17 September 2023

Samuel Johnson, MA, DPhil (Honoris Causa) 1709-1784

Today is the 319th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Johnson, the great lexicographer and man of letters.


He, was, of course,  a High Tory. In his Dictionary he defines the two political parties of his day as follows.

Tory:
One who adheres to the ancient constitution of the state, and the apostolical hierarchy of the Church of England, opposed to a Whig.

Whig: The name of a faction.

He is also recorded to have said, 'I have always said the first Whig was the Devil.'

In other words, he was my kind of fellow!


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