TO
SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL. D.
I had lately the following curious Eſſay put into my Hands by a particular Friend; which, on account of its great Singularity and Scarcity, I wiſh to reſcue from Oblivion; and I know not how I can more effectually do this, than by connecting it with ſo great and illuſtrious a Name as your own; which I hope will net excite your Anger, or incur your Reſentment, as it is my Intention to vindicate you from a Charge, that, considering the Contents of the Eſſay itſelf, and your particular political Connections at this Time, may be of infinite Service, if not in augmenting your well-earned Penſion, (if that Word give not Offence) yet in preventing any Diminution, or total Abolition of it.
So extraordinary a Performance as the following is, could not fail to excite a very eager Deſire of knowing the Author; when, to my great Surprize, it was poſitively aſſerted to be the Production of the maflerly Pen of Dr. Samuel Johnson.—I remonſtrated again and again with my Friend upon the Abſurdity of the Surmiſe; and pointed out innumerable Paſſages which I thought ſerved to deſtroy his poſitive Aſſertions. This only tended to increaſe his Prejudices in favour of his own Preconceptions, and confirm me in the Reſolution of republiſhing the Eſſay, with ſuch Remarks, as ſhould invalidate every Argument, and remove every Suſpicion that favoured of its being the Production of your Pen: And indeed I flatter myſelf that a Shadow of Doubt will not appear of your being the Author of it, when the Whole has been peruſed and compared with thoſe Two inimitable and unanſwerable Pamphlets with which you have obliged your Royal Maſter, and our moſt gracious Sovereign, and his able Miniſters: I mean the False Alarm, and that moſt excellent Vindication (intitled Taxation no Tyranny) of what the Faction or Whigs (which by your excellent Dictionary we are taught to be one and the ſame) call the moſt ominous Syſtem of Deſpotiſm that this, or any other Free State ever ſaw planned, and which their fanatical Zeal moſt religiouſly reprobates.
I urged in your Vindication, learned Sir! that it was impoſſible ſo pointed an Attack on the glorious Revolution; ſuch bitter Reflections, keen Sarcaſms, and perſonal Invectives againſt the illuſtrious Houſe of Hanover, which are to be found in the following Eſſay; could proceed from the Pen of the now renowned Champion for the honour and Glory of One of the Houſe of Brunſwick; whoſe Exaltation to the Throne of theſe Realms has ever been Matter of the greateſt Diſtreſs, Trouble, and Diſappointment to Tories and Jacobites; neither of whom can ever diſcover Zeal or Attachment to any reigning Monarch, unleſs the Maxims of his Government ſhould be the ſame with thoſe, which, in their warmeſt Wiſhes, they would deſire to ſee the curſed and expelled Race of the Stuarts adopt and purſue. This indeed may gain, a temporary Allegiance, and procure an outward Shew of Obedience, as if, would not only gratify their high-flown extravagant Notions of hereditary Right and unlimited Authority, but afford ſome diſtant Proſpect and Hope, that a Deviation from all Principles and Maxims that firſt, in the Opinion of the Whigs, vindicated the Depoſition of the Stuarts, and Elevation of the Houſe of Hanover, might, by a happy Train of political Confluences, refer the the imperial Diadem to that Head, round which every Jacobite would wiſh to ſee it caſt its hereditary Splendor. No Man can be hardy enough to impute to Dr. Johnſon Wiſhes or Expectations of ſuch a Nature—more extravagant to his enlightened Mind and loyal Heart, than the Doctrine of Ghoſts and Phantoms, or the Pretentions to Second Sight in the Highlands of Scotland; a Country whoſe Poverty and Barrenneſs you have, as a faithful Hiſttorian, deſcribed and expoſed, though treated with Lettered Hoſpitality, and partaking of every Convenience that ſuch a Country could afford. Nor could you, Sir, had you thoſe Predilections in favour of the Houſe of Stuart that ſome would ſuggeſt, have miſſed ſo fair an Opportunity of crediting that Country for thoſe illuſtrious Names that ſwayed the Sceptre in this,
The ſurmiſe, Sir, that you are the Author of the following Eſſay, could only be deſigned to tarniſh your unblemiſhed Reputaſion, or prejudice you in the Opinion of your Royal Maſter; the friendly. Rays of whoſe Favour and Protection have beneficently ſhone upon your Merit; not indeed, by its Irradiations, to make it more conspicuous, that were impoſſible, ſo unrivalled is your Fame; but to afford his affectionate Subjects indubitable Proofs of his Diſcernment and Juſtice, of which indeed the far greater Part of them require no other Evidences than what his Majeſty has already afforded.
And though the utſatisfied Humours of ſome falſe Pretenders to Patriotiſm, have riſen into Ferments of Oppoſition; and they have, more than hinted at a Breach of the Royal Oath, ſolemnly ſworn at his Majeſty’s Coronation; and talked of the abſolute Treaſon of Miniſters againſt the State—repreſenting the Meaſures reſpecting America, as open, violent, and audacious. Breaches of the moſt ſacred Part of the Conſtitution; augmenting the utter Deſtruction of Freedom, and Eſtabliſhment of Deſpotiſm: Yet of theſe ominous Fears and diſaſtrous Conjectures we are happily freed by the late able Vindication of theſe Meaſures and Mintſters in the late celebrated Piece, intituled, Taxation no Tyranny—wherein the Charge of Rebellion is brought Home againſt the Americans; and their Struggles for what they call Liberty, proved to be the froward Oppoſition of diſobedient Children, and rebellious Inſurrections againſt the Parent State.—We ſee all their pretended Claims to natural free-born Subjects refuted.—We are peremptorily told by Dr. Johnſon, that the Americans reſigned all Right and Title to the Name, Character, and Immunities of true-born Engliſhmen, when they inſolently fled from Oppoſition and Tyranny, which here they complained of and would not patiently endure; and that they denuded themſelves of all Rights and juſt Claims to Privilege and Protection, when their inflexible and pertinacious Folly led them to a Deſert; and that the Atlantic waſhed clear away every Relict of free Subjects.
We muſt now ceaſe to pity their Oppreſſion, becauſe you, Sir, have proved them Slaves; their Complaints muſt now be deemed the Voice of Sedition, becauſe Dr. Johnſon declares their Reſiſtance Rebellion.–Let us leave then America to mourn her Fate, which the high-born Spirit of her yet untamed Sons ſeem determined, if poſſible, to retard by reſolute Oppoſition and bold Encounter, in which ſome turbulent and equally rebellious Sons at Home, with anxious and forward Zeal, wiſh them Succeſs; and congratulate our native Country, that has ſuch a pious and ever-watchful Guardian on the throne, and ſuch Miniſters ſurrounding it, who are determined at all Events, and at every deſperate Hazard, to ſacrifice all, even our own Children, before One Branch of the Royal Prerogative ſhall be loſt, the Omnipotence of Parliament queſtioned, or the Grandeur of the Britiſh Empire impaired.
Can it remain a Queſtion, that the ſtrenuous Vindicator of the Honour of the Engliſh Crown, now worn by One of the illuſtrious Houſe of Hanover, is the Author of the Eſſay in Debate? or that you, Sir, would receive a Penſion from that Hand, which, according to the Eſſayiſt, muſt ſway the Sceptre of Uſurpation? The Degeneracy of the preſent Times, though the Dregs of Rome, will not allow of a Suſpicion that implies ſuch a Profligacy of Mind, Corruption of Manners, and Deſtitution of Principles.
The Arguments I further urged to diſprove the Aſſertion that you, Sir, was the Author of the following Eſſay, were, that from the direct Attack upon the Hanover Succeſſion, and Invectives againſt the illuſtrious Progenitors of our moſt gracious Sovereign, it is manifeſt, that the Eſſayiſt was a high-flown Jacobite, and really wrote upon Principle; which he ſeems openly to avow, by the Signature he aſſumes of PROBUS BRITANICUS. Now, ſaid I, can the very Enemies of Dr. Johnſon ſuppoſe that he could have been the Author of the Eſſay, and yet in ſo public and daring a Manner renounce every Principle therein adopted and inferred? Can it be imagined that his Probity and Honour were ſo unſtable and pliable as to become the eaſy Purchaſe of the firſt State Corrupter that ſhould aſſail his Virtue? or is it probable that he ſhould revolt from the glaring Principles of Jacobitiſm (if ever he had adopted them) which your ſtanch Tories hold with equal Faith as they do their Bibles, and which they defend with Apoſtolic Zeal?—If, ſaid I, the Doctor had ever taken up this Creed, I am thoroughly convinced that no Conſiderations in the World would ever have induced him to diſcard it: He is pertinacious almoſt to a Fault; and ſo fully convinced of his own Tenets, that his beſt Friends cannot produce One Inſtance of his Conviction.—All Inſinuations that the Doctor’s former political Principles leaned towards Jacobitiſm are refuted by the forward Zeal he has ſhewn, and Affection he has diſcovered, for his preſent Majeſty and the righteous Adminiſtration of his Government. And if the Story be true (which I think much to be queſtioned) that Dr. Johnſon once refuſed to walk in the Royal Gardens becauſe in Poſſeſſion of an Uſurper, does not appear to have been in the preſent Reign; and the elegant Poem of London, the Production of this learned Man, gives us a true Picture of his Mind, at leaſt in the laſt.
Here let thoſe reign whom Penſions can invite
To vote a Patriot Black, a Courtier White;
Explain their Country’s dear-bought Rights away,
And plead for Pirates in the Face of Day;
With ſlaviſh Tenets taint our poiſoned Youth,
And lend a Lie the Confidence of Truth.
Thus driven out of every ſtrong Hold of Argument and Defence, my Friend, Sir, had recourſe to thoſe Definitions of Penſion and Penſioner, which have been ſo often bandied about, and to be found inſcribed on that Coloſſean Column of Fame, your Dictionary; and gravely read from it the Two following Articles of your Impeachment.
Theſe read; with an Air of Triumph, he exclaimed—“Now vindicate the Doctor if you can.”The Word Equivalent gave the Turn to my Plea; and I peremptorily declared, that in the very Senſe of the Lexicographer, his Majeſty’s Bounty to you, Sir, was not a Penſion; ſince it muſt firſt be proved that his Majeſty is your Maſter, and acknowledged ſuch by you; and that you obey him.—I next urged that you had given him an ample Equivalent for Royal Munificence.—“What!” replied be, with great Quickneſs, “by giving up in Return, Honour, Character, Conſcience, and every Thing that ſhould diſtinguiſh a Man!”
To ſuch the Plunder of the Land is given,
When Crimes inflame the Wrath of angry Heav’n!
I anſwered this exclamatory Interrogation only with a Smile of ineffable Contempt.—As to the latter Part of the Deſcription, viz. that a Penſion is generally underſtood in England to mean Pay given to a State-hireling for Treaſon to his Country, I replied—Suppoſe Dr. Johnſon, or myſelf, chooſe to take the Words in the Scotiſh Acceptation of them; and if the Idea of a State-hireling in that Country doth not materially differ from that received in our own, the Idea of Treaſon doth, or at leaſt hath done moſt eſſentially.
Thus, Sir, having I hope fully and unanſwerably confuted the invidious Charge, that you are the Author of the following Eſſay; and put it out of all Doubt, or even a Quesſtion, that you can be PROBUS BRITANICUS, I humbly take my Leave; careleſs on whom the Charge or Guilt may fall, now I have exculpated you; for I had no other Deſign in View than to do Juſtice to your ſuper-eminent Merit and Abilities, and to ſhew you to the Public in your true Character; nor am I conſcious of the leaſt Tincture of Pride mixing itſelf with this pure Deſign; no, not even the moſt diſtant Emulation with our gracious Sovereign, whoſe high Example and illuſtrious Virtues I hope I ſhall never have the Temerity or daring Ambition to imitate. In you, Sir, his preſent Majeſty finds a firm, ſteady, and able Advocate for the Houſe of Brunſwick, and conſequently deems you as good a Friend as he himſelf wiſhes to the glorious Revolution; a Period, the Bleſſings of which we almoſt ceaſe to rejoice at, as they are nearly eclipſed by thoſe manifold Bleſſings we enjoy under the mild and auſpicious Reign of George the Third; a Prince who hath concentered in himſelf ſuch rare Qualities, that I will be bold enough to declare he hath ſuch a Poſſeſſion of the Affections of the good People of England, and all true Friends of the Conſtitution, that they cannot love and revere him more.
I am, with the profoundeſt Reſpect,
and higheſt Veneration,
Very learned Sir,
Your moſt obedient, and
moſt humble Servant,