Lives Of The Poets, Vol. 1 (fiscle part-III) - Samuel Johnson (classic books to read txt) 📗

Is Too Well Known

To Be Quoted.

 

 

 

His Translations, So Far As I Have Compared them, Want The Exactness Of

A Scholar. That He Understood His Authors Cannot Be Doubted; But His

Versions Will Not Teach Others To Understand Them, Being too Licentiously

Paraphrastical. They Are, However, For The Most Part, Smooth And Easy;

And, What Is The First Excellence Of A Translator, Such As May Be Read

With Pleasure By Those Who Do Not Know The Originals.

 

 

 

His Poetry Is Polished and Pure; The Product Of A Mind Too Judicious To

Commit Faults, But Not Sufficiently Vigorous To Attain Excellence. He Has

Sometimes A Striking line, Or A Shining paragraph; But, In the Whole, He

Is Warm Rather Than Fervid, And Shows More Dexterity Than Strength. He

Was, However, One Of Our Earliest Examples Of Correctness.

 

 

 

The Versification Which He Had Learned from Dryden, He Debased rather

Than Refined. His Rhymes Are Often Dissonant; In his Georgick He Admits

Broken Lines. He Uses Both Triplets And Alexandrines, But Triplets More

Frequently In his Translations Than His Other Works. The Mere Structure

Of Verses Seems Never To Have Engaged much Of His Care. But His Lines Are

Very Smooth In rosamond, And, Too Smooth In cato.

 

 

 

Addison Is Now To Be Considered as A Critick; A Name Which The Present

Generation Is Scarcely Willing to Allow Him. His Criticism Is Condemned

As Tentative Or Experimental, Rather Than Scientifick; And He Is

Considered as Deciding by Taste[202] Rather Than By Principles.

 

 

 

It Is Not Uncommon, For Those Who Have Grown Wise By The Labour Of

Others, To Add A Little Of Their Own, And Overlook Their Masters. Addison

Is Now Despised by Some Who, Perhaps, Would Never Have Seen His Defects,

But By The Lights Which He Afforded them. That He Always Wrote As

He Would Think It Necessary To Write Now, Cannot Be Affirmed; His

Instructions Were Such As The Character Of His Readers Made Propers That

General Knowledge Which Now Circulates In common Talk, Was In his Time

Rarely To Be Found. Men Not Professing learning were Not Ashamed of

Ignorance; And, In the Female World, Any Acquaintance With Books Was

Distinguished only To Be Censured. His Purpose Was To Infuse Literary

Curiosity, By Gentle And Unsuspected conveyance, Into The Gay, The Idle,

And The Wealthy; He, Therefore, Presented knowledge In the Most Alluring

Form, Not Lofty And Austere, But Accessible And Familiar. When He Showed

Them Their Defects, He Showed them, Likewise, That They Might Be Easily

Supplied. His, Attempt Succeeded; Inquiry Was Awakened, And Comprehension

Expanded. An Emulation Of Intellectual Elegance Was Excited, And, From

His Time To Our Own, Life Has Been Gradually Exalted, And Conversation

Purified and Enlarged.

 

 

 

Dryden Had, Not Many Years Before, Scattered criticism, Over His Prefaces

With Very Little Parsimony; But, Though He Sometimes Condescended to Be

Somewhat Familiar, His Manner Was In general Too Scholastick For Those

Who Had Yet Their Rudiments To Learn, And Found It Not Easy To Understand

Their Master. His Observations Were Framed rather For Those That Were

Learning to Write, Than For Those That Read Only To Talk.

 

 

 

An Instructer Like Addison Was Now Wanting, Whose Remarks Being

Superficial, Might Be Easily Understood, And Being just, Might Prepare

The Mind For More Attainments.

 

 

 

Had He Presented paradise Lost To The Publick With All The Pomp Of System

And Severity Of Science, The Criticism Would, Perhaps, Have Been Admired,

And The Poem Still Have Been Neglected; But, By The Blandishments Of

Gentleness And Facility, He Has Made Milton An Universal Favourite, With

Whom Readers Of Every Class Think It Necessary To Be Pleased.

 

 

 

He Descended, Now And Then, To Lower Disquisitions; And, By A Serious

Display Of The Beauties Of Chevy-Chase, Exposed himself To The Ridicule

Of Wagstaffe, Who Bestowed a Like Pompous Character On Tom Thumb; And To

The Contempt Of Dennis, Who, Considering the Fundamental Position Of His

Criticism, That Chevy-Chase Pleases, And Ought To Please, Because It Is

Natural, Observes, "That There Is A Way Of Deviating from Nature, By

Bombast Or Tumour, Which Soars Above Nature, And Enlarges Images Beyond

Their Real Bulk; By Affectation, Which Forsakes Nature In quest Of

Something unsuitable; And By Imbecility, Which Degrades Nature By

Faintness And Diminution, By Obscuring its Appearances, And Weakening

Its Effects." In chevy-Chase There Is Not Much Of Either Bombast Or

Affectation; But There Is Chill And Lifeless Imbecility. The Story Cannot

Possibly Be Told In a Manner That Shall Make Less Impression On The Mind.

 

 

 

Before The Profound Observers Of The Present Race Repose Too Securely On

The Consciousness Of Their Superiority To Addison, Let Them Consider

His Remarks On Ovid, In which May Be Found Specimens Of Criticism

Sufficiently Subtile And Refined: Let Them Peruse, Likewise, His Essays

On Wit, And On The Pleasures Of Imagination, In which He Founds Art

On The Base Of Nature, And Draws The Principles Of Invention From

Dispositions Inherent In the Mind Of Man With Skill And Elegance[203],

Such As His Contemners Will Not Easily Attain. As A Describer Of Life And

Manners, He Must Be Allowed to Stand, Perhaps, The First Of The First

Rank. His Humour, Which, As Steele Observes, Is Peculiar To Himself, Is

So Happily Diffused as To Give The Grace Of Novelty To Domestick Scenes

And Daily Occurrences. He Never "Outsteps The Modesty Of Nature," Nor

Raises Merriment Or Wonder By The Violation Of Truth. His Figures Neither

Divert By Distortion, Nor Amaze By Aggravation. He Copies Life With So

Much Fidelity, That He Can Be Hardly Said To Invent; Yet His Exhibitions

Have An Air So Much Original, That It Is Difficult To Suppose Them Not

Merely The Product Of Imagination.

 

 

 

As A Teacher Of Wisdom, He May Be Confidently Followed. His Religion Has

Nothing in it Enthusiastick Or Superstitious: He Appears Neither Weakly

Credulous, Nor Wantonly Skeptical; His Morality Is Neither Dangerously

Lax, Nor Impracticably Rigid. All The Enchantment Of Fancy, And All The

Cogency Of Argument, Are Employed to Recommend To The Reader His Real

Interest, The Care Of Pleasing the Author Of His Being. Truth Is Shown

Sometimes As The Phantom Of A Vision; Sometimes Appears Half-Veiled in an

Allegory; Sometimes Attracts Regard In the Robes Of Fancy, And Sometimes

Steps Forth In the Confidence Of Reason. She Wears A Thousand Dresses,

And In all Is Pleasing.

 

 

 

  "Mille Habet Ornatus, Mille Decenter Habet."

 

 

 

His Prose Is The Model Of The Middle Style; On Grave Subjects Not Formal,

On Light Occasions Not Grovelling, Pure Without Scrupulosity, And Exact

Without Apparent Elaboration; Always Equable, And Always Easy, Without

Glowing words Or Pointed sentences. Addison Never Deviates From His

Track To Snatch A Grace; He Seeks No Ambitious Ornaments, And Tries No

Hazardous Innovations. His Page Is Always Luminous, But Never Blazes In

Unexpected splendour.

 

 

 

It Was, Apparently, His Principal Endeavour To Avoid All Harshness

And Severity Of Diction; He Is, Therefore, Sometimes Verbose In his

Transitions And Connexions, And Sometimes Descends Too Much To The

Language Of Conversation; Yet If His Language Had Been Less Idiomatical,

It Might Have Lost Somewhat Of Its Genuine Anglicism. What He

Attempted, He Performed; He Is Never Feeble, And He Did Not Wish To Be

Energetick[204]; He Is Never Rapid, And He Never Stagnates. His Sentences

Have Neither Studied amplitude, Nor Affected brevity: His Periods, Though

Not Diligently Rounded, Are Voluble And Easy. Whoever Wishes To Attain An

English Style, Familiar But Not Coarse, And Elegant But Not Ostentatious,

Must Give His Days And Nights To The Volumes Of Addison.

 

 

 

[Footnote 154: Mr. Tyers Says, He Was Actually Laid Out For Dead, As Soon

As He Was Born. Addisoniana, Ii. 218.

 

 

 

A Writer, Who Signs Himself T.J. Informed dr. Birch, (Gen. Dict. I. 62.)

That Mr. Addison'S Mother Was Jane Gulstone, A Circumstance That Should

Not Have Been Omitted. Dr. Launcelot Addison Had By His Wife Six

Children: 1. Jane, Born April 23,1671. 2. Joseph, 1St May, 1672. 3.

Gulstone, In april, 1673. 4. Dorothy, In may, 1674. 5. Anne, In april,

1676; And 6. Launcelot, In 1680. Both Gulstone And Launcelot, Who Was A

Fellow Of Magdalen College, Oxford, Were Reputed to Be Very Well Skilled

In The Classicks, And In polite Literature. Dr. Addison'S Living at

Milston Was 120_L_. Per Annum; And After His Death His Son Joseph Was

Sued for Dilapidations By The Next Incumbent. The Writer Abovementioned

Informed dr. Birch, That "There Was A Tradition At Milston, That When At

School In the Country, (Probably At Ambrosebury,) Having committed some

Slight Fault, He Was So Afraid Of Being corrected for It, That He Ran

Away From His Father'S House, And Fled into The Fields, Where He Lived

Upon Fruits, And Took Up His Lodging in a Hollow Tree, Till, Upon The

Publication Of A Reward To Whoever Should Find Him, He Was Discovered and

Restored to His Parents." M.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 155: "At The Charter-House (Says Oldmixon, Who Was Personally

Acquainted with Addison, And As A Zealous Whig, Probably Encouraged by

Him) He Made Acquaintance With Two Persons, For Whom He Had Ever After An

Entire Friendship, Stephen Clay, Esq. Of The Inner Temple, Author Of The

Epistle In verse, From The Elector Of Bavaria To The French King after

The Battle Of Ramilies; And Sir Richard Steele, Whom He Served both With

His Pen And Purse." Hist. Of England, Xi. 632. M.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 156: Spence.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 157: This Fact Was Communicated to Johnson, In my Hearing, By A

Person Of Unquestionable Veracity, But Whose Name I Am Not At Liberty To

Mention. He Had It, As He Told Us, From Lady Primrose, To Whom Steele

Related it With Tears In his Eyes. The Late Dr. Stinton Confirmed it To

Me, By Saying, That He Had Heard It From Mr. Hooke, Author Of The Roman

History; And He, From Mr. Pope. H.

 

 

 

See In steele'S Epistolary Correspondence, 1809, Vol. I. Pp. 208, 356,

This Transaction Somewhat Differently Related. N.

 

 

 

The Compiler Of Addisoniana Is Of Opinion, That Addison'S Conduct On

This Occasion Was Dictated by The Kindest Motives; And That The Step

Apparently So Severe, Was Designed to Awaken Him, If Possible, To A Sense

Of The Impropriety Of His Mode And Habits Of Life. Ed.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 158: He Took The Degree Of M.A. Feb. 14, 1693. N.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 159: A Letter Which I Found Among Dr. Johnson'S Papers, Dated

In January, 1784, From A Lady In wiltshire, Contains A Discovery Of Some

Importance In literary History, Viz. That By The Initials H.S. Prefixed

To The Poem, We Are Not To Understand The Famous Dr. Henry Sacheverell,

Whose Trial Is The Most Remarkable Incident In his Life. The Information

Thus Communicated is, That The Verses In question Were Not An Address To

The Famous Dr. Sacheverell, But To A Very Ingenious Gentleman Of The Same

Name, Who Died young, Supposed to Be A Manksman, For That He Wrote The

History Of The Isle Of Man. That This Person Left His Papers To Mr.

Addison, And Had Formed a Plan Of A Tragedy Upon The Death Of Socrates,

The Lady Says, She Had This Information From A Mr. Stephens, Who Was A

Fellow Of Merton College, A Contemporary And Intimate With Mr. Addison In

Oxford, Who Died near Fifty Years Ago, A Prebendary Of Winchester. H.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 160: Spence.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 161: A Writer Already Mentioned, J.P. (Gen. Dict, _Ut Supra_,)

Asserts That His Acquaintance With Montague Commenced at Oxford: But For

This There Is No Foundation. Mr. Montague Was Bred at Trinity College,

Cambridge.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 162: Lord Somers, On This Poem Being presented to Him,

According to Tickell, Sent To Addison To Desire His Acquaintance.

According to Oldmixon, He Was Introduced to Him By Tonson. M.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 163: Spence.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 164: See Swift'S Libel On Dr. Delany. Addison'S Distress For

Money Commenced with The Death Of King william, Which Happened in march,

1702. In june, 1703, He Was At Rotterdam, And Seems Then To Have Done

With His _Squire_: For In that Month The Duke Of Somerset Wrote A Letter

To Old Jacob Tonson, (Of Which I Have A Copy,) Proposing that Addison

Should Be Tutor To His Son, (Who Was Then Going abroad.) "Neither

Lodging, Diet, Or Travelling," Says The Duke, "Shall Cost Him Sixpence:

And Over And Above That, My Son Shall Present Him, At The Year'S End,

With A Hundred guineas, As Long As He Is Pleased to Continue In that

Service." Mr. Addison Declined this _Magnificent_ Offer In these Words,

As Appears From Another Letter Of The Duke'S To Tonson: "As For The

Recompence That Is Proposed to Me, I Must Confess I Can By No Means See

My Account In it." M.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 165: In this Letter He Uses The Phrase _Classick Ground_, Which

Has Since Become So Common, But Never Had Been Employed before: It Was

Ridiculed by Some Of His Contemporary Writers (I Forget Which) As Very

Quaint And Affected. M.]

 

 

 

[Footnote 166: It Is Incorrect That Addison'S Stay In foreign Countries

Was But Short. He Went To Travel In 1700, And Did Not Return Till The

Latter End Of 1703; So That He Was Abroad Near