1 10–11. a strong religious and political sympathy. Macaulay's use of the article would lead us to think that the two kinds of sympathy were very closely connected. Michael Johnson was a member of the Established Church of England, and at heart a believer in the "divine right" kings. The student who is not familiar with the history of this period will do well to look up Jacobite in Brewer's Historic Note-book and then to read in some brief history an account of the sovereigns in possession who followed James II,—William and Mary (1689–1702) and Anne (1702–1714). Boswell says, "He no doubt had an early attachment to the House of Stuart; but his zeal had cooled as his reason strengthened."
1 16. In the child. Pause to take the glimpse ahead which this sentence gives. The construction helps one to remember the three kinds of peculiarities and the order in which they are mentioned.
2 26. Augustan delicacy of taste. You may read in Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities, in the article on Augustus Cæsar, how "the court of Augustus thus became a school of culture, where men of genius acquired that delicacy of taste, elevation of sentiment, and purity of expression which characterize the writers of the age."
2 32. Petrarch. Does Macaulay imply that Petrarch is one of "the great restorers of learning"? See Renaissance in The Century Dictionary and Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. Note that Petrarch "may be said to have rediscovered Greek, which for some six centuries had been lost to the western world." Keep in mind, too, that his friend and disciple, Boccaccio, translated Homer into Latin.
3 11. Pembroke College. The University of Oxford consists of twenty-one colleges which together form a corporate body. The colleges are "endowed by their founders and others with estates and benefices; out of the revenue arising from the estates, as well as other resources, the Heads and Senior and Junior Members on the foundation receive an income, and the expenses of the colleges are defrayed. Members not on the foundation, called 'independent members,' reside entirely at their own expense." Among the members on the foundation are the Heads, Fellows, and Scholars.
3 17–18. Macrobius. A Roman grammarian who probably lived at the beginning of the fifth century.
3 20. about three years. Apparently Johnson remained at Oxford only fourteen months. See Dr. Hill's Dr. Johnson, His Friends and His Critics.
4 1–2. "It was bitterness which they mistook for frolic. I was miserably poor, and I thought to fight my way by my literature and my wit; so I disregarded all power and all authority."—Johnson, quoted by Boswell. Although aware of what he considered the defects of his college, Johnson loved Pembroke as long as he lived. He delighted in boasting of its eminent graduates and would have left to it his house at Lichfield had not wiser friends induced him to bequeath it to some poor relatives.
4 15–16. his father died. "I now therefore see that I must make my own fortune. Meanwhile let me take care that the powers of my mind be not debilitated by poverty, and that indigence do not force me into any criminal act."—Johnson, quoted by Boswell.
5 32. Walmesley. "I am not able to name a man of equal knowledge. His acquaintance with books was great, and what he did not immediately know, he could, at least, tell where to find."—Johnson, quoted by Boswell.