Johnson's partiality for Savage made him entertain no doubt of his story, however extraordinary and improbable. It never occurred to him to question his being the son of the Countess of Macclesfield, of whose unrelenting barbarity he so loudly complained, and the particulars of which are related in so strong and affecting a manner in Johnson's life of him. Johnson was certainly well warranted in publishing his narrative, however offensive it might be to the lady and her relations, because her alledged unnatural and cruel conduct to her son, and shameful avowal of guilt, were stated in a Life of Savage now lying before me, which came out so early as 1727, and no attempt had been made to confute it, or to punish the authour or printer as a libeller: but for the honour of human nature, we should be glad to find the shocking tale not true; and, from a respectable gentleman[1] connected with the lady's family, I have received such information and remarks, as joined to my own inquiries, will, I think, render it at least somewhat doubtful, especially when we consider that it must have originated from the person himself who went by the name of Richard Savage.
If the maxim falsum in uno, falsum in omnibus, were to be received without qualification, the credit of Savage's narrative, as conveyed to us, would be annihilated; for it contains some assertions which, beyond a question, are not true[2]
- In order to induce a belief that Earl Rivers, on account of a criminal connection with whom. Lady Macclesfield is said to have been divorced from her husband, by Act of
- ↑ The late Francis Cockayne Cust, Esq., one of his Majesty's Counsel. Boswell.
- ↑ 'Savage's veracity was questioned, but with little reason; his accounts, though not indeed always the same, were generally consistent. When he loved any man. he suppressed all his faults: and, when he had been offended by him, concealed all his virtues : but his characters were generally true so far as he proceeded; though it cannot be denied that his partiality might have sometimes the effect of falsehood.' Johnson's Works, viii. 190.
tioned in The Dunciad, iii. 165. A curious account of him is given in Benjamin Franklin's Memoirs, i. 54-87, and 245.
