New-York tribune., 1909-12-05

Scarcely have the echoes died away
az the celebration OF the 2o0th an
niversary OF the great DIR. Samuel
Johnson's birth. September is. 1909.
when along comes the I25th anniver-
ssry OF his death. December is. l7ss. 10
demand attention. What is the cause
% Johnson's extraordinary hold upon
cultured people aftersa all these years:
Al attempt 20 answer this question was
made by Lord Rosebery at Litchfield.
.rohnson's birthplace. on the occasion OF
me bicentenary celebration. when he
seid:
n does not. / think. mainly rest upon
his works. His twelve volumes sleep,
fear. on our shelves-at least. they do on
rnine He he's written Two of the noblest
poems IN the language. yet these. think,
have only once been separately printed. in
1sss. though they contain immortal lines
snd were the poems that Walter Scott. so
remote n style and thought, most admired
much es Byron admired Pope. His Lives
os The Poets are destined, think. 20 an
~neurire reputation. lie cannot always ap-
rreciste: he is unjust 70 Gray; some Of his
criticisms remind ono OF the poulterer's
Phoenix O, wnitebread; they seem not in
frequently 20 gauge poetry IN the spirit OF
s- exciserazn- His critical faculty. indeed.
dio not always inspire confidence He
could not enjoy Tycidas': ne did not care
Cor Theocr1tus; his prejudice against Gray
~as even stronger than il appears in the
Lives; hs greatly preferred Richardson 70
Fielding. His Shapespear1an criticism is,
believe. held by competent Judges not 10
possess any special value
viz erf
delighcrul sketches OF poets and poetasters
which. once one has taken them IN hand.
ore os- scarcely lay down; and one cannot
doubt sSat these are destined 10 long
rfe, for they are the work OF master OF
letter. dealing with that department OF
n1rarure which he loved the best so that
rerius ana inclination worked hand in
han6- But who reads the rest? ] speak
only for myself. The Rsmblers' and the
-I6lers' are dead Cor me. ] hope that there
are others more fortunate 'Rasselas' 1
~exc, not voluntarily, but essiduously, at
school-Qsngh probably for that
-eason never wish 20 read again Even the
thought OF this celebration could not over
come my repugnance- OF Irene" Il may
oe amhiguously said that il is like no other
tragedy IN existence. and that II leaves the
reader cold and less than cold
Z have read for business purposes
<oeeches under other names, which DR..
Johnson no doubt composed But, speak
ing as sn individual and iliterate Briton,
make this confession: ] make II IN dust
s-o ashes. with e sheet and a candle, un-
der every visible form Of penanoe-Qsugh-
ter)-but cannot honestly withhold IL
And, after al. TWO poems and some pleas
ing Biographies 90 not OF themselves, as
rule. constitute q claim 70 lasting fame.
GREATEST MAN OF LETTERS.
He was. however, ] think. our greatest
man OF letters in a large sense OF that
vague term. The variety OF his writings
IN what We should now consider as periooi-
Gals; his knowledge OF literature; his deal
ings with literature: his command Of htera-
rure. the mass Of his writings discovered
or untraced which he could scarcely recall
himself: his passionate interest IN letters;
above al. his converssnce with literary
biography, entitle him 10 that place. IL
IS a reputation which would vaguely have
remained 10 him even had his works not
survived. But IL would have been 8 fame
widely different from that concrete and
personal base on which he IS now estab-
iished forever
Then. again, there is that which does
not appear In his works, the great die
fionary. Here our consciences are easy,
for no one is known 10 have read Il die
-ionary through except Lord Chatham. who
boasted that he had read 'Bsiiey's Die
tionary' twice through This IS an idle
Vaunt. which none would wish 10 emulate
-Qsughterl-though Boswell tells US. not
without truth. that johnson was so atten-
Tive N the choice Of the passages in which
rhe words are authorized that one may
Tead page after page OF his dictionary with
Improvement and pleasure The enterprise
af a dictionary IS. indeed. a vast task.
which johnson. like 4 hero, undertook
singie-hanoeo and accomplished IN less
rhan nine years. That. no doubt. was what
originally gave johnson his fame.
such fame OF itself would scarcely
extend % the fifth OF sixth generation. for
~ ts the melancholy fate OF dictionaries 10
nle superseded. But the man who frames a
dictionary. ana great dictionary. IN an
age when such collections are few and
barren. ef onoe sttains q singular. though
not necessarily q lasting. fame That repu-
tation johnson achieved. his work became
prcverbial. and sJohnson'e Dictionary was