Caliban of literature. Well,' said he, 'I must dub him the Punchinello.' (1) "Speaking of the old Earl of Cork and Orrery, he said, that man spent his life in catching at an object (literary eminence), which he had not power to grasp. "To find a substitution for violated morality, he said, was the leading feature in all perversions of religion. "He often used to quote, with great pathos, those fine lines of Virgil: Optima quæque dies miseris mortalibus ævi Prima fugit; subeunt morbi, tristisque senectus, 66 Speaking of Homer, whom he venerated as the prince of poets (2), Johnson remarked, that the advice given to Diomed (3) by his father, when he sent him to the Trojan war, was the noblest exhortation that could be instanced in any heathen writer, and comprised in a single line: Αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν, καὶ ὑπείροχον ἔμμεναι ἄλλων : which, if I recollect well, is translated by Dr. Clarke thus semper appetere præstantissima, et omnibus aliis antecellere. (1) John Gilbert Cooper, Esq. author of a good deal of prose and verse, but best known as the author of a Life of Socrates, and a consequent dispute with Bishop Warburton. Cooper was in person short and squab; hence Johnson's allusion to Punch. He died in 1769.-C. (2) Johnson's usual seal, at least at one time of his life, was a head of Homer, as appears from the envelopes of his letters. -C. (3) Dr. Maxwell's memory has deceived him. Glaucus is the person who received this counsel; and Clarke's translation of the passage (Il. x. 1. 208.) is as follows: -"Ut semper fortissime rem gererem, et superior virtute essem aliis."-J. Bos WELL, jun. "He observed, 'it was a most mortifying reflection for any man to consider, what he had done, compared with what he might have done.' "He said few people had intellectual resources sufficient to forego the pleasures of wine. They could not otherwise contrive how to fill the interval between dinner and supper. "He went with me, one Sunday, to hear my old master, Gregory Sharpe (1), preach at the Temple. In the prefatory prayer, Sharpe ranted about liberty, as a blessing most fervently to be implored, and its continuance prayed for. Johnson observed, that our liberty was in no sort of danger :- he would have done much better to pray against our licentiousness. "One evening at Mrs. Montagu's, where a splendid company was assembled, consisting of the most eminent literary characters, I thought he seemed highly pleased with the respect and attention that were shown him, and asked him, on our return home, if he was not highly gratified by his visit. No, Sir', said he, 'not highly gratified; yet I do not recollect to have passed many evenings with fewer objections.' "Though of no high extraction himself, he had much respect for birth and family, especially among ladies. He said, adventitious accomplishments may be possessed by all ranks; but one may easily distinguish the born gentlewoman.' "He said, "the poor in England were better provided for than in any other country of the same extent: he did not mean little cantons, or petty republics. Where a great proportion of the people,' said he, are suffered to languish in helpless misery, that country must be ill 6 (1) Gregory Sharpe, D.D. F.R.S. and F.A. S., born in 1713. He published some religious works, and several critical Essays on the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages. Dr. Sharpe was Master of the Temple when Maxwell was assistant preacher. He died in 1771.-C. policed, and wretchedly governed: a decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilisation. Gentlemen of education,' he observed, were pretty much the same in all countries; the condition of the lower orders, the poor especially, was the true mark of national discrimination.' "When the corn laws were in agitation in Ireland, by which that country has been enabled not only to feed itself, but to export corn to a large amount, Sir Thomas Robinson (1) observed, that those laws might be prejudicial to the corn-trade of England. 'Sir Thomas,' said he, you talk the language of a savage: what, Sir, would you prevent any people from feeding themselves, if by any honest means they can do it?' "It being mentioned, that Garrick assisted Dr. Browne (2), the author of the Estimate,' in some dramatic composition, No, Sir,' said Johnson; he would no more suffer Garrick to write a line in his play, than he would suffer him to mount his pulpit.' "Speaking of Burke, he said, 'It was commonly observed he spoke too often in parliament; but nobody could say he did not speak well, though too frequently and too familiarly.' Speaking of economy, he remarked, it was hardly worth while to save anxiously twenty pounds a year. If a man could save to that degree, so as to enable him to assume a different rank in society, then, indeed, it might answer some purpose. (1) [See antè, Vol. II. p. 219.] (2) Dr. John Browne, born in 1715; A.B. of St. John's, Cambridge, in 1735, and D.D. in 1755; besides his celebrated "Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times,”. a work which, in one year, ran through seven editions, and is now forgotten, and several religious and miscellaneous works, he was the author of two tragedies, "Barbarossa" and "Athelstan." He was a man of considerable, but irregular genius; and he died insane, by his own hand, in 1766. — C. "He observed, a principal source of erroneous judgment was viewing things partially and only on one side; as for instance, fortune-hunters, when they contemplated the fortunes singly and separately, it was a dazzling and tempting object; but when they came to possess the wives and their fortunes together, they began to suspect they had not made quite so good a bargain. 66 Speaking of the late Duke of Northumberland (1) living very magnificently when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, somebody remarked, it would be difficult to find a suitable successor to him: 6 then,' exclaimed Johnson, ́ he is only fit to succeed himself.’ “He advised me, if possible, to have a good orchard. He knew, he said, a clergyman of small income, who brought up a family very reputably, which he chiefly fed with apple dumplings. (2) "He said he had known several good scholars among the Irish gentlemen; but scarcely any of them correct in quantity. He extended the same observation to Scotland. Speaking of a certain prelate (3), who exerted himself very laudably in building churches and parsonagehouses; however,' said he, I do not find that he is esteemed a man of much professional learning, or a liberal patron of it;-yet, it is well where a man (1) Sir Hugh Smithson, who became second Earl of Northumberland of the new creation, was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1763 to 1765; he was created a duke in 1766.-C. (2) This seems a strange resource. Perhaps Dr. Maxwell, at the interval of so many years, did not perfectly recollect Dr. Johnson's statement. (3) Probably Dr. Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland from 1765 to 1795. He was created Lord Rokeby in 1777, with remainder to the issue of his cousin, Matthew Robinson, of West Layton, two of whose sons have successively succeeded to that title. He built what is called Canterbury Gate, and the adjacent quadrangle, in Christ Church, Oxford. — C. possesses any strong positive excellence. Few have all We must kinds of merit belonging to their character. not examine matters too deeply. No, Sir, a fallible being will fail somewhere.' Talking of the Irish clergy, he said, ' Swift was a man of great parts, and the instrument of much good to his country. Berkeley was a profound scholar, as well as a man of fine imagination; but Usher,' he said, was the great luminary of the Irish church; and a greater,' he added, no church could boast of; at least in modern times.' "We dined tête-à-tête at the Mitre, as I was preparing to return to Ireland, after an absence of many years. I regretted much leaving London, where I had formed many agreeable connections: " Sir,' said he,' I don't wonder at it: no man, fond of letters, leaves London without regret. But remember, Sir, you have seen and enjoyed a great deal ;—you have seen life in its highest decorations, and the world has nothing new to exhibit. No man is so well qualified to leave public life as he who has long tried it and known it well. We are always hankering after untried situations, and imagining greater felicity from them than they can afford. No, Sir, knowledge and virtue may be acquired in all countries, and your local consequence will make you some amends for the intellectual gratifications you relinquish.' Then he quoted the following lines with great pathos: "He who has early known the pomps of state, (For things unknown 'tis ignorance to condemn ;) Can boldly say, the trifle I contemn; (1) Being desirous to trace these verses to the fountain head, after having in vain turned over several of our elder poets with the hope of lighting on them, I applied to Dr. Maxwell, now |