New-York daily tribune., 1843-08-31
Letters from Dir. Weed -. No. XIII.
Correspondence of tn Albany Evening Joarl,sI

Correspondence II tn Albany Evening JoarnsI
Lospoy, JrL7 II, 1873
s-and myself have dined with Dr.. SAMUEl
JoHysoN, Are you lncredulous Then let ne c1,
plain. We dincd at the g DR.. Samuel johnson
Tavern a Steak and Chop House, in Bolt
Court" where the great English scholar and
noralist lived. In entering the threshold. passed
so many hundred times by the Author Of Rasse-
las. emotions Of reverence and awe cane over
me which the presence or personiicat!ono OF genus
virtue or piety only can inspire. Would that
these walls could impart TO yisters some portion
of ,hc etheral spirit with which their former Illus
trinrs occupant was so deeply irnbucd
When DR.. Johnson came to London ne tooN
1lp his residence IN Court which stu pears nus
na,nc bpt ne soon removed to the house refer
n y, :. Pol, Court. where he resided many years.
and where 50 mary Of his achievements IN Let
1ers and Literature were accomplished ] hese
Conr.s both run ont Of Fleet street. and are IN
The vicinity of Temple Bar and the Strand. The
room in which Dr.Johnson read and wrote, upon
the first floor is projection from the man build
inc. about twelve feet long and eight wide, with
fat roof through which he had 4 sky-lght
constructed. This room remains as he left 1t,
though the other portions of the building have
been slightly modernlzed.
We ale q silent dinner, but memory was active
and aler, III cDnluring up images Of the Painters,
Poets. Philosophers and Sages who, in that Au-
GUSTAV aye Of British Literature, surrounded this
great literary Leyathan. The foot prints OF men
whose learning and researches, whose talents and
genus, contributed othe supremacy which Eng
land attained IN Letters, IN Science and N the
Arts during the eighteenth century, have been left
upon the plank that we now pressed. 1t was here
that Boswell watched and waited Hlth obsequl-
QUE attention and patience, for the fifty spoken
words that fell from the Lions mouth. II was
here that GaRRIcK came TO play with the Lions
name, see his claws, and hear him roar 1t was
here that GOLDSMITH came TO encounter reprool
It was here that Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS and hr.
LAyGroy came for social communion. 1t was
here that BFAucLERK, STEVENS, ColMAN and
SHERIDAN polished and chastened their wit. 1t
was here that Or. PERcY, Sir WILLIAM FORBES
and Mr.. CAMBRIDGE rcpcnished Their stores of
knowledge. 1t was here too, that WINDH,M and
WALPoLg and BURKE passed hours in those = col
LESSONS Of mind " to which the world s indebted
for It's mental lights. And here Beauty, as assd
uously as Learning, paid It's court. Here Mrs.
THRAlg, Mrs. MoNTAGu, Mrs. SIDDoNs, HANNAH
MoRE and FRANCES BURNEY came to make
Tea = for the RAMBLER 1t was here that the
Doctor on the occasion of Mrs. SIDDoN's first
cali to g Bolt Court when a char was not lm-
1nediately al hand for her, said, You, madam,
who have kept your visitors so frequently without
seats, can the better excuse this discourtesy.
In this court the giant in intellect, but elephant
in person, was won't 10 take exercise, with gait
between an amble and roll Here the cater
ers in Paternoster Row used to goad hlni on
v ;th his literary ahors and here Printers De
Wis used to beleaguer him for copy Here
Authors beset him for Prefaces,' Players for
ePrologues, and surviving friends for Epl,aphs
Here he made his poweriu! but unavalllng appeal
for the Ruya! clcmency 10 the Rev. DR.. DoDD 1t
was here he rescued the manuscript Sermons OF
the Rev. DR.. BLAIR from an oblivion to whlcht they
had been consigned by an Autocrat Publisher.
Dr. Johnson, you know, was an inveteratc
Tony in Literature, Religion and Politics. In
Politics, as in all else that concerned his princi-
pies (or p.ejndiccs), he was nveteratc, vindlctivc
and denunciatory America, before and during
the Revolution came in for full and rounded
measures Of abuse, expressed in language and
sentences that fc from his lips like thunder bolts.
In speaking of us to the Rev. DIR. CAMPBELL, he
IL ropresontod by Boswell saying /" SIR, they
are race ri conuiCts, and hu2 Oug M 10 tc thuHh
jul for eoe,y thing 1re dito,p them short q hang
lng." But | am willing to forgive him Tor that
and all his other Tory offences for single para
graph in the Pamphlet entitled TAXATION NO
TYRAYNy, winch he wrote for the Ministry, IN
reply to the Resolutions and Address OF the
American Congress, In l715. The manuscript
copy of that Pamphlet, which was submitted,
before publication, TO the Ministry, contained the
following paragraph, which does not appear IN
The printed copy. The style would sufficiently
establish It's paternity If there were not other and
conclusive evidences of It's Iohnsonlan origin:
Their numbers at present not quite soheTnt Tor
The greatness which form of government OF Other IS
10 rival hr Ancient Mouaches; but by Dr. tranhlms rule
Of progression. they VIII in century and quaTe' be
mor- an equal the Inhabitants Of Europe When the
Whigs Of America thus mUlUp'ed let the Pnnces OF
the Earth tremhe in their Palaces ithey should eonnue
10 donb'e aud double their own hemisphere would not
cont them Bat let bodest imusneIs OF author.
ity look forward with delight to this intnry Of Whgsm
The reasons for suppressing this paragraph are
transparent. 1t was q handwriting upon the
walt of fearful import. Less than half tlie term
oi wears to which DR.. Johnson looked forward
have been numbered. but the prophecy IS more
3han half fulfilled
have been TO WEsrMINsrER-:tBDEY, that mag
nifccnt and sublime scpuchre Tor Monarclls,
Princes Philosophers, Phanthropsts Poets and
Painters. All that | had heard and read Of the
architectural and historical wonders OF the Abbey,
into whose vaults, ais!es. chapciS nGves and
inches, the ashes of the illuStr!ous dead of eight
centuries have been gathered lett me wholly tn-
prepared FOR the srendeur and gorgeousness OF the
memorials here revealed. Here rcposcs all that
remains OF the mortality of those who were emo
h,ed either by birth or by deeds with oil that mar
hle aud brass can do 10 perpetuae their fame
But tombs and tablets and monuments and STA
tues however ainbitiousiv adorned or cXquisitely
wrought, serve FAR more etectually 10 illustrate
Creators power, than TO magnify creatures rank
or name.
fingered about these silent chambers Of the
mighty dead with inQujying eyes, until the visit