Page 21 - Unlikely Stories 5

In the Back Streets of London

“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which
so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.”
This Dr. Johnson said to me as we left his rooms to meet David
Garrick and Sir Joshua Reynolds at the Turk’s Head.
“As soon,” said he, “as I enter the door of a tavern, I experience an
oblivion of care, and a freedom from solicitude: when I am seated, I
find the master courteous, and the servants obsequious to my call;
anxious to know and ready to supply my wants: wine there exhilarates
my spirits, and prompts me to free conversation and an interchange
of discourse with those whom I most love: I dogmatise and am
contradicted, and in this conflict of opinion and sentiments I find
delight.”
He was in a jovial mood, in full anticipation of an evening’s
conviviality amongst friends, his diversion of preference from the
cares and sorrows of existence. As we ventured past his threshold,
and he beheld the city’s panorama, he began to wax poetic.
“By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can
shew.” I had already traveled considerably in foreign lands, but was
loath to interrupt him. “Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual,
who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of
London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can
afford.”
But now I could not constrain myself. “Then have you knowledge
of the entirety of possibility in both London and the world? I for one
cannot imagine your explorations of urbe Londinensi encompassing its
totality, much less that of the terrestrial globe.”
That half-innocent barb found its mark, and he stopped in his
tracks, drew himself up to his full height, glared down at me and said,
“Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city,
you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but
must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the
showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human
habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful
immensity of London consists.”

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