New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-09-20
BIOGRAPHY.

Everybody will remember DR.. Johnson's
joke (for it was nothing more serOus) when
he was told that his Life was to be written by
Mr.. BOsweIl-"Sir if | thought so, L would
"prevent 1t by taking his" There is reason
to believe that the Doctor was well enough
satisfied with his biographical prospects, and
that he privately assisted Boswell in his accu-
| mutation of materials. The consequence is,
that we have probably the best Life" which
was ever written of any human being. 1t is
curious to notice that upon Johnson's death
there was precisely the same mania for writing BIZ
ographies ofhm which, in our own day, followed
the death of Mr.. Dickens and those familiar
with the literature of that period will readily
recall the scramble to be first in the market
which so much annoyed Boswell, and the
hastily written "reminiscences of the great man
which were put out by Hawkins, Piozzi, and
Miss Reynolds, to mention no others. The
post norton fate of several literary men seems
to have so much alarmed the late Mr.. John
Stuart Mill, that he took measures to avert
the misfortunes which even IN their graves
overlook Dickens and Thackeray. Because,
TO use the language of Mr. MilPs testament,
ain these days no one is secure against at
"tempts to make money by means of pre-
blended biographies he left behind him a
short account of his life written by himself,
in absolute charge of his step-daughter, Miss
Helen Taylor, to be published or not at her
will and discretion. In the event of the lady's
death during his lifetime, the business of
publication is cOnfided to Mr.. William Thomas
Thornton. The philosopher then enters
general caveat against all other pretended
biographies" assuring us that all materials
for his "Lifen are in the hands of Miss
TAYLOR, and of her only, and that nobody else
can possibly be qualified to write his bio
graphy. We can easily imagine that the nice
and irascible Rogers could he have foreseen the
trashy "Reminiscences which were printed after
his death, would have taken similar precau-
ton. Sir Walter Scott might have felt that
his memory would be safe in the skillful
hands of his son-in-law. Lockhart f; and
Southey, bookmaker by profession, would
have looked forward with pleasure to his
bulky biography prepared by filial hands, and
certainly with something more even than flial
reverence. Charles Lamb would hardly have
been afraid of any important indiscretiOn on
the part of his friend TalfOrd. When Cole
ridge passed away, there was more than one
catchpenny book printed about him; but he
was too ndolent to have lifted his hand to
avert the disaster Lord Byron, who carefully
wrote his own Life" was spared the morti-
fcatiOn of knowing that when he could not
help himself his work, the loss of which is
one of the greatest which ever befell English
literature, would be burned by the connivance
IF his own family and his friend Murray.
If every great man should be az fastidious
as Mr. Mill, unquestionably the world would
be greatly the loser. His feelings are of
course TO be religiously respected; but if we
are to know no nose of distinguished char
acters than they please to have known, and If
biography is to become a sort of conspiracy
between its subjects and their chroniclers. it
is doubtful whether we shall hereafter get
ANYTHING much better than the dull and
prudish and not over Trustworthy productions
of Mr.. Jared Sparks Hero-worshipers of the
life-writing sort are of two kinds. One
class is decOrous, careful, and reticent the
other colloquial, familiar, and garrulous.
Sometimes everything is concealed which can
Dos5ibly detract from the dignity OF u lay