Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-18
DIR. JOHNSONS BIRTHDAY
By Christopher Morley

TT is very annoying to hear Karl Rosner
i referred to- as the Kaiser's Boswell,
For to bosweilize (Which is a. verb that has
gone into our dctionaries)' means not merely
to transcribe faithfully the acts and moods
and import Of a mans life 1t implies also
that the man so delneated be a good man
and great. Horace Tranbel may perhaps
be a Boswell; but Rosner, never.
TODAY is Doctor Johnsons birthday Che
l. was born September IS. 1909. and mod
est memorandum to that effect requires no
apology. The Great Cham needs no cham
pion; his speech and person have become
part of the Anglo-Saxon heritage. The ex-
traordinary book in which Boswell filmed him
for us has attained that curious estate OF
great literature the characteristic of which
is that every man imagines he has read it,
though he may never have opened its pages.
1t is lik, Niagara Falls: we may not have
seen it. bu; We have a very fair mental pic
ture of the phenomena. We all wear hats,
though few of us have visited hat factory.
We all use Doctor Johnsons pithy and sono-
rous phrases. though we may not know where
they were mntad.
But we will never cease to pray that every
honest man should study Boswell. There are
many who have topped the rise of human
felicity in that book: when reading it they
feel the tide of intellect brim the mind with
unique fullness of satisfaction. 1t is not
a mere commentary on life: it Is lfe--t fills
and foods every channel Of the brain. 1t is
a book that men make a hobby of, as of golf
or gambling. To know it is a liberal educa-
ton. could understand Germany making
war on England in order to annex Boswell's
Johnson There would be some sense in that.
VITHAT is the average mans conception of
w Doctor johnson? We think of huge
ungainly' person, sovenly of dress addicted
to tea; the author of a dictionary and the
center of atavern coterie. We think of him as
prefacing bluff and vehement remarks with
sir and as having a knack for demolishing
opponents in argument. All of which is pass
ably true. just as is our picture of the Mag
ara that we have never visited; but how it
misses the inner tenderness and tormented
virtue of the man! 80
| know no better way of celebrating Doctor
Johnsons birthday than by quoting few
passages from his prayers and Meditations"
jotted down during his life in small note
books and given shortly before his death to a
friend No one understands the dear old
doctor. unless he. remembers that his spirit
was greatly perplexed and harassed by sad
and disordered broodings The bodily twitch-
ings and odd gestures which attracted so
much, attention as he rolled about the streets
were symptoms of painful twitcnings and
gestures within. A great part of his intense
delight in convvial gatherings, in conversa-
ton and the dinner table, was due to his
eagerness to be taken out of himself. One
fears that his solitary hours were very often
tragic.
TTNHERE We're certain dates which Doctor
i Johnson almost always commemorated in
his private notebook-his birthday, the date
of his wife's death. the Easter season and
New Years. In these pathetic little entries
one the spirit that was dognratlc and
proud among men abasing itself In humility
and pouring out the generous tenderness OF
an affectionate nature. In these moments of
contriton small peccadilloes took on tragic
Importance In his mind. Rising late In the
morning and the untidy state Of his papers
seemed unforgivable sins. There is hardly
any more moving picture in the history Of
mankind than that of the rugged old doctor
pouring out his innocent petitions for greater
strength in ordering his life and bewailing
his faults of sluggishness. Indulgence at
table and dsorderly thoughts. Let us begin
with his entry on September 49, 1850, his
ffty-second birthday;
RESOLVED. D. J. (God aiding)
To combat notions of obligation.
To apply to study
To reclaim ina aginations.
To consult the resolves on Tetty's (his
wifes) coffin.
To rise early.
To study religion.
To go to church. -
To drink less strong liquors.
To keep q journal.
no oppose laziness by doips what q Il
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