James Boswell - THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON - All 6 Volumes in One Edition

[860] In the original, ‘to admit a definition.’ Ib .

[861] In the original, ‘ drier.’ Ib . 38.

[862] ‘Tory. (A cant term derived, I suppose, from an Irish word signifying a savage.) One who adheres to the ancient constitution of the state, and the apostolical hierarchy of the Church of England: opposed to a whig .’

[863] ‘Whig. The name of a faction.’ Lord Marchmont ( post , May 12, 1778) said that ‘Johnson was the first that brought Whig and Tory into a dictionary.’ In this he was mistaken. In the fourth edition of Dr. Adam Littleton’s Linguae Latinae Liber Dictionarius , published in 1703, Whig is translated Homo fanaticus, factiosus; Whiggism, Enthusiasmus, Perduellio; Tory, bog-trotter or Irish robber, Praedo Hibernicus; Tory opposed to whig, Regiarum partium assertor . These definitions are not in the first edition, published in 1678. A pensioner or bride [bribed] person is rendered _Mercenarius.

[864] ‘Pension. An allowance made to any one without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country.’ Pensioner is defined as ‘One who is supported by an allowance paid at the will of another; a dependant.’ These definitions remain in the fourth edition, corrected by Johnson in 1773.

[865] ‘Oats. A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.’ See post , March 23, 1776, and March 21, 1783. ‘Did you ever hear,’ wrote Sir Walter Scott, ‘of Lord Elibank’s reply when Johnson’s famous definition of oats was pointed out first to him. “Very true, and where will you find such men and such horses ?”’ Croker’s Carres , ii. 35.

[866] He thus defines Excise: ‘A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom Excise is paid.’ The Commissioners of Excise being offended by this severe reflection, consulted Mr. Murray, then Attorney General, to know whether redress could be legally obtained. I wished to have procured for my readers a copy of the opinion which he gave, and which may now be justly considered as history; but the mysterious secrecy of office, it seems, would not permit it. I am, however, informed, by very good authority, that its import was, that the passage might be considered as actionable; but that it would be more prudent in the board not to prosecute. Johnson never made the smallest alteration in this passage. We find he still retained his early prejudice against Excise; for in The Idler , No. 65, there is the following very extraordinary paragraph: ‘The authenticity of Clarendon’s history, though printed with the sanction of one of the first Universities of the world, had not an unexpected manuscript been happily discovered, would, with the help of factious credulity, have been brought into question by the two lowest of all human beings, a Scribbler for a party, and a Commissioner of Excise.’—The persons to whom he alludes were Mr. John Oldmixon, and George Ducket, Esq. BOSWELL. Mr. Croker obtained a copy of the case.

‘ Case for the opinion of Mr. Attorney-General .

‘Mr. Samuel Johnson has lately published “A Dictionary of the English

Language,” in which are the following words:—

‘“EXCISE, n.s . A hateful tax levied upon commodities and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but by wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.”

‘ The author’s definition being observed by the Commissioners of Excise, they desire the favour of your opinion . “Qu. Whether it will not be considered as a libel, and if so, whether it is not proper to proceed against the author, printers, and publishers thereof, or any and which of them, by information, or how otherwise?”

‘I am of opinion that it is a libel. But under all the circumstances, I should think it better to give him an opportunity of altering his definition; and, in case he do not, to threaten him with an information.

‘29th Nov. 1755. W. Murray.’ In one of the Parl. Debates of 1742 Johnson makes Pitt say that ‘it is probable that we shall detect bribery descending through a long subordination of wretches combined against the public happiness, from the prime minister surrounded by peers and officers of state to the exciseman dictating politics amidst a company of mechanics whom he debauches at the public expense, and lists in the service of his master with the taxes which he gathers.’ Parl. Hist ., xii. 570 . See ante , p. 36, note 5.

[867] He defined Favourite as ‘One chosen as a companion by a superiour; a mean wretch, whose whole business is by any means to please:’ and Revolution as ‘change in the state of a government or country. It is used among us kat hexochaen for the change produced by the admission of King William and Queen Mary.’ For these definitions Wilkes attacked him in The North Briton , No. xii. In the fourth edition Johnson gives a second definition of patriot :—‘It is sometimes used for a factious disturber of the government.’ Premier and prime minister are not defined. Post , April 14, 1775. See also ante , p. 264 note, for the definition of patron ; and post , April 28, 1783 for that of alias .

[868] ‘There have been great contests in the Privy Council about the trial of the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford [on a charge of Jacobitism]: Lord Gower pressed it extremely. He asked the Attorney-General his opinion, who told him the evidence did not appear strong enough. Lord Gower said:—“Mr. Attorney, you seem to be very lukewarm for your party.” He replied:—“My Lord, I never was lukewarm for my party, nor ever was but of one party !”’ Walpole’s Letters , ii. 140. Mr. Croker assumes that Johnson here ‘attempted a pun, and wrote the name (as pronounced) Go’er. Johnson was very little likely to pun, for ‘he had a great contempt for that species of wit.’ Post , April 30, 1773.

[869] Boswell omits the salutation which follows this definition:

Chair Ithakae met haethla, met halgea pikra Haspasios teon oudas ikanomai.

‘Dr. Johnson,’ says Miss Burney, ‘inquired if I had ever yet visited Grub-street , but was obliged to restrain his anger when I answered “No;” because he had never paid his respects to it himself. “However,” says he, “you and I, Burney, will go together; we have a very good right to go, so we’ll visit the mansions of our progenitors, and take up our own freedom together.”’ Mme. D’Arblay’s Diary , i. 415.

[870] Lord Bolingbroke had said ( Works , in. 317): ‘I approve the devotion of a studious man at Christ Church, who was overheard in his oratory entering into a detail with God, and acknowledging the divine goodness in furnishing the world with makers of dictionaries. These men court fame, as well as their betters, by such means as God has given them to acquire it. They deserve encouragement while they continue to compile, and neither affect wit, nor presume to reason.’ Johnson himself in The Adventurer , No. 39, had in 1753 described a class of men who ‘employed their minds in such operations as required neither celerity nor strength, in the low drudgery of collating copies, comparing authorities, digesting dictionaries,’ &c. Lord Monboddo, in his Origin of Language , v. 273, says that ‘J. C. Scaliger called the makers of dictionaries les portefaix de la république des lettres .’

[871] Great though his depression was, yet he could say with truth in his Preface:—‘Despondency has never so far prevailed as to depress me to negligence.’ Works , v. 43.