Excerpt from The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D, Vol. 1 of 2: With an Essay on His Life and Genius

He was told that the Earl of Chesterfield was a friend to his undertaking; and in consequence of that intelligence, he published, in 1747, The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language, addressed to the Right Honourable Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield, one of his Majesty's princi pal Secretaries of State. Mr. Whitehead, after wards Poet Laureat, undertook to convey the manuscript to his Lordshi the consequence was an invitation from Lor Chesterfield to the author. A stronger contrast of characters could not be brought together; the Nobleman, cele brated for his wit, and all the graces of polite behaviour; the Author, conscious of his own merit, towerin in idea above all competition, versed in scho astio logic, but a stranger to the arts of polite conversation, uncouth, vehement, and vociferous. The coalition was too unnatu ral. Johnson expected a Maecenas, and was disap inted. N o patronage, no assistance fol lowe Visits were repeated; but the reception was not cordial. Johnson one day was left a full hour, waiting in an antichamber, till a gen tleman should retire, and leave his lordship at leisure. This was the famous Colley Cibber. Johnson saw him go, and fired with indignation, rushed out of the housef What Lord Ches terfield thought of his visiter may be seen in a passage in one of that Nobleman's letters to his son.i There is a man, whose moral charac ter, deep learning, and superior parts, I acknow ledge, adrnire, and respect; but whom it is so impossible for me to love, that I am almost in a fever whenever I am in his company. His figure (without being deformed) seems made to dis grace or ridicule the common structure of the human body. His legs and arms are never in the position which, according to the situation of his body, they ought to be in, but constantly employed in committing acts of hostility upon the Graces. He throws any where, but down his throat, whatever he means to drink: and mangles what he means'to carve. Inattentive to all the regards of social life, he mis-times and mis-places every thing. He disputes with heat indiscriminately, mindless of the rank, charac ter, and situation of those with whom he dis putes. Absolutely ignorant of the several gra dations of familiarity and respect, he is exactly the same to his superiors, his equals, and his in feriors; and therefore by a necessary couse quence, is absurd to two of the three. Is it pos sible to love such a man? No. The utmosti can do for him is, to consider him a respectable Hottentot Such was the idea entertained by lord Chesterfield. After the incident of Colley Cibber, Johnson never repeated his visits. In his high and decisive tone, he has been often heard to say, Lord Chesterfield is a Wit among Lords, and a Lord among Wits.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.