242 Praise for THe Rambler. [A.D. 1750. have now issued from the press, gain upon the world at large, that even in the closing number the authour says, 'I have never been much a favourite of the publick'.' Yet, very soon after its commencement, there were who felt and acknowledged its uncommon excellence. Verses in its praise appeared in the newspapers; and the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine mentions, in October, his having received several letters to the same purpose from the learned'. 'The Ramblers certainly were little noticed at first. Smart, the poet, first mentioned them to me as excellent papers, before I had heard any one else speak of them. When I went into Norfolk, in the autumn of 1751, I found but one person, (the Rev. Mr. Squires, a man of learning, and a general purchaser of new books,) who knew anything of them. Before I left Norfolk in the year 1760, the Ramblers were in high favour among persons of learning and good taste. Others there were, devoid of both, who said that the hard words in the Rambler were used by the authour to render his Dictionary indispensably necessary. BURNEY. We have notices of The Rambler in the Carter Corres. :- May 28, 1750. The author ought to be cautioned not to use over many hard words. In yesterday's paper (a very pretty one indeed) we had equiponderant, and another so hard I cannot remember it [adscititious], both in one sentence.' 'Dec. 17, 1750:-Mr. Cave complains of him for not admitting correspondents; this does mischief. In the main I think he is to be applauded for it. But why then does he not write now and then on the living manners of the times?' In writing on April 22, 1752, just after The Rambler had come to an end, Miss Talbot says:-'Indeed 'tis a sad thing that such a paper should have met with discouragement from wise and learned and good people too. Many are the disputes it has cost me, and not once did I come off triumphant.' Mrs. Carter replied :—' Many a battle have I too fought for him in the country, but with little success.' Murphy says:-'Of this excellent production the number sold on each day did not amount to five hundred; of course the bookseller, who paid the author four guineas a week, did not carry on a successful trade.' Murphy's Johnson, p. 59. • Richardson wrote to Cave on Aug. 9, 1750, after forty-one numbers had appeared:-'I hope the world tastes them; for its own sake I hope the world tastes them. The author I can only guess at. There is but one man, I think, that could write them.' Rich. Corres. i. 165, Cave replied:-'Mr. Johnson is the Great Rambler, being, as you observe, the only man who can furnish two such papers in a week, be The Aetat. 41.] George II. not an Augustus. 243 The Student, or Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany, in which Mr. Bonnell Thornton and Mr. Colman were the principal writers, describes it as 'a work that exceeds anything of the kind ever published in this kingdom, some of the Spectators excepted-if indeed they may be excepted.' And afterwards, May the publick favours crown his merits, and may not the English, under the auspicious reign of GEORGE the Second, neglect a man, who, had he lived in the first century, would have been one of the greatest favourites of Augustus.' This flattery of the monarch had no effect. It is too well known, that the second George never was an Augustus to learning or genius'. Johnson told me, with an amiable fondness, a little pleasing circumstance relative to this work. Mrs. Johnson, in whose judgement and taste he had great confidence, said to him, after a few numbers of The Rambler had come out, 'I thought very well of you before; but I did not imagine you could have written anything equal to this'.' Distant praise, from whatever quarter, is not so delightful as that of a wife whom a man loves and esteems. Her approbation may be said to ' come home to his bosom;' and being so near, its effect is most sensible and permanent. Mr. James Elphinston', who has since published various sides his other great business.' He mentioned the recommendation it received from high quarters, and continued:- Notwithstanding, whether the price of two-pence, or the unfavourable season of their first publication hinders the demand, no boast can be made of it.' Johnson had not wished his name to be known. Cave says that Mr. Garrick and others, who knew the author's powers and style from the first, unadvisedly asserting their suspicions, overturned the scheme of secrecy.' Ib. pp. 168–170. 'Horace Walpole, while justifying George II. against 'bookish men who have censured his neglect of literature,' says:- In truth, I believe King George would have preferred a guinea to a composition as perfect as Alexander's Feast. Reign of George III, iii. 304. ''Dr. Johnson said to an acquaintance of mine, "My other works are wine and water; but my Rambler is pure wine." Rogers's Table Talk, p. 10. 'See post, April 5, 1772; April 19, 1773; and April 9, 1778. works, 244 Letters to Mr. Elphinston. [A.D. 1750. works, and who was ever esteemed by Johnson as a worthy man, happened to be in Scotland while The Rambler was coming out in single papers at London. With a laudable zeal at once for the improvement of his countrymen, and the reputation of his friend, he suggested and took the charge of an edition of those Essays at Edinburgh, which followed progressively the London publication'. The following letter written at this time, though not dated, will show how much pleased Johnson was with this publication, and what kindness and regard he had for Mr. Elphinston. 'DEAR SIR, 'TO MR. JAMES ELPHINSTON. [No date.] 'I cannot but confess the failures of my correspondence, but hope the same regard which you express for me on every other occasion, will incline you to forgive me. I am often, very often, ill; and, when I am well, am obliged to work: and, indeed, have never much used myself to punctuality. You are, however, not to make unkind inferences, when I forbear to reply to your kindness; for be assured, I never receive a letter from you without great pleasure, and a very warm sense of your generosity and friendship, which I heartily blame myself for not cultivating with more care. In this, as in many other cases, I go wrong, in opposition to conviction; for I think scarce any temporal good equally to be desired with the regard and familiarity of worthy men. I hope we shall be some time nearer to each other, and have a more ready way of pouring out our hearts. 'I am glad that you still find encouragement to proceed in your publication, and shall beg the favour of six more volumes to add to my former six, when you can, with any convenience, send them Please to present a set, in my name, to Mr. Ruddiman3, of me. 'It was executed in the printing-office of Sands, Murray, and Cochran, with uncommon elegance, upon writing-paper, of a duodecimo size, and with the greatest correctness; and Mr. Elphinston enriched it with translations of the mottos. When completed, it made eight handsome volumes. It is, unquestionably, the most accurate and beautiful edition of this work; and there being but a small impression, it is now become scarce, and sells at a very high price. Boswell. Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, the learned grammarian of Scotland, well whom. Aetat. 41.] Letters to Mr. Elphinston. 245 whom, I hear, that his learning is not his highest excellence. I have transcribed the mottos, and returned them, I hope not too late, of which I think many very happily performed. Mr. Cave has put the last in the magazine', in which I think he did well. I beg of you to write soon, and to write often, and to write long letters, which I hope in time to repay you; but you must be a patient creditor. I have, however, this of gratitude, that I think of you with regard, when I do not, perhaps, give the proofs which I ought, of being, Sir, 'Your most obliged and 'Most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON.' This year he wrote to the same gentleman another letter, upon a mournful occasion. 'TO MR. JAMES ELPHINSTON. September 25, 1750. 'DEAR SIR, 'You have, as I find by every kind of evidence, lost an excellent mother; and I hope you will not think me incapable of partaking of your grief. I have a mother, now eighty-two years of age, whom, therefore, I must soon lose, unless it please GOD that she rather should mourn for me. I read the letters in which you relate your mother's death to Mrs. Strahan, and think I do myself honour, when I tell you that I read them with tears; but tears are neither to you nor to me of any further use, when once the tribute of nature has been paid. The business of life summons us away from useless grief, and calls us to the exercise of those virtues of which we are lamenting our deprivation. The greatest benefit known for his various excellent works, and for his accurate editions of several authours. He was also a man of a most worthy private character. His zeal for the Royal House of Stuart did not render him less estimable in Dr. Johnson's eye. BOSWELL. 'In the Gent. Mag. for Sept. 1750, and for Oct. 1752, translations of many of the mottoes were given; but in each number there are several of Elphinston's. Johnson seems to speak of only one. 'Writing to Miss Porter on July 12, 1749, he said:-'I was afraid your letter had brought me ill news of my mother, whose death is one of the few calamities on which I think with terror.' Croker's Boswell, p. 62. 'Mr. Strahan was Elphinston's brother-in-law. Post, April 9, 1778. 246 The death of a mother. [A.D. 1750. which one friend can confer upon another, is to guard, and excite, and elevate his virtues. This your mother will still perform, if you diligently preserve the memory of her life, and of her death: a life, so far as I can learn, useful, wise, and innocent; and a death resigned, peaceful, and holy. I cannot forbear to mention, that neither reason nor revelation denies you to hope, that you may increase her happiness by obeying her precepts; and that she may, in her present state, look with pleasure upon every act of virtue to which her instructions or example have contributed. Whether this be more than a pleasing dream, or a just opinion of separate spirits, is, indeed, of no great importance to us, when we consider ourselves as acting under the eye of GOD: yet, surely, there is something pleasing in the belief, that our separation from those whom we love is merely corporeal; and it may be a great incitement to virtuous friendship, if it can be made probable, that that union that has received the divine approbation shall continue to eternity. 'There is one expedient by which you may, in some degree, continue her presence. If you write down minutely what you remember of her from your earliest years, you will read it with great pleasure, and receive from it many hints of soothing recollection, when time shall remove her yet farther from you, and your grief shall be matured to veneration. To this, however painful for the present, I cannot but advise you, as to a source of comfort and satisfaction in the time to come; for all comfort and all satisfaction is sincerely wished you by, dear Sir, 'Your most obliged, most obedient, 'SAM. JOHNSON.' The Rambler has increased in fame as in age. Soon after its first folio edition was concluded, it was published in six duodecimo volumes'; and its authour lived to see ten numerous editions' of it in London, beside those of Ireland and Scotland'. In the Gent. Mag. for January 1752, in the list of books published is: A correct and beautiful edition of the Rambler in 4 volumes, in Price 12s.' The Rambler was not concluded till the following March. The remaining two volumes were published in July. Gent. Mag. xxii. 338. 12mo. According to Hawkins (Life, p. 269) each edition consisted of 1250 See post, July 20, 1763. copies. I profess |