When I mentioned the same idle clamour to him several years afterwards,he said,with a smile,'I wish my pension were twice as large,that they might make twice as much noise.'--BOSWELL.
There was here,most certainly,an affectation of more Jacobitism than he really had.Yet there is no doubt that at earlier periods he was wont often to exercise both his pleasantry and ingenuity in talking Jacobitism.My much respected friend,Dr.Douglas,now Bishop of Salisbury,has favoured me with the following admirable instance from his Lordship's own recollection.One day,when dining at old Mr.Langton's where Miss Roberts,his niece,was one of the company,Johnson,with his usual complacent attention to the fair sex,took her by the hand and said,'My dear,I hope you are a Jacobite.'Old Mr.Langton,who,though a high and steady Tory,was attached to the present Royal Family,seemed offended,and asked Johnson,with great warmth,what he could mean by putting such a question to his niece?'Why,Sir,(said Johnson)I meant no offence to your niece,I meant her a great compliment.A Jacobite,Sir,believes in the divine right of Kings.He that believes in the divine right of Kings believes in a Divinity.A Jacobite believes in the divine right of Bishops.He that believes in the divine right of Bishops believes in the divine authority of the Christian religion.Therefore,Sir,a Jacobite is neither an Atheist nor a Deist.That cannot be said of a Whig;for Whiggism is a negation of all principle.'He used to tell,with great humour,from my relation to him,the following little story of my early years,which was literally true:
'Boswell,in the year 1745,was a fine boy,wore a white cockade,and prayed for King James,till one of his uncles (General Cochran)gave him a shilling on condition that he should pray for King George,which he accordingly did.So you see (says Boswell)that Whigs of all ages are made the same way.'--BOSWELL.
He advised me,when abroad,to be as much as I could with the Professors in the Universities,and with the Clergy;for from their conversation I might expect the best accounts of every thing in whatever country I should be,with the additional advantage of keeping my learning alive.
It will be observed,that when giving me advice as to my travels,Dr.Johnson did not dwell upon cities,and palaces,and pictures,and shows,and Arcadian scenes.He was of Lord Essex's opinion,who advises his kinsman Roger Earl of Rutland,'rather to go an hundred miles to speak with one wise man,than five miles to see a fair town.'
I described to him an impudent fellow from Scotland,who affected to be a savage,and railed at all established systems.JOHNSON.
'There is nothing surprizing in this,Sir.He wants to make himself conspicuous.He would tumble in a hogstye,as long as you looked at him and called to him to come out.But let him alone,never mind him,and he'll soon give it over.'
I added,that the same person maintained that there was no distinction between virtue and vice.JOHNSON.'Why,Sir,if the fellow does not think as he speaks,he is lying;and I see not what honour he can propose to himself from having the character of a lyar.But if he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice,why,Sir,when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.'
He recommended to me to keep a journal of my life,full and unreserved.He said it would be a very good exercise,and would yield me great satisfaction when the particulars were faded from my remembrance.I was uncommonly fortunate in having had a previous coincidence of opinion with him upon this subject,for I had kept such a journal for some time;and it was no small pleasure to me to have this to tell him,and to receive his approbation.He counselled me to keep it private,and said I might surely have a friend who would burn it in case of my death.From this habit Ihave been enabled to give the world so many anecdotes,which would otherwise have been lost to posterity.I mentioned that I was afraid I put into my journal too many little incidents.JOHNSON.
'There is nothing,Sir,too little for so little a creature as man.
It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.'
Next morning Mr.Dempster happened to call on me,and was so much struck even with the imperfect account which I gave him of Dr.
Johnson's conversation,that to his honour be it recorded,when Icomplained that drinking port and sitting up late with him affected my nerves for some time after,he said,'One had better be palsied at eighteen than not keep company with such a man.'
On Tuesday,July 18,I found tall Sir Thomas Robinson sitting with Johnson.Sir Thomas said,that the king of Prussia valued himself upon three things;--upon being a hero,a musician,and an authour.
JOHNSON.'Pretty well,Sir,for one man.As to his being an authour,I have not looked at his poetry;but his prose is poor stuff.He writes just as you might suppose Voltaire's footboy to do,who has been his amanuensis.He has such parts as the valet might have,and about as much of the colouring of the style as might be got by transcribing his works.'When I was at Ferney,Irepeated this to Voltaire,in order to reconcile him somewhat to Johnson,whom he,in affecting the English mode of expression,had previously characterised as 'a superstitious dog;'but after hearing such a criticism on Frederick the Great,with whom he was then on bad terms,he exclaimed,'An honest fellow!'
Mr.Levet this day shewed me Dr.Johnson's library,which was contained in two garrets over his Chambers,where Lintot,son of the celebrated bookseller of that name,had formerly his warehouse.
