The Life of Samuel Johnson - James Boswell [926]
485. four of our friends: Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, Topham Beauclerk (acid), and Bennet Langton (muddy).
486. The Beggar’s Opera: John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera (1728).
487. A very eminent physician: Perhaps Sir John Pringle.
488. labefactation: A shaking, weakening; overthrow, downfall (OED).
489. ‘worthy’… characterises him: James Thomson, ‘Summer’ (1727), l. 1423.
490. a young gentleman… an eminent singer: Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Elizabeth Linley.
491. Hudibras: Samuel Butler, Hudibras (1663–80); an anti-Presbyterian burlesque poem.
492. A gentleman: James Boswell.
493. Sir Roger de Coverley: The embodiment of Tory attitudes in The Spectator.
494. Somebody: Sir Joshua Reynolds.
495. Gaudium… Luctus: Gaudium: a feast or celebration. Luctus: a funeral or act of mourning.
496. Nil dat quod non habet: He who has nothing can give nothing.
497. nemo… non didicit: No one can teach what he has not learned.
498. non numero sed pondere: Not by number but by weight.
499. Bedlam: The Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem, used as an asylum for the reception and cure of mentally deranged persons; originally situated in Bishopsgate, in 1676 rebuilt near London Wall, and in 1815 transferred to Lambeth (OED).
500. an acquaintance of ours: Suggestions include Bishop Percy and Dr Michael Lort (or Lait).
501. another very ingenious gentleman: George Steevens.
502. an old amanuensis: Probably V.J. Peyton, one of Johnson’s assistants on the Dictionary.
503. homo caudatus: Man with a tail.
504. in my heart of hearts: Cf. Hamlet, III.ii. 66.
505. the King and Queen: Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
506. flints of wood: Wooden imitation flintlock muskets.
507. insulated: Johnson is here using ‘insulated’ to mean ‘not contiguous on any side’, or isolated.
508. Nec… laudo: I do not admire it; nor do I much commend it.’
509. D∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗’s: D’Argenson’s.
510. Prince Titi; Bibl. des Fees: Themiseul de Saint-Hyacinthe, Histoire du Prince Titi (1735); Bibl[iotheque]. des Fees probably refers to one of the many reprintings of fairy stories compiled by Charles Perrault (1628–1703).
511. ALn. and Anchises… Nilus: Aeneas was the son of Aphrodite and Anchises, whom he carried from the sack of Troy before going on to found Rome. Nilus is possibly a slip for Nisus, a companion of Aeneas and casualty of the war to conquer the future site of Rome.
512. Austin Nuns: Nuns of the Augustinian order.
513. aqua fortis: Nitric acid.
514. Speculum humance Salvationis: ‘The mirror of human salvation’ – a very rare and early printed book.
515. Mrs. S—’s friend: Mrs Strickland’s friend Captain Killpatrick.
516. the Grand Chartreux: A charterhouse, or charitable hospital.
517. Enfans trouves: Foundlings.
518. Neff: Nave.
519. Madame —: Madame du Bocage.
520. a lAngloise: In the English manner.
521. an Irish gentleman: Probably Captain Killpatrick.
522. a Frenchman of great distinction: Probably the French ambassador.
523. A Madame… trop: To Madame La Contesse de —. [Madame de Bouffiers]… Yes, madame, the moment has come, and I must leave. But why must I go? Am I bored? I will be bored elsewhere. Do I seek some pleasure, or some relief? I seek nothing, I hope for nothing. To go and see what I have seen, to be slightly pleased (rejoue a slip for rejoui?], slightly displeased, to remind myself of the vanity of life, to complain about my lot, to harden myself to externalities: this is all that can be reckoned as the diversions of the year. Madame, may God bestow on you all life’s pleasures, together with a mind which can enjoy them without surrendering to them overmuch.
524. vir… paucarum literarum: A man of very acute intellect, and little literature.’
525. Miss —: Miss Aikin.
526. a little Presbyterian parson: The Revd R. Barbauld.
527. To suckle fools… small-beer: Othello, II.i.162.
528. the Congress: The annual meeting of the Church of England.
529. dilecto familiari nostro: Our beloved kinsman.
530. pro bono… prcestito: For good and faithful service rendered us.
531. an entail: The settlement of the succession