Nov. XXIX. MDCCXXXI;
Eblanae literis institutus;
Obiit Londini,
April IV, MDCCLXXIV.'
Sir William Forbes writes to me thus:--
'I enclose the Round Robin. This jeu d'esprit took its rise one day at dinner at our friend
Sir Joshua Reynolds's. All the company present, except myself, were friends and
acquaintance of Dr. Goldsmith. The Epitaph, written for him by Dr. Johnson, became the
subject of conversation, and various emendations were suggested, which it was agreed
should be submitted to the Doctor's consideration. But the question was, who should have
the courage to propose them to him? At last it was hinted, that there could be no way so
good as that of a Round Robin, as the sailors call it, which they make use of when they
enter into a conspiracy, so as not to let it be known who puts his name first or last to the
paper. This proposition was instantly assented to; and Dr. Barnard, Dean of Derry, now
Bishop of Killaloe, drew up an address to Dr. Johnson on the occasion, replete with wit
and humour, but which it was feared the Doctor might think treated the subject with too
much levity. Mr. Burke then proposed the address as it stands in the paper in writing, to
which I had the honour to officiate as clerk.
'Sir Joshua agreed to carry it to Dr. Johnson, who received it with much good humour,*
and desired Sir Joshua to tell the gentlemen, that he would alter the Epitaph in any
manner they pleased, as to the sense of it; but he would never consent to disgrace the
walls of Westminster Abbey with an English inscription.
* He however, upon seeing Dr. Warton's name to the suggestion, that the Epitaph should
be in English, observed to Sir Joshua, 'I wonder that Joe Warton, a scholar by profession,
should be such a fool.' He said too, 'I should have thought Mund Burke would have had
more sense.' Mr. Langton, who was one of the company at Sir Joshua's, like a sturdy
scholar, resolutely refused to sign the Round Robin. The Epitaph is engraved upon Dr.
Goldsmith's monument without any alteration. At another time, when somebody
endeavoured to argue in favour of its being in English, Johnson said, 'The language of the
country of which a learned man was a native, is not the language fit for his epitaph,
which should be in ancient and permanent language. Consider, Sir; how you should feel,
were you to find at Rotterdam an epitaph upon Erasmus IN DUTCH!'--BOSWELL.
'I consider this Round Robin as a species of literary curiosity worth preserving, as it
marks, in a certain degree, Dr. Johnson's character.'
Sir William Forbes's observation is very just. The anecdote now related proves, in the
strongest manner, the reverence and awe with which Johnson was regarded, by some of
the most eminent men of his time, in various departments, and even by such of them as
lived most with him; while it also confirms what I have again and again inculcated, that
he was by no means of that ferocious and irascible character which has been ignorantly
imagined.
This hasty composition is also to be remarked as one of a thousand instances which
evince the extraordinary promptitude of Mr. Burke; who while he is equal to the greatest
things, can adorn the least; can, with equal facility, embrace the vast and complicated
speculations of politicks, or the ingenious topicks of literary investigation.
'DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. BOSWELL.
'MADAM,--You must not think me uncivil in omitting to answer the letter with which
you favoured me some time ago. I imagined it to have been written without Mr. Boswell's
knowledge, and therefore supposed the answer to require, what I could not find, a private
conveyance.
'The difference with Lord Auchinleck is now over; and since young Alexander has
appeared, I hope no more difficulties will arise among you; for I sincerely wish you all
happy. Do not teach the young ones to dislike me, as you dislike me yourself; but let me
at least have Veronica's kindness, because she is my acquaintance.
'You will now have Mr. Boswell home; it is well that you have him; he has led a wild
life. I have taken him to Lichfield, and he has followed Mr. Thrale to Bath. Pray take care
of him, and tame him. The only thing in which I have the honour to agree with you is, in
loving him; and while we are so much of a mind in a matter of so much importance, our
other quarrels will, I hope, produce no great bitterness. I am, Madam, your most humble
servant,
'May 16, 1776.'
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
I select from his private register the following passage:
'July 25, 1776. O God, who hast ordained that whatever is to be desired should be sought
by labour, and who, by thy blessing, bringest honest labour to good effect, look with
mercy upon my studies and endeavours. Grant me, O LORD, to design only what is
lawful and right; and afford me calmness of mind, and steadiness of purpose, that I may
so do thy will in this short life, as to obtain happiness in the world to come, for the sake
of JESUS CHRIST our Lord. Amen.'
It appears from a note subjoined, that this was composed when he 'purposed to apply
vigorously to study, particularly of the Greek and Italian tongues.'
Such a purpose, so expressed, at the age of sixty-seven, is admirable and encouraging;
and it must impress all the thinking part of my readers with a consolatory confidence in
habitual devotion, when they see a man of such enlarged intellectual powers as Johnson,
thus in the genuine earnestness of secrecy, imploring the aid of that Supreme Being,
'from whom cometh down every good and every perfect gift.'
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