The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-05 00:00:00

James Ridgway, Piccadilly, and all Booksellers.

Mr. Newby will shortly publish, in 3 vols., 31s. 6d.,
THE OLD DOMINION.
By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq.,
Author of" The Gipsy," " The Robber," "Darnley," &c.
" Mr. James, we hear," says the Tribune, " has devoted upwards
of two years in the completion of a new historical romance of Ameri-
can life of the present day, and the on dit is that it aurpasses'the best
of his early works."

THE SURVIVING RELATIVES OF DR.
SAMUEL JOHNSOIV.

In the month of May last there was presented to'Lord
Palmerston, as head of her Majesty's Government, a
memorial on behalf of Deoertai g lot Lowe Riad her
sister, which rtteiraWrierhlnirsti_ i ltrapittarseriniT
indicate who the Misses Lowe are to those who read it
here :
"The undersigned beg respectfully to submit to Lord
Palmerston a statement of reasons which appear to them
to constitue, on behalf of the two aged surviving daugh-
ters of Mauritius Lowe, therein described, a claim to
such small yearly pension as in his lordship's judgment
may consist with other claims and demands for the en-
suing year, upon the fund appropriated to literature.
"in Dr. Samuel Johnson's last will is this passage,—
" also give and bequeath to my godchildren, the
son and daughter of Mauritius Lowe, painter, each of
them 1001. of my stock in the Three per Cent. Consoli-
dated Annuities, to be disposed of by and at the discre-
tion of my executors in the education or settlement in the
world of them my said legatees.'
"The Mauritius Lowe mentioned here, who was once
a man of great promise in his art, favourably known in
the Royal Academy and in the world as a man of refined
manners and real talent and worth (though probably
with something of morbid or over-sensitive in his charac-
ter), died 10 years after Johnson without fulfilling the
high hopes entertained of him. The godson, or younger
Lowe, mentioned in the will, who at one time (1810-13)
appears to have held some small appointment in Bar-
badoes, creditably to himself, but with loss of health—
the crown and consummation of various other losses he
had met with—is also long since dead. Of these Lowes
and their hopes and struggles there is now nothing to be
said. They are sunk under the horizon. Nor can they
pretend to have any hold of the world's memory except
what is derived from the father's intimacy with Johnson,
of which and of Johnson's helpfulness and real esteem
and affection for the man there are still abundant proofs,
printed and not printed, besides this of the will.
"But the goddaughter mentioned in the will has not
yet sunk under the horizon. She still survives among
us, a highly respectable old person, now in her 78th year,
with all her faculties about her, living with her younger
sister, aged 72, the only other remnant of the family, in
a house they have long occupied—No. 5, Minerva-place,
New-cross, Deptford— with numerous memorials of
Johnson in their possession; which vividly bring home
to us, and present as a still living fact, their connection
with that great man. They have lived there for many
years in rigorous though not undignified poverty, which
now, by some unforeseen occurrences, threatens to be-
come absolute indigence in these their final years.
"They are gentlewomen in manners ; by all evidence
persons of uniformly unexceptionable conduct ; veracity,
sense, ingenious propriety, noticeable in them both, to a
superior degree. The elder, especially, must have been
a graceful lively little woman, something of a beauty in
her younger days, and by no means wanting for talent.
She still recollects in a dim but ineffaceable manner the
big, awful figure of Samuel Johnson; to whom she was
carried shortly before his death, that he might lay his
hand on her head and give her his blessing ; her awe
and terror were very great on the occasion. Both
sisters are in perfect possession of their faculties—the
younger only is slightly hard of hearing ; the elder (on
whose head lay Johnson's band) has still a light step,
perfectly erect carriage, and vivacious memory and in-
tellect. The younger, who is of very honest and some-
what sterner features, appears to be the practical intellect
of the house, and probably the practical hand. They
are very poor, but have taken their poverty in a quiet,
unaffectedly handsome manner, an I have still hope that,
in some way or other, intolerable want will not be per-
mitted to overtake them. They have an altogether
respectable, or, we might say (bringing the past and the
oresent into contact), a touching and venerable air.
There, in their little parlour at Deptford, is the fir desk
(capable of being rigorously authenticated as such) upon
which Samuel Johnson wrote the English Dictionary ;
the best dictionary ever written. say some.
"It is in behalf of these two women, of Johnson's god-
daughter, fallen, old and indigent, that we venture to
solicit from the Government some small public subven-
tion, to screen their last years from the worst misery. It
may be urged that there is ro public fund appropriated
for such precise objects, and that their case cannot, ex-
cept iu a reflex way, be brought under the head of `lite-
rary pensions :' but, in a relex way, it surely can ;
and
we humbly submit withal, teat this case of theirs is, in
some measure, a peculiar and unique one.
" Samuel Johnson is suet' a literary man as probably
will not appear again in England for a very great length
of time. His works and his life looked at well have
s ,mething in them heroic, which is of value beyond most
literature, and much keyoad all money and moneys
worth to, the nation which produced him. That same
English Dictionary, written on the poor fir desk above
spoken of, under sternly memorable circumstances, is
itself a proud possession to the English nation, and not
in the philological point of view alone. Such a dictionary
has an architectonic quabty in it ; and for massive
solidity of plan, manful correctness and fidelity of execu
tion, luminous intelligence, rugged honesty and great-
ness of mind pervading every part of it, is like no other.
This, too, is a Cathedral of St. Paul's, after its sort ; and
stands there for long periods, silently reminding every
English soul of much that is very necessary to remember.
" Samuel Johnson himself is far beyond the reach of
our gratitude. Ho left no child or representative of any
kind to claim pensions or distinctions from us ; and
here, by accident, thrown upon the waste sea.beaeh,
is
something venerably human with Johnson's mark st:11
legible upon it • Johnson, as it were, mutely bequeath-
ing it to us, and what humanity and loyalty we have,
for the few years that may still be left. Our humble re-
quest, in the name of literature withal is, that the Eng-
lish nation will, in some small adequate way, respond to
this demand of Johnson's.
" Henry Hallam, Wilton-crescent.
" James Stephen, Trinity-hall, Cambridge.
" S. Oxon, Cuddesdon Palace.
"Thomas Carlyle, 5, Cheyne-row, Chelsea.
"Alexander Dyce, 9, Gray's-inn-square.
"B. W. Proctor, 32, Weymouth-street, Portland

place.
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" Rod. E. MurchßaisroolaelhßC-8111
" B. Diseaeli, Grosvenor-gate.
" H. H. Milman, Deanery, St. Paul's."
To this memorial his Lordship made answer, with
great courtesy and without undue delay, that the fund
set apart for encouragement of literature could not be
meddled with for a pension to the goddaughter of John-
son ; but that, in consideration of the circumstances, his
Lordship, from some other fund, bad made her a dona-
tion of 1001. Which sum of 1001. was accordingly paid
to Miss Lowe in June last—a very welcome gift and
help—all that the Prime Minister could do in this mat-
ter, and, unfortunately, only about the fifth part of what
it was, and is, indispensable to get done.
It was still hoped that the last resource of an appeal
to the public might be avoided ; that there might be
other Government helps, minute charitable funds, ade-
quate to this small emergency. And new endeavours
were accordingly made in that direction, and new expec-
tations entertained ; but these likewise have all proved
ineffectual ; and the resulting fact now is, that there is
still needed something like an annuity of 30/. for the
joint lives of these two aged persons; that, strictly com-
puting what pittances certain and precarious they already
have, and what they still want, their case cannot be sa-
tisfactorily left on lower terms—that is to say, about 4001.
to purchase such an annuity, is still needed for them.
If the thing is half as English as we suppose it to be,
a small pecuniary result of that kind is not doubtful,
now when the application is once made. At all events,
as the English Government is not able to do this thing,
we are now bound to apprise the English natio❑ of it,
and to ask the English nation in its miscellaneous capa-
city—Are you willing to do it ?
Messrs. Coutts, bankers, will receive subscriptions
from such as feel that this is a valid call upon English
beneficence ; and we havetoo much reverence for Samuel
Johnson, and for the present generation of his country-
men, to use any soliciting or ignoble pressure on the oc-
casion. So soon as the requisite amount has come in,
the subscriptions will cease, of which due notice will be
given. gluireaagrYeee.
sfqu Surgeons.a
Wight.

THOMAS CARLYLE.
CHARLES DICKENS
A.theumura Club, Oct, 81. JOIX F9lifiTZß.