The Bad Manners of Dr. Johnson

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12199, 25 July 1925, Page 12

The Bad Manners of Dr. Johnson

Boswell’? spirit might indeed be sorely troubled- by tie action of Mr C. ljpberts in giving to tliis- generation .the '‘Anecdotes of the. Late 9amupi Johnson, LL.D.,” by Uesthef Lynch Piozzi. ; For . Boswell never ceased, in the course of his great biography, to harp upon these transcripts fropi the cominonptaeo book of the wife of Tliraie as a workof .vandalism and fiiigraut inaccuracy. \ l 1 There is ■ yet an intimdey in this feminine observation from day to day when he lived with the Tnrales at Streatham that supplements with piquant 'candour the hero-worship of Boswejl's portrait, 'fbero is a sensibility of comprehension and under Standing of Johnson's social extravagances. “Ail he did was gentle, if all he. said whs rough.'' . , His playhouse manners were exceed ingly irhsome.- person (says Mrs Thrnle) drew jleOple’s eyeS noon the box. find tlie loudness of his voice made it difficult for me to pear anybody but himself.” Once —it was in the Lichfield dfyys—he orfedtsd. a tremendous sbene in tlje theatre. He had fixed his piece upon, the singe, but on returninp te claim it found another man: in who, refused; to give wav. JhHusw, exertinghis hhge strength, foqk chair and" man,.rand threw theifi .into the pit-.' , ■ - - ' Mrs tfbraletithqush'critical of tij* .'bearish miinnerg, does ppfe overlook JbhhSoh’s qualities of heart—how ' he filled hia hogse, with odd and needy peopje; ;whb ' .were , so peevish and lealqUs qf dne ..another, thit he dreaded hoiug -home to -Bolt Court ireeause . of W chorus of .complaints'that would meet liibioh-the threshold. But |he treated; l(is pehsionets "with perhans mure cdremoHions civility than he Would.hjrve'. by as m'&ny people of PlW.r V& r ‘ «kpdrdipErj-, nqt -only-in-the spirit'of W good works, but in the, fervour of his praybrs. and I 1 ®, .kept fast in Lent, particularly! in HSly Week. - -' I'witlt- a' '-rigour very dangerous to his general health ” jHe was censorious of all infidels: On the death-of-a pian from Jamaica, he "said; '.‘He will not., whither he is now gone, find much difference. I believe, either in-thb climate or, tlie company.” Ott the death of a wit hotoriouß for .-his irj-fererUr.ee. he- Said-: • "Let. -us - tidver nrpise t&leiits so ill CvmplpyejS,'Sir; - we foul -oti'r mouthj bv eomhiandin*! such infidels.’ v “Allpw him ’ tHS lumierJs nt: least." someboclv SiltreatUßs , “T: do iillow lam; Sir.F was toW rehly' “just Ofiough to. light, him to •lifell:*sv\;',;‘ There. is - hls famous reply : to the ■here- who -asked his advice .-as ; to whether- lie should marrv; “I, wopld advisp no to marry, Sir,'who is not

A MEDLEY OF THINGS TO DO Some men have more than one ambition in life, and Mr Robert Lyud, in one of hfe charming essays,-gives a list of some things'lie would do if he had time to do everything:— Write bad poems, bad plays, bad novels—the happiest life, perhaps, that unsanctified man can know. - Become an astronomer and a philosopher. " ' -Go to concerts. Visit every place in Italy. Look at pictures and buildings. l)o physical exercises. - Mould my character and learn to dance. Expose psycho-analysis. 1 Grow both sorts of sprcuti_g hroecoli. ' Attend a race meeting once a week. Read Shakespeare, Dickens, Plutarch, and Boswell through ’once a year. - Learn Latin and Greek, Read Marcel : Proust just; to see. Sit in public-houses. . Go to all tlie churches in turn. 5 Learn to play Mah Jongglike, a Chinaman. Study economics and biology. Look into the lives of the saints io see whether there was a vacancy among them for a man in his forties with an irresolute mouth. Go in search of a Dsrtford warbler, a waxwing, a bearded titmouse, and an Arctic bluethroat. There is no time to be bored, he concludes, until inquisitiveness dies. . H- G, ; i Americans occasionally find the English .custom-of not introducing guests nt. parties ; somewhat embarrassing. At one luncheon .party an American was very anxious to meet Mr H. G. Wells.' who was to be one of the guests. After the party he was astonished to be told , that Mr Wells had been sitting next to him. he gasped. in sheer amazement, *lYon don’t mean to sav that was H. G. Wells, the author P . .” Aren't you iokiagP” he pleaded. “Not at all,;’ he wns assured. - “Good heavens, .man I" came bis thidlc reply. ‘*t told that man the Whole. pmt in detail of : “Mr Britlinfc Sees'lt. Through,” and when I asked him if he had 'ever rdad the book, he said he,ha duot.”

likely to propagate understanding.” Asked as .to whether “any man living” could have written Maopherson’s “Ostiun,” he replied: “Yes, sir, many men, many- women, and, many children.” Once when Johnson was reading, A man of .‘'no small distinction of birth apd .elegance” was introduced to him. yet he todk little notice. “ ’Tfe Mr Cholmorideley,” said Thrale. “Well, sir, and what if it is Mr Cbolihondctey.fi” said Johnson, lifting his eyes for j list a moment. ;Mrs Tljralo’s book hna -not been separately reprinted since 1886.