Complete Works of Samuel Johnson, page 406
Zeal. n.s. [ζῆλος, zelus, Latin.] Passionate ardour for any person or cause.
This present age, wherein zeal hath drowned charity and skill; meekness will not now suffer any man to marvel, whatsoever he shall hear reproved by whomsoever. Hooker.
If I had had time to have made new liveries, I would have bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you: but it is no matter, this poor show doth better; this doth infer the zeal I had to see him. Shakespeare’s Henry IV.
O Cromwell, Cromwell!
Had I but serv’d my God with half the zeal
I serv’d my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies. Shakespeare.
Among the seraphims
Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal ador’d
The Deity, and divine commands obey’d,
Stood up, and in a flame of zeal severe,
The current of his fury thus oppos’d. Milton’s Parad. Lost.
Zeal, the blind conductor of the will. Dryden.
She with such a zeal the cause embrac’d,
As women, where they will, are all in haste;
The father, mother, and the kin beside,
Were overborne by the fury of the tide. Dryden.
The princes applaud with a furious joy,
And the king seiz’d a flambeau with zeal to destroy. Dryden.
Seriousness and zeal in religion is natural to the English. Tillotson’s Sermons.
Good men often blemish the reputation of their piety by over-acting some things in their religion; by an indiscreet zeal about things wherein religion is not concerned. Tillotson.
True zeal seems not to be any one single affection of the soul; but rather a strong mixture of many holy affections; rather a gracious constitution of the whole mind, than any one particular grace, swaying a devout heart, and filling it with all pious intentions; all not only uncounterfeit, but most fervent. Sprat’s Sermons.
When the sins of a nation have provoked God to forsake it, he suffers those to concur in the most pernicious counsels for enslaving conscience, who pretend to the greatest zeal for the liberty of it. Stillingfleet.
This rebellion has discovered to his majesty, who have espoused his interests with zeal or indifference. Addison’s Freeh.
A scorn of flattery and a zeal for truth. Pope.
Zeálot. n.s. [zeloteur, French; ζηλωτης.] One passionately ardent in any cause. Generally used in dispraise.
The fury of zealots, intestine bitterness and division were the greatest occasion of the last fatal destruction of Jerusalem. King Charles.
Are not those men too often the greatest zealots who are most notoriously ignorant? true zeal should always begin with true knowledge, and thence proceed to an unwearied passion, for what it once knows to be worthy of such passion. Sprat.
No wonder that so many of these deluded zealots have been engaged in a cause which they at first abhorred, and have wished or acted for the success of an enterprize, that might have ended in the extirpation of the protestant religion. Addison.
Zeálous. adj. [from zeal.] Ardently passionate in any cause.
Our hearts are right with God, and our intentions pious, if we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater than our necessity, and in actions of religion we be zealous, active, and operative, so far as prudence will permit. Taylor.
This day, at height of noon, came to my sphere,
A spirit, zealous, as he seem’d to know
More of the Almighty’s works. Milton’s Paradise Lost.
We should be not only devout towards God, but zealous towards men; endeavouring by all prudent means to recover them out of those snares of the devil, whereby they are taken captive. Decay of Piety.
It is not at all good to be zealous against any person, but only against their crimes. It is better to be zealous for things than for persons: but then it should be only for good things; a rule that does certainly exclude all manner of zeal for ill things, all manner of zeal for little things. Sprat’s Sermons.
Being instructed only in the general, and zealous in the main design; and as finite beings, not admitted into the secrets of government, the last resorts of providence, or capable of discovering the final purposes of God, they must be sometimes ignorant of the means conducing to those ends in which alone they can oppose each other. Dryden.
Zeálously. adv. [from zealous.] With passionate ardour.
Thy care is fixt, and zealously attends,
To fill thy odorous lamp with deeds of light,
And hope that reaps not shame. Milton.
To enter into a party as into an order of friars, with so resigned an obedience to superiors, is very unsuitable with the civil and religious liberties we so zealously assert. Swift.
Zeálousness. n.s. [from zealous.] The quality of being zealous. Zéchin. n.s. [So named from zecha, a place in Venice where the mint is settled for coinage.] A gold coin worth about nine shillings sterling. Zed. n.s. The name of the letter z.
Thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter. Shakespeare.
Zedóary. n.s. [zedoaire, French.] A spicy plant, somewhat like ginger in its leaves, but of a sweet scent. Zénith. n.s. [Arabick.] The point over head opposite to the nadir.
Fond men! if we believe that men do live
Under the zenith of both frozen poles,
Though none come thence, advertisement to give,
Why bear we not the like faith of our souls? Davies.
These seasons are designed by the motions of the sun, when that approaches nearest our zenith, or vertical point, we call it summer. Brown’s Vulgar Errours.
Zéphyr.
Zéphyrus.
n.s. [zephyrus, Latin.] The west wind; and poetically any calm soft wind.
They are as gentle
As zephyrs blowing below the violet. Shakespeare’s Cymbeline.
Zephyr, you shall see a youth with a merry countenance, holding in his hand a swan with wings displayed, as about to sing. Peacham on Drawing.
Forth rush the levent and the potent winds,
Eurus and Zephyr. Milton.
Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes. Milton.
Their every musick wakes,
Whence blending all the sweeten’d zephyr springs. Thomson.
Zest. n.s.
1. The peel of an orange squeezed into wine.
2. A relish; a taste added.
To Zest. v.a. To heighten by an additional relish. Zetétick. adj. [from ζητέω.] Proceeding by enquiry. Zeúgma. n.s. [from ζεῦγμα.] A figure in Grammar, when a verb agreeing with divers nouns, or an adjective with divers substantives, is referred to one expressly, and to the other by supplement, as lust overcame shame, boldness fear, and madness reason. Zoćle. n.s. [In architecture.] A small sort of stand or pedestal, being a low square piece or member, serving to support a busto, statue, or the like, that needs to be raised; also a low square member serving to support a column, instead of a pedestal, base, or plinth. Dict.
Zódiack. n.s. [zodiaque, French; ζωδιακὸς, ἐκ τῶν ζώων, the living creatures, the figures of which are painted on it in globes.] The track of the sun through the twelve signs; a great circle of the sphere, containing the twelve signs.
The golden sun salutes the morn,
And having gilt the ocean with his beams,
Gallops the zodiack in his glist’ring coach. Shakespeare.
Years he number’d scarce thirteen,
When fates turn’d cruel;
Yet three fill’d zodiacks had he been
The stage’s jewel. Ben. Johnson.
By his side,
As in a glist’ring zodiack hung the sword,
Satan’s dire dread; and in his hand the spear. Milton.
It exceeds even their absurdity to suppose the zodiack and planets to be efficient of, and antecedent to themselves, or to exert any influences before they were in being. Bentley.
Here in a shrine that cast a dazling light,
Sat fixt in thought the mighty Stagyrite;
His sacred head a radiant zodiack crown’d;
And various animals his sides surround. Pope.
Zone. n.s. [ζωνὴ; zona, Latin.]
1. A girdle.
The middle part
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round
Skirted his loins, and thighs, with downy gold
And colours dipp’d in heav’n. Milton’s Paradise Lost.
An embroider’d zone surrounds her waist. Dryden.
Thy statues, Venus, though by Phidias’ hands
Design’d immortal, yet no longer stands;
The magick of thy shining zone is past,
But Salisbury’s garter shall for ever last. Granville.
Scarce could the goddess from her nymph be known,
But by the crescent and the golden zone. Pope.
2. A division of the earth.
The whole surface of the earth is divided into five zones: the first is contained between the two tropicks and is called the torrid zone. There are two temperate zones, and two frigid zones. The northern temperate zone is terminated by the tropick of Cancer and the artick polar circle: the southern temperate zone is contained between the tropick of Capricorn and the polar circle: the frigid zones are circumscribed by the polar circles, and the poles are in their centers.
True love is still the same: the torrid zones,
And those more frigid ones,
It must not know:
For love grown cold or hot,
Is lust or friendship, not
The thing we show;
For that’s a flame would die,
Held down or up too high:
Then think I love more than I can express,
And would love more, could I but love thee less. Suckling.
As five zones th’ etherial regions bind,
Five correspondent are to earth assign’d:
The sun, with rays directly darting down,
Fires all beneath, and fries the middle zone. Dryden.
3. Circuit; circumference.
Scarce the sun
Hath finish’d half his journey, and scarce begins
His other half in the great zone of heav’n. Milton.
Zoógrapher. n.s. [ζωὴ and γράφω.] One who describes the nature, properties, and forms of animals.
One kind of locust stands not prone, or a little inclining upward; but a large erectness, elevating the two fore legs, and sustaining itself in the middle of the other four, by zoographers called the prophet and praying locust. Brown’s Vulgar Errours.
Zoógraphy. n.s. [of ζωὴ and γράφω.] A description of the forms, natures, and properties of animals.
If we contemplate the end of the effect, its principal final cause being the glory of its maker, this leads us into divinity; and for its subordinate, as it is designed for alimental sustenance to living creatures, and medicinal uses to man, we are thereby conducted into zoography. Glanv. Sceps.
Zoólogy. n.s. [of ζῶον and λογος.] A treatise concerning living creatures. Zoophórick Column. n.s. [In architecture.] A statuary column, or a column which bears or supports the figure of an animal. Dict.
Zoóphorus. n.s. [ζωοφορὸς.] A part between the architraves and cornice, so called on account of the ornaments carved on it, among which were the figures of animals. Dict.
Zoóphyte. n.s. [ζώοφυτον, of ζωος and φυτὸν.] Certain vegetables or substances which partake of the nature both of vegetables and animals. Zoótomist. n.s. [of ζωοτομία.] A dissector of the bodies of brute beasts. Zoótomy. n.s. [ζωτομία, of ζῶον and τεμνω.] Dissection of the bodies of beasts.
The Biographies
On 9 July 1735, Johnson married Elizabeth “Tetty” Porter at St Werburgh’s Church in Derby. The Porter family did not approve of the match, partly because Johnson, aged 25, was 21 years younger than his bride. Her marriage to Johnson so disgusted her son that he reportedly severed all relations with her.
Elizabeth Jervis Porter (1689–1752) had been the wife of Johnson’s close friend Harry Porter, who died on 3 September 1734, leaving Elizabeth widowed at the age of 45, with three children. Some months later, Johnson began to court her and it is believed the widow encouraged him by promising to provide for him with her substantial savings.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF MR RICHARD SAVAGE
This was the first major biography published by Johnson, which was released anonymously in 1744 and concerns the life of a London poet and friend of the author, who had died the previous year. The biography contains many details of Savage’s account of his own life, including claims that he was the illegitimate child of a noble family that quickly disowned and abandoned him at birth. The biography was later included in Johnson’s The Lives of the Poets, published in 1779, and the Savage biography is attributed as one of the important steps for Johnson becoming a prominent biographer in his later years. The book was well received and was the first source of early praise for Johnson.
Richard Savage had led a controversial life and Johnson used the material to try to answer some wider ethical questions. Savage was both a poet and a playwright and Johnson was reported to have enjoyed spending time and discussing various topics with him, along with drinking and other merriment. However, Savage was encouraged by his friends to move to Bristol and improve his lifestyle. He was unable to accomplish this and was eventually sent to a debtor’s prison, where he died in 1743. Edward Cave, Johnson’s publisher, encouraged him to put together a life of his friend. Johnson began to collect as many letters and biographical details as he could and, with his extensive history with Savage, produced a thorough biography. Johnson dedicated a large portion of his time to the work and was able to produce “forty-eight of the printed octavo pages of the life of Savage at a sitting, but then I sat up all night.”
Johnson finished the work just before the Christmas of 1743 and was paid fifteen guineas. After its anonymous publication, the 200 page book was immediately successful, reviving much new interest in Savage’s poetry, although the biography was not the financial success that Johnson or Cave had wished for. However, it did open an important area for Johnson to explore as a biographer in his later years.
The original title page
AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF MR RICHARD SAVAGE
It has been observed in all ages that the advantages of nature or of fortune have contributed very little to the promotion of happiness: and that those whom the splendour of their rank, or the extent of their capacity, has placed upon the summit of human life, have not often given any just occasion to envy in those who look up to them from a lower station; whether it be that apparent superiority incites great designs, and great designs are naturally liable to fatal miscarriages; or that the general lot of mankind is misery, and the misfortunes of those whose eminence drew upon them universal attention have been more carefully recorded, because they were more generally observed, and have in reality been only more conspicuous than those of others, not more frequent, or more severe.
That affluence and power, advantages extrinsic and adventitious, and therefore easily separable from those by whom they are possessed, should very often flatter the mind with expectations of felicity which they cannot give, raises no astonishment: but it seems rational to hope that intellectual greatness should produce better effects; that minds qualified for great attainments should first endeavour their own benefit, and that they who are most able to teach others the way to happiness, should with most certainty follow it themselves. But this expectation, however plausible, has been very frequently disappointed. The heroes of literary as well as civil history have been very often no less remarkable for what they have suffered than for what they have achieved; and volumes have been written only to enumerate the miseries of the learned, and relate their unhappy lives and untimely deaths.
To these mournful narratives I am about to add the Life of RICHARD SAVAGE, a man whose writings entitle him to an eminent rank in the classes of learning, and whose misfortunes claim a degree of compassion not always due to the unhappy, as they were often the consequences of the crimes of others rather than his own.
In the year 1697, Anne, Countess of Macclesfield, having lived some time upon very uneasy terms with her husband, thought a public confession of adultery the most obvious and expeditious method of obtaining her liberty; and therefore declared that the child with which she was then great, was begotten by the Earl Rivers. This, as may be imagined, made her husband no less desirous of a separation than herself, and he prosecuted his design in the most effectual manner: for he applied, not to the ecclesiastical courts for a divorce, but to the Parliament for an Act by which his marriage might be dissolved, the nuptial contract annulled, and the children of his wife illegitimated. This Act, after the usual deliberation, he obtained, though without the approbation of some, who considered marriage as an affair only cognisable by ecclesiastical judges; and on March 3rd was separated from his wife, whose fortune, which was very great, was repaid her, and who having, as well as her husband, the liberty of making another choice, she in a short time married Colonel Brett.
While the Earl of Macclesfield was prosecuting this affair, his wife was, on the 10th of January, 1607-8,[sic] delivered of a son: and the Earl Rivers, by appearing to consider him as his own, left none any reason to doubt of the sincerity of her declaration; for he was his godfather and gave him his own name, which was by his direction inserted in the register of St. Andrew’s parish in Holborn, but unfortunately left him to the care of his mother, whom, as she was now set free from her husband, he probably imagined likely to treat with great tenderness the child that had contributed to so pleasing an event. It is not indeed easy to discover what motives could be found to overbalance that natural affection of a parent, or what interest could be promoted by neglect or cruelty. The dread of shame or of poverty, by which some wretches have been incited to abandon or murder their children, cannot be supposed to have affected a woman who had proclaimed her crimes and solicited reproach, and on whom the clemency of the Legislature had undeservedly bestowed a fortune, which would have been very little diminished by the expenses which the care of her child could have brought upon her. It was therefore not likely that she would be wicked without temptation; that she would look upon her son from his birth with a kind of resentment and abhorrence; and, instead of supporting, assisting, and defending him, delight to see him struggling with misery, or that she would take every opportunity of aggravating his misfortunes, and obstructing his resources, and with an implacable and restless cruelty continue her persecution from the first hour of his life to the last. But whatever were her motives, no sooner was her son born than she discovered a resolution of disowning him; and in a very short time removed him from her sight, by committing him to the care of a poor woman, whom she directed to educate him as her own, and enjoined never to inform him of his true parents.
