The Life of Samuel Johnson, vol 3 | Page 2

the company of those
raised above the state in which they once were, encroachment must be
repelled, and the kinder feelings sacrificed. To one of the very fortunate
persons whom I have mentioned, namely, Mr. Wedderburne, now Lord
Loughborough, I must do the justice to relate, that I have been assured
by another early acquaintance of his, old Mr. Macklin[5], who assisted
in improving his pronunciation, that he found him very grateful.
Macklin, I suppose, had not pressed upon his elevation with so much
eagerness as the gentleman who complained of him. Dr. Johnson's
remark as to the jealousy 'entertained of our friends who rise far above
us,' is certainly very just. By this was withered the early friendship
between Charles Townshend and Akenside[6]; and many similar
instances might be adduced.
He said, 'It is commonly a weak man who marries for love.' We then
talked of marrying women of fortune; and I mentioned a common

remark, that a man may be, upon the whole, richer by marrying a
woman with a very small portion, because a woman of fortune will be
proportionally expensive; whereas a woman who brings none will be
very moderate in expenses. JOHNSON. 'Depend upon it, Sir, this is not
true. A woman of fortune being used to the handling of money, spends
it judiciously: but a woman who gets the command of money for the
first time upon her marriage, has such a gust in spending it, that she
throws it away with great profusion.'
He praised the ladies of the present age, insisting that they were more
faithful to their husbands, and more virtuous in every respect, than in
former times, because their understandings were better cultivated[7]. It
was an undoubted proof of his good sense and good disposition, that he
was never querulous, never prone to inveigh against the present times,
as is so common when superficial minds are on the fret. On the
contrary, he was willing to speak favourably of his own age; and,
indeed, maintained its superiority[8] in every respect, except in its
reverence for government; the relaxation of which he imputed, as its
grand cause, to the shock which our monarchy received at the
Revolution, though necessary[9]; and secondly, to the timid
concessions made to faction by successive administrations in the reign
of his present Majesty. I am happy to think, that he lived to see the
Crown at last recover its just influence[10].
At Leicester we read in the news-paper that Dr. James[11] was dead. I
thought that the death of an old school-fellow, and one with whom he
had lived a good deal in London, would have affected my
fellow-traveller much: but he only said, 'Ah! poor Jamy.' Afterwards,
however, when we were in the chaise, he said, with more tenderness,
'Since I set out on this jaunt, I have lost an old friend and a young
one;--Dr. James, and poor Harry[12].' (Meaning Mr. Thrale's son.)
Having lain at St. Alban's, on Thursday, March 28, we breakfasted the
next morning at Barnet. I expressed to him a weakness of mind which I
could not help; an uneasy apprehension that my wife and children, who
were at a great distance from me, might, perhaps, be ill. 'Sir, (said he,)
consider how foolish you would think it in them to be apprehensive that

you are ill[13].' This sudden turn relieved me for the moment; but I
afterwards perceived it to be an ingenious fallacy. I might, to be sure,
be satisfied that they had no reason to be apprehensive about me,
because I knew that I myself was well: but we might have a mutual
anxiety, without the charge of folly; because each was, in some degree,
uncertain as to the condition of the other.
I enjoyed the luxury of our approach to London, that metropolis which
we both loved so much, for the high and varied intellectual pleasure
which it furnishes[14]. I experienced immediate happiness while
whirled along with such a companion, and said to him, 'Sir, you
observed one day at General Oglethorpe's[15], that a man is never
happy for the present, but when he is drunk. Will you not add,--or when
driving rapidly in a post-chaise[16]?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir, you are
driving rapidly from something, or to something.'
Talking of melancholy, he said, 'Some men, and very thinking men too,
have not those vexing thoughts[17]. Sir Joshua Reynolds is the same all
the year round[18]. Beauclerk, except when ill and in pain, is the same.
But I believe most men have them in the degree in which they are
capable of having them. If I were in the country, and were distressed by
that malady, I would force myself to take a book; and every time I did
it I should find it the easier. Melancholy, indeed, should