PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS 1. Oct. 1729. Desidiae valedixi; syrenis istius cantibus surdam posthac aurem obversurus 1. 2. 1729, Dec. S. J. Oxonio rediit 2. 3. 1732, Fulii 15. Undecim aureos deposui, quo die quicquid ante matris funus (quod serum sit precor) de paternis bonis sperari licet, viginti scilicet libras, accepi. Usque adeo mihi fortuna fingenda est. Interea, ne paupertate vires animi langucscant, nec in flagitia egestas abigat, cavendum 3. I Life, i. 74. 'I bid farewell to Sloth, being resolved henceforth not to listen to her syren strains.' 'Vitanda est improba Siren Desidia.' HORACE, 2 Satires, iii. 14. Sir Walter Scott, early in his struggles with his load of debt, has this saying of Johnson's in mind. On March 2, 1826, he records I would have given something to have lain still this morning and made up for lost time. But desidiae valedixi'; and on July 17:'Desidiae tandem valedixi.' Lock I In the Journal of Sir Walter Scott, ed. 1891, p. 228, not tandem but longum. Lockhart, I have observed, not unfrequently tacitly corrected Scott, especially in his misuse of will for shall. 4. Fulii 16 [? 1732]. Bosvortiam pedes petii 1. 5. Friday, August 27 [1734], 10 at night. This day I have trifled away, except that I have attended the I read to-night in Rogers's sermons. breakfast law (sic) anew 2. 6. school in the morning. To-night I began the Sept. 7, 17363. I have this day entered upon my 28th year. Mayest thou, O God, enable me for Jesus Christ's sake may be very remote. I now therefore see that I must make my own fortune. Meanwhile, let me take care that the powers of my mind may not be debilitated by poverty, and that indigence do not force me into any criminal act.' Ib. Johnson left his father's freehold house in the possession of his mother till her death in 1759. Letters, i. 19, n. 1, 82. He had been driven from Oxford by his poverty; no public maintenance had been provided there for the poor scholar, though he had gained great applause' by his Latin version of Pope's Messiah. Two years after he entered upon his inheritance of twenty, pounds, twenty thousand pounds of public money were spent on the voyage of the Princess Royal to the Hague. Lord Hervey's Memoirs, i. 437. I Life, i. 84. Johnson went on foot to Market-Bosworth to fill the office of usher in the school of that town. Jonathan Boucher, who became usher in St. Bees' School in 1756, writes :'My salary from the head-master was £10 a year; and entrances and cockpennies amounted to as much more. The second year I got nearly £30.' Letters of Radcliffe and James, Preface, p. vii. 'The cock-penny was a customary payment at Shrovetide, formerly made to the schoolmaster in certain schools in the north of England. Originally applied to defray the expense of cock-fighting or cockthrowing.' New Eng. Dict. ii. 576. W. B. Scott, who was born in 1811, describing his childhood near Edinburgh, says :-'Our uncle still possessed the Bible his game-cock had won at the breaking-up time on the floor of the school.' Life of W. B. Scott, 1892, i. 30. " Hawkins's Johnson, p. 163. Johnson stayed only a few months at Market-Bosworth. In 1734 he was again living in Lichfield. Rogers's sermons were probably Sermons at Boyle's Lectures, 1727, by the Rev. John Rogers, D.D. 3 He was born on Sept. 7, Old Style-Sept. 18, New Style. The New Style was introduced on Sept. 3, 1752, which day was called the 14th. Unless that year he advanced his birthday and kept it on the 18th he did not observe the anniversary. With his dislike of keeping the day, he was perhaps glad to have it for once disappear. On Jan. 1, 1753, he notes down that he shall for the future use the New Style. P. 13. Post, to to spend this in such a manner that I may receive comfort from it at the hour of death and in the day of judgement. Amen. I intend to-morrow to review the rules I have at any time laid down, in order to practise them '. 7.. A PRAYER ON MY BIRTHDAY. Sept. 7, 17382. O God, the Creatour and Preserver of all Mankind, Father of all mercies, I thine unworthy servant do give Thee most humble thanks, for all thy goodness and lovingkindness to me. I bless Thee for my Creation, Preservation, and Redemption, for the knowledge of thy Son Jesus Christ, for the means of Grace and the Hope of Glory. In the days of Childhood and Youth, in the midst of weakness, blindness, and danger, Thou hast protected me; amidst Afflictions of Mind, Body, and Estate, Thou hast supported me; and amidst vanity and Wickedness Thou hast spared me. Grant, O merciful Father, that I may have a lively sense of thy mercies. Create in me a contrite Heart, that I may worthily lament my sins and acknowlege my wickedness, and obtain Remission and forgiveness, through the satisfaction of Jesus Christ. And, O Lord, enable me, by thy Grace, to redeem the time which I have spent in Sloth, Vanity, and wickedness; to make use of thy Gifts to the honour of thy Name; to lead a new life in thy Faith, Fear, and Love; and finally to obtain everlasting Life. Grant this, Almighty Lord, for the merits and through the mediation of our most holy and blessed Saviour Jesus Christ; to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, Three Persons and one God, be all honour and Glory, World without end. Amen. Tr[anscribed] June 26, 17683. This is the first solemn prayer, of which I have a copy. Whether I composed any before this, I question. Hawkins's Johnson, p. 163, and Life, i. 70. 2 This was the first birthday after his settlement in London. 3 Post, under 1768. somewhat in the sense of the first of his definitions of that word in his Dictionary-anniversary; observed once a year with religious ceremonies. This paragraph is not in the manu 4 He uses solemn, I conjecture, script. PRAYER 8. PRAYER ON NEWYEAR'S DAY. Jan. 1, 1748. Almighty and everlasting God, in whose hands are life and death, by whose will all things were created, and by whose providence they are sustained, I return thee thanks that Thou hast given me life, and that thou hast continued it to this time, that thou hast hitherto forborn to snatch me away in the midst of Sin and Folly, and hast permitted me still to enjoy the means of Grace, and vouchsafed to call me yet again to Repentance. Grant, O merciful Lord, that thy Call may not be vain, that my Life may not be continued to encrease my Guilt, and that thy gracious Forbearance may not harden my heart in wickedness. Let me remember, O my God, that as Days and Years pass over me, I approach nearer to the Grave, where there is no repentance', and grant, that by the assistance of thy Holy Spirit, I may so pass through this Life, that I may obtain Life everlasting, for the Sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 9. Jan. 1, 174. Almighty and most merciful Father, who hast not yet suffered me to fall into the Grave, grant that I may so remember my past Life, as to repent of the days and years which I have spent in forgetfulness of thy mercy, and neglect of my own Salvation, and so use the time which thou shalt yet allow me, as that I may become every day more diligent in the duties which in thy Providence shall be assigned me, and that when at last I shall be called to judgement I may be received as a good and faithful servant into everlasting happiness, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 'Nevertheless he later on thought it possible, and perhaps even probable, that the dead might receive benefit from the prayers of the living. Post, pp. 14, 15. Almighty 10. Jan. 1, 178, after 3 in the morning. Almighty God, by whose will I was created, and by whose Providence I have been sustained, by whose mercy I have been called to the knowledge of my Redeemer, and by whose Grace whatever I have thought or acted acceptable to thee has been inspired and directed, grant, O Lord, that in reviewing my past life, I may recollect' thy mercies to my preservation 2, in whatever state thou preparest for me, that in affliction I may remember how often I have been succoured, and in Prosperity may know and confess from whose hand the blessing is received. Let me, O Lord, so remember my sins, that I may abolish them by true repentance, and so improve the Year to which thou hast graciously extended my life, and all the years which thou shalt yet allow me, that I may hourly become purer in thy sight; so that I may live in thy fear, and die in thy favour, and find mercy at the last day, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen. 11. PRAYER ON THE RAMBLER 3. 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 my undertaking, thy Holy Spirit may not be withheld from me, but that I may promote thy glory, and the Salvation both of myself and others; grant this, O Lord, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen. |