When Opposites Meet

by S. Pathiravitana

Who said this?
I am willing to love all mankind, except an American.

And this?
No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.

And this?
Were it not for imagination, Sir, a man would be as happy in the arms of a

Chambermaid as of a Duchess.

Who else but the 18th century born Dr Samuel Johnson, the man who compiled a forty thousand-word English dictionary in eight years almost single-handed. The first statement was made at a time when Britain's relations with the American colonies were getting strained. The normally decorous Johnson was furious with the goings on over the Atlantic that he burst out soon after calling the colonists 'Rascals - Robbers - Pirates' and wanting to 'burn and destroy them.'

The second of his statement is quite understandable. For a greater part of his life he remained virtually poor. His income came largely from much of the hackwork that was available at that time to budding writers.

Even his more serious undertaking, the dictionary, the reward that came from the booksellers who sponsored its publication was only Sterling Pounds 1,500, which left him virtually with nothing once he met some of the expenses he incurred in doing his work. That is how he came to the conclusion that only a blockhead would write for free, which is strictly not true since there have been many who wrote not because they wanted money, but because they enjoyed writing.

His third comment is more interesting. Sex is strictly not his field being a God fearing and morally bound man; it is more in line with his biographer, James Boswell, who was a man of the world and quite easy going. In the case of Johnson it is said that such thoughts did cross his mind and one of the things he struggled against were the sexual fantasies that troubled him.

To overcome them he had long spells of meditation. The result of Johnson's curious friendship with Boswell was the production of one of the greatest biographies in English literature. - The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell, which even today can be read with great profit.

Boswell came from Scotland and was the son of Lord Auchinleck. After his education at the hands of private tutors he entered the University of Glasgow. While there he decided to convert to Catholicism and become a monk. His father got wind of this and recalled him home. But he ran away to London where he lived for three months leading, as reported, the life of a libertine.

His father finally caught up with him and took him back to Scotland and got him to get through his law. As he passed his exam with credit Boswell was given an annual allowance of sterling pound 200. With that he began his literary life in London where he met Johnson and they immediately hit it off quite well.

His outburst against America mentioned earlier is not clarified by Boswell who was quite taken back by it himself. Britain's imperial relations or its politics were not the subject normally of Johnson's conversation. However, he expressed his concern once over Ireland and taking a good dig at Britain's politics. This is how it went.

Boswell suggested that the two of them should visit Ireland. But Johnson turned it down. Then Boswell proposed various sites they could see in Ireland and said, "Is not the Giants-causeway worth seeing?" Johnson:

"Worth seeing? Yes, but not worth going to see." Yet, says Boswell, he had a kindness for the Irish nation and as proof he relates what he told an Irishman once on the subject of the Union. "Do not," said Johnson to the Irishman, "make an union with us. We should unite with you, only to rob you. We should have robbed the Scotch, if they had had anything of which we could have robbed them."

On a Good Friday morning once, the two of them were returning from church after service when their conversation turned towards Catholicism.

This was an occasion for the Anglican in Johnson to run down the practices like 'indulgences for priests to have concubines, and the worship of images...knowingly permitted' and he went on to attack the licensed brothels permitted in Rome.

At which point Boswell popped the question: 'So then, Sir, you would not allow of no irregular intercourse whatever between the sexes.' 'To be sure,' answered Johnson, 'I would not, Sir. I would punish it much more than is done, and so restrain it. In all countries there has been fornication, as in all countries there has been theft; but there may be more or less of the one, as well as of the other, in proportion to the force of law.

All men will naturally commit fornication as all men will naturally steal.' His speech and expression which always looked as if he had carefully rehearsed them appeared to have lapsed once when he used the word 'bottom' while conversing in the company of several ladies, a bishop and a Treasury official. He was trying to make a joke of a certain respectable author whose book may have contained many misprints by saying that the author had married a printer's devil.

How can that be asked one participant, 'I thought a printer's devil was a creature with a black face and in rags.'

Johnson took that up and said, 'Yes, Sir. But I suppose he had her face washed, and put clean clothes on her.' Then looking very serious and very earnest Johnson said, 'And she did not disgrace him; the woman had a bottom of good sense.' There were titters and laughter all round; the word bottom, apparently, did not seem to fit the occasion and particularly the gravity with which he said it.

The Bishop kept a straight face; one lady, Boswell noticed, slyly hid her face behind the back of another lady.

Johnson appearing to show that he was not taken aback asked, 'Where's the merriment?' 'Then says Boswell 'collecting himself, looking awful, to make us feel how he could impose restraint, and as it were searching his mind for a still more ludicrous word, he slowly pronounced, "I say that woman was fundamentally sensible;" as if he had said, hear this now, and laugh if you dare. We all sat composed as at a funeral.'

In his own day there were critics who accused him of being pompous when he spoke. At a time, when we in Ceylon were in school, our teachers advised us against using what they called Johnson's bombastic style. His high-flown delivery may have sounded unnatural to those used only to the colloquial style of speech. But here, it was a case of the style being the man. However, he did not look down on the colloquial style; he actually resorted to it in some instances.

Once a magistrate was examining, what Boswell called, a 'young blackguard' and as if to impress Johnson, the magistrate used the kind of language Johnson used. But the young fellow could not understand a word of what the magistrate was saying. At that point Johnson spoke to the boy in the colloquial style and got the answers that the magistrate wanted. As we can see he did not scorn the use of the colloquial style, only, as he has pointed out, the style must fit the occasion.

That he did have a sense of humour even about his own faults surfaced once, when an Italian reviewer of a book by an English historian remarked that the style adopted by the historian had reminded him of the celebre Samuel Johnson. When this was brought to Johnson's notice he told Boswell, in good humour, 'Sir, if Robertson's style is faulty, he owes it to me; that is having too many words, and those too big ones.'

These two literary men with their striking mannerisms have impressed so many readers that their names have now passed into the English language. They are found in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. There's Johnsonese, meaning the style of Dr Johnson.

And there is Johnsonian - 'characteristic, typical or reminiscent of Johnson's style of English, having many words derived or formed from English and Latin.' Johnsoniana - 'sayings, writings etc. of or about Dr Johnson.'

As a biographer Boswell took down almost every word spoken by Dr Johnson over twenty years. Though he admired them very much he did not agree with all the ideas they expressed. His place in the dictionary is filled by four items - Boswellian /-ean and Boswellism. The first means (a) resembling Boswell as a biograpaher and (b) an admirer or student of Boswell or his writings. And Boswellism - the manner and style of Boswell as a biographer and also Boswellize - write (of) in the manner of Boswell.

Each has attained world fame, Johnson for his wise and acute observations and Boswell for writing one of the great biographies in English literature.