I found on visiting his friend,Mr.Thrale,that he was now very ill,and had removed,I suppose by the solicitation of Mrs.Thrale,to a house in Grosvenor-square.I was sorry to see him sadly changed in his appearance.
He told me I might now have the pleasure to see Dr.Johnson drink wine again,for he had lately returned to it.When I mentioned this to Johnson,he said,'I drink it now sometimes,but not socially.'The first evening that I was with him at Thrale's,Iobserved he poured a large quantity of it into a glass,and swallowed it greedily.Every thing about his character and manners was forcible and violent;there never was any moderation;many a day did he fast,many a year did he refrain from wine;but when he did eat,it was voraciously;when he did drink wine,it was copiously.He could practise abstinence,but not temperance.
Mrs.Thrale and I had a dispute,whether Shakspeare or Milton had drawn the most admirable picture of a man.I was for Shakspeare;Mrs.Thrale for Milton;and after a fair hearing,Johnson decided for my opinion.
The passages considered,according to Boswell's note,were the portrait of Hamlet's father (Ham.3.4.55-62),and the portrait of Adam (P.L.4.300-303).--ED.
I told him of one of Mr.Burke's playful sallies upon Dean Marlay:
'I don't like the Deanery of Ferns,it sounds so like a BARRENtitle.'--'Dr.HEATH should have it;'said I.Johnson laughed,and condescending to trifle in the same mode of conceit,suggested Dr.
MOSS.
He said,'Mrs.Montagu has dropt me.Now,Sir,there are people whom one should like very well to drop,but would not wish to be dropped by.'He certainly was vain of the society of ladies,and could make himself very agreeable to them,when he chose it;Sir Joshua Reynolds agreed with me that he could.Mr.Gibbon,with his usual sneer,controverted it,perhaps in resentment of Johnson's having talked with some disgust of his ugliness,which one would think a PHILOSOPHER would not mind.Dean Marlay wittily observed,'A lady may be vain,when she can turn a wolf-dog into a lap-dog.'
His notion of the duty of a member of Parliament,sitting upon an election-committee,was very high;and when he was told of a gentleman upon one of those committees,who read the newspapers part of the time,and slept the rest,while the merits of a vote were examined by the counsel;and as an excuse,when challenged by the chairman for such behaviour,bluntly answered,'I had made up my mind upon that case.'--Johnson,with an indignant contempt,said,'If he was such a rogue as to make up his mind upon a case without hearing it,he should not have been such a fool as to tell it.''I think (said Mr.Dudley Long,now North,)the Doctor has pretty plainly made him out to be both rogue and fool.'
Johnson's profound reverence for the Hierarchy made him expect from bishops the highest degree of decorum;he was offended even at their going to taverns;'A bishop (said he,)has nothing to do at a tippling-house.It is not indeed immoral in him to go to a tavern;neither would it be immoral in him to whip a top in Grosvenor-square.But,if he did,I hope the boys would fall upon him,and apply the whip to HIM.There are gradations in conduct;there is morality,--decency,--propriety.None of these should be violated by a bishop.A bishop should not go to a house where he may meet a young fellow leading out a wench.'BOSWELL.'But,Sir,every tavern does not admit women.'JOHNSON.'Depend upon it,Sir,any tavern will admit a well-drest man and a well-drest woman;they will not perhaps admit a woman whom they see every night walking by their door,in the street.But a well-drest man may lead in a well-drest woman to any tavern in London.Taverns sell meat and drink,and will sell them to any body who can eat and can drink.
You may as well say that a mercer will not sell silks to a woman of the town.'
He also disapproved of bishops going to routs,at least of their staying at them longer than their presence commanded respect.He mentioned a particular bishop.'Poh!(said Mrs.Thrale,)the Bishop of ------is never minded at a rout.'BOSWELL.'When a bishop places himself in a situation where he has no distinct character,and is of no consequence,he degrades the dignity of his order.'JOHNSON.'Mr.Boswell,Madam has said it as correctly as it could be.'
Johnson and his friend,Beauclerk,were once together in company with several clergymen,who thought that they should appear to advantage,by assuming the lax jollity of men of the world;which,as it may be observed in similar cases,they carried to noisy excess.Johnson,who they expected would be ENTERTAINED,sat grave and silent for some time;at last,turning to Beauclerk,he said,by no means in a whisper,'This merriment of parsons is mighty offensive.'
On Friday,March 30,I dined with him at Sir Joshua Reynolds's,with the Earl of Charlemont,Sir Annesley Stewart,Mr.Eliot of Port-Eliot,Mr.Burke,Dean Marlay,Mr.Langton;a most agreeable day,of which I regret that every circumstance is not preserved;but it is unreasonable to require such a multiplication of felicity.
Mr.Eliot mentioned a curious liquor peculiar to his country,which the Cornish fishermen drink.They call it Mahogany;and it is made of two parts gin,and one part treacle,well beaten together.Ibegged to have some of it made,which was done with proper skill by Mr.Eliot.I thought it very good liquor;and said it was a counterpart of what is called Athol Porridge in the Highlands of Scotland,which is a mixture of whisky and honey.Johnson said,'that must be a better liquor than the Cornish,for both its component parts are better.'He also observed,'Mahogany must be a modern name;for it is not long since the wood called mahogany was known in this country.'I mentioned his scale of liquors;--claret for boys,--port for men,--brandy for heroes.'