A Small Reward
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It is only right and proper that one who exhibits a good degree
of persistence and perseverance should receive some special sign
of appreciation. By finding the link to this page, you have shown
yourself deserving of such a sign.
One of my favorite authors is the eighteenth century lexicographer
and sage, Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). The subject of the
first great literary biography of our era (The Life of Samuel
Johnson, LL.D., by James Boswell, Esq., 1791, London), he
observed, reflected upon, and commented regarding, most of the
important aspects of the human condition.
There have been few wiser, and none more trenchant in observation,
than he, and I am going to share with you here, both as a reward
and in the hope that you will be inspired to read further of him
on your own, (a) some selected quotations from his writings, and
(b) some things which were written about him by his contemporaries.
I hope you enjoy them. Let me note, as a formality, that the
claim of copyright set out on the home page of this site clearly
does not extend to the material which follows:
Boswell mentioned to Johnson a recent expulsion from Oxford
University of several students who refused to desist from public
prayer and religious exhortation, with the following result:
| Johnson: |
"Sir, that expulsion was extremely just and proper. What
have they to do at an University, who are not willing to
be taught, but will presume to teach? Where is religion
to be learnt, but at an University? Sir, they were
examined, and found to be mighty ignorant fellows."
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| Boswell: |
"But, was it not hard, Sir, to expel them, for I am told
they were good beings?"
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| Johnson: |
"I believe they might be good beings; but they were not
fit to be in the University of Oxford. A cow is a
very good animal in the field; but we turn her out
of a garden."
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| Boswell, April 15, 1772 |
Boswell and Johnson were discussing the plight of one Dr. Dodd,
who at that time was in prison and under sentence of death for
the crime of forgery, falsifying the name of the Earl of
Chesterfield on a bond (e.g. a promissory note).
A question arose as to the authenticity of a prison writing
attributed to Dodd, as, according to Boswell, it "had a great
deal more force of mind in it than anything known to be his".
Johnson answered:
"Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged
in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."
Boswell, September 19, 1777
In a conversation taking place as a result of Johnson's chance
meeting with a retired lawyer named Edwards, whom Johnson had
known as a young man but whom he had not seen for some forty
years, the talk turned to economic matters:
| Johnson: |
"From your having practised the law long, Sir, I
presume you must be rich."
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| Edwards: |
"No, Sir; I got a good deal of money; but I
had a number of poor relations to whom I gave a great
part of it."
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| Johnson: |
"Sir, you have been rich in the most valuable
sense of the word."
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| Edwards: |
"But I shall not die rich."
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| Johnson: |
"Nay, sure, Sir, it is better to live
rich, than to die rich."
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| Boswell, April 17, 1778 |
During a dinner at the house of his friend Sir Joshua Reynolds,
the painter, the conversation turned to the qualities of various
liquors. Johnson "harangued upon the qualities of different
liquors; and spoke with great contempt of claret, as so weak, that
"a man would be drowned by it before it made him drunk."
He was persuaded to drink one glass of it, that he might judge, not
from recollection, which might be dim, but from immediate sensation.
He shook his head, and said, "Poor stuff! No, Sir, claret
is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a
hero (smiling) must drink brandy."
Boswell, April 7, 1779
Boswell mentioned to Johnson that he had been to a Quaker
meeting, at which he had heard a woman preach. It elicited
this response:
"Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his
hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find
it done at all."
Boswell, July 31, 1763
In commenting upon "A gentlemen who had been very unhappy
in marriage [but who had] married [again] immediately after his
wife died: Johnson said, it was the triumph of hope over experience."
Boswell, 1770
Boswell sought Johnson's view as to whether he (Boswell), a
Scottish lawyer, should seek to enter the profession of the
law in England.
JOHNSON: "You must not indulge too sanguine hopes, should
you be called to our bar. I was told, by a very sensible lawyer,
that there are a great many chances against any man's success in
the profession of the law; the candidates are so numerous, and
those who get large practice so few. He said, it was by no
means true that a man of good parts and application is sure of
having business, though he, indeed, allowed that if such a man
could but appear in a few causes, his merit would be known, and
he would get forward; but that the great risk was, that a man
might pass half a life-time in the Courts, and never have an
opportunity of shewing his abilities."
Boswell (date uncertain)
So much, at least for now, of Samuel Johnson. If your interest
in eighteenth century culture extends to music and/or the theatre,
let me urge upon you the videotape of John Gay's "The Beggar's
Opera", which was produced in 1983 for the BBC.
It is presently available from
Critics Choice Video and is worth your attention in any number of
respects. The casting is inspired, the music (performed by the
English Baroque Soloists) sublime, the sets and costumes flawless,
the humor pungent, the social commentary perspicacious, the mission
gleefully malevolent, and the whole thing rollicking good fun.
Some of the humor may be better appreciated if the viewer has a
smattering of the criminal argot of the period, but it is not
necessary to an overall understanding.
For those of you who appreciate "lawyer-bashing", there
is even some of that, but not so much as to make it tiresome. It
is interesting that this particularly noxious indoor sport seems to
have had the same popular appeal three hundred years ago as it
does today. My one quibble is that some of the sound track is
less clear than I would like, especially in the singing bits, but
this aside, I do not see how you could fail to enjoy it.
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