were in mourning, and was afraid your letter had brought me ill news of my mother, whose death is one of the few calamites on which I think with terrour. I long to know how she does, and how you all do. Your poor mamma is come home, but very weak; yet I hope she will grow better, else she shall go into the country. She is now up stairs, and knows not of my writing. I am, dear miss, your most humble ser"SAM. JOHNSON."]

vant,

denced by the following prayer, which he composed and offered up on the occasion:

Almighty GoD, the giver of all good things, without whose help all labour is ineffectual, and without whose grace all wisdom is folly: grant, I beseech Thee, that in this undertaking thy Holy Spirit may not be withheld from me, but that I may promote thy glory, and the salvation of myself and others: grant this, O Lord, for the sake of thy Son, JESUS CHRIST. Amen 2."

16 Aug.

1773.

The first paper of the Rambler was published on Tuesday the 20th of March, 1749-50: and its authour was enabled to continue it without interruption, every Tuesday and Saturday, till Saturday the 17th of March 3, 1752, on which day it closed. This is a strong confirmation of the truth of a remark of his, which I have had occasion to quote elsewhere, that "a man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it;" for, notwithstanding his constitutional indolence, his depression of spirits, and his labour in carrying on his Dictionary, he answered the stated calls of the press twice a week from the stores of his mind, during all that time; having received no assistance except four billets in No. 10, by Miss Mulso, now Mrs. Chapone; No. 30, by Mrs. Catherine Talbot; No. 97, by Mr. Samuel Richardson, whom he describes in an introductory note as "An authour who has enlarged the knowledge of human nature, and taught the passions to move at the command of virtue 4; and Numbers 44 and

In 1750 he came forth in the character for which he was eminently qualified, a majestick teacher of moral and religious wisdom. The vehicle which he chose was that of a periodical paper, which he knew had been, upon former occasions, employed with great success. The Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian, were the last of the kind published in England, which had stood the test of a long trial; and such an interval had now elapsed since their publication, as made him justly think that, to many of his readers, this form of instruction would, in me degree, have the advantage of weity. A few days before the first of his Essays came out, there started another competitor for fame in the same form, under the title of "The Tatler Revived," which I believe was "born but to die." Johnson was, I think, not very happy in the choice of his title,-" The Rambler;" which certainly is not suited to a series of grave and moral discourses; which the Italians have literally, but ludicrously, translated by Il Vagabondo, and which has been lately assumed as the denomination of a vehicle of licentious tales, "The Rambler's Magazine." He gave Sir Joshua Reynolds the following account of its get-HALL. ting this name: "What must be done, sir, will be done. When I was to begin pubhshing that paper, I was at a loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bide, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its title. The Rambler seemed the best that occurred, and I took it !"

With what devout and conscientious sentiments this paper was undertaken, is evi

I bave heard Dr. Warton mention, that he at Mr. Robert Dodsley's with the late Mr. Moore, and several of his friends, considering what should be the name of the periodical paper which Moore had undertaken. Garrick proposed the Salad, which, by a curious coincidence, was afterwards applied to himself by Goldsmith

Our Garrick's a salad, for in him we see Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree!" At last, the company having separated, without ny thing of which they approved having been red, Dodsley himself thought of The World.

2 In the Pemb. MS. the last sentence runs"the salvation both of myself and others: grant this, O Lord, for the sake of Jesus Christ.".

3 This is a mistake, into which the authour was very pardonably led by the inaccuracy of the original folio edition of the Rambler, in which the concluding paper of that work is [obviously by an error of the press] dated on Saturday, March 17." But Saturday was in fact the fourteenth of March. This circumstance, though it may at first appear of very little importance, is yet worth notice; for Mrs. Johnson died on the seventeenth of March.-MALONE.

4 [Lady Bradshaigh, one of Mr. Richardson's female sycophants, thus addresses him on the subJect of this letter: "A few days ago I was pleased with the Rambler, No. 97. She happened ed with hearing a very sensible lady greatly pleasto be in town when it was published; and I asked if she knew who was the author? She said, it was supposed to be one who was concerned in the Spectators, it being much better written than any of the Ramblers. I wanted to say who was really the author, but durst not, without your permission." Rich. Cor. vol. vi. p. 108. It was probably on some such authority that Mr. Payne told Mr. Chalmers (Brit. Ess. vol. xix. p. 14), that No. 97 was "the only paper which had a

Piozzi,

p. 38.

p. 37.

after the work was finished) he added, " In all, taken of provided materials, 304,"

Hawk.

p. 268.

10, by Mrs. Elizabeth Carter; | a periodical writer; for I have in my posses[which latter, signed Chariessa, sion a small duodecimo volume, in which had much of his esteem, though he blamed he has written, in the form of Mr. Locke's Mrs. Piozzi for preferring it to the allego- Common-Place Book, a variety of hints for ry (No. 45), where Religion and Supersti- essays on different subjects. He has marktion are indeed most masterly delineated.] ed upon the first blank leaf of it, "To the Posterity will be astonished when they 128th page, collections for the RAMBLER;" are told, upon the authority of Johnson and in another place, "in fifty-two there himself, that many of these discourses, were seventeen provided; in 97-21; in 190 which we should suppose had been labour--25." At a subsequent period (probably ed with all the slow attention of literary leisure, were written in haste as the moment pressed, without even being read over by him before they were printed. [The fine Rambler on Procrastination was Piozzi, hastily composed in Sir Joshua Reynolds's parlour 2 while the boy waited to carry it to the press, and numberless are the instances of his writing under the immediate pressure of importunity or distress.] It can be accounted for only in this way; that by reading and meditation, and a very close inspection of life, he had accumulated a great fund of miscellaneous knowledge, which, by a peculiar promptitude of mind, was ever ready at his call, and which he had constantly accustomed himself to clothe in the most apt and energetick expressions. Sir Joshua Reynolds once asked him by what means he had attained his extraordinary accuracy and flow of language. He told him, that he had early laid it down as a fixed rule to do his best on every occasion, and in every company: to impart whatever he knew in the most forcible language he could put it in. and that by constant practice, and never suffering any careless expressions to escape him, or attempting to deliver his thoughts without arranging them in the clearest manner, it became habitual to him 3.

Yet he was not altogether unprepared as

prosperous sale, and was popular." The flatteries which Richardson's coterie lavished on him and all his works were quite extravagant: the paper is rather a poor one.-ED.]

1 [I suppose No. 134 is meant.-D'ISRAELI.] 2 [Mrs. Piozzi's date of the paper on Procrastination must be a mistake, as Johnson did not know Sir J. Reynolds so early. See post. p. 103, and vol ii. p. 65.-ED.]

3 The rule which Dr. Johnson observed is sanctioned by the authority of two great writers of antiquity: Ne id quidem tacendum est, quod eidem Ciceroni placet, nullum nostrum usquam negligentem esse sermonem: quicquid loquemur, ubicunque, sit pro sua scilicet portione perfectum."

Quinctil. x. 7.-MALONE. [It has been stated by Mr. Chalmers, in his edition of the British Essayists, that Johnson most elaborately revised and extensively corrected the Ramblers when he collected them into volumes; but this does not disprove Mr. Boswell's account of the celerity and ease with which they were originally written.-ED.]

Sir John Hawkins, who is unlucky3 upon all occasions, tells us, that "this method of accumulating intelligence has been practised by Mr. Addison, and is humorously described in one of the Spectators, wherein he feigns to have dropped his paper of notanda, consisting of a diverting medley of broken sentences and loose hints, which he tells us he had collected, and meant to make use of. Much of the same kind is Johnson's Adversaria." But the truth is, that there is no resemblance at all between them. Addison's note was a fiction, in which unconnected fragments of his lucubrations were purposely jumbled together, in as odd a manner as he could, in order to produce a laughable effect. Whereas Johnson's abbreviations are all distinct, and applicable to each subject of which the head is mentioned. For instance, there is the following speci

men:

"Youth's Entry, &c.

"Baxter's account of things in which he had changed his mind as he grew up. Voluminous.-No wonder.-If every man was to tell, or mark, on how many subjects he has changed, it would make vols. but the changes not always observed by man's self. From pleasure to bus. [business] to quiet; from thoughtfulness to reflect. to piety; from dissipation to domestic. by imperfect gradat. but the change is certain. Dial non progredi, progress. esse conspicimus. Look back, consider what was thought at some dist. period.

66

Hope predom. in youth. Mind not

4 [This, no doubt, means, that of the first 52 Ramblers, 17 had been prepared, and so on, till, at the conpletion of the whole 208 numbers, he found that only 30 had been formed of materials previously provided.-ED.]

5 [In this instance Mr. Boswell is more unlucky than Hawkins, whose account is by no means incorrect. He knew very well, and distinctly states, that Addison's published Notanda were a mere pleasantry, consisting of topicks drolly selected and arranged; but he infers, rationally enough, that Addison had taken the idea from his own real practice of collecting notanda; and he is quite justified in adding "much of the same kind are Johnson's Adversaria."—ED.]

willingly indulges unpleasing thoughts. | cord-the laurel of discord-the poverty The world lies all enamelled before him, as of criticism. Swift's opinion of the power A distant prospect sun-gilt 1; inequalities only found by coming to it. Love is to be all joy children excellent-Fame to be constant-caresses of the great-applauses of the learned-smiles of Beauty.

"Fear of disgrace-Bashfulness-Finds things of less importance. Miscarriages forgot like excellencies;-if remembered, of no import. Danger of sinking into negligence of reputation;-lest the fear of disgrace destroy activity.

"Confidence in himself. Long tract of life before him-No thought of sicknessEmbarrassment of affairs.-Distraction of family. Publick calamities. No sense of the prevalence of bad habits. Negligent of time-ready to undertake-careless to pursue all changed by time.

of six geniuses united. That union scarce possible. His remarks just;-man a social, not steady nature. Drawn to man by words, repelled by passions. Orb drawn by attraction, rep. [repelled] by centrifugal.

Common danger unites by crushing other passions-but they return. Equality hinders compliance. Superiority produces insolence and envy. Too much regard in each to private interest;-too little.

"The mischiefs of private and exclusive societies.-The fitness of social attraction diffused through the whole. The mischiefs of too partial love of our country. Contraction of moral duties.-'O, & piños.

66

४

'Every man moves upon his own centre, and therefore repels others from too near a contact, though he may comply with some general laws.

Confident of others-unsuspecting as unexperienced-imagining himself secure against neglect, never imagines they will venture to treat him ill. Ready to trust; expecting to be trusted. Convinced by time of the selfishness, the meanness, the cow--his own interest. ardice, the treachery of men.

"Youth ambitious, as thinking honours easy to be had.

Different kinds of praise pursued at different periods. Of the gay in youth,dang, hurt, &c. despised.

"Of the fancy in manhood. Ambit.stocks-bargains.-Of the wise and sober in old age-seriousness-formality-maxims, but general-only of the rich, otherwise age is happy-but at last everything referred to riches-no having fame, honour, influence, without subjection to caprice. “Horace.

Hard it would be if men entered life with the same views with which they leave it, or left as they enter it-No hopeno undertaking-no regard to benevolenceno fear of disgrace, &c.

"Of confederacy with superiors every one knows the inconvenience. With equals, no authority;-every man his own opinion

"Man and wife hardly united;-scarce ever without children. Computation, if two to one against two, how many against five? If confederacies were easy-useless; -many oppresses many.-If possible only to some, dangerous. Principum amicitias."

Here we see the embryo of Number 45 of the Adventurer; and it is a confirmation of what I shall presently have occasion to mention, that the papers in that collection marked T. were written by Johnson.

This scanty preparation of materials will not, however, much diminish our wonder at the extraordinary fertility of his mind; for the proportion which they bear to the number of essays which he wrote is very small; and it is remarkable, that those for which he had made no preparation are as rich and as highly finished, as those for which the hints were lying by him. It is also to be observed, that the papers formed This, it will be observed, is the sketch of from his hints are worked up with such Number 196 of the Rambler. I shall grati-strength and elegance, that we almost lose fy my readers with another specimen:

"Youth to be taught the piety of ageage to retain the honour of youth."

"Confederacies difficult; why. "Seldom in war a match for single persons-nor in peace; therefore kings make themselves absolute. Confederacies in learnmg-every great work the work of one. Bruy. Scholars' friendship like ladies. Scribebamus, &c. Mart.2 The apple of dis

This most beautiful image of the enchanting detasion of youthful prospect has not been used any of Johnson's essays.

* Lib. xii. 96. "In Tuccam æmulum omnium arum studiorum."-MALONE.

sight of the hints, which become like "drops in the bucket." Indeed, in several instances, he has made a very slender use of them, so that many of them remain still unapplied 3.

3 Sir John Hawkins has selected from this lit

tle collection of materials, what he calls the "Rudiments of two of the papers of the Rambler." But he has not been able to read the manuscript distinctly. Thus he writes, p. 266, "Sailor's fate any mansion;" whereas the original is "Sailor's life my aversion." He has also transcribed the unappropriated hints on Writers for bread, in which he deciphers these notable passages, one in Latin, fatui non fama, instead of

As the Rambler was entirely the work of one man, there was, of course, such a uniformity in its texture, as very much to exclude the charm of variety; and the grave and often solemn cast of thinking, which distinguished it from other periodical papers, made it, for some time, not generally liked. So slowly did this excellent work, of which twelve editions have now issued from the press, gain upon the world at large, that even in the closing number the authour says, "I have never been much a favourite of the publick."

of your letter of the 9th inst. at Gloucester, and did intend to answer it from that city, though I had but one sound hand (the cold and rain on my journey having given me the gout); but, as soon as I could write I went to Westminster', the seat of Mr. Cambridge, who entertained the Prince 3 there, and, in his boat, on the Severn. He kept me one night, and took me down part of his river to the Severn, where I sailed in one of his boats, and took a view of another of a peculiar make, having two keels, or being rather two long canoes, connected by a floor or stage. I was then towed back again to sup and repose. Next morning he explained to me the contrivance of some waterfalls, which seem to come from a piece of water which is four feet lower. The three following days I spent in returning to town, and could not find time to write in an inn.

"I need not tell you that the Prince appeared highly pleased with every thing that Mr. Cambridge showed, though he called him upon deck often to be seen by the people on the shore, who came in prodi

Yet, very soon after its commencement, there were who felt and acknowledged its uncommon excellence. Verses in its praise appeared in the newspapers; and the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine mentions, in October, his having received several letters to the same purpose from the learned. "The Student, or Oxford and Can.bridge Miscellany," in which Mr. Bonnel Thornton and Mr. Colman were the principal writ- | ers, describes it as "a work that exceeds any thing of the kind ever published in this kingdom, some of the Spectators excepted,-if indeed they may be excepted." And after-gious crowds, and thronged from place to wards, "May the publick favours crown his merits, and may not the English, under the auspicious reign of GEORGE the Second, neglect a man, who, had he lived in the first century, would have been one of the greatest favourites of Augustus." This flattery of the monarch had no effect. It is too well known, that the second George never was an Augustus to learning or genius.

ED.

[Richardson, the authour of Clarissa, to whom Cave had sent the five first numbers of the Rambler, became, as they proceeded, "so inexpressibly pleased with them," that he wrote to Cave in strong commendation, and intimated his conviction (the name of the authour being still a secret) that Johnson was the only man who could write them. Cave's answer seems worth inserting, as giving a higher idea of his own station in society than has been hitherto entertained, as well as more clearly explaining some points of Dr. Johnson's life.

Rich. Cor.
vol. 1. 66 MR CAVE TO MR. RICHARDSON.
p. 166.
"St. John's Gate, August 28, 1750
"DEAR SIR,-I received the pleasure
fami non fama; Johnson having in his mind
what Thuanus says of the learned German anti-
quary and linguist, Xylander, who, he tells us,
lived in such poverty, that he was supposed fami
non famæ scribere; and another in French, De-
gente de fate et affamé d'argent, instead of
Degouté de fame (an old word for renommé)
et affamé d'argent. The manuscript, being
written in an exceedingly small hand, is indeed
very hard to read; but it would have been better
to have left blanks than to write nonsense.--
BOSWELL.

place, to have a view as often as they could, not satisfied with one; so that many who came between the towing line and the bank of the river were thrown into it, and his royal highness could scarce forbear laughing; but sedately said to them, 'I am sorry for your condition.'

"Excuse this ramble from the purpose of your letter. I return to answer, that Mr. Johnson is the Great Rambler, being, as you observe, the only man who can furnish two such papers in a week, besides his other great business, and has not been assisted with above three.

"I may discover to you, that the world is not so kind to itself as you wish it. The encouragement, as to sale, is not in proportion to the high character given to the work by the judicious, not to say the raptures expressed by the few that do read it; but its being thus relished in numbers gives hope that the sets must go off, as it is a fine paper, and, considering the late hour of having the copy, tolerably printed.

When the authour was to be kept private (which was the first scheme), two gentlemen, belonging to the Prince's court,

[So in the work quoted, but it is a mistake for Whitminster in Gloucestershire, the seat then, as now, of the family of Cambridge.—ED.]

2 [Richard Owen Cambridge, author of the Scribbleriad, and a considerable contributor to the World. He was born in 1714, and died in 1802 at his seat opposite Richmond.-ED.]

3 [In July and August of this year the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their eldest daughter (the late Duchess of Brunswick), made a tour through Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, and Hampshire.-ED.]