'Not
Worth
The Place
Going to See':
of Ireland in Samuel
Johnson's
Imagination
CONRAD BRUNSTROM
shouldbe statedat the outsetthatthis is a franklypolemicalpaper.It may
It ultimatelymeanno morethana pleato Irishreadersto readSamuelJohnson
andmoreoften;bearingin mindthatthereis a needto treat
moresympathetically
in theirfull rhetorical
famous'opinions'
contextandto questiontheir
Johnson's
relativeimportance
alongsidethe materialthatJohnsonactuallypublished.It is
truethatJohnsonwrotevery littledirectlyaboutIreland,butit is importantto
stressthathis broadprinciplesareof interestto anyonestudyingIrelandin the
writerwritingin
eighteenthcentury.Indeed,as themosteloquentanti-imperialist
Englishat thistime,he hasalmostautomaticclaimson anIrishreadership.
Johnsonis stillregardedas theparadigmatic
character
and
eighteenth-century
attitudestowardshimstill tendto colourattitudesto thecenturyandits attitudes
whatJohnsonthoughtof Irelandhasa bearingon what
as a whole.Determining
Irelandshouldthinkof Johnsonand,by close elision,whatIrelandshouldthink
of the eighteenthcentury.Establishingthe relationshipbetweenJohnsonand
Irelandhas a bearingon the futurehealthandwell beingof eighteenth-century
studieson thisisland,in otherwords.Professinganinterestin SamuelJohnsonis
alsoa goodwayof startinga fight.A criticas influentialandwidelyreadas Terry
anti-Gaelic',
Eagletoncan dismissJohnsoncasuallyas 'virulently
despitethe
massof evidenceto thecontrary.'
LikingandloathingJohnsonat thedawnof thetwenty-first
centurycontinues
or
to be definedby politicalinsecurities.Johnsonstill tendsto be appropriated
expelled wholesaleon the basis of his proximityto the politicalagendaof
on him.He is denouncedby left wingersas a right
whomeveris commentating
as a rightwingerby rightwingers,or appropriated
by left
winger,appropriated
as
a
left
The
one
I
have
to
see
in
winger.
yet
wingers
permutation
printis a
of Johnsonas left wing by a rightwing scholar.Denunciation
denunciation
of
task.Fewerpeoplehavebeenconcernedto
labelsis a relativelystraightforward
thetrajectories
of Whighistoriography
and
takeon theharderworkof unthinking
to look instead at how the grammarof Johnson's
likes and dislikes was
andOtherEssaysonIrishCulture
1 Terrygagleton,
JohnandtheBishop
(Cork,
Crazy
1998),p.71.
73
Ireland
16(2001
Eighteenth-Century
74
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
IRELAND
constructed.
Whatandwhomdid he feel obligedto upholdor condemnat any
historical
momentandwhatwashis moralbasisfordoingso
given
concern
is
or denouncing
that,whileotherpartiesarebusyappropriating
My
Johnson,Irelandshouldnot be left behind.Johnson's
writingsdominatethe
centraldecadesof the centuryandthe valuescontainedin thosewritingshavea
deal to say aboutthe political,economicand culturalrelationsbetweenthe
islands of Britainand Irelandor, more accurately,betweenall the nations
containedwithinthisarchipelago.
For non-Johnsonians,
it is a truncatedversionof Boswell's
Johnsonwho
in
dominates.Manymodernreadersremainessentiallyorresidually'Romantics'
termsof theirfidelityto the immediateand theirsense of the primacyof the
andtruth-value
areall conferreduponthe
spokenword.Authenticity,
inspiration,
word ratherthan the letter. The first word to come into our heads has a
psychoanalytic
stampof truththatthe wordsweatedoverdoes not. Remarksof
and
Johnsonoverheardby Boswell are regardedas more 'characteristic'
thanhis carefullychiselledprose.DonaldGreenepointedoutrightly
'revealing'
how aliensuchpreferences
In theeighty-fifth
wouldhaveappearedto Johnson.2
numberof The Adventurer,Johnsondescribedconversationas a combative
Print,on the otherhand,is whereone reflectsseriouslyand commits
game.'
oneself.
However,despitethis plea for the primacyof printover speech,it is to be
conversation.
But
admittedthatwhatfollowsis based,in themain,on Johnson's
in a sensethe problemis notBoswelleither,sincewereBoswellto be readwith
for choicecuts,the Johnsonwe would
sustainedattentionratherthanplundered
meetwoulddefy thefamiliarstereotypeas oftenas not.
To begin with Boswell's
Johnson;the anecdotalJohnson.From an Irish
there
is
that
interests.First,it was Boswellwho told us that
much
perspective
Johnsonopposedthe wholebasisof Britishrulein Ireland,regardingit as cruel,
words:'Let
theauthorityof the
exploitativeandunjust.Inhis ownincomparable
Englishgovernment
perish,ratherthanbe maintained
by iniquity... Better... to
hangor drownpeopleat oncethanby an unrelenting
persecutionto beggarand
starvethem.'4
Whathe saw as the peculiarand paradoxicalpoliticalstatusof
Irelandrousedhis specialindignation;
is founded
onbetter
2 Greene's
Johnson
evidence
thantheJohnson
constructed
out
merely
theAbbreviated
of nuggets
of Boswell,
andcontradicts
bookof Boswell's
Johnson
in
The
mostparticulars.
Thetwobestbookson Johnson's
politicsareDonaldGreene,
Politiesof Samuel
Samuel
Johnson
(NewHaven,Conn.,1960);andJohnCannon,
Johnson
andthePolities
Folkenflik
hasan
(Oxford,
1994).Robert
England
ofHanoverian
brieflyto Johnson's
interesting
essayon Johnson's
politicsin whichhe referred
resentment
at thetreatment
of Catholic
'Johnson's
in Grey
entitled
Politics',
Ireland,
to Samuel
Johnson
(ed.),TheCambridge
1997),
Companion
Clingham
(Cambridge,
pp.102-13.
3 Samuel
TheAdvertiser,
Johnson
Johnson,
85,inTheYaleEdition
oftheWorks
ofSamuel
andLondon,
1977),ii,pp.411-7.
(15vols.,NewHaven
4 James
TheLifeofSamuel
L.L.D.
Johnson,
Boswell,
(2vols.,London,
1949),i, p.389.
'NOT
WORTH
GOING
TOSEE'
75
TheIrishareina mostunnatural
forweseethere
theminority
over
state;
prevailing
themajority.
There
isnoinstance,
ofsuchseverity
asthat
eveninthetenpersecutions
which
theProtestants
of Ireland
theCatholicks.
Didwetell
haveexercised
against
themwe haveconquered
to punish
themby
them,it wouldbe aboveboard:
confiscation
andother
asrebels,
wasmonstrous
penalties,
injustice.'
The Catholicmajorityin Irelandwere punishedas Britishsubjectswithout
havinganyof therightsof the Britishsubjects.In otherwords,theyweretreated
as prisonersof warandtraitors.
Few anthologistsseem to botherquotingJohnson's
loud denunciationsof
British rule in Irelandtogetherwith his horrorat the disqualificationand
of the Catholicmajority.Boswell recordedthese remarksas
impoverishment
and
condenseany of these
frequent vehement,but he did not, unfortunately,
intoa singlepithyandcomicalremark,whichis, presumably,
the
denunciations
reasonwhy they have not achievedposthumouscelebrity.PossiblyJohnson
thoughttherewasnothingpithyor amusingaboutthepenallaws.
Boswell also recordedhow one Irish visitor asked Johnson about the
possibilityof an Act of UnionbetweenBritainandIrelandandhow he replied:
'Do
not makean Unionwithus, Sir.We shouldunitewithyou only to robyou.
We shouldhaverobbedthe Scotch,if theyhadhadanythingof whichwe could
6
haverobbedthem.'
noisesshouldnot leadus to constructa Johnsonwho was
Thesesympathetic
correct'.
Johnsonfirmlybelievedin makingfunof peoplebased
was 'politically
on theirethnicorigin.He did not, however,usuallypre-judgeindividualsor
basedon theirethnicorigin.Thevarietyof his Scottish
refusetheiracquaintance
as well as Irish acquaintanceconfirmsthis. The most cursoryinspectionof
circleof friendsthroughout
his adultlife revealsthe fact thathis so
Johnson's
was disproportionately
-Called'circle'
Scottish and Irish. His Irish friends
included EdmundBurke, Oliver Goldsmith,ArthurMurphyand Edmund
Malone, togetherwith various Sheridans,includingThomas,Francesand
RichardBrinsley.
WheneverBoswellreportedanycomparison
JohnsonmadebetweenScotland
andIreland,the advantageis alwayswithIreland.IrelandandScotlandseemto
functionas convenientlyopposedtermsfor Johnson.Even the famousremark
Irisharea veryfairrace,theyneverspeakwell of one another'
'the
wasmadein
the contextof an attackon whathe saw as characteristically
Scottish'block
TheScotspreferred
Scotlandto thetruth;theIrishpreferred
thetruthto
voting'.7
a
line.
Johnson
was
when
it
came
to praising
(who
following party
parsimonious
of
whatever
the
Irish
of
his
when he
nationalitypraised
anyone
acquaintance
Irisharenot in a conspiracyto cheatthe worldby false
wenton to say that'the
of the meritsof theircountrymen:8
As so often,by cuttingthe
representations
5 Ibid.,i, pp.483-4.
6 Ibid.,ii,p.291.
7 Ibid.,ii,p.522.
8 Ibid.
76
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
IRELAND
quoteshort,we reinforcethexenophobewe thinkwe know,butwe mistakewhat
Johnsonactuallymeant.
In general,Johnsonenjoyedbetterrelationships
withpeopleratherthanwith
countriesabstractlyconsidered.Whenaskedwhile on his famoustriphow he
likedtheScottishHighlandshe replied:'who
canlike theHighlands I likethe
inhabitants
.9 Johnsonwas blessedlyfree of whatwe mightcall the
very well'
touristgaze.He wasincapableof lookingata majestic
post-Romantic
imperialist
mountainrangewithoutworryingabouthowpeoplecouldpossiblymakea living
outof suchan environment.
Indeed,the wholeconceptof emptyspace,solitude
anddepopulation
wasforJohnsonmerelydepressingandneverinspiring.Justas
the depopulatedlandscapeof the Scottishhighlandsfailed to inspiresublime
rapturesfromJohnson,so the prospectof the Giant's
Causewaycouldprovoke
not Giant's
only the famousquip:'Is
Causewayworthseeing yes sir, worth
seeing,just not worthgoing to see.'10
PerhapsJohnson's
impliedmeaningwas
thattheCausewaywasnotworthexpendingprecioustimeandmoneyjustto say
thatonehadseenit. Johnsonhadnointerestin landscapeforits ownsake,and,as
forIrishpeople,he couldmeetplentyof themin London.
II
actualwriting,referencesand attitudesto Irelandappear
Turningto Johnson's
ratherthinon the ground.It seemsbest thereforeto applywhatwe knowof his
widerpoliticalbeliefs if we are to inferhis likely perspectiveon Anglo-Irish
relations.These beliefs are perhapsbest rememberedas a resultof his anti
AmericanpamphletTaxationNo Tyranny(1775),whichfromthepointof view
of his posthumous
is surelythemostdestructive
thinghe everwrote."
reputation
Johnsonopposedthe claimsof Americancolonistsbecause,relativelyspeaking,
he believedtheyhadlittleto complainabout.Theyseemedto be proportionately
wealthierthantheirEnglish,let aloneIrishcounterparts,
anda numberof them
ownedslaves.Indeed,as planterson a foreignshore,he treatedthemas colonial
agentsratherthanas oppressedcolonialsubjects.12
Like his close friend Goldsmith,Johnsonwas incapableof separating
economicandpoliticalissuesof freedomandhe was incapableof beingstirred
by abstractpoliticalquestions(suchas the limitedextensionof franchisethat
9
AJourney
andthe
Samuel
Johnson
andJames
totheWestern
Islands
Boswell,
ofScotland
Journal
PeterLevi(ed. (Harmondsworth,
1984),p.394.
ofa Tour
oftheHebrides,
10 Boswell,
TheLifeofJohnson,
ii,p.291.
11 NoteDonaldGreene's
introduction
to Johnson's
whichcontains
politicalwritings
Taxation
NoTyranny
inTheYaleEdition
Johnson
(15vols.,New
oftheWorks
ofSamuel
Haven
andLondon,
Seealsoibid.,pp.401-55.
1977),x,pp.vii-xxxvii.
12 Johnson
inthispamphlet
atypically
included
bitter
reflection
onthegreat
ageofmaritime
'In
thesameyear[1498hitherto
tomankind,
was
disastrous
discovery:
bythePortuguese
thepassage
andbytheSpaniards
discovered
oftheIndies
thecoastofAmerica.'
Johnson,
TheYaleEdition,
x,p.421.
'NOT
WORTH
GOING
TOSEE'
77
clearlywouldhavelittlebearingon themateriallivingconditionsof mostpeople.
He wasa Toryprimarily
in thesenseof beinganti-Whig(a Whigbeinga creature
If Johnsonwas
he describedfamouslyas 'the
negationof all principle')."
in
of
to
and
terms
the
deference
he
church
reactionary
paid
king,it was because
thoseancientformsof authorityto therapaciousness
of the monied
he preferred
classes. In otherwords,unfetteredcapitalismseemedto Johnsonto be more
oppressivethan feudalism.The awkwardbut accuraterealityis that, in the
eighteenthcentury,reactionto capitalistoppressionwasexactlythat reaction
elidingintowhatmightbe calledreactionary
politicsanda reversionto political
of futurepoliticalstates.
modelsdrawnfromthe pastratherthanan anticipation
can oftenemergeas rathermoresympatheticthanso
So called 'reactionaries'
called'progressives'.
political views can be illuminatedby a readingof
Many of Johnson's
Goldsmithandvice versa.Goldsmith's
royalistRev Primrose,who prefersone
to
voices
views
close
to thoseof Johnson.As is well known,
very
tyrant many,
Johnsoncontributedlines both to The Travellerand The Deserte Village.'4
conclusionto TheDesertedVillagewas bothtypicalof Johnsonand
Johnson's
in respectof Goldsmith's
entirelysympathetic
poem:
Teach
Mantospurn
therageofgain...
erring
That
trade's
hastes
toswiftdecay,
proud
empire
Asocean
thelabour'd
moleaway;
sweeps
While
cantimedefy,
self-dependent
power
Asrocks
resist
thebillows
andthesky.'5
What Johnson offered is a biblically cadenced denunciationof British
followed by a characteristicsubordinationof overtly political
_imperialism
Formsof government
concernsto questionsof individualmoralmanagement.
be
and
but
the
was
to
the
individual.
lamented,
may applauded
appeal
Goldsmith(whoclearlyhadproblemswithendings alsocalleduponJohnson
to finishoff his othergreatpoem'The
Traveller';
Howsmall,
ofallthathuman
hearts
endure,
That
which
lawsorkings
orcure.
cancause
part
inevery
Stilltoourselves
place
consign'd.
wemake
Ourownfelicity
orfind:
Withsecret
which
noloudstorms
course,
annoy,
thesmooth
Glides
course
ofdomestic
joy.
known
Tomenremote
from
butrarely
power
Leave
faithandconscience
allourown.'6
reason,
13
14
15
16
TheLifeofJohnson,
Boswell,
i, p.267.
Poems
Oliver
andPlays,TomDavis(ed. (London,
228.
Goldsmith,
1993),pp.226,
Ibid.,p.192.
Ibid.,p.173.
78
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
IRELAND
of HumanWishes'
but they fit the
These lines echo Johnson's
own 'Vanity
.17Johnson's
endingof Goldsmith's
poemequallywell withits senseof 'return'
Rasselas(1759 also anticipatedTheTravellerin thatit offersa circularset of
a choice of life andenvironment
narrative,concludingwith a
perambulations,
Whenidentifyingtheseaffinities,I do not
chastenedandsombrereturnhome.18
wantto claim,however,thateitherwriterwas parasiticof the other,ratherthat
theyshareda commonpoliticalmoodmusic.
LII
Johnson's
close identification
withLondonhasservedto alienatea numberof his
potentialreaders.Havingarrivedin Londonas a youngman,Johnsonshoweda
markeddisinclinationto move about,perhapsreinforcinghis 'narrow-minded'
thenit shouldbe
image.However,if Johnsonseemsthe ultimatemetropolitan,
ratherthancontradicted
the
restatedthathis statusas a civicmoralistnecessitated
pastoralperspectivesthathe entertained,
especiallyamongtheRamblerpapers.
LikeGoldsmith,he was a
Johnsonwas not a Londonerby birthor upbringing.
withinhis own country,andspokewith a regionallydefinedaccent,
rnidlander
remarkedon by Boswell amongothers.2His first publishedpoem, London
(1738),containsthememorable
couplet:
Forwhowould
leaveunbrib'd
Hibernia's
Land,
Orchange
therocks
ofScotland
fortheStrand."
The friendof many Irish writersforcedto seek theirfortunein London,
Johnsonhimselfwas not 'unbrib'd'
in the sense thathe alwaysacknowledged
the
writer's
need
to
make
frankly
money.Whentouringthe Hebrideshe would
bewailthe fact thatScottishHighlanders
remainin their
couldnot 'unbribed'
Nova
Scotia
as
a
matter
of
but
understandable
homeland,occupying
grim
of
`Thales'
whose
London
is
an
imitation
Juvenal
and
features
one
necessity."
farewellto Londontakesupnearlyall thepoem.Ironically,Johnsonhimself,far
fromsayinggoodbyeto London,hadonlyjustarrivedthereandwouldremainfor
thenextforty-sixyearswithhardlya break.
Freeingourselvesfromthe assumptionthattravelnaturallyand habitually
broadensthemindhelpsus understand
contemptfor 'the
somethingof Johnson's
touristgaze'
andhis desireto stay in one place.As a sizarat Oxford,Johnson
17 Samuel
TheComplete
Johnson,
Poems,J.D.Fleeman
(ed. (Harmondsworth,
English
1971),pp.83-92.
18 Samuel
TheHistory
Prince
Johnson,
(Oxford,
1927).
ofAbyssinia
ofRasselas,
19 SeeTheRambler
inJohnson,
TheYaleEdition,
numbers
iv,especially
124,132,135and
138.
20 Boswell,
TheLifeofJohnson,
i, pp.628-9.
21 Johnson,
TheComplete
Poems,
English
p.61.
22 Johnson
AJourney
andBoswell,
totheWestern
Islands
ofScotland,
pp.101-4.
TOSEE'
'NOT
WORTH
GOING
79
wouldhavebeensurrounded
by youngmen,muchwealthierandmorestupidthat
he was, many of whom had completedthe GrandTour and returnedmore
andconceitedthanbeforetheyhadleft.Likemanymodem
insufferably
arrogant
travelledveryoftenmerelyin orderto advertisetheir
Grand
Tourists
travellers,
the
leisure
money,
they could afford, and to feel superiorto their fellow
women
athome.
and
countrymen
IV
fromthe latter's
attackon Johnsonwas perhapsextrapolated
TerryEagleton's
famousandviolentreactionto thecultof Ossian.JohnsonattackedOssianpartly
becausehe didnotbelievethatScotsGaelicwas a literarylanguage.In the same
breathor,rather,the samesentencethathe condemnedScotsGaelic,he madea
withWelshandIrish,whichhe saidareancientandlearnedtongues.
comparison
Irish has a literaturebecauseit has been writtendown. Boswell referredto
on a numberof occasions.He
interestin Irishlanguagemanuscripts
Johnson's
theIrishhistorian:
tellsus how,in 1757,Johnsonwroteto CharlesO'Conor,
I havelongwished
werecultivated.
thattheIrishliterature
Ireland
is known
by
tradition
andsurely
itwould
havebe
tohavebeenoncetheseatofpietyandlearning;
intheoriginal
either
orthe
toallthosewhoarecurious
ofnations,
veryacceptable
informed
oftherevolution
affinities
oflanguages,
tobefurther
ofapeople
soancient,
andoncesoillustrious.
Whatrelation
thereis between
theWelshandIrishlanguage,
orbetween
the
Oftheseprovincial
of Ireland
andthatof Biscay,
deserves
and
language
inquiry.
thatmore
thanoneareunderstood
unextended
itseldom
tongues,
happens
byanyone
thatafaircomparison
canbemade.
Ihopeyou
andtherefore,
itseldom
man;
happens
willcontinue
thiskindoflearning,
which
hastoolonglainneglected."
tocultivate
Twentyyearslater,Johnsonwouldwriteagainto O'Conor,
chidinghim for
his tardinessand stressingagainthe urgencyof the task. So, far frombeing
as Eagletonasserted,Johnsonwas in fact an urgent
anti-Gaelic'
'virulently
Celticstudies.It is evidentfromthis letterthatfifteen
advocateof comparative
before
theOssianfurore,JohnsonwasexcludingScotsGaelicfromhis list
years
Celtic
of
languages.Withoutwriting,reasonedJohnson,nothingancientor
tradition'
was somethingthatJohnson
authenticcouldbe preserved.The 'oral
more
ironic
had
no
which
makes
it
all
the
thatit is theJohnsonof
timefor,
simply
who
has
tradition'
rather
than
'oral
publishedachievement,
preservedthegreatest
celebrity.
Johnsonwas not solely to blame for drivinga wedge betweenIrish and
Scottishculturalagenda.James Macphersondrove in that wedge far more
andrepeatedlyanti
savagely.His notesto the Ossianicpoetryareemphatically
of
on
the
various
Ulster
traditions
Irish,pouringcontempt
involving
story-telling
manyof the samecharacters.Macphersondid his best to cut these heroesoff
TheLifeofJohnson,
23 Boswell,
ii,p.195.
80
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
IRELAND
fromIreland;at one pointhe even attackedthe greatScottishscholar,George
Buchanan,for daringto suggestthattheScottishpeopleeverarrivedin Scotland
fromIrelandratherthandirectlyfromGau1.24
Johnson's
sense of an oppositionbetweentalkingand writing,speechand
writtenformsin
literature
helpsorganisemanyof his attitudes.Johnsonpreferred
traditional
to
religious worship, preferred
extempore prayers, preferred
Catholicismto Presbyterianism.
Johnson's
oppositionto the phonocentric
educationaltheoriesof ThomasSheridanled to a breachbetweenthe two men,
and it is perhapsno accidentthatit was in Scotlandthat Sheridan's
greatest
lecturesuccessestookplace.
V
Mostreadersof eighteenth-century
literatureareprobablyawarethatJohnson's
claimthat'patriotism
refersnotto sincerelove
is the lastrefugeof a scoundrel'
of nativecountrybutratherto self-servingpoliticianswho whipup xenophobic
Suchpoliticianscarenotwhatforcesare
feelingto advancetheirown careers.25
is
what
blood
unleashed,
spilt, providingthey can scarepublic opinioninto
for
whorespected
their
providingsupport
politicalcandidacy.As anEnglishman
andenjoyedculturaldifference,Johnsondid not particularly
believein Britain.
Love of country,whetherthat countrybe Ireland,Englandor Scotlandwas
negotiatedby Johnsonto a point of rationalsustainability:
decryingnational
affectionscouldjustify imperialistabsorptionof peoples.Extremenationalist
TheIrish,a fair
affectioncouldjustifycriticalabsurdities
andpolitica violence.26
who
never
well
of
one
to
the
were
another,
Scots,whose
people
speak
preferable
defenceof a Scottishliteraturehas turnedliterarycriticisminto a nationalised
zero-sumgain. The Irish respectfor Shakespearewas contrastedwith the
Douglas,were to
Edinburghaudiencewho, on the firstnightof JohnHome's
s ya WullyShakespeare
noo?'27
shout`Whuar'
insteadto secure
Johnsondidnotdrapea flagaroundShakespeare,
attempting
like
a
esteem
on
rational
Not
thatJohnson
foundation.
Shakespeare's something
ever attackedall Scots.The Scotshe tendedto attackwereentryistsratherthan
separatists those who wishedto definethemselvesas leadersof the British
24 James
ThePoems
andRelated
Howard
andFiona
Gaskill
Works,
ofOssian
Macpherson,
Stafford
1996),pp.206-7.
(eds.(Edinburgh,
25 Boswell,
TheLifeofJohnson,
ii,pp.547-8.
with
IrishandScottish
itneednotbe.
26 Jacobitism
be
conflated
nationalisms,
may
although
ustoTomTempest
violent
IntheIdler,10,Johnson
introduced
andJackSneaker,
Jacobite
thelatter
thatthenation
andviolent
soabsurd
thathe'often
Whigrespectively
rejoices
wasnotenslaved
Theobviousreading
of thispaperis thatits author
by theIrish.'
disavows
bothformsof highToryandProtestant
thatpolitical
paranoia,
arguing
ofpracticable
TheYale
besubject
tosomedefinition
common
sense.Johnson,
allegiances
ii,p.63.
Edition,
27 Quoted
inTerence
Tobias,
(Iowa,1974),
PlaysbyScots,1660-1800
p.34.
'NOT
WORTH
GOING
TOSEE'
81
empireratherthanthosewho felt excludedfromit. Whenconfrontedwith the
decay of Highlandsociety, Johnson was brilliantlyand compassionately
andloss of identity,butno one can
ambivalent emigrationis impoverishment
be blamedfor seekinga degreeof materialsecurityin a land thatis at least
economicallyviable.
At the sametimewe can see clearevidenceof Johnsonattempting
to delimit
and restrainthe effects of nationalprejudice.If the venerationof Ossian
evidencedScottishbigotry,then Johnsonwas equallyawarethat Miltonand
riskedbeingidolisedas Englishtotemsto the pointwherecritical
Shakespeare
of
their
workbecamepracticallyimpossible.While doing more than
reading
the Englishlanguageanda sense of its literarypossibilities,
to
elevate
anyone
andnationalistassertions.
Johnsonhadlittleinterestin canonreinforcement
VI
Irishreputation
is thatit is well known
Oneproblemwith sustainingJohnson's
Travels.
thathe had littletime for Swift,or at for leastthe Swift of Gulliver's
it
in
the
turns
out
that
Johnson
liked
the
best
when
dean
However,
Lifeof Swift,
Dublin
was
most
Irish
the
dean
as
to
the
London
Swift
opposed
misanthrope.
of theWood's
Johnson's
description
Halfpenceaffairrepayscarefulreading:'He
delivered Ireland from plunder and oppression,and shewed that wit,
withtruth,hadsuchforceas authoritywasunableto resist.'28
confederated
Plunderandoppressionwerefrequentsubjectsfor Johnson's
pen.Johnson's
if
of
the
American
colonists
has
led
not
on
the
claims
mostpeopleto
attack
many
In
that
he
was
a
virulent
Johnson's
assume
imperialist. fact,
anti-imperialist
to
observations,if suitablycompiled,wouldprovidean admirablecontribution
that
of
the
most
course
studies.
Johnson
any
post-colonial
speculated probably
destructivehumananimalin historyhad been Henrythe Navigator,fifteenth
to
centurykingof Portugal,sincehe it was who hadfirstencouragedEuropeans
about:
move
TheEuropeans
havescarcely
visited
andextend
avarice,
anycoast,buttogratify
toarrogate
dominion
without
andpractice
without
incentive.
cruelty
right,
corruption;
hadsleptinhisbosom,
haditbeenfortheoppressed,
if thedesigns
ofHenry
Happy
forhisoppressors."
andsurely
more
happy
In the eighty-firstissue of TheIdler,Johnsonventriloquised
a nativeNorth
Americanchieftain,delightingin thefactthatEnglishandFrenchcolonisershad
in theslaughter,and
us lookunconcerned
atlaststartedto fightone another:'Let
thatthedeathof everyEuropean
deliversthecountryfroma tyrantand
remember
LivesoftheEnglish
28 Samuel
Poets,ASelection
Johnson,
(London,
1975),p.433.
andTravels
Collection
29 TheWorld
Or,ACurious
(London,
1759),
Displayed;
ofVoyages
p.xvi.
82
IRELAND
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
a robber.'3
Similarly,Johnsonconsideredthe disputebetweenFranceand
in
Canada
as 'only
the quarrelof two robbersfor the spoils of a
England
31
passenger,'
ClementHawes produceda convincingassessmentof of Johnson's
anti
when
he
wrote:
imperialism
Hiseloquent
at leasta universal
human
for
insistson assuming
faculty
critique
thana
which
there
canbelittlechoice
other
andmoral
without
reflection,
practical
banalandunhistorical
anti-colonial
relativism.
Thus,Johnson's
writings,
precisely
almost
because
inandoftheEnlightenment,
theyremain
uniquely
stubbornly
provide
of reason
for
andforceful
of critical
resistance
to thehijacking
supple
examples
ofdotnination.32
purposes
Hawesidentifieda Johnsonwhoregardedreasonas a precious,morallycharged
Humanityis neither
commodityratherthana flag of modernityand 'progress'.
and
condemnedto repeatitself,nordestinedto perfectitselfandtheamelioration
liberationof the humanspeciesis a difficult,flawed,but essential(ongoing
project.
VII
Irelanddid manythingsfor Johnson,testingandfocusinghis sense of identity
andcommunity,challenginghis ideaof wherehis owncountrybeginsandends.
Johnsonin turnhasdoneandcanstilldo manythingsforIreland,mostnotablyin
termsof the challengehe presentsto the stillbeatingheartof Whighistory,the
'British'
andreformas featuresof eighteenth-century
teleologyof improvement
British
rule
Ireland
as
an
An
who
saw
in
unjust
experience. anti-imperialist
he wrote(as opposedto remarkedverylittleon
exerciseof colonialsubjugation,
Irelanditself,buthe must,fromanIrishperspective,
emergeas a fascinatingand
If
Irish
Johnsonmeansreading
an
ultimatelysympatheticfigure. recovering
betweenthelines,thenhe will certainlyrepaythiseffort.
Theeffortof applicationis one thatJohnson's
wholemethodandmoralityin
his
case
since
were
any
requires,
writings
alwayssubordinating
topicalpolitical
issues to largerquestionsof abstracthumanmorality.The truly sympathetic
readerof Johnsongraspsthestructural
pointfirstandthenseeksto applyit, rather
If
thansiftingandsortingan unwieldybodyof workfor promising'references'.
we can absorbthe largerissues of identity,allegiance,oppressionand self
of Irelandin the eighteenth
delusion,andapplythoseissuesto anunderstanding
then
will
be
in
the
readers
century,
engaging precisely sortof moralandcritical
workthatJohnsonfirstandforemostintended.
30 Johnson,
TheYaleEdition,
ii p.254.
31 Ibid.,x,p.188.
32 Clement
in GregClingham
andImperialism'
Hawes,'Johnson
(ed.),TheCambridge
toSamuel
Johnson
1997),p.124.
Companion
(Cambridge,