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TO MRS. JOHNSON, IN LICHFIELD'.
"13th Jan. 17582.

Malone.

"HONOURED MADAM,-The account which Miss [Porter] gives me of your health pierces my heart. God comfort and preserve you and save you for the sake of Jesus Christ.

"I would have miss read to you from time to time the Passion of our Saviour, and sometimes the sentences in the Communion Service, beginning-Come unto me, all ye that travel and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

"I have just now read a physical book, which inclines me to think that a strong infusion of the bark would do you good. Do, dear mother, try it.

forget her tenderness for her mistress. Whatever you can do, continue to do. My heart is very full.

"I hope you received twelve guineas on Monday. I found a way of sending them by means of the postmaster, after I had written my letter, and hope they came safe. I will send you more in a few days. God bless you all. I am, my dear, your most obliged and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." "Over the leaf is a letter to my mother."

"16th Jan. 1759.

"DEAR HONOURED MOTHER,- Your weakness afflicts me beyond what I am willing to communicate to you. I do not think you unfit to face death, but I know not how to bear the thought of losing you. Endeavour to do all you [can] for yourself. Eat as much as you can.

"Pray, send me your blessing, and forgive all that I have done amiss to you. And whatever you would have done, and what debts you would have paid first, or any thing else that you would direct, let Miss [Porter] put it down; I shall endeavour to obey you. "I have got twelve guineas 3 to send you, ter. but unhappily am at a loss how to send it to-night. If I cannot send it to-night, it will come by the next post.

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Pray, do not omit any thing mentioned in this letter. God bless you for ever and ever. I am your dutiful son,

"SAM. JOHNSON."

me.

"I pray often for you; do you pray for I have nothing to add to my last letI am, dear, dear mother, your dutiful "SAM. JOHNSON.”

son,

Malone.

TO MRS. JOHNSON IN LICHFIEeld. "18th Jan. 1759. "DEAR HONOURED MOTHER,—I fear you are too ill for long letters; therefore I will only tell you, you have from me all the regard that can possibly

66 TO MISS PORTER AT MRS. JOHNSON'S, IN subsist in the heart. I pray God to bless

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you for ever niore, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

"Let miss write to me every post, however short.

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"I am, dear mother, your dutiful son, "SAM. JOHNSON."

TO MISS PORTER, AT MRS. JOHNSON'S IN

LICHFIELD.

"20th Jan. 1759.

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1 Since the publication of the third edition of this work, the following letters of Dr. Johnson, occasioned by the last illness of his mother, were obligingly communicated to Mr. Malone, by the Rev. Dr. Vyse. They are placed here agree-grant I may yet [find] my dear mother ably to the chronological order almost uniformly observed by the authour; and so strongly evince breathing and sensible. Do not tell her lest Dr. Johnson's piety and tenderness of heart, that I disappoint her. If I miss to write next every reader must be gratified by their insertion. Ost, I am on the road. I am my dearest miss, your most humble servant,

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best mother, and I believe the best woman | place. If you want any directions, Mr. in the world. I thank you for your indul- Howard 4 will advise you. The twenty gence to me, and beg forgiveness of all that pounds I could not get a bill for to-night, I have done ill, and all that I have omitted but will send it on Saturday. I am, my to do well. God grant you his Holy Spirit, dear, your affectionate servant, and receive you to everlasting happiness, SAM. JOHNSON." for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Lord Jesus receive your spirit. Amen.-I am, dear, dear mother, your dutiful son,

"SAM. JOHNSON."

TO MISS PORTER, IN Lichfield.

"23d Jan. 1759 2.

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TO MRS. LUCY PORTER.

Pearson
MSS.

"6th Feb. 1759. DEAR MISS,-I have no reason to forbear writing, but that it makes my heart heavy, and I had nothing particular to say which might not be delay"You will conceive my sorrowed to the next post; but had no thoughts Malone. for the loss of my mother, of the of ceasing to correspond with my dear Lubest mother. If she were to live again, cy, the only person now left in the world surely I should behave better to her. But with whom I think myself connected. There she is happy, and what is past is nothing to needed not my dear mother's desire, for her; and for me, since I cannot repair my every heart must lean to somebody, and I faults to her, I hope repentance will efface have nobody but you; in whom I put all them. I return you and all those that have my little affairs with too much confidence been good to her my sincerest thanks, and to desire you to keep receipts as you prupray God to repay you all with infinite ad- dently proposed. vantage. Write to me, and comfort me, dear child. I shall be glad likewise, if Kitty will write to me. I shall send a bill of twenty pounds in a few days, which I thought to have brought to my mother; but God suffered it not. I have not power or composure to say much more. God bless you, and bless us all. I am, dear miss, your affectionate humble servant,

Pearson

"SAM. JOHNSON."

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(The beginning of the writing

MSS. torn and lost.)

"You will forgive me if I am not yet so composed as to give any directions about any thing. But you are wiser and better than I, and I shall be pleased with all that you shall do. It is not of any use for me now to come down 3; nor can I bear the

So, in the prayer which he composed on this occasion: "Almighty God, merciful Father, in whose hands are life and death, sanctify unto me the sorrow which I now feel. Forgive me whatever I have done unkindly to my mother, and whatever I have omitted to do kindly. Make me to remember her good precepts and good example, and to reform my life according to thy holy word, &c.”—Prayers and Meditations, p. 31.-MALONE.

2 Mrs. Johnson probably died on the 20th or 21st January, and was buried on the day this letter was written.-MALONE.

3 [Mr. Murphy states: "With this supply (the price of Rasselas) Johnson set out for Lichfield; but did not arrive in time to close the eyes of a parent whom he loved. He attended the funeral, which, as appears among his memorandums, was on the 23d of January, 1759." It is clear, from all these letters, that he did not personally attend on that occasion, and the memo

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"If you and Kitty will keep the house, I think I shall like it best. Kitty may carry on the trade for herself, keeping her own stock apart, and laying aside any money that she receives for any of the goods, which her good mistress has left behind her. I do not see, if this scheme be followed, any need of appraising the books. My mother's debts, dear mother, I suppose I may pay with little difficulty; and the little trade may go silently forward. I fancy Kitty can do nothing better; and I shall not want to put her out of a house, where she has lived so long, and with so much virtue. I am very sorry that she is ill, and earnestly hope that she will soon recover; let her know that I have the highest value for her, and would do any thing for her advantage. Let her think of this proposal. I do not see any likelier method by which she may pass the remaining part of her life in quietness and competence.

"You must have what part of the house you please, while you are inclined to stay in it; but I flatter myself with the hope that you and I shall some time pass our days together. I am very solitary and comfortless, but will not invite you to come hither till Í can have hope of making you live here so as not to dislike your situation. Pray, my dearest, write to me as often as you can. I am, dear madam, your affectionate humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON."]

randum mentioned must have referred to the date or expenses of the funeral, and not to his own presence. Rasselas was not written, nor of course, it may be presumed, sold, till two months later.-ED.]

4 [Mr. Howard was in the law, and resided in the Close. He was grandfather of the present lady of Sir Robert Wilmot, Bart. of Osmaston, near Derby.-HARWOOD.].

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ED.

"SAM. JOHNSON."

Soon after his mother's death, he wrote his "RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA*: [which he modestly calls, in a subsequent letter to Miss Porter, "a little story-book"] concerning the publication of which Sir John Hawkins guesses vaguely and idly3, instead of having taken the trouble to inform himself with authentick precision. Not to trouble my readers with a repetition of the knight's reveries, I have to mention, that the late Mr. Strahan the printer told me, that Johnson wrote it, that with the profits he might defray the expense of his mother's funeral, and pay some little debts which she had left. He told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that he composed it in the evenings of one week 4, sent it to the press

[But it is observable that the Idlers which now bear the dates of the 13th and 20th January are on trivial subjects, and are even written in a vein of pleasantry.-ED.]

[Johnson had written the figure 8 instead of 9, which is evidently a mistake.-HARWOOD. See ante, p. 144.-ED.]

3 [Sir John Hawkins does not "guess vaguely and idly," but after saying that there were vague reports on the subject, he gives an account substantially the same as Mr. Boswell's. The only difference is, that Sir J. Hawkins says that he had before meditated such a work, the execution of which was now accelerated by the spur of necessity.-ED.]

RASSELAS was published in March or April, 1759.-BoswELL.

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in portions as it was written, and had never since read it over 5. Mr. Strahan, Mr. John ston, and Mr. Dodsley, purchased it for a hundred pounds, but afterwards paid him twenty-five pounds more, when it came to a second edition.

Considering the large sums which have been received for compilations, and works requiring not much more genius than compilations, we cannot but wonder at the very low price which he was content to receive for this admirable performance; which, though he had written nothing else, would have rendered his name immortal in the world of literature. None of his writings has been so extensively diffused over Europe; for it has been translated into most, if not all, of the modern languages. This tale, with all the charms of oriental imagery, and all the force and beauty of which the English language is capable, leads us through the most important scenes of human life, and shows us that this stage of our being is full of "vanity and vexation of spirit." To those who look no further than the present life, or who maintain that human nature has not fallen from the state in which it was created, the instruction of this sublime story will be of no avail. But they who think justly, and feel with strong sensibility, will listen with eagerness and admiration to its truth and wisdom. Voltaire's CANDIDE, written to refute the system of Optimism, which it has accomplished with brilliant success, is wonderfully similar in its plan and conduct to Johnson's RASSELAS; insomuch, that I have heard Johnson say, that if they had not been published so closely one after the other that there was not time for imitation, it would have been in vain to deny that the scheme of that which came latest was taken from the other. Though the proposition illustrated by both these works was the same, namely, that in our present state there is more evil than good, the intention of the writers was very different. Voltaire, I am afraid, meant only by wanton profaneness to obtain a sportive victory over religion, and to discredit the Johnson meant, by showing the unsatisfacbelief of a superintending Providence: tory nature of things temporal, to direct the hopes of man to things eternal. Rasselas ed lady, may be considered as a more enlarg as was observed to me by a very accomplish ed and more deeply philosophical discourse in prose, upon the interesting truth, which in his "Vanity of Human Wishes," he had so successfully enforced in verse.

The fund of thinking which this work contains is such, that almost every sentence

5 See under June 2, 1781. Finding it then accidentally in a chaise with Mr. Boswell, he read it eagerly. This was doubtless long after his declaration to Sir Joshua Reynolds.-MALONE.

man.

of it may furnish a subject of long medita- | pretty hard course of experience, and tion. I am not satisfied if a year passes would, from sincere benevolence, impress without my having read it through; and at upon all who honour this book with a peruevery perusal, my admiration of the mind sal, that until a steady conviction is obwhich produced it is so highly raised, that tained, that the present life is an imperfect I can scarcely believe that I had the hon- state, and only a passage to a better, if we our of enjoying the intimacy of such a comply with the divine scheme of progressive improvement; and also that it is a part of the mysterious plan of Providence, that intellectual beings must "be made perfect through suffering;" there will be a continual recurrence of disappointment and uneasiness. But if we walk with hope in "the mid-day sun" of revelation, our temper and disposition will be such, that the comforts and enjoyments in our way will be relished, while we patiently support the inconveniences and pains. After much speculation and various reasonings, I acknowledge myself convinced of the truth of Voltaire's conclusion, " Après tout c'est un monde passable." But we must not think too deeply:

I restrain myself from quoting passages from this excellent work, or even referring to them, because I should not know what to select, or, rather, what to omit. I shall, however, transcribe one, as it shows how well he could state the arguments of those who believe in the appearance of departed spirits; a doctrine which it is a mistake to suppose that he himself ever positively held:

"If all your fear be of apparitions (said the prince), I will promise you safety: there is no danger from the dead; he that is once buried will be seen no more.

"That the dead are seen no more (said Imlac), I will not undertake to maintain, against the concurrent and unvaried testimony of all ages, and of all nations. There is no people, rude or learned, among whom apparitions of the dead are not related and believed. This opinion, which prevails as far as human nature is diffused, could become universal only by its truth; those that never heard of one another, would not have agreed in a tale which nothing but experience can make credible. That it is doubted by single cavillers, can very little weaken the general evidence; and some who deny it with their tongues, confess it by their fears."

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where ignorance is bliss, "Tis folly to be wise,"

is, in many respects, more than poetically just. Let us cultivate, under the command of good principles, "la theorie des sensa.tions agreables;" and, as Mr. Burke once admirably counselled a grave and anxious gentleman, "live pleasant."

The effect of Rasselas, and of Johnson's other moral tales, is thus beautifully illustrated by Mr. Courtenay:

"Impressive truth, in splendid fiction drest, Checks the vain wish, and calms the troubled breast;

Notwithstanding my high admiration of Rasselas, I will not maintain that the "mor-O'er the dark mind a light celestial throws, bid 'melancholy" in Johnson's constitution And sooths the angry passions to repose; may not, perhaps, have made life appear to As oil effus'd illumes and smooths the deep, him more insipid and unhappy than it gen- When round the bark the foaming surges sweep." erally is: for I am sure that he had less enjoyment from it than I have. Yet, whatIt will be recollected, that during all this ever additional shade his own particular sen-year he carried on his Idler. This paper sations may have thrown on his representation of life, attentive observation and close inquiry have convinced me, that there is too much reality in the gloomy picture. The truth, however, is, that we judge of the happiness and misery of life differently at different times, according to the state of our changeable frame. I always remember a remark made to me by a Turkish lady, educated in France: "Ma foi, monsieur, notre bonheur depend de la façon qae notre sang circule." This have I learnt from a

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was in such high estimation before it was collected into volumes, that it was seized on with avidity by various publishers of newspapers and magazines, to enrich their publications. Johnson, to put a stop to this unfair proceeding, wrote for the Universal Chronicle the following advertisement; in which there is, perhaps, more pomp of words than the occasion demanded:

"London, Jan. 5, 1759. ADVERTISE

MENT. The proprietors of the paper entitled 'The Idler,' having found that those essays are inserted in the newspapers and magazines with so little regard to justice or decency, that the Universal Chronicle, in which they first appear, is not always mentioned, think it necessary to declare to the

had some meaning, or he would hardly have quoted them; but what that meaning is the edi tor cannot guess.-ED.]

publishers of those collections, that however patiently they have hitherto endured these injuries, made yet more injurious by contempt, they have now determined to endure them no longer. They have already seen essays, for which a very large price is paid, transferred, with the most shameless rapacity, into the weekly or monthly compilations, and their right, at least for the present, alienated from them, before they could themselves be said to enjoy it. But they would not willingly be thought to want tenderness, even for men by whom no tenderness hath been shown. The past is without remedy, and shall be without resentment. But those who have been thus busy with their sickles in the fields of their neighbours are henceforward to take notice, that the time of impunity is at an end. Whoever shall, without our leave, lay the hand of rapine upon our papers, is to expect that we shall vindicate our due, by the means which justice prescribes, and which are warranted by the immemorial prescriptions of honourable trade. We shall lay hold, in our turn, on their copies, degrade them from the pomp of wide margin and diffuse typography, contract them into a narrow space, and sell them at an humble price; yet not with a view of growing rich by confiscations, for we think not much better of money got by punishment than by crimes. We shall therefore, when our losses are repaid, give what profit shall remain to the Magdelens; for we know not who can be more properly taxed for the support of penitent prostitutes, than prostitutes in whom there yet appears neither penitence nor shame."

No doubt he was also proceeding, though slowly, in his edition of Shakspeare. He, however, from that liberality which never failed, when called upon to assist other labourers in literature, found time to translate, for Mrs. Lenox's English version of Brumoy, "A Dissertation on the Greek Comedyf" and "The General Conclusion of the Bookt'."

An inquiry into the state of foreign countries was an object that seems at all times to have interested Johnson. Hence Mr. Newbery found no great difficulty in persuading him to write the introduction to a collection of voyages and travels published by him under the title of "The World Displayed:" the first volume of which appeared this year, and the remaining volumes in subsequent years.

1 [In Mr. Park's edition of the Noble Authours (vol. iv. p. 259), it is stated that Mrs. Lenox's

Translation of Brumoy's Greek Theatre had a "Preface," written by Lord Orrery; who also translated "The Discourse upon the Theatre of the Greeks, the Origin of Tragedy, and the Parallel of the Theatres," but he cites no authority.-ED.]

I would ascribe to this year the following letter to a son of one of his early friends at Lichfield, Mr. Joseph Simpson, barrister, and authour of a tract, entitled "Reflections on the Study of the Law."

"TO JOSEPH SIMPSON, ESQ.

"DEAR SIR,-Your father's inexorability not only grieves but amazes me: he is your father; he was always accounted a wise man; nor do I remember any thing to the disadvantage of his good nature; but in his refusal to assist you there is neither good nature, fatherhood, nor wisdom. It is the practice of good nature to overlook faults which have already, by the consequences, punished the delinquent. It is natural for a father to think more favourably than others of his children; and it is always wise to give assistance, while a little help will prevent the necessity of greater.

"If you married imprudently, you miscarried at your own hazard, at an age when you had a right of choice. It would be hard if the man might not choose his own wife, who has a right to plead before the judges of his country.

If your imprudence has ended in difficulties and inconveniences, you are yourself to support them; and, with the help of a little better health, you would support them and conquer them. Surely, that want which accident and sickness produce is to be supported in every region of humanity, though there were neither friends nor fathers in the world. You have certainly from your father the highest claim of charity, though none of right: and therefore I would counsel you to omit no decent nor manly degree of importunity. Your debts in the whole are not large, and of the whole but a small part is troublesome. Small debts are like small shot; they are rattling on every side, and can scarcely be escaped without a wound: great debts are like cannon; of loud noise, but little danger. You must, therefore, be enabled to discharge petty debts, that you may have leisure, with security, to struggle with the rest. Neither the great nor little debts disgrace you. I am sure you have my esteem for the courage with which you contracted them, and the spirit with which you endure them. I wish my esteem could be of more use. I have been invited, or have invited myself, to several parts of the kingdom; and will not incommode my dear Lucy by coming to Lichfield, while her presin a few days, to be at leisure, and to make ent lodging is of any use to her 2. I hope,

2 [She resided in the house which, by his mother's death, was now become the property of Johnson. It appears that there was not accommodation for an additional inmate.-ED.]

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