Skip to main content

A Letter from a Lion

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson (1755), Preface to the English Dictionary

Johnson was not always a conventional guest. Graciously treated, he responded in like manner, but offended, Johnson could wield a pen dripping with vitriol.
(Samuel Johnson writes to Lord Chesterfield, Feb. 7, 1755.)

Vol. 39, pp. 206-207 of The Harvard Classics


Letter to the Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield


February 7, 1755.

  MY LORD:

  I HAVE lately been informed by the proprietor of The World, that two papers, in which myDictionary is recommended to the public, were written by your Lordship. to be so distinguished is an honor which, being very little accustomed to favours from the great, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge.


  When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your Lordship, I was overpowered, like the rest of mankind, by the enchantment of your address; and I could not forbear to wish that I might boast myself ‘Le vainqueur du vainqueur de la terre’; that I might obtain that regard for which I saw the world contending; but I found my attendance so little encouraged, that neither pride nor modesty would suffer me to continue it. When I had once addressed your Lordship in public, I had exhausted all the art of pleasing which a retired and uncourtly scholar can possess. I had done all that I could; and no man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.

  Seven years, my Lord, have now passed, since I waited in your outward rooms, or was repulsed from your door; during which time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties, of which it is useless to complain, and have brought it at last to the verge of publication, without one act of assistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of favor. Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a Patron before.

  The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with Love, and found him a native of the rocks.

  Is not a Patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the Public should consider me as owing that to a Patron, which Providence has enabled me to do for myself.

  Having carried on my work thus far with so little obligation to any favorer of learning, I shall not be disappointed though I should conclude it, if less be possible, with less; for I have been long wakened from that dream of hope, in which I once boasted myself with so much exultation,


    My Lord, Your Lordship’s most humble,
Most obedient servant,                SAM. JOHNSON.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Download all 51 Volumes of The Harvard Classics as PDF, MOBI, ePub or Text

Archive.org provides all 51 volumes of The Harvard Classics anthology in many formats for free download on their servers. Unfortunately, the current page listing all of these volumes is a little disorganised, so to help you easily locate and download the files you need, I have collected all of the links on a single page . You will find volumes organised numerically with a short description of the text and download links for the PDF, MOBI, ePub and plain text files.
3 comments
Read more

Odysseus Silenced the Sirens

Homer Homer (fl. 850 B.C.). Book XII, The Odyssey. When his ship approached the siren's rock, Odysseus stuffed the ears of his crew with wax and had himself bound to the mast that he might hear the alluring voice of the siren and yet not wreck his ship on the enchanted rock. Odysseus, his passage by the Sirens, and by Scylla and Charybdis. The sacrilege committed by his men in the isle Thrinacia. The destruction of his ships and men. How he swam on a plank nine days together, and came to Ogygia, where he stayed seven years with Calypso. ‘NOW after the ship had left the stream of the river Oceanus, and was come to the wave of the wide sea, and the isle Aeaean, where is the dwelling place of early Dawn and her dancing grounds, and the land of sunrising, upon our coming thither we beached the ship in the sand, and ourselves too stept ashore on the sea beach. There we fell on sound sleep and awaited the bright Dawn.
Post a Comment
Read more

"The Moving Finger Writes"

Edward Fitzgerald Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883), "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam"  Omar Khayyam laughed and enjoyed the good things of life. His "Rubaiyat," the most popular philosophic poem, is the best of all books to dip into for an alluring thought. I WAKE!  For the Sun behind yon Eastern height Has chased the Session of the Stars from Night;     And to the field of Heav’n ascending, strikes The Sulta´n’s Turret with a Shaft of Light. II Before the phantom of False morning died, Methought a Voice within the Tavern cried,     “When all the Temple is prepared within, Why lags the drowsy Worshipper outside?” III And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before The Tavern shouted—“Open then the Door!     You know how little while we have to stay, And, once departed, may return no more.”
Post a Comment
Read more