he has he has represented him more as a sage and philosopher in his conduct as well as his conversation than he really was, and less as a rollicking 'King of Society.' The gravity of Johnson's own writings tends to confirm this, as I suspect, erroneous impression. His religion was fitful and intermittent, and when once the ice was broken he enjoyed Jack Wilkes, though he refused to shake hands with Hume. I was much struck by a remark of Sir John Hawkins (excuse me if I have mentioned this to you before): 'He was the most humorous man I ever knew.' I shall be most happy to talk about the subject when you return to England; ἐμοὶ περὶ Σωκράτους εἰπεῖν τε καὶ ἀκοῦσαι ἀεὶ ἥδιστον.” 1 "1 The passage in Hawkins to which the Master referred is as follows: "In the talent of humour there hardly ever was Johnson's equal, except perhaps among the old comedians." I shall not, in this article, include the autograph which I possess of the great man, for I have already printed it among his Letters. I have in my collection the following curious cutting from a London newspaper, published a day or two after his body was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey: "There were present at the ill-performed ser 1 "For to me there is no greater pleasure than to have Socrates brought to my recollection; whether I speak myself, or hear another speak of him." vice of yesterday not a single Bishop, and not six Curates. Not one titled individual of our own. country, or of the numerous foreigners amongst us. - No official deputations from our Universities or establishments of science. Scarcely any of the learned professions. - Not even the Choir, and but four of the Chapter of the Cathedral which was honoured with his interment. — The Dean did not make one of those four. "The only persons who understood themselves and their condition enough to attend as mourners on this sad solemnity were about thirty individuals, distinguished purely by science, sentiment and taste." Among the mourners were Reynolds and Burke. What was the whole bench of bishops, or a dozen mourning-coaches full of "titled individuals," weighed against either of them? Shenstone, to whom I will next introduce my readers, was one of "that nest of singing-birds" who last century gave renown to Pembroke College. He died a bachelor; yet he must have known what love was when he wrote so prettily: "She gazed as I slowly withdrew; My path I could hardly discern; I thought that she bade me return." It was as a melancholy bachelor that he knew so well how to sing the praises of an inn: "Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round, Where'er his stages may have been, His letter, which bears no address, is as follows: Sunday 23d Sept. 1759. My Comp's M: Prattenton sent hither last night to request a Few Fish, of any sort, for his Father's Feast (who is Bailiff elect) on Thursday week — I am as unwilling to excuse myself as I am unable to oblige him, from any Pool of mine at the Leasowes- Could M: Hylton or M: Smith of Lapall contrive any means of procuring a good handsome dish, which I should be very glad to send him, at any reasonable expence? I am to let him know this afternoon. I forgot to acquaint M: Hylton y! his method of coloring my grove &c. is to finish everything y requires one Color, first; then every thing of another, &c. By this means he will be able to compleat five while he does one ye other way— 'Tis ye grand arcanum in all manufactures. Did I give M: Hylton all my Kingfishers? For upon examining my Drawer I can find none — I should be glad of a middlin Dose of Rhubarb & Crem. Tartar by the Bearer. WILL: SHENSTONE. M: Hodgetts & his Sister here - For what various uses, in the Name of Wonder, is ye Implement intended, that came Last Night? 4 o'clock Afternoon - Admiral Smith & a M Wood in one Chaise, M: Harris & Miss Milward in another Left me about 3-Lord Stanford's Servants &c. The Day exquisitely fine. The Leasowes, Worcestershire, Shenstone's pretty place in though it covered but a few acres of ground, nevertheless, by the landscapegardening with which he adorned it, swallowed up most of his fortune. No sooner did he come into possession of the property than "he began to point his prospects, to diversify his surface, to entangle his walks, and to wind his waters; which he did with such judgment and such fancy as made his little domain the envy of the great, and the admiration of the skilful; a place to be visited by travellers and copied by designers." It long remained a show place. I have heard my father say that, in his boyhood, he and his schoolfellows, on a holiday, would walk over to see it all the way from a town many miles off. The bailiff-elect the office corresponded to that of mayor probably belonged to Hales-Owen, the neighboring market town. In its grammar school Shenstone was educated, and in its churchyard he found his last resting-place. The poet's equanimity must have been greatly disturbed by the request for fish. "His pleasure was all in his eye; he valued what he valued merely for its looks; nothing raised his indignation more than to ask if there were any fish in his water." Some years ago, in the course of my reading I came across the following passage in Mrs. Piozzi's "Journey through Italy:" "I have no roses here [at Florence] equal to those at Lichfield, where on one tree I recollect counting eighty-four within your reach; it grew against the house of Dr. Darwin." It raised in my mind so pleasant a picture of the home of the poet who sang of the "Loves of the Plants" that I sent a copy to the great naturalist, Charles Darwin, who was, I knew, writing Erasmus Darwin's Life. He replied: DOWN, BECKENHAM, KENT, DEAR SIR, I am much obliged to you for your kindness in writing to me. My notice of the life of my grandfather will be very short, and I doubt whether I shall go into such detail as to justify my using the little fact communicated by Yours faithfully & obliged, you. CH. DARWIN. When we reflect on the place Darwin holds in the realm of science, - a place which no one has held since Newton died, the two following entries have a certain air of strangeness about them. Macaulay recorded in his diary on July |