Chapter 26 - Law

Summary

LAW. n.s. [laga, Saxon; loi, French; lawgh, Erse.]

2. A decree, edict, statute, or custom, publickly established as a rule of justice.

He hath resisted law,

And therefore law shall scorn him further trial

Than the severity of publick power. Shakes. Coriolanus.

An internet advertisement for the Johnsonian News Letter characterizes its readers as follows: “Among subscribers to the JNL are teachers, scholars, librarians, book collectors, publishers, lawyers, and Johnsonian enthusiasts of every stripe.” Lawyers? That’s the unexpected category, and to those first looking into the vast scholarship on Johnson’s many interests, law may seem peripheral. But the internet ad hints at a revealing fact: Johnson was involved with law, in one way or another, from the beginning to the end of his career.

Johnson’s life in the law

From his teenage years in Lichfield to his final years in London, Johnson maintained an active interest in law. He knew many lawyers well, and he lived where they lived, close to the Inns of Court. As one of the most intriguing readers of the eighteenth century, Johnson knew well a wide range of legal materials. He was so adept at legal reasoning – for a non-lawyer – that he could offer decent (if sometimes limited) advice to lawyers. Johnson’s own works, of course, from London (1738) to the Lives of the Poets (1779–81), are saturated with legal issues and legal characters. His Dictionary (1755) is especially subtle in handling legal terms and concepts. His long-standing interest in law may help explain why his argumentative writing and bracing conversation have become permanent contributions to the history of English literature.