw the romantick beauties of Iflam, in Derbyshire, much better than I did, I told him that he resembled an able performer upon a bad inftrument. How falfe and contemptible then are all the remarks which have been made to the prejudice either of his candour or of his philofophy, founded upon a fuppofition that he was almost blind. It has been faid, that he contracted this grievous malady from his nurfe. His mother yielding to the fuperftitious notion, which, it is wonderful to think, prevailed so long in this country, as to the virtue of the regal touch; a notion, which our kings encouraged, and to which a man of fuch inquiry and fuch judgement as Carte could give credit; carried him to London, where he was actually touched by Queen Anne. Mrs. Johnfon indeed, as Mr. Hector informed me, acted by the advice of the celebrated Sir John Floyer, then a physician in Lichfield. Johnson used to talk of this very frankly; and Mrs. Piozzi has preserved his very picturesque defcription of the scene, as it remained upon his fancy. Being asked if he could remember Queen Anne, " He had (he faid) a confused, but somehow a fort of folemn recollection of a lady in diamonds, and a long black hood3.” This touch, however, was without any effect. I ventured to fay to him, in allufion to the political principles in which he was educated, and of which he ever retained some odour, that " his mother had not carried him far enough; the fhould have taken him to ROME." He was first taught to read English by Dame Oliver, a widow, who kept a fchool for young children in Lichfield. He told me he could read the 2 Prayers and Meditations, p. 27. 3 Anecdotes, p. 10. black black letter, and asked him to borrow for her, from his father, a bible in that character. When he was going to Oxford, fhe came to take leave of him, brought him, in the fimplicity of her kindness, a present of gingerbread, and faid he was the best scholar she had ever had. He delighted in mentioning this early compliment; adding, with a fmile, that "this was as high a proof of his merit as he could conceive." His next inftructor in English was a mafter, whom, when he spoke of him to me, he familiarly called Tom Brown, who, faid he, "published a fpelling-book, and dedicated it to the UNIVERSE;-but, I fear, no copy of it can now be had." He began to learn Latin with Mr. Hawkins, usher, or under-master of Lichfield school, “a man (faidhe) very skilful in his little way." With him he continued two years, and then rose to be under the care of Mr. Hunter the head-mafter, who, according to his account, "was very severe, and wrong-headedly fevere. He used (faid he) to beat us unmercifully; and he did not distinguish between ignorance and negligence; for he would beat a boy equally for not knowing a thing, as for neglecting to know it. He would ask a boy a question; and if he did not answer it, he would beat him, without considering whether he had an opportunity of knowing how to answer it. For inftance, he would call up a boy and afk him Latin for a candlestick, which the boy could not expect to be asked. Now, Sir, if a boy could answer every queftion, there would be no need of a mafter to teach him." It is, however, but justice to the memory of Mr. Hunter to mention, that though he might err in being too fevere, the school of Lichfield was very respectable in his time. The late Dr. Taylor, Prebendary of Westminster, who was educated under him, told me, that he was an excellent master, and that his ushers were most of them men of eminence; that Holbrook, one of the most ingenious men, best scholars, and best preachers of his age, was ufher during the greateft part of the time that Johnson was at school. Then came Hague, of whom as much might be faid, with the addition that he was an elegant poet. Hague was fucceeded by Green, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, whofe character in the learned world is well known. In the fame form with Johnson was Congreve, who afterwards became chaplain to Archbishop Boulter, and by that connection obtained good preferment in Ireland. He was a younger fon of the ancient family of Congreve, in Staffordshire, of which the poet was a branch. His brother fold the estate. There was also Lowe, Lowe, afterwards Canon of Windfor; who was tutor to the prefent Marquis Townshend, and his brother Charles. Indeed Johnson was very fenfible how much he owed to Mr. Hunter. Mr. Langton one day asked him how he had acquired fo accurate a knowledge of Latin, in which, I believe, he was exceeded by no man of his time, he said, "My master whipt me very well. Without that, Sir, I should have done nothing." He told Mr. Langton, that while Hunter was flogging his boys unmercifully, he used to fay, " And this I do to fave you from the gallows." Johnfon, upon all occafions, expreffed his approbation of enforcing instruction by means of the rod. "I would rather (faid he) have the rod to be the general terrour to all, to make them learn, than tell a child, if you do thus, or thus, you will be more esteemed than your brothers or fifters. The rod produces an effect which terminates in itself. A child is afraid of being whipped, and gets his task, and there's an end on't; whereas, by exciting emulation and comparisons of fuperiority, you lay the foundation of lasting mischief; you make brothers and fifters hate each other." Mr. Langton told me, that when Johnson saw some young ladies in Lincolnshire who were remarkably well behaved, owing to their mother's strict difcipline and fevere correction, he exclaimed, in one of Shakspeare's lines a little varied, "Rod, I will honour thee for this thy duty." That fuperiority over his fellows, which he maintained with so much dignity in his march through life, was not affumed from vanity and oftentation, but was the natural and conftant effect of thofe extraordinary powers of mind, of which he could not but be conscious by comparison; the intellectual difference, which in other cafes of comparison of characters is often a matter of undecided conteft, being as clear in his cafe as the fuperiority of stature in some men above others. Johnson did not strut or stand on tip-toe: He only did not stoop. From his earliest years, his fuperiority was perceived and acknowledged. He was from the beginning Ava Avdpwv, a king of men. His fchoolfellow, Mr. Hector, has obligingly furnished me with many particulars of his boyish days; and affured me, that he never knew him corrected at school, but for talking and diverting other boys from their bufinefs. He feemed to learn by intuition; for though indolence and procraftination were inherent in his conftitution, whenever he made an exertion he did more than any one elfe. In fhort, he is a memorable inftance of what has been often obferved, that the boy is the man in miniature; and that the distinguishing characteristicks of each individual are the fame, through the whole course of life. His favourites used to receive very liberal assistance from from him; and fuch was the fubmiffion and deference with which he was treated, fuch the defire to obtain his regard, that three of the boys, of whom Mr. Hector was fometimes one, used to come in the morning as his humble attendants, and carry him to school. One in the middle ftcoped, while he fat upon his back, and one on each fide fupported him; and thus he was borne triumphant. Such a proof of the early predominance of intellectual vigour is very remarkable, and does honour to human nature. Talking to me once himself of his being much diftinguished at fchool, he told me, "they never thought to raise me by comparing me to any one; they never faid, Johnson is as good a scholar as fuch a one; but fuch a one is as good a scholar as Johnson; and this was faid but of one, but of Lowe; and I do not think he was as good a scholar." He discovered a great ambition to excel, which roufed him to counteract his indolence. He was uncommonly inquifitive; and his memory was fo tenacious, that he never forgot any thing that he either heard or read. Mr. Hector remembers having recited to him eighteen verses, which, after a little pause, he repeated verbatim, varying only one epithet, by which he improved the line. He never joined with the other boys in their ordinary diverfions; his only amusement was in winter, when he took a pleasure in being drawn upon the ice by a boy barefooted, who pulled him along by a garter fixed round him; no very eafy operation, as his fize was remarkably large. His defective fight, indeed, prevented him from enjoying the common sports; and he once pleasantly remarked to me, how wonderfully well he had contrived to be idle without them. Lord Chesterfield, however, has juftly obferved in one of his letters, when earnestly cautioning a friend against the pernicious effects of idleness, that active sports are not to be reckoned idleness in young people; and that the liftlefs torpor of doing nothing, alone deferves that name. Of this dismal inertnefs of difpofition, Johnson had all his life too great a share. Mr. Hector relates, that "he could not oblige him more than by fauntering away the hours of vacation in the fields, during which he was more engaged in talking to himself than to his companion." Dr. Percy, the Bishop of Dromore, who was long intimately acquainted with him, and has preserved a few anecdotes concerning him, regretting that he was not a more diligent collector, informs me, that "when a boy he was immoderately fond of reading romances of chivalry, and he retained his fondnefs for them through life; fo that (adds his Lordship) fpending part of a fummer at my parfonage-house in the country, he chofe for his regular read |