The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-11-20
Observation-Disclosures
SAMUEL

+ Samuel Butler, whose "'Uudi- !.
+ bras was King Charles ii S =.
!! favorlte poem-R ichnrdson, the =
X son of n joiner, who was the !.
X first English novelist, and Mark !.
+ Twain, both of them printers in r
.- early ife-The literary dictator Il
r who liked to roll down bill, and =.
Il ters would not let him use flow i.
+ cry anguage-Means "Asked of :.
+
Judged by modern standards,
80 Pamela IS cumbersome. But it is
the first English novel whose charac-
tiers seem to be real men and women,
When Richardson was still strug-
CLING young printer, in 1909, Dr. Sam
uel johnson, one Of the most pic
turesque of all English men of letters,
was born. His father was well to-.
do bookseller, and Johnson, who, al
though fond Of exercise as boy, was
too indolent to excel in his studies,
spent much Of his time lounging at
home, reading Whenever he could find
verse now and then.
Johnson g fortunes soon changed, and
for many years he struggled with pow
erty. His father died in 1881, leaving
his son only a hundred dollars. John
son found himself, without any train
ing for the work, forced to take care
of himself. He tried various devices:
he ushercd at a. school, livod with
friend, wrote for the newspapers, and
finally married a widow, twenty years
older than himself, with several thou
sand collars Of her own.
Even with this small fortune at his
command, Johnson soon found himself
in hacd luck again. 1t is said he some
times walked the streets of London for
want of a lodging; and when his
mother died, he sat up nights for a
brought in enough money to pay the
cost Of her funeral, Finally he nc-
cepted a small pension from the gov
ernment, became acquainted with his
faithful biographer, Boswell, and
thereafter lived in comparative ease.
For over quarter of century John
son was the central figure in English
work as an author-altbough his Die
tionary was very popular, and his
"Lives of the Poets'' Will always be
remembered-bu as the center Of the
literary life of England, as a critic and
as brilliant conversationalist John
son was supreme,
Personally he was always eccentric,
cHCe, IL l5 sdlu; Hc cdu6 10 inc lup ol
a hill. 81 haven Il had a roll for a
long time he said; and thereupon,
his pockets, he rolled over
and over until he reached the bottom
of the hill. He was huge, physically,
and used to walk the streets with a
cumbersome. rolling walk, touching
every post as he passed along. He was
nearsi GIFTED; but on this subject he was
apparently little sensitive. Once he
said to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who had
painted him with pen held close TO
his eye: 81 don't want to descend to
posterity RS Blinking Sam.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, like the
rest Of these famous literary Samuels,
was an omnIvorous reader as n boy. He
was born in 1772, the son of clergy
man and schoolmaster. Colcridge re-
his father with great fond
ness and affection. "The image of my
father,'i he once wrote, "my reverend,
kind. simple hearted father, is a re-
ligIon to me-
Coleridge's Is education was thorough. |
His masters took the greatest pains to
correct and purify his style Of writing.
" HarpY Harps Lyre7' one Of them
once queried, open and ink, boy, YOU
mean. Muse, boy Muse2 Your nurse IS |
daughter, you mean! Pierian spring7