The Idler (1758–60)
The Idler was a series of 103 essays, all but twelve of them by Samuel Johnson, published in the London weekly the Universal Chronicle between 1758 and 1760. It is likely that the Chronicle was published for the sole purpose of including The Idler, since it had produced only one issue before the series began, and ceased publication when it finished. The authors besides Johnson were Thomas Warton, Bennet Langton, and Joshua Reynolds.
Johnson's biographer, James Boswell, recalled that Johnson wrote some of the essays in The Idler "as hastily as an ordinary letter". He said that once while visiting Oxford, Johnson composed an essay due for publication the next day in the half-hour before the last post was collected.
The essays were so popular that other publications began reprinting them without permission, prompting Johnson to insert a notice in the Chronicle threatening to do the same to his competitors' material and give the profits to London's prostitutes.
When The Idler appeared in book form, one of Johnson's essays, The Vulture, was omitted, apparently because its anti-war satire was felt to be seditious. Johnson replaced it with an essay on the imprisonment of debtors.
The essays
All the essays were published under the byline "Idler". They were not given titles until they were published in book form. In the book's introduction, Johnson specified that twelve of the essays were not his. The authors of seven of the essays were named in Boswell's biography; the authorship of the other five remains unclear.No 1. ''The Idler's character'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 15 April 1758Johnson explains how he chose his pen name. "Every man is", he says, "or hopes to be, an Idler." He promises his readers "obloquy and satire": "The Idler is naturally censorious; those who attempt nothing themselves, think every thing easily performed, and consider the unsuccessful always as criminal." However, he says that this incurs no obligation and that disappointed readers will have only themselves to blame.
No 2. ''Invitation to correspondents'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 22 April 1758Johnson complains that, although he has "now been a writer almost a week", he has not received a single letter of praise, nor has he had any contributions to the series. He asks for "those who have already devoted themselves to literature, or, without any determinate intention, wander at large through the expanse of life" to submit essays for publication under the Idler byline.
No 3. ''Idler's reason for writing'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 29 April 1758Johnson considers the possibility that essayists may someday run out of amusing topics. He explains that he writes to bring relief to his fellow idlers and others "who awake in the morning, vacant of thought, with minds gaping for the intellectual food, which some kind essayist has been accustomed to supply."
No 4. ''Charities and hospitals'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 6 May 1758Johnson says that charity is "known only to those who enjoy, either immediately or by transmission, the light of revelation." He claims that it was unheard of in ancient Rome, and that Islam and Zoroastrianism imported the idea from Judaism or Christianity. He notes that hospitals in Britain are sustained solely by charitable donations, and calls upon them to stop feuding with one another lest such donations be discouraged.
No 5. ''Proposal for a female army'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 13 May 1758As more soldiers are deployed in the Seven Years' War, Johnson affects pity for the wives and sweethearts left behind in England, and suggests that an army of women be formed so they can follow their loved ones. He says that since the invention of modern weapons, he "cannot find that a modern soldier has any duties, except that of obedience, which a lady cannot perform. If the hair has lost its powder, a lady has a puff; if a coat be spotted, a lady has a brush."
No 6. ''Lady's performance on horseback'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 20 May 1758Johnson comments on the public adulation given a woman who rode a horse a thousand miles in less than a thousand hours. With tongue in cheek, he suggests that a statue be erected to her for posterity, and speculates on the wording of the inscription.
No 7. ''Scheme for news-writers'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 27 May 1758Johnson bemoans the repetitiveness of news coverage. He suggests that, instead of announcing an event all at once and then rehashing it endlessly, newspaper writers should reveal the story gradually to keep readers entertained.
No 8. ''Plan of military discipline'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 3 June 1758This instalment takes the form of a letter to the Idler, but it is not among the essays that Johnson attributed to others.
The writer proposes a method of developing courage in British soldiers. He suggests that they be lured to a mock fortress with roast beef and ale and made to march upon it before they can eat. This should be done day after day, with a few more frightening sights and sounds being added to the scene each time. The soldiers will eventually be accustomed enough to violence to brave enemy fire.
No 9. ''Progress of idleness'' (authorship uncertain)
Published: Saturday, 10 June 1758A correspondent complains that the Idler does not give tips on how to be idle. The Idler says this request shows that the writer "is yet but in the rudiments of idleness, and has attained neither the practice nor theory of wasting life." True idleness comes only with practice.
No 10. ''Political credulity'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 17 June 1758Johnson discusses political zealots, who "resign the use of their own eyes and ears, and resolve to believe nothing that does not favour those whom they profess to follow." He describes the two basic types of his time, personified as Tom Tempest and Jack Sneaker.
No 11. ''Discourses on the weather'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 24 June 1758Johnson says the English are obsessed with their weather because it is so changeable. He lampoons the fashionable theory that a country's political climate is determined by its weather, and criticises those who let the weather affect their mood.
No 12. ''Marriages, why advertised'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 1 July 1758Johnson mocks marriage announcements in newspapers, which he says are published out of the couples' desire for fame. He tells of a friend's plan to set up a business selling "matrimonial panegyricks".
No 13. ''The imaginary housewife'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 8 July 1758A fictional correspondent complains that his wife, in her fear of idleness, makes their daughters work constantly at sewing. As a result, the house is filled with unneeded embroidery and the girls are ignorant of every other subject.
No 14. ''Robbery of time'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 15 July 1758Johnson discusses those who waste time by waiting upon great men. "The truth is", he comments, "that the inconveniencies of attendance are more lamented than felt." More troubling are everyday nuisances like chatterboxes and the habitually late.
No 15. ''Treacle's complaint of his wife'' (authorship uncertain)
Published: Saturday, 22 July 1758A correspondent calling himself Zachary Treacle complains about his domestic life. His wife hangs around his grocery shop all day getting in the way, while his young son climbs on the shelves and knocks things over. Both force him to spend his Sundays in idleness, much to his annoyance.
No 16. ''Drugget's retirement'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 29 July 1758Johnson describes a visit to his friend Ned Drugget, a dealer in cloth remnants. Although Drugget has become rich through hard work, he longed for fresh air and relaxation, and has therefore rented a 'country lodging' — a room in Islington. He spends his days counting passing carriages through the window, which he cannot open because of the dust.
No 17. ''Expedients of idlers'' (Johnson)
Published: 5 August 1758Recent weather forecasts for London have been wildly inaccurate. Johnson says this is but one example of the follies of speculating. He says scientists are really idlers who don't want to admit they are idlers. Those who "sport only with inanimate nature" are useless but innocent, but those who perform cruel experiments on animals are "a race of wretches". The rest of the essay is a fierce denunciation of vivisection.
No 18. ''Drugget vindicated'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 12 August 1758A correspondent writes to defend Ned Drugget, whose "country home" was mocked in No 16. All pleasures and diversions are the result of self-deception.
No 19. ''Whirler's character'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 19 August 1758One school of philosophy states that happiness is to be found in complete relaxation, while another says it is irresponsible not to contribute to the work of humanity. Johnson introduces a great philosopher of the middle ground, Jack Whirler, "whose business keeps him in perpetual motion, and whose motion always eludes his business; who is always to do what he never does, who cannot stand still because he is wanted in another place, and who is wanted in many places because he stays in none."
No 20. ''Capture of Louisbourg'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 29 August 1758Following the British victory at Fort Louisbourg, Johnson imagines how both British and French historians will describe the event in a hundred years.
No 21. ''Linger's history of listlessness'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 2 September 1758A correspondent called Dick Linger describes his futile lifelong struggle against listlessness. He was in the army, but quit because of boredom; married, but found ennui soon set in; and now spends his days making a nuisance of himself at the houses of friends. He has a plan for a "complete amendment" of his life, but has been putting off implementing it for more than twenty years.
No 22. ''The vulture'' (Johnson)
Published: 16 September 1758A mother vulture is instructing her children before they leave the nest. She tells them that of all of deep nuts are the titbits of flesh she has brought them, the tastiest come from man. The children ask how she can kill a man, who is so much bigger than her. The mother says she doesn't have to; men regularly meet in fields where they kill one another in large numbers and leave the corpses as a feast for the vultures. The children are astonished that any animal would kill something it did not intend to eat. The mother repeats a theory that men are not animals at all, but "vegetables with a power of motion; and that as the boughs of an oak are dashed together by the storm, that swine may fatten upon the falling acorns, so men are, by some unaccountable power, driven one against another, till they lose their motion, that vultures may be fed."
No 22a. ''Imprisonment of debtors'' (Johnson)
A correspondent condemns the practice of sending debtors to prison, saying that many end up there because of jealousy and spite, rather than because they have done any real harm. Creditors should be given a fixed amount of time to prove that a debtor has hidden assets. If no proof can be found, the debtor should be released.No 23. ''Uncertainty of friendship'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 23 September 1758Johnson considers the many ways in which a friendship can end, such as envy, suspicion, sudden disagreements or casual decay. Meeting an old friend after a long separation is usually disappointing: "no man considers how much alteration time has made in himself, and very few inquire what effect it has had upon others."
No 24. ''Man does not always think'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 30 September 1758Johnson is not very interested in whether animals think, because he is too busy wondering whether his fellow humans think. A great portion of humanity spend their lives in a state of "careless stupidity". Johnson concludes that a lack of thought comes from a lack of material to think about.
No 25. ''New actors on the stage'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 7 October 1758A correspondent pleads on behalf of young actors, suggesting urging theatre critics to make allowances for nervousness and inexperience. Johnson extends the appeal to young poets, then to young people in general.
No 26. ''Betty Broom's history'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 14 October 1758Betty Broom, a kitchen maid, tells her sad history. She was educated for a few years at a charity school, where she excelled. However, the school's chief donor stopped giving money, saying the poor were becoming so well educated that it was difficult for the rich to find servants. The school closed down, and Betty was sent to find a position. She originally worked for the family of a rich watchmaker, but they squandered their money on entertainment and could not pay the servants. She was then hired to wait on a hatter and his wife, who kept such different hours that she had no chance to sleep. Her next employers had six children and ordered her to indulge them in everything, but since she couldn't keep all the children happy at once, she was dismissed. Finally she worked in a linen shop. The owner's wife stole money and blamed her when the loss was discovered. Betty promises to complete her story another time, and asks the Idler to tell her "for which of my places, except perhaps the last, I was disqualified by my skill in reading and writing."
No 27. ''Power of habits'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 21 October 1758Most people who resolve to change their habits fail, although that does not dissuade them from trying again and again. When someone does manage to change, the change has usually been forced upon them. Johnson counsels his readers to avoid taking up bad habits in the first place, since this is far easier than getting rid of them later.
No 28. ''Wedding-day. Grocer's wife. Chairman'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 28 October 1758This entry begins with responses to two earlier instalments. Timothy Mushroom tells how he was determined to avoid announcing his marriage in the papers, but was pressured into it by his bride's family. Next, Mrs Treacle, the wife of the shopkeeper in No 14, writes to tell her side of the story. Her husband bought his shop with her dowry, goes to the alehouse at every opportunity and squanders his money playing ninepins. She has to hang around the shop to make sure he works, and she takes him out on Sundays so that he will not spend the day in dissipation. Finally, a chairman complains that he should be paid according to the weight of his passengers.
No 29. ''Betty Broom's history continued'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 4 November 1758Betty Broom, whom we first met in No 26, continues her story. After leaving the linen shop, she took lodging in a garret, where a neighbour stole many of her clothes. She eventually found work as an under-maid in a mercer's household. The mercer's son stayed out drinking till late at night, and Betty was told to wait up for him and see he got to bed safely. She passed the time by reading books from her master's library. When the mercer's wife found out about this, she sacked Betty, declaring that "she never knew any of the readers that had good designs in their heads." Betty then worked for a gentlewoman who loved books and was pleased to have a maid who loved them too. However, this happiness lasted for just fifteen months before the gentlewoman suddenly died. At her next position, Betty was fired after just three weeks because the family thought her manners were too refined for a servant, and concluded she must be a gentlewoman in disguise. At the next, she is sacked when the mistress discovers she can write; at the next, she is at first encouraged by the housekeeper and steward, but then forced out when the housekeeper becomes jealous. Her final situation was with a consumptive woman, who had a foul temper but left Betty five hundred pounds in her will. Betty decides to retire on this fortune to her native parish, and to spend her time teaching poor girls to read and write.
No 30. ''Corruption of news-writers'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 11 November 1758Stating that "money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and that the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use", Johnson praises those who spend their lives inventing new amusement for the rich and idle. Chief among these are the newswriters, who have multiplied greatly in recent years. Johnson identifies the necessary qualities of a journalist as "contempt of shame and indifference to truth", and says that wartime offers the perfect opportunity to exercise these.
No 31. ''Disguises of idleness. Sober's character'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 18 November 1758Johnson talks about the many forms idleness can take. There are idlers who are proud to call themselves idle,
and there are idlers who disguise their idleness with pointless bustling. There are those who occupy themselves by making plans that will never come about. Then there are those who prefer "to fill the day with petty business, to have always something in hand which may raise curiosity, but not solicitude, and keep the mind in a state of action, but not of labour." The exemplar of this type is Mr Sober. Full of ideas but too lazy to carry them out, he distracts himself with conversation and hobbies.
Hester Thrale wrote in her Miscellanies that this essay was "intended as his own portrait".
No 32. ''On Sleep'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 25 November 1758Johnson contemplates the power of sleep, which comes from an unknown source, overpowers all people equally, and provides an escape from the struggles of life. Many people, not content with the forgetfulness provided by sleep, supplement it with "semi-slumbers" like drunkenness, daydreaming and company.
No 33. ''Journal of a fellow of a college'' (Warton)
Published: Saturday, 2 December 1758A correspondent submits the diary of a senior fellow at Cambridge University, a chronicle of idleness, gluttony and petty complaints. Walton follows this with a defence of Oxford and Cambridge. The "genius of the place" inspires students to high achievement, and the universities keep students virtuous by "excluding all opportunities of vice".
No 34. ''Punch and conversation compared'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 9 December 1758After a discussion of analogies and metaphors, Johnson compares the components of good punch to those of good conversation. He equates spirits with wit, lemon juice with raillery, sugar with adulation and water with "easy prattle". The ingredients must be blended in the right proportions to create a pleasing final product.
No 35. ''Auction-hunter described and ridiculed'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 16 December 1758A husband complains that his wife is always hunting for bargains at auctions, even though the house is crammed with her purchases. She also buys meat in bulk and preserves it in salt, rather than pay a higher price for fresh meat. At his wits' end, he resolves to hold his own auction and clear out his house.
No 36. ''The terrific diction ridiculed'' (Johnson)
Published: 23 December 1758Johnson identifies a new kind of pompous language: the "terrific" style, also known as "repulsive" or "bugbear": "by which the most evident truths are so obscured that they can no longer be perceived, and the most familiar propositions so disguised that they cannot be known." He says that an "illustrious example" of this style can be found in the popular philosophical work Letters Concerning Mind.
No 37. ''Useful things easy of attainment'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 30 December 1758Johnson says that everything people really need is plentiful and easy to reach. It is only when people strive for things beyond their reach that they have difficulty.
No 38. ''Cruelty shown to debtors in prison'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 6 January 1759Johnson comments on a newspaper report that there are 20,000 debtors imprisoned in England – that is, one in every 300 inhabitants. He estimates that the economy loses £300,000 a year as a result, to say nothing of the misery inflicted on the prisoners' loved ones. He says conditions in prison are so bad that one in five prisoners dies there, and that prisons are breeding grounds for more crime.
In a note to the 1761 edition, Johnson wrote that the number of debtors given in the original essay "...was at that time confidently published, but the authour has since found reason to question the calculation".
No 39. ''The various uses of the bracelet'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 13 January 1759Bracelets bearing pictures of the wearer's husband and children are in fashion with English women. A correspondent suggests some variations on the theme. Women could wear an emblem showing their profession, favourite pastime or station in life. Or they could wear a small mirror, which would be "a perpetual source of delight". Likewise, soldiers could wear trinkets that remind them of military defeats or ignominious victories.
No 40. ''The art of advertising exemplified'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 20 January 1759The newspapers have become so crammed with adverts that advertisers must use more and more extravagant ploys to get noticed. Johnson quotes from several prime examples of the day. He dryly suggests that advertisers write with posterity in mind: "When these collections shall be read in another century, how will numberless contradictions be reconciled? and how shall fame be possibly distributed among the tailors and bodice-makers of the present age?"
No 41. ''Serious reflections on the death of a friend'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 27 January 1759Someone known to Johnson has died suddenly, leaving him filled with "emptiness and horrour". He reflects that the inevitable cost of life is to outlive people one loves, and hopes that "the union of souls" may continue after death. Finding no comfort in Epicurus or Zeno, he turns to the Gospels: "Philosophy may infuse stubbornness, but Religion only can give patience."
The Yale edition of the Idler reveals that the death Johnson was writing about was that of his mother, who died on 20 or 21 January 1759.
No 42. ''Perdita's complaint of her father'' (authorship uncertain)
Published: Saturday, 3 February 1759The writer describes how her father has destroyed her reputation. Because she is a beauty, he allowed her only a minimal education, and insists on showing her off in the hope of finding her a rich husband. Yet he also fills his house with "drunkenness, riot, and irreligion", so that his daughter is no longer received in polite society.
No 43. ''Monitions on the flight of time'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 10 February 1759Johnson says the visible reminders of time's passing that we find in nature should persuade us not to procrastinate: "Let him that desires to see others happy make haste to give, while his gift can be enjoyed, and remember that every moment of delay takes away something from the value of his benefaction." Too often, however, this warning is given in vain.
No 44. ''The use of memory considered'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 17 February 1759Johnson praises memory, without which no other form of thought would be possible. There are two stages of memory in a person's life: collecting memories, and recollecting them. The first stage is by far the more pleasant. Recalling memories is always bittersweet, since "good and evil are linked together, and no pleasure recurs but associated with pain".
No 45. ''On painting. Portraits defended'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 24 February 1759Some critics have called the English self-centred for preferring portraits to all other types of painting. Johnson says that, on the contrary, the preference springs from affection for others. Nonetheless, he believes other forms of painting should also be encouraged, and hopes that a prize recently offered for the best historical painting will produce good results. He considers various possible subjects for such a painting, and finally decides that Oliver Cromwell's dissolution of Parliament would be best.
No 46. ''Molly Quick's complaint of her mistress'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 3 March 1759Molly Quick is waiting-maid to a great lady. Although her mistress treats her kindly and passes on her finest clothes, she has one habit that exasperates Molly: "She never orders any thing in direct words, for she loves a sharp girl that can take a hint".
No 47. ''Deborah Ginger's account of city-wits'' (Johnson)
Published: 10 March 1759Deborah Ginger, the wife of a "city wit", writes in despair. Her husband was once a successful shopkeeper, but since discovering the theatre, he disdains his business and spends all his time watching plays or writing his own.
No 48. ''The bustle of idleness described and ridiculed'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 17 March 1759Johnson returns to the subject of those who conceal their idleness by rushing aimlessly about. He considers two types: those who affect an interest in politics, and those who pretend to be learned.
No 49. ''Marvel's journey narrated'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 24 March 1759Johnson recounts his friend Will Marvel's story of a visit to Devonshire. According to Marvel, it was a trek filled with danger and drama. On the first day of his travels it rained, even though fair weather was predicted. On the second day, the road was full of puddles, and on the third, he was bored and lonely. On the fourth day he rode until after dark, and then had to wait a long time for someone to open the turnpike. Such catastrophes continued throughout his journey.
No 50. ''Marvel's journey paralleled'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 31 March 1759Johnson says that in reality, all people are susceptible to the kind of exaggeration Marvel displayed. Exaggerating pleasures is forgivable, but exaggerating troubles is not.
No 51. ''Domestick greatness unattainable'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 7 April 1759Johnson says that no man is considered great in his own household, however illustrious he may appear to the outside world. People can display great powers only in extraordinary situations.
No 52. ''Self-denial necessary'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 14 April 1759Johnson says that although self-denial has been taken to ridiculous extremes by some religious sects, it is still necessary.
No 53. ''Mischiefs of good company'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 24 April 1759A husband complains that his wife insists on keeping "good company" — that is, the company of the rich and noble. After trying unsuccessfully for some time to foist herself upon them, she managed to gain acceptance from a few of the less savoury members of the aristocracy, and made her way up the social ladder from there. She now talks of nothing but her new social circle, models all her behaviour on theirs and has turned her back on her old friends.
No 54. ''Mrs Savecharges' complaint'' (authorship uncertain)
Published: Saturday, 28 April 1759Sukey Savecharges, a bride of six months, writes asking for legal advice. In their marriage contract, her husband promised to buy her a coach. After they were married, he tried to talk her out of it, saying a coach would be too expensive to maintain. When she refused to relent, he bought her the coach, but told her she would have to pay for the horses herself. Sukey asks how she can annexe two horses to the contract.
No 55. ''Authors' mortifications'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 5 May 1759An author describes how he spent eight years researching a book on natural history. At first he read portions of his work in progress to his friends, but was discouraged by their criticism. He finished the work in secret and expected publishers to compete fiercely for the rights, but he found nothing but indifference. His book has still not been printed, and he has been indicted for kicking a publisher. He is convinced that his friends must have conspired against him, and asks the Idler what he should do.
No 56. ''Virtuosos whimsical'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 12 May 1759Johnson mocks the behaviour of collectors at an auction, and considers both the good and bad effects of collecting. On the one hand, it "fills the mind with trifling ambition"; on the other, it "brings many things to notice that would be neglected, and, by fixing the thoughts upon intellectual pleasures, resists the natural encroachments of sensuality."
No 57. ''Character of Sophron'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 19 May 1759Johnson describes his companion Sophron, who exemplifies prudence. He is frugal, never gossips, never takes sides in a dispute or gives advice. Yet while this approach to life has kept him safe from disadvantages, it has brought him no advantages either.
No 58. ''Expectations of pleasure frustrated'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 26 May 1759Johnson observes that "pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought". Gatherings of humourists are always disappointing because the premeditation kills merriment. Wit only succeeds when it is spontaneous. Likewise, pleasure trips and visits to old friends seldom live up to one's expectations.
No 59. ''Books fall into neglect'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 2 June 1759Johnson discusses the fickleness of literary fame. Some authors' reputations fade because they were never deserved in the first place. Others became famous by writing about fashionable topics, and fell out of favour when people lost interest in their subject.
No 60. ''Minim the critic'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 9 June 1759To show how easy it is to become a critic, Johnson describes the career of Dick Minim. A former brewer's apprentice, Minim inherited a fortune and "resolved to be a man of wit and humour". He learned everything he needed to know about literature and drama by hanging around coffeehouses and listening to the gossip. By repeating the same platitudes as everyone else and pointing out the obvious, he earned an honoured place among critics.
No 61. ''Minim the critic'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 15 June 1759,.,Minim's story continues. Having reached the zenith of his career, he decided that England needed an academy to set artistic standards, like those found on the continent. Until such an academy can be formed, he is serving as the president of a small critical society. He withholds judgement on new books until he sees how they succeed commercially, and he takes in aspiring authors to whom he gives clichéd and conflicting advice.
No 62. ''Ranger's account of the vanity of riches'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 23 June 1759Tim Ranger writes to dispute the claim that money brings happiness. He lived the modest life of a scholar until he inherited a massive fortune from his uncle. He bought fine clothes, but found they brought him more anxiety than pleasure. He tried to be a rake, but found himself turning into a drunkard. He kept racing horses, but soon grew bored with it. He then began building a grand house, and then found that the architects were cheating him. He ends with a promise to conclude his history another time.
No 63. ''Progress of arts and language'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 30 June 1759Johnson says that art and language flourish only after basic human needs have been met. Both, however, progress "through improvement to degeneracy". The English language started out "artless and simple, unconnected and concise". Since the time of Chaucer, the language has steadily become far more refined, but there is now a danger of affectation.
No 64. ''Ranger's complaint concluded'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 7 July 1759Tim Ranger continues his tale. After selling his racehorses, he resolved to be a "fine gentleman". He began frequenting coffeehouses, learned to force himself to laugh, and took up betting and the opera. He became patron to a famous violinist, but lost his patronage by refusing to bail him out of debtor's prison. He also tried sitting for his portrait, but none of the artists he found pleased him. After this he took up collecting shells and fossils, but the jealousy of his fellow collectors forced him out. Finally he sought popularity by giving lavish dinner parties, only to find himself under the thumb of his French cook. Despairing, he asks the Idler what he can do now.
No 65. ''Fate of posthumous works'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 14 July 1759The posthumous publication of the Earl of Clarendon's history of the English Civil War leads Johnson to consider the varying fates of posthumous works. Some authors leave their manuscripts to their heirs, only for the survivors to store them away or burn them for fuel. Other writers have their work mutilated by editors. Johnson advises that writers "tell us what they have learned while they are yet able to tell it, and trust their reputation only to themselves."
No 66. ''Loss of ancient writings'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 21 July 1759Johnson suggests that we should not lament the fact that so little ancient literature has survived. The "most esteemed" works of the time have come down to us, and if we had kept everything from antiquity, we would have no room for modern endeavours.
No 67. ''Scholar's journal'' (Langton)
Published: Saturday, 28 July 1759Langton offers another fictional diary, this time of a scholar. The subject resolves to spend three days writing serious treatises on logic and the mind. Instead, he becomes distracted by reading, discussions with friends and watching life on the streets of London. As a consequence, he writes several poems he had not planned. Langton says the diary proves that people are more productive when they pursue what truly interests them.
The scholar Langton describes is suspected by the editors of the Yale edition of being Johnson himself, who had a "habit of making resolutions and condemning himself for breaking them".
No 68. ''History of translation'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 4 August 1759Johnson reviews the history of translation, which he says is the most modern of the arts.
No 69. ''History of translation'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 11 August 1759Johnson continues his history of translation. The art of translation into English began with Chaucer, who translated Boethius' Comforts of Philosophy. However, Johnson criticises this translation as "nothing higher than a version strictly literal". When William Caxton began printing books in English, he at first concentrated solely on translations of French works. Not until the Restoration, however, did translators switch their attention from literal accuracy to elegance.
No 70. ''Hard words defended'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 18 August 1759Johnson says people who are confused by hard words in books should ask themselves whether it is the author's fault or theirs. An author writing for a learned audience is entitled to use harder words than one writing for the ignorant. Moreover, "every science and every trade" must of necessity have its own vocabulary. The simplest language is not always the clearest.
No 71. ''Dick Shifter's rural excursion'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 25 August 1759Dick Shifter, a native of Cheapside, decides to spend a summer in the country to find peace and simplicity. Instead, he finds that the food is bad, prices are high, newspapers are impossible to get, and the people treat him with suspicion. He returns to London after just five days.
No 72. ''Regulation of memory'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 1 September 1759Man has two problems with memory: he cannot remember the things he wants to remember, and he remembers things he would rather forget. Johnson thinks people would benefit more from increased forgetfulness than from increased memory. If we could stop brooding on painful and useless memories, we would be better able to learn things we need to know. People should try to banish troublesome memories by keeping busy with new pursuits.
No 73. ''Tranquil's use of riches'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 8 September 1759Johnson says that although wealth is now a universal goal, it cannot buy any more happiness than it did when poverty was thought to be virtuous. He illustrates this point with the story of Tom Tranquil. Tom inherited a huge fortune when he came of age, and his friends set about spending it for him. He is, however, utterly indifferent to their choices.
No 74. ''Memory rarely deficient'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 15 September 1759Johnson says that nobody is ever satisfied with the quality of their memory, but that actual weakness of memory is fairly rare. He criticises those who mark their books, or copy passages in a commonplace book, to remember them better. It is better to pay close attention and enjoy what one is reading.
No 75. ''Gelaleddin of Bassora'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 22 September 1759While studying in Bassora, Gelaleddin becomes celebrated for his scholarship and is offered a professor's post. Not wanting to spend his life in obscurity in a provincial town, he decides to go to Tauris, where he thinks he will achieve greater glory. Instead, he is received with indifference and cannot find work. He returns home, but finds that his cold reception in Tauris has caused the people of Bassora to think they must have over-rated his abilities.
No 76. ''False criticisms on painting'' (Reynolds)
Published: Saturday, 29 September 1759Reynolds mocks critics and connoisseurs who apply narrow rules to painting. If a person does not have artistic sensibilities, rules will not take their place.
No 77. ''Easy writing'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 6 October 1759Johnson says that everyone admires easy poetry, but no one can define what it is. He suggests that it be defined as 'that in which natural thoughts are expressed without violence to the language,' and gives contrasting examples of easy and difficult poetry.
No 78. ''Steady, Snug, Startle, Solid and Misty'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 13 October 1759A correspondent called Robin Spritely describes the conversation of five characters he met while visiting a mineral spring over the summer. Tom Steady is "a vehement assertor of uncontroverted truth"; Dick Snug interrupts stories to make trite observations; Will Startle responds to everything with hyperbolic expressions of disgust or delight; Jack Solid "utters nothing but quotations", though he has a limited store of them; and Dick Misty gives long and obscure explanations of mundane points.
No 79. ''Grand style of painting'' (Reynolds)
Published: Saturday, 20 October 1759Reynolds says painters must aim at more than simply imitating nature. He claims that Dutch painting is inferior to Italian painting because the former focuses on "petty peculiarities", while the latter "attends only
to the invariable, the great and general ideas." Michelangelo, "the Homer of painting", is also the least naturalistic of the great painters.
No 80. ''Ladies' journey to London'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 27 October 1759The upper classes are making their annual return to London after a summer in the countryside. The week before the homecoming has much anticipation. Most excited of all is "the virgin whom the last summer released from her governess" and who is appearing in London society for the first time. Johnson warns her that her expectations of "uninterrupted happiness" will be disappointed, but that she will have much to learn from the city if she opens her mind to it.
No 81. ''Indian's speech to his countrymen'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 3 November 1759Johnson imagines an Indian chief's speech to his tribe as the British advance on Quebec. The Europeans who have stolen their land and oppressed them have now turned upon one another. The chief urges his people to "remember that the death of every European delivers the country from a tyrant and a robber; for what is the claim of either nation, but the claim of the vulture to the leveret, of the tiger to the fawn?"
No 82. ''The true idea of beauty'' (Reynolds)
Published: Saturday, 10 November 1759Reynolds suggests that every animal and plant species, and every race of human beings, has a certain "fixed or determinate" form, and that the closer a particular specimen is to this form, the more beautiful we think it is. It is not possible to say that a particular species or race is more beautiful than another; we can only compare individuals within the same group.
No 83. ''Scruple, Wormwood, Sturdy and Gentle'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 17 November 1759The description of conversationalists at the mineral spring, which began in No 78 with "Steady, Snug, Startle, Solid, and Misty", continues with four new characters. Sim Scruple "lives in a continual equipoise of doubt" and is constantly questioning received ideas, while Dick Wormwood finds fault with every aspect of contemporary society. Bob Sturdy refuses to be swayed by argument or to justify his positions; he merely repeats his assertions again and again. On the other hand, Phil Gentle has no opinions of his own, but expresses agreement with everyone who speaks to him.
No 84. ''Biography, how best performed'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 24 November 1759Johnson says that autobiography is more valuable than biography, because it concerns the inner life as well as the outer. He says that the risk of writers falsifying their autobiographies is not as great as people suppose, because readers are vigilant against any signs of vanity.
No 85. ''Books multiplied by useless compilations'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 1 December 1759Johnson says that too many of the books being published are merely compilations of earlier works. Compilations can sometimes be useful, since 'particles of science are often very widely scattered,' but most of those being produced now 'only serve to distract choice without supplying any real want.'
No 86. ''Miss Heartless' want of a lodging'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 8 December 1759Peggy Heartless, a new bride, describes her and her husband's attempts to find a suitable flat in London. They have asked the advice of a friend, who rejects every place they look at for trivial reasons. In the meantime, they must endure the humiliation of living in lodgings on the second floor of a building.
No 87. ''Amazonian bravery revived'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 15 December 1759Johnson says there is no chance of English women reviving the civilisation of the Amazons. Those English women who can live without men are not civil enough to one another to keep a society together.
No 88. ''What have ye done?'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 22 December 1759Johnson says people who aim to do great things for humanity often end up feeling that they have not done as much as they should. This should not discourage us, however; the important thing is to do whatever we can.
No 89. ''Physical evil moral good'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 29 December 1759Johnson says that the purpose of pain and misery is to encourage the development of virtue. Pain from overindulgence leads to sobriety; the misery that results from lawlessness causes laws and justice to be enforced; poverty encourages charity; and despair of earthly help causes people to turn to God.
No 90. ''Rhetorical action considered'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 5 January 1760Johnson comments on the fact that the English use less body language than other Europeans. Many tutors have sprung up offering to teach it, in the belief that it makes speech more persuasive. Johnson disputes this, saying such gestures are "useless and ostentatious".
No 91. ''Sufficiency of the English language'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 12 January 1760Johnson laments the English prejudice in favour of foreign authors and languages. English literature is much richer than English scholars give it credit for, and any art or science can be more easily learned in English than in a foreign language.
No 92. ''Nature of cunning'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 19 January 1760Johnson says that people who cannot be wise try to be cunning instead; yet the two are as different as "twilight from open day". The cunning must always be furtive and fearful, while the wise are open and confident. Cunning people evade questions, pretend to be experts on subjects they know nothing about, and trust no one.
No 93. ''Sam Softly's history'' (Warton)
Published: Saturday, 26 January 1760Sam Softly, a sugar-baker, inherited a fortune and retired to a country house in Kentish Town. He spends his days driving around the countryside in his chaise, criticising the houses he passes and on the conduct of other drivers.
No 94. ''Obstructions of learning'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 2 February 1760Johnson observes that learning is "at once honoured and neglected". Some do not have the time to pursue it; others are seduced by other entertainments; still others want to learn, but are discouraged by the "continual multiplication of books".
No 95. ''Tim Wainscot's son a fine gentleman'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 9 February 1760Tim Wainscot, a widowed trader, writes to complain of his son's airs. The boy worked hard in the family shop until some friends made him feel ashamed of working in commerce. He now aspires to be a gentleman, neglects his work and squanders his father's money.
No 96. ''Hacho of Lapland'' (Warton)
Published: Saturday, 16 February 1760Hacho, the king of Lapland, was a fierce warrior and a wise scholar until he discovered honey. After this, his tastes became gradually more refined until he lived a life of languor and pleasure-seeking. When the enemy invaded, he was unable to resist; he was killed and his kingdom conquered.
No 97. ''Narratives of travellers considered'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 23 February 1760Johnson observes that "few books disappoint their readers more than the narrations of travellers", as their content is usually either too general or too trivial. Travel writers "should remember that the great object of remark is human life".
No 98. ''Sophia Heedful'' (authorship uncertain)
Published: Saturday, 1 March 1760Sophia, the daughter of a gentleman, was taken in by her bachelor uncle after her father's death. Her uncle refused to consent to her marriage, and hinted that she would inherit his fortune. However, he died intestate, and the money went to a closer relative. Sophia does not know where to go; she is too well educated to be a servant, and too poor to associate with her former social circle.
No 99. ''Ortogrul of Basra'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 8 March 1760Ortogrul is wandering through the streets of Baghdad when he finds his way to the vizier's palace. Seeing the flattery in which the vizier revels, he makes up his mind to become rich. Advised in a dream to seek gradual increase of wealth, he becomes a merchant and works all his life to build up his fortune. Finally he attracts the fawning admirers he wanted, but they bring him no happiness because he cannot believe them.
No 100. ''The good sort of woman'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 15 March 1760After a long bachelorhood, Tim Warner resolved to marry "only in compliance with my reason". He drew up a list of "female virtues and vices" and sought a woman who would be evenly balanced between the two. He finally chose Miss Gentle, but after they were married, he found himself bored by her bland temperament.
No 101. ''Omar's plan of life'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 22 March 1760Caled, the son of the viceroy of Egypt, asks Omar, a wealthy lawyer, how he should plan his life. Omar says it is best not to make plans at all, and uses his own life as an example. He planned to spend ten years pursuing knowledge, then ten years travelling; then he would find a wife. He frittered away the time he had planned to spend learning, then tried to make up for it by intensively studying the law. As a result, he became highly valued at court, and could never get away from work to travel. Now he has had to retire because of ill health, and will die with none of his ambitions fulfilled.
No 102. ''Authors inattentive to themselves'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 29 March 1760Johnson says most authors are too lazy to write their memoirs. He encourages more of them to do so, since the vicissitudes of literary fame make for an entertaining story.
This essay has the distinction of being among the first literary texts in English to have been published in direct Spanish translation. The translation, with some additions, appeared anonymously in 1764 in the Madrid weekly El novelero de los estrados, y tertulias, y Diario universal de las bagatelas.
No 103. ''Horrour of the last'' (Johnson)
Published: Saturday, 5 April 1760Johnson wonders what his readers will think now that The Idler has come to an end. People approach the end of any endeavour with a certain dread. Since this last essay is being published during Holy Week, Johnson hopes it will cause readers to reflect that everything has an end – including human life and the current age.