id,comments,provenance,dictionary,created_at,reviewed_on,work_id,theme,context,updated_at,metaphor,text
15367,Orig. citing abridged? (p. 390),Reading,"",2005-09-19 00:00:00 UTC,2016-03-15,5767,"","A.D. 1770, Aetat. 61",2016-03-15 04:17:02 UTC,"""Johnson was much attached to London: he observed, that a man stored his mind better there, than any where else; and that in remote situations a man's body might be feasted, but his mind was starved, and his faculties apt to degenerate, from want of exercise and competition.""","""Johnson was much attached to London: he observed, that a man stored his mind better there, than any where else; and that in remote situations a man's body might be feasted, but his mind was starved, and his faculties apt to degenerate, from want of exercise and competition. No place, he said, cured a man's vanity or arrogance, so well as London; for as no man was either great or good per se, but as compared with others not so good or great, he was sure to find in the metropolis many his equals, and some his superiours. He observed, that a man in London was in less danger of falling in love indiscreetly, than any where else; for there the difficulty of deciding between the conflicting pretensions of a vast variety of objects, kept him safe. He told me, that he had frequently been offered country preferment, if he would consent to take orders; but he could not leave the improved society of the capital, or consent to exchange the exhilarating joys and splendid decorations of publick life, for the obscurity, insipidity, and uniformity of remote situations.
(I, p. 339; p. 323 in Penguin)"
19981,"",Reading,"",2013-03-21 05:13:48 UTC,,5767,"",Aetat 69,2013-03-21 05:14:10 UTC,"""But, enough of this subject; for your angry voice at Ashbourne upon it, still sounds aweful 'in my mind's ears.'""","""What do you say to Taxation no Tyranny now, after Lord North's declaration, or confession, or whatever else his conciliatory speech should be called? I never differed from you on politicks but upon two points--the Middlesex Election, and the Taxation of the Americans by the British Houses of Representatives. There is a charm in the word Parliament, so I avoid it. As I am a steady and a warm Tory, I regret that the King does not see it to be better for him to receive constitutional supplies from his American subjects by the voice of their own assemblies, where his Royal Person is represented, than through the medium of his British subjects. I am persuaded that the power of the Crown, which I wish to increase, would be greater when in contact with all its dominions, than if 'the rays of regal bounty' were to 'shine' upon America, through that dense and troubled body--a modern British Parliament. But, enough of this subject; for your angry voice at Ashbourne upon it, still sounds aweful ""in my mind's ears."" I ever am, my dear Sir,
""Your most affectionate humble servant,
""James Boswell.""
(II, p. 184-5; Penguin, 643)"
19982,"",Reading,"",2013-03-21 05:22:11 UTC,,5767,"",Aetat 69,2013-03-21 05:22:11 UTC,"""I have a wonderful superstitious love of mystery; when, perhaps, the truth is, that it is owing to the cloudy darkness of my own mind.""","In my interview with Dr. Johnson this evening, I was quite easy, quite as his companion; upon which I find in my Journal the following reflection: ""So ready is my mind to suggest matter for dissatisfaction, that I felt a sort of regret that I was so easy. I missed that aweful reverence with which I used to contemplate Mr. Samuel Johnson, in the complex magnitude of his literary, moral, and religious character. I have a wonderful superstitious love of mystery; when, perhaps, the truth is, that it is owing to the cloudy darkness of my own mind. I should be glad that I am more advanced in my progress of being, so that I can view Dr. Johnson with a steadier and clearer eye. My dissatisfaction to-night was foolish. Would it not be foolish to regret that we shall have less mystery in a future state? That we 'now see in a glass darkly,' but shall 'then see face to face ?""--This reflection, which I thus freely communicate, will be valued by the thinking part of my readers, who may have themselves experienced similar states of mind.
(vol. II, p. 187; Penguin, 645)"
23807,"",Searching in ECCO-TCP,Animals,2014-04-25 03:59:07 UTC,,5767,"","",2014-04-25 04:00:02 UTC,"""I suppose, Sir, he has thought superficially, and seized the first notions which occurred to his mind. … Why then, Sir, still he is like a dog""","BOSWELL.
""Pray, Sir, is not Foote an infidel?""
JOHNSON.
""I do not know, Sir, that the fellow is an infidel; but if he be an infidel, he is an infidel as a dog is an infidel; that is to say, he has never thought upon the subject.""
BOSWELL.
""I suppose, Sir, he has thought superficially, and seized the first notions which occurred to his mind.""
JOHNSON.
""Why then, Sir, still he is like a dog, that snatches the piece next him. Did you never observe that dogs have not the power of comparing? A dog will take a small bit of meat as readily as a large, when both are before him.""
(I, pp. 321-2)"
23822,"",Reading,Fetters,2014-04-29 02:02:44 UTC,,5767,"","",2014-04-29 02:02:44 UTC,"""His supposed orthodoxy here cramped the vigorous powers of his understanding. He was confined by a chain which early imagination and long habit made him think massy and strong, but which, had he ventured to try, he could at once have snapt asunder.""","He mentioned Dr. Clarke, and Bishop Bramhall on Liberty and Necessity, and bid me read South's sermons on Prayer; but avoided the question which has excruciated philosophers and divines beyond any other. I did not press it further, when I perceived that he was displeased, and shrunk from any abridgement of an attribute usually ascribed to the Divinity, however irreconcileable in its full extent with the grand system of moral government. His supposed orthodoxy here cramped the vigorous powers of his understanding. He was confined by a chain which early imagination and long habit made him think massy and strong, but which, had he ventured to try, he could at once have snapt asunder.
(I, pp. 327-8; cf. pp. 313-4 in Penguin)"
23823,"",Reading,"",2014-04-29 02:52:21 UTC,,5767,"","",2014-04-29 02:52:21 UTC,"""I said to him, I was sure that human life was not machinery, that is to say, a chain of fatality planned and directed by the Supreme Being, as it had in it so much wickedness and misery, so many instances of both, as that by which my mind was now clouded.""","On Wednesday, June 23, I visited him in the forenoon, after having been present at the shocking sight of fifteen men executed before Newgate. I said to him, I was sure that human life was not machinery, that is to say, a chain of fatality planned and directed by the Supreme Being, as it had in it so much wickedness and misery, so many instances of both, as that by which my mind was now clouded. Were it machinery it would be better than it is in these respects, though less noble, as not being a system of moral government. He agreed with me now, as he always did, upon the great question of the liberty of the human will, which has been in all ages perplexed with so much sophistry. But, Sir, as to the doctrine of Necessity, no man believes it. If a man should give me arguments that I do not see, though I could not answer them, should I believe that I do not see?"" It will be observed, that Johnson at all times made the just distinction between doctrines contrary to reason, and doctrines above reason.
(I, p. 522; cf. p. 945 in Penguin)"
23824,"",Reading,Impressions,2014-04-29 02:54:18 UTC,,5767,"","",2014-04-29 02:54:18 UTC,"""Talking of the religious discipline proper for unhappy convicts, he said, 'Sir, one of our regular clergy will probably not impress their minds sufficiently: they should be attended by a Methodist preacher, or a Popish priest.'""","Talking of the religious discipline proper for unhappy convicts, he said, ""Sir, one of our regular clergy will probably not impress their minds sufficiently: they should be attended by a Methodist preacher, or a Popish priest."" Let me however observe, in justice to the Reverend Mr. Vilette, who has been Ordinary of Newgate for no less than seventeen years, in the course of which he has attended many hundreds of wretched criminals, that his earnest and humane exhortations have been very effectual. His extraordinary diligence is highly praise-worthy, and merits a distinguished reward.
(I, p. 522; cf. p. 945 in Penguin)"
23825,"",Reading,"",2014-04-29 04:38:14 UTC,,5767,"","",2014-04-29 04:38:14 UTC,"""In short, it must not be concealed, that like many other good and pious men, amongst whom we may place the Apostle Paul, upon his own authority, Johnson was not free from propensities which were ever 'warring against the law of his mind,'--and that in his combats with them, he was sometimes overcome.""","His great fear of death, and the strange dark manner in which Sir John Hawkins imparts the uneasiness which he expressed on account of offences with which he charged himself, may give occasion to injurious suspicions, as if there had been something of more than ordinary criminality weighing upon his conscience. On that account, therefore, as well as from the regard to truth which he inculcated, I am to mention, (with all possible respect and delicacy however,) that his conduct after he came to London, and had associated with Savage and others, was not so strictly virtuous, in one respect, as when he was a younger man. It was well known, that his amorous inclinations were uncommonly strong and impetuous. He owned to many of his friends, that he used to take women of the town to taverns, and hear them relate their history. In short, it must not be concealed, that like many other good and pious men, amongst whom we may place the Apostle Paul, upon his own authority, Johnson was not free from propensities which were ever ""warring against the law of his mind,""--and that in his combats with them, he was sometimes overcome.
(II, pp. 567-8, pp. 985-6 in Penguin)"
24377,"",Reading; text from ECCO-TCP,Mirror,2014-07-31 18:45:12 UTC,,5767,"","",2014-07-31 18:45:24 UTC,"""LORD TRIMBLESTOWN. 'True, Sir. As the ladies love to see themselves in a glass; so a man likes to see himself in his journal.' ... BOSWELL. ""And as a lady adjusts her dress before a mirror, a man adjusts his character by looking at his journal.'""","When we were at tea and coffee, there came in Lord Trimblestown, in whose family was an ancient Irish peerage, but it suffered by taking the generous side in the troubles of the last century. He was a man of pleasing conversation, and was accompanied by a young gentleman, his son.
I mentioned that I had in my possession the Life of Sir Robert Sibbald, the celebrated Scottish antiquary, and founder of the Royal College of Physicians at Edinburgh, in the original manuscript in his own hand-writing; and Page 189 that it was I believed the most natural and candid account of himself that ever was given by any man. As an instance, he tells that the Duke of Perth, then Chancellor of Scotland, pressed him very much to come over to the Roman-Catholick Faith; that he resisted all his Grace's arguments for a considerable time, till one day he felt himself as it were instantaneously convinced, and with tears in his eyes ran into the Duke's arms, and embraced the ancient religion; that he continued very steady in it for some time, and accompanied his Grace to London one winter, and lived in his household; that there he found the rigid fasting prescribed by the church very severe upon him; that this disposed him to reconsider the controversy, and having then seen that he was in the wrong, he returned to Protestantism. I talked of some time or other publishing this curious life. MRS. THRALE. ""I think you had as well let alone that publication. To discover such weakness exposes a man when he is gone."" JOHNSON. ""Nay, it is an honest picture of human nature. How often are the primary motives of our greatest actions as small as Sibbald's, for his re-conversion."" MRS. THRALE. ""But may they not as well be forgotten?"" JOHNSON. ""No, Madam, a man loves to review his own mind. That is the use of a diary, or journal."" LORD TRIMBLESTOWN. ""True, Sir. As the ladies love to see themselves in a glass; so a man likes to see himself in his journal."" BOSWELL. ""A very pretty allusion."" JOHNSON. ""Yes, indeed."" BOSWELL. ""And as a lady adjusts her dress before a mirror, a man adjusts his character by looking at his journal."" I next year found the very same thought in Atterbury's ""Sermon on Lady Cutts."" ""In this glass she every day dressed her mind."" This is a proof of coincidence, and not of plagiarism; for I had never read that sermon before.
(II, pp. 188-189)"
24877,"","Reading William C. Dowling, Language and Logos in Boswell's 'Life of Johnson' (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1981), 50. See also Felicity Nussbaum, ""Boswell's Treatment of Johnson's Temper: 'A Warm West-Indian Climate,'"" Studies in English Literature (Summer 1974): 421-433, 432-3.
","",2016-03-14 01:58:16 UTC,,5767,"","",2016-03-14 02:21:28 UTC,"""I compared him at this time to a warm West-Indian climate, where you have a bright sun, quick vegetation, luxuriant foliage, luscious fruits; but where the same heat sometimes produces thunder, lightening, and earthquakes in a terrible degree.","He then rose again into passion, and attacked the young proselyte in the severest terms of reproach, so that both the ladies seemed to be much shocked.
We remained together till it was pretty late. Notwithstanding occasional explosions of violence, we were all delighted upon the whole with Johnson. I compared him at this time to a warm West-Indian climate, where you have a bright sun, quick vegetation, luxuriant foliage, luscious fruits; but where the same heat sometimes produces thunder, lightening, and earthquakes in a terrible degree.
(II, p. 232)"