'Cross his cold bed, in wild disorder, thrown, Why do I breathe? What joy can being give, Where can he hope for pity, peace, or rest, Even she who bore me blasts me with her hate, Let me but sigh in silence at my fate. The God within, perhaps, may touch her breast; This letter, which was published in 1724, was succeeded in 1727 by a more circumstantial account of the life and sorrows of the unhappy man; and such was the influence of these appeals, that had he conducted himself with common prudence there is every reason to suppose, from the subsequent exertions in his favour, that, if not affluence, at least competence, might have been his portion. It is somewhat singular, that with a man so vitiated in his habits as was Savage, Johnson should have delighted to associate; there were, however, some points of contact; they were both authors, both in a state of extreme poverty, and both indignant at the reception which their talents had hitherto received; Savage also had acquirements which Johnson was solicitous to participate; his deportment and engaging manners he much admired; and his intimate knowledge of all the varieties of life enabled Johnson to obtain with safety that information which, on the part of his friend, had been so dearly purchased by experience. As it was impossible, however, to be the companion of Savage without, in some degree, partaking of his follies and licentious indulgences, it was fortunate for our author's peace of mind that the connection proved of short duration. It terminated in July, 1739, when Savage left London to reside at Swansea, in Wales, upon a small pension contributed by his friends. They parted to meet no more; for on August 1st, 1743, Savage died in the Newgate of Bristol, where he had been imprisoned for a debt of but eight pounds. The most irregular, and probably the most unhappy period of Johnson's life, and that on which he reflected with the least complacency, was passed during his intimacy with Savage. Such was the indigence of these extraordinary characters, that they have been known to pass whole nights wandering together through the streets and squares of London, because they actually could not raise, between them, a sum sufficient for the procurement of the meanest lodging.* "Johnson," relates Mr. Boswell, "told Sir Joshua Reynolds, that one night in particular, when Savage and he walked round St. James's Square for want of a lodging, they were not at all depressed by their situation; but in high spirits, and brimful of patriotism, traversed the square for several hours, inveighed against the minister, and resolved they would stand by their country.+" To this connection, dangerous as it was to the * Sir John Hawkins is inclined to attribute a short temporary separation which took place at this time between Johnson and his wife, to these nocturnal excursions; but it is more probable, that Mrs. Johnson, who retired to a friend's house near the Tower, left her husband because he was incapable of supporting her. + Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. 1, p. 137. moral principles of our author, we are indebted for one of the most instructive pieces of biography extant. It was written warm from the heart, with a most intimate knowledge of the character which the author was delineating, and with a flow of composition that is truly astonishing, forty-eight of the printed octavo pages having been executed at a sitting, and the whole comNo sooner had it pleted in thirty-six hours." issued from the press, than it became the theme of general admiration, and a warm eulogium was immediately passed upon it in the periodical paper entituled "The Champion." The strongest and most valuable proof of its attraction, however, was given by Sir Joshua Reynolds, who declared, "that upon his return from Italy, he met with it in Devonshire, knowing nothing of its author, and began to read it while he was standing with his arm leaning against a chimney-piece. It seized his attention so strongly, that, not being able to lay down the book till he had finished it, when he attempted to move, he found his arm totally benumbed." The unparalleled misfortunes, indeed, and the truly eccentric character of Savage, wanted nothing but the style of Johnson to surround them with the most powerful interest. * Vide Boswell's Life, p. 139, and Sir John Hawkins's Life, p. 152. + Boswell's Life, p. 139. Yet the great merit and utility of the Life of Savage arises from the just views of human life which the writer exhibits, from the numerous moral precepts and prudential lessons which he has copiously interspersed through its pages, and from the salutary and warning example which he every where takes care shall be forcibly impressed upon the reader's mind. Johnson, it is true, was strongly prejudiced in favour of his friend; he has estimated his talents much too highly, and he has occasionally become the apologist of his conduct; but in doing this, he has never lost sight of what is due to virtue and to piety. To the singular situation of Savage, and to the relentless persecutions which he endured, he has justly attributed several of his faults; but he has, at the same time, amply shewn how these might have been corrected; and he has fully proved, that with regard to his vices and licentious habits, he was the architect of his own ruin. Upon the genius and literary acquirements of his friend, Johnson has lavished eulogies, which an inspection of his works will by no means justify. Much allowance, indeed, must be given to a man whose distresses and indigence were frequently such as to deprive him of all the requisites for finished composition. During a considerable part of the time," relates his biographer, 66 |