reward it in a different manner, from a mercenary Bookseller, who counts the lines he is to purchase*, and considers nothing but the bulk. I cannot help taking notice, that, besides what the Author may hope for on account of his abilities, he has likewise another claim to your regard, as he lies at present under very disadvantageous circumstances of fortune. I beg, therefore, that you will favour me with a letter to-morrow, that I may know what you can afford to allow him, that he may either with it to you, part or find out (which I do not expect) some other way more to his satisfaction. "I have only to add, that as I am sensible I have transcribed it very coarsely, which, after having altered it, I was obliged to do, I will, if you please to transmit the sheets from the press, correct it for you; and take the trouble of altering any stroke of satire which you may dislike. By exerting on this occasion your usual generosity, you will not only encourage learning, and relieve distress, but (though it be in comparison of the other motives of very small account) oblige in a very sensible manner, sir, your very humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON." 4. "SIR, Monday, No. 6, Castle-street. "I AM to return you thanks for the present you were so kind as to send me; and to intreat that you will be pleased to inform me by the pennypost, whether you resolve to print the Poem. If you please to send it me by the post, with a note to Dodsley, I will go and read the lines to him, that we may have his consent to put his name in the * Dr. Johnson once observed to me, "that Mr. Cave was a generous paymaster; but, in bargaining for Poetry, he contracted for lines by the hundred, and expected the long hundred.” 66 The poem, or satire, mentioned in this and the following letters, must doubtless have been our Author's own London,' which was published in May 1738, and is recorded in Gent. Mag, vol. VIII. p. 269, "as being remarkable for having got to the second edition in the space of a week.” title title-page. As to the printing, if it can be set immediately about, I will be so much the Author's friend, as not to content myself with mere solicitations in his favour. I propose, if my calculation be near the truth, to engage for the reimbursement of all that you shall lose by an impression of 500; provided, as you very generously propose, that the profit, if any, be set aside for the Author's use, excepting the present you made, which, if he be a gainer, it is fit he should repay. I beg that you will let one of your servants write an exact account of the expence of such an impression, and send it with the Poem, that I may know what I engage for. I am very sensible, from your generosity on this occasion, of your regard to learning, even in its unhappiest state; and cannot but think such a temper deserving of the gratitude of those who suffer so often from a contrary disposition. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON." [No date *.] "I WAITED on you to take the copy to Dodsley's as I remember the number of lines which it contains, it will be no longer than Eugenio†, with This letter must have been written in April 1738, as appears from an accidental memorandum on the back of it, and from the Epigram to Eliza, which was printed in that month's Magazine, p. 210, both in Greek and Latin. The three following letters were also written in 1738. inscribed to Mr. The author of this ተ "Eugenio, a Virtuous and Happy Life, Pope," published by Dodsley in April 1737. Poem, a work by no means destitute of public spirit, and which had had the advantage of being corrected by Dean Swift, was Mr. Beach, a wine-merchant at Wrexham in Denbighshire, a man of learning, of great humanity, of an easy fortune, and much respected. He is said by some to have entertained very blameable notions in religion; but this appears rather to be a conjecture than a well-established fact. It is certain that he was at times grievously afflicted with a terrible disorder in his head, to which his friends ascribed his melancholy exit. On May 17, 1737, in less than a month after the publication of his poem, he cut his throat with such shocking resolution, that it was reported his head was almost severed from his body. This dreadful catastrophe is thus mentioned by Bp. Herring (then the quotations, which must be subjoined at the bottom of the page; part of the beauty of the performance (if any beauty be allowed it) consisting in adapting Juvenal's sentiments to modern facts and persons. It will, with those additions, very conveniently make five sheets. And since the expence will be no more, I shall contentedly insure it, as I mentioned in my last. If it be not therefore gone to Dodsley's, I beg it may be sent me by the pennypost, that I may have it in the evening. I have composed a Greek epigram to Eliza*, and think she ought to be celebrated in as many different languages as Lewis Le Grand. Pray send me word when you will begin upon the poem, for it is a long way to walk. I would leave my Epigram, but have not day-light to transcribe it. I am, sir, Yours, &c. 6. (6 SIR, SAM. JOHNSON." [No date.] "I AM extremely obliged by your kind letter, and will not fail to attend you to-morrow with Irene, who looks upon you as one of her best friends. "I was to-day with Mr. Dodsley, who declares very warmly in favour of the paper you sent him, which he desires to have a share in, it being, as he says, a creditable thing to be concerned in. I knew not what answer to make till I had consulted you, nor what to demand on the Author's part; but am very willing that, if you please, he should have a part in it, as he will undoubtedly be more diligent (then Bp. of Bangor) in one of his letters to Mr. Duncombe, p.54: "The verses you sent me are very sensible and touching; and the sentiments in them, I doubt not, exhilarated the blood for some time, and suspended the black execution; but his distemper, it may be said, got the better, and carried him off at last. I would willingly put the best construction upon these melancholy accidents, and thus leave the sufferers to the Father of Mercies." And an "Epilogue to Cato, for the Scholars at Wrexham, 1735," shews how much better Mr. Beach could think than act. * Miss Carter. See p. 24. He lived at that time in Castle-street, Cavendish-square. to to disperse and promote it. If you can send me word to-morrow what I shall say to him, I will settle matters, and bring the Poem with me for the press, which, as the town empties, we cannot be too quick with, I am, sir, yours, &c. 7. " SIR, SAM. JOHNSON." Wednesday. "I DID not care to detain your servant while I wrote an answer to your letter, in which you seem to insinuate that I had promised more than I am ready to perform. If I have raised your expectations by any thing that may have escaped my memory, I ain sorry; and if you remind me of it, shall thank you for the favour. If I made fewer alterations than usual in the Debates *, it was only because there appeared, and still appears to be, less need of alteration. "The verses to Lady Firebrace may be had when you please, for you know that such a subject neither deserves much thought, nor requires it. "The Chinese Stories may be had folded down when you please to send, in which I do not recollect that you desired any alterations to be made. Those in the Senate of Lilliput. †They appeared in the Magazine, vol. VIII. p. 486, with this title, "Verses to Lady Firebrace at Bury Assizes." "At length must Suffolk's Beauties shine in vain, Thou seem'st at once, bright Nymph, a Muse and Grace.” Lady Firebrace was Bridget, third daughter of Philip Bacon, esq. of Ipswich, and relict of Philip Evers, esq. of that town. She became the second wife of Sir Cordell Firebrace, the last baronet of that name (to whom she brought a fortune of 25,0001.), July 26, 1737. Being again left a widow in 1759, she was a third time married, April 7, 1762, to William Campbell, esq. brother to John third Duke of Argyle; and died July 3, 1782. Du Halde's Description of China was then publishing by Mr. Cave in weekly numbers, whence Johnson was to select pieces for the embellishment of the Magazine. "An "An answer to another query I am very willing to write, and had consulted with you about it last night if there had been time; for I think it the most proper way of inviting such a correspondence as may be an advantage to the paper, not a load upon it. "As to the Prize Verses, a backwardness to determine their degrees of merit is not peculiar to me. You may, if you please, still have what I can say; but I shall engage with little spirit in an affair, which I shall hardly end to my own satisfaction, and certainly not to the satisfaction of the parties concerned * "As to Father Paul, I have not yet been just to my Proposal; but have met with impediments, which, I hope, are now at an end; and if you find the progress hereafter not such as you have a right to expect, you can easily stimulate a negligent translator. "If any or all of these have contributed to your discontent, I will endeavour to remove it; and desire you to propose the question to which you wish for an answer. I am, sir, your humble servant, SAM. JOHNSON." I once possessed a paper, in Johnson's handwriting, which I gave to Mr. Boswell, intituled, "Account between Mr. Edward Cave and Sam. Johnson, in relation to a version of Father Paul, &c. begun Aug. 2, 1738;" by which it appears, that from that day to April 21, 1739, Johnson received for that work 491. 78. in sums of one, two, three, and sometimes four guineas at a time, most frequently two. And it is curious to observe the minute and scrupulous accuracy with which John * The premium of Forty Pounds, proposed for the best poem on the Divine Attributes, is here alluded to. A former prize of 50l. had been determined in 1736 by three judges (I know not whether Johnson was one) whose decisions were delivered to the publick by Mr. Birch; with whom Dr. Mortimer, Sec. R. S. was associated. See Gent. Mag. vol. V. p. 726, and vol. VI. p. 59. son |