New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-13
DIR. JOHNSON'S LETTERS.
AN p, INTERESTING AND WELL-EDITED
COLLECTION

LETTERS OF SAMUEL JOHNSON. Ii. D. Collected
and edited by George Birkbeck Hill d. C. L. IN
Brothers.
These volumes represent an immense amount
of labor and research on the part of the editor
and an enthusiasm in the work which renders Ills
cOpious notes exceedingly interesting and full OF
value. They have been collected from many
sources, and yet after all that was possible has
been done, there are four years in Johnsons lie
which remain unrepresented by single line OF
correspondence BY far the larger number OF the
letters now published Were written 10 Mrs. 1hrale
Many of these have been taken from the collection
which she herself printed after she had become
Mrs. Pozzi. DR.. Hill had great trouble with
these, owing to Mrs. Piozzis careless and inaccu-
rate methods, and also to the fact first pointed
out by Boswell and Baretti) that the lady had
fabricated not few of the letters ascribc1 10
herself. There is, however, no suspicion that she
attempted anything of the kind with Johnson's
letters and these therefore retain all their in
tercst. Perhaps the most notable feature of the
letters to Mrs. Thrale is the appearance in them
Of lightness and sporiveness very different from
the "Johnsonese" of the writer's literary style.
In writing to Mrs. Thrale he often condescends
to mild jokes and playful illusions. and in
his serious moods he seldom becomes stiff. One
other popularity these epistlcs have: they are
frequently marked by classical quotations. This
is the more distinctive inasmuch as in writing
to ordinary friends johnson rarely makes quo
tation of any kind. No doubt he varied his
habit in this instance as a compliment to his
correspondents supposed lbut not very profound
learning.
Necessarily the letters reveal but little of the
racy wit which characterized the Doctors con-
vcrsation. He fond of giving good advice
TO his friends, but it was Of kind which few Of
them would apparently he apt to follow. Among
the Thralc letters are several written in the con.
solatory vein upon the deaths of her children
or these II must be said that they lack the ring
of real sympathy and feeling. Barctti, whose
malignity toward Mrs. Thrale did not ALWAYS
hinder him from making shrcwd observations.
wrote in one of his marginal notes on Mrs Pozzi's
collection Of Johnson's letters that the Doctor
did not really much for ANYBODY: that his
business was to be wise OF course this could
be only partially true. but his letters to Mrs
Ihrale and also to his Master" Henry Thralc
certainly do not impress with the idea that
he felt the pathos of the bcreavements which he
deplores in measured terms. His philosophy in
this respect strikes us as cold II amounts 10
this that the best advice to those who have lost
dear ones is to forget them soon as possible
end that the best way 10 forget them is to ily to
amusement, or to activity of any kind. 1t may
DO doubted whether man who had had children
himself, and had lost them. could have written
so to bercaved mother in the first poignancy of
her suffering
Mrs. Thralc. however, appears 70 have been
somewhat easily consocd. The suggestion of
distraction evidently appealed strongly to her
Later III life she fell into deadly feud with her
daughters, who not only repudiated her but
assailed her actively and bitterly. 1t is more |
than possible that this unflial conduct had it's |
source in heredity. DR.. johnson could he |
sentimental, but unfortunately bis sentiment was
so clrcumsfanced as to provoke a hooking spirit |
In his friends and in postcrty There is a letter
written TO his wife in these volumes which the !
editor charactcrizcs as the gem ~ the collection
In this letter the Doctor addresses Mrs johnson, |
who was then nearly 1ifty-one, as my dear
girl" "my charming love-" and as the most
amiable woman in the world" Dr. Hill makes
the following remarks upon the epistle well
she was twenty years older than Johnson and no
doubt deserved some of the ridcule which Lord
Maoaulay has lavishy cast upon her Never !
theess OF the time Of her marriage she was of jus,
the same age Barbara Duchess Of Cleve- |
land, when our great historian describes her as
no longer young but still retaining some traces |
Of that superb and volmptuous LONELINESS which |
twenty years before overcarne the hearts of all |
men, For all we know, it was Mrs Johnson's |
superb and voluptuous lovelincss which overcame
the heart Of the lamented Mr. Porter, the Biz
mingham mercer. and it was the trace of it which
overcame young Samuel johnson. She was only
q decent married woman: had she been a royal
Larlot, Macauay, instead of hooking her cerusc
bloom might himself had laid on the colors with
an ardor and skill scarcely surpassed by Sir
Peter LEY
That is not quite fair TO Macaulay, but il
should be remembered that he was a bachelor and
perhaps he could not realize married love capa-
bic OF surviving youth and beauty, and Of contnu-
Ing in its pristine glow beyond the frontier Of
old age. It is true that this cannot exactly be
applied TO Johnson's case, since he had not known
his wife when he young, and must have been
attracted by her very mature charms. Yet his
love for her deserves to he regarded wholly
genuine, and even if she was as dull and common
place in the unsympotletc eyes Of the world as
Macaulay has described her, his assumption that
she ridiculous that JohnSon's feeling for
her was ridiculous is proof rather Of the critics
lack Of experience than of his solid Judgment.
But there Is another point of view to be con-
sidered. DR.. johnson always prone to
ploy cndearing expressions when writing to
women Had he been any other than the
he was, the terms in which he often addressed
Mrs. 1hrac might have seemed 10 Justify the
impressions of " the Master" The truth is that
despite his bearishness he full of chivarous
regard for women. and this he showed plainly
in his correspondence
AS the years went on and his bodily condition
grew worse, a tone of almost morbid complaint
and reproach marked his letters to Mrs. Thrae. |
lie Is always experimenting abandonment after
Mrs Tbralc's death, and the return of Pozzi to
England indeed brought upon him the worst he
had feared. In these declining years, moreover.
he is very full OF himself. Ills letters often
little more than medical reports He tells his
mistress that he has taken physics" that he
has been blooded" how many ounces have been
taken from him how he suffers from sarcocee;
the nature Of the remedies applied how his