When I relate these various instances of contemptuous behaviour shewn to a variety of people, I am aware that those who till now have heard little of Mr. Johnson will here cry out against his pride and his severity; yet I have been as careful as I could to tell them, that all he did was gentle, if all he said was rough. Had I given anecdotes of his actions instead of his words, we should I am sure have nothing on record but acts of virtue differently modified, as different occasions called that virtue forth and among all the nine biographical essays or performances which I have heard will at last be written about dear Dr. Johnson[1], no mean or wretched, no wicked or even slightly culpable action will I trust be found[2], to produce and put in the scale against a life of seventy years, spent in the uniform practice of every moral excellence and every Christian perfection; save humility alone, says a critic, but that I think must be excepted. He was not however wanting even in that to a degree seldom attained by man, when the duties of piety or charity called it forth[3].
2 'Whatever record leap to light He never shall be shamed.'
Tennyson. Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington.
- ↑ 1. A Biographical Sketch of Dr. Samuel Johnson, by Thomas Tyers, Esq. Gentleman's Magazine, December, 1784.
2. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. G. Kearsley, 1785.
3. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late Dr. Samuel Johnson. J. Walker, 1785.
4. Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D., by H. L. Piozzi. T. Cadell, 1786.
5. An Essay on the Life, Character, and Writings of Dr. Samuel Johnson, by Joseph Towers, 1786.
6. The Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson, by Sir John Hawkins, Knight, 1787.
7. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., by James Boswell. C. Dilly, 1791.
8. An Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., by Arthur Murphy. T. Longman, &c., 1792.
9. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., with critical Observations on his Works, by Robert Anderson, M.D., Edinburgh, 1795.
Dr. Parr projected a Life of Johnson. Life, iv. 444.
- ↑ 2
- ↑ 'The solemn text, "of him to whom much is given, much will be required," seems to have been ever present to his mind, in a rigorous sense, and to have made him dissatisfied with his labours and acts of goodness, however comparatively great; so that the unavoidable consciousness of his superiority was, in that respect, a cause of disquiet.' Life, iv. 427.
On his death-bed he said to one present: – 'Live well, I conjure you; and you will not feel the compunction at the last, which I now feel.' 'So
