Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-01-09
DR.. Samuel johnson.
THE PRoDIGIoUsNEss OF HIM, IN VARIOUS
ASPECTS.


ness. He was extraordinary in every way
in his mind and in his body, in his wisdom
and in his prejudices, in his learning and
in his superstiions, in his pety and in his
bigotry; there was nothing ordinary abou
him, all descriptions of him are nearly
alike, all impressions much the same
However excellent or mean the artist ol
the biographer, the picture is recognized
there is no mistaking the great lexico
grapher- the imperial talker; the man
and the character stand before you.
He has heen well described us "a robust
genius, born to grappe with whole Ii
braries.' When child in pettcoats he got
Common Prayer book, and repeated it dis.
tinclly, though he had read it but twice
While yet IL boy, during the first inter.
view with IA tutor in the presence of grave
professors, he quo,td Macrobius, to the
astonishment of the company About the
same time, after II violent attack of his
disorder. he communicated the Stale of his
case to his physician in Latin, who was
struck with the extraordinary acuteness,
research and eloquence' of the paper.
1t is easy for us to see him, us he has
been described to us, ut the table. - He
was totally absorbed in the business of the
moments his looks seemed riveted to his
plate; nor would lie, unless in very high
company, say one word, or even pay the
least attention to what was said by Others,
till he had satisfied his appetite, which WAS
SO fierce. and indulged with such intense
ness, that while in the act Of eating the
veins OF his forehead swelled, and general
y strong perspiration was visible. In
eating and drinking he could refrain, but
he could not use moderately" Everything
about his character and manners, salu
Boswell, was forcible and violent; there
never was any moderation; many day
did he fast, many year did he refrain
from wine; but when he did eat, it was
voraciously; when he drank wine, it was
copously. He could practice abstinence
but not temperance. He told Boswell that
he had tasted two days without inconven-
ience, and that he had never been hungry
but once. " Early in life" he said to Ed
wards. Il drank wine; but for many years
drank none. then, for several years.
drank great deal" Some hogsheads,
| warrant you" responded Edwards, dar-
ingly. and was uncontradicted. " did
not he said, on another occasion, leave
off wine because could not bear it, |
have drank three bottles of port without
being the worse for it." We all know how
copiously he drank tea at Thrale's. Six
teen cups, wasn't it, that he dlank at II
sitting?
His personal courage was prodigious.
He would beat large dogs that were fight
ing till they separated. To prove that II
gun would not burst if charged with many
balls, he put in six or seven and fired it
against wall. One night he was attack
ed in the street by four men, all of whom
he kept at bay till relieved by the watch.
A man having taken possession of his seat
between the side-scenes, and refusing to
give it up, was tossed by the mad philoso-
pher, chair and all, into the pit. Foote
had resolved to ridicule him on the stage
but changed his mind when he heard that
johnson had been inquiring of Tom Davis
the book seller the price of oak sticks. ~
am told that Foote means to take me OFF,
us he calls it, and | am determined the
fellow shall not do it with impunity." He
borne with folio and put his foot on his
neck. " Sir, he was impertinent to me,
and | beat him." His defiant letter to
Macpherson shows how utterly impossible
it was to intimidate him.
Such, we are told, was the heat and IL
ritability of his blood, that he pared his
nails to the quick and scraped the joints of
his fingers with penknifc till they were red
and raw. "Gencrally,w when he had conclud-
ed a period, in the course of II dispute, bv
which time he was Il good deal exhausted
by violence and vocleration, he used to
blow out his breath like Il whale. "Tht re
is no arguing with Johnson" were the
words of Cibber in one of his comedies,
put, YOU remember, into the mouth of
Goldsmith: For when his pistol misses
fire he knocks you down with the butt of
it, His laugh, too, was tremendous; not
like the laugh of any other man. He
laughs" SAYS Davis, :" like a rhinoceros. -
When Hoparth first SAW him he thought
he was AN idiot: but when he heard him
speak, he thought him inspired. Gnrrick
said of his superlative powers of wit:
Rabelais and all the other wits are moth
iny compared with him. You may be di-
verified by them: but johnson pives Won a
forcible hug, and shakes laughter out of
YOU. whether you will or no."
That was an interesting view that Max
well had of johnson. when two Young wo-
men visited him to consult ON the subject
of Methodism, to which they were inclined.
1t shows graphically another side of the
great moralist Come" said he, you
pretty fools. dine with Maxwell and mo al
The Mitre, and we will talk over the sub
iect;' which, said Maxwell, they did, and
after dinner he took one of them upon his
knee. and foudled her for half an hour TO-
gerher.
He was great in his selfrespect, and his
conduct during the famous interview with
the KING, in The library of the queens
house, proved that he could not, under anv
circumstances, be made to forget it. While
he showed the nrotountlest rcsnect far ms
majesty. his conversation was such AS one
gentleman would have with another. DIR.
Hill. one of the kings Etvoritos. was dis
cussed and criticised, and the literary
Journals of The day we're freely commented
upon by both.
lie had, everybody knows. an extrava-
CANT regard for the hierarchy, and parlicu-
Iarly Tor the dignitaries OF the church.
That bow of his to the archbishop of York,
described by Mr.. Seward, who Witnessed
it, was in character with the man, and was
a thing to see. 1t was such II studied