Mahomet the Great, firft emperor of the Turks, in the year 1453 laid fiege to the city of Conftantinople, then poffeffed by the Greeks, and, after an obftinate refiftance, took and facked it. Among the many young women whom his commanders thought fit to lay hands on and present to him, was one, named Irene, a Greek, of incomparable beauty and fuch rare perfection of body and mind, that the emperor becoming enamoured of her, neglected the care of his government and empire for two whole years, and thereby fo exasperated the Janizaries and other of his warlike fubjects, that they mutinied, and threatened to dethrone him. To prevent this mischief, Mustapha Bassa, a person of great credit with him, undertook to reprefent to him the great danger to which he lay expofed by the indulgence of his paffion: he called to his remembrance the characters, actions, and atchievements of many of his predeceffors, and the state of his government; and, in short, fo roused him from his lethargy, that he took a horrible refolution to filence the clamours of his people, by the facrifice of this admirable creature: accordingly, on a future day, he commanded her to be dreffed and adorned in the richest manner that she and her attendants could devife, and against a certain hour iffued orders for the nobility and leaders of his army to attend him in the great hall of his palace. When they were all affembled, himself. appeared with great pomp and magnificence, leading his late captive, but now abfolute mistress, by the hand, unconscious of guilt and ignorant of his defign. With a furious and menacing look, he gave the beholders to understand, that he knew the cause of their discontent, and that he meant to to remove it; but bade them firft view that lady, whom he ftill held with his left hand, and fay whether any of them being poffeffed of a jewel fo rare and precious, a woman fo lovely and fair, would for any cause forego her; to which they answered, that he had great reafon for his affection towards her. To this the emperor replied, that this being their opinion, he would convince them that his actions were in his own power, and that he was yet mafter of himfelf. And having fo faid,' fays my author, presently with one of his hands catching the fair Greek by the hair of the head, and drawing his falchion with the other, he, at one blow, ftruck ‹ off her head, to the great terror of them all; and C having fo done, faid unto them, "Now by this, judge whether your emperor is able to bridle his "affections or not." * It no where appears that, in this journey to London, Mrs. Johnfon was one of the company; it is rather to be conjectured, that her husband, having abandoned the hope of fucceeding in his attempt to raise a school, left to her the care of the houfe, and the management of the fmall part of her fortune, which, after the fitting *Two tragedies founded on this ftory had already appeared, before Johnfon conceived his intention of producing a third. The former of thefe was written by Gilbert Swinhoe, Efq; a native of Northumberland, who lived temp. Car. I. & Car. II.; and was published in 4to. 1658, with the title of Unhappy Fair Irene her Tragedy. See Langbaine's Account of Dramatic Poets, edit. 1691, P. 499. Of the latter, entitled, Irene or the Fair Greek, 4to. 1708, one Charles Goring, Efq; fuppofed to be the same person with one of that name who was of Magdalen college, Oxford, and in 1687 took the degree of Master of Arts, was the author. Biographia Dramatica, art. Goring, Charles, Efq. See up up and furnishing the fame, together with two years' expenditure, muft be fuppofed to be left; and, that this could be no other than small, may be inferred from her natural temper, which it is faid was as little difpofed to parfimony as that of her husband. It is not my intention to pursue the history of Mr. Garrick's progrefs in life, both because I have not taken upon me to be his biographer, and, because the principal events of it occur in the memoirs of him, written with great candour and, I dare fay, truth, by Mr. Thomas Davies, and by him publifhed in two volumes, octavo; but the course of this narration requires me occafionally to mention fuch particulars concerning him, as in any manner connect him with the fubject I am engaged in; and this leads me to mention a fact concerning them both, that I had from a perfon now living, who was a witness to it, and of whose veracity the leaft doubt cannot be entertained. They had been but a fhort time in London before the ftock of money that each fet out with, was nearly exhaufted; and, though they had not, like the prodigal fon, wafted their substance in riotous living,' they began, like him, to be in want.' In this extremity, Garrick fuggefted the thought of obtaining credit from a tradesman, whom he had a flight knowledge of, Mr. Wilcox a bookfeller, in the Strand: to him they applied, and reprefenting themselves to him, as they really were, two young men, friends, and travellers from the fame place, and just arrived with a view to fettle here, he was fo moved with their artless tale, that, on their joint note, he advanced them all that their modefty would permit them to afk, (five pounds), which was, foon after, punctually repaid. It has been before related, that Johnson had engaged his pen in the fervice of Cave; as it feems, under fome fictitious name, perhaps, that common one of Smith, which he directs Cave to addrefs him by, in his letter of 25th Nov. 1734. Being now come to town, and determined, or rather constrained, to rely on the labour of his brain for fupport, he, to improve the correfpondence he had formed, thought proper to discover himself, and in his real name to communicate to Cave a project which he had formed, and which the following letter will explain : • SIR, Greenwich, next door to the Golden-Heart, Having obferved in your papers very uncommon offers of encouragement to men of letters, I have chofen, being a ftranger in London, to communicate to you the following defign, which, I hope, if you join in it, will be of advantage to both of us. The history of the Council of Trent, having been lately tranflated into French, and published with large notes by Dr. Le Courayer, the reputation of that book is fo much revived in England, that, it is prefumed, a new tranflation of it from the Italian, together with Le Courayer's notes from the French, could not fail of a favourable recep<tion. < с If it be answered that the hiftory is already in English, it must be remembered that there was the fame objection against Le Courayer's undertaking, with this disadvantage, that the French had a verfion by one of their beft tranflators, whereas you cannot read three pages of the English history without discovering that the ftyle is capable of great improvements; but whether those improvements are to be expected from this attempt, you must judge from the fpecimen, which, if you approve the proposal, I fhall fubmit to your examina <tion. < Suppose the merit of the versions equal, we may hope that the addition of the notes will turn the ⚫ balance in our favour, confidering the reputation of the Annotator. Be pleased to favour me with a speedy answer, if you are not willing to engage in this scheme; and appoint me a day to wait on you, if you are. 'I am, Sir, your humble fervant, SAM. JOHNSON.' Cave's acquiefcence, in the above proposal, drew Johnfon into a close intimacy with him: he was much at St. John's Gate, and taught Garrick the way thither. Cave had no great relish for mirth, but he could bear it; and having been told by Johnson, that his friend had talents for the theatre, and was come to London with a view to the profeffion of an actor, expreffed a wish to fee him in fome comic character: Garrick readily complied; and, as Cave himself told me, with a little preparation of the room over the great arch of St. John's gate, and, with the affiftance of a few journeymen printers, who were called together for the purpose of reading the other parts, reprefented, with all the graces of comic humor, the principal character in Fielding's farce of the Mock-Doctor. |