JOHXSOX
986
JOIADA
was written, he tells us, " in the evenings of a week." But, with all these publications before the public, he did not really emerge from obscurity until 1762, when a pension of ioOO a year was conferred on him by lord Bute; and in the following year occurred an event, ap- parently of little moment, but which had a lasting in- fluence" upon his fame: this was his introduction to James Boswell, whose Life of Dr. Johnson is probably more imperishable than any of the doctor's own writ- ings. In 17(U the famous Literary Club was instituted, and in the following year began his intimacy with the Thralcs. In the same year appeared his edition of Shakspeare. In 1773 he visited the Highlands with Boswell, and in 1781 appeared his Lives of the Poets, his last literary work of any importance. See Boswell, Life of Johnson; Wilkes, Christian Essays; Slurphy, Life, in jjreface to Works ; Memoir by Walter Scott ; Essays by Jlaeaulay and Carlyle; a brief but elaborate charac- ter of Dr. Johnson, written by Sir James Mackintosh, in his Life, ii, 166-9 ; Dr. Johnson, his Reliyious Life and Death (X. Y. 1850, 8vo) ; Chambers, Cyclop, s. v. ; Eng- lish Cyclop, s. V. ; and the excellent and elaborate article in Allibone, L)ict. Engl, and Anier. Authors, s. v.
Johnson, Thomas, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, was born in Virginia, July 11, 1802; went to Jtissouri in 1822, and commenced the work of the ministry in 1825. He labored as an itiner- ant in the bounds of the St. Louis Conference, filling some of the most important stations ; but spent his greatest labors, and was most successful, as missionary to the Indians. His name will ever be connected with } the history of Indian missions. Wise and earnest, he I carried success with him in his responsible and arduous labors. He honorably sustained his character as a j Christian minister through all his pilgrimage, and died , an approved servant of God. He was shot by unkno^vn parties in tlie night of Jan. 3, 1865, probably on account of his political principles. Among his colleagues in the Contcrence Johnson ranked with the first, and was highly esteemed l)y all. Says one of them : " He was \ a man nf principle ; one of the very few among the many thousands who, on all occasio'ns and under all circumstances, acted upon the settled principle of mo- rality and religion." See Conf. Min. M. E. Ch. S. iii *
i(;«. I
Johnson, William Bullien, D.D., a Baptist i mniister, was born on John's Island, near Charleston, S. ' C, June 13, 1782. He was intended for the jurist's pro- ! fession, but after conversion (1804) he decided for the i ministry, and was ordained. January, 1806, pastor of a i church at Kutaw, S. C. In 1800 he removed to Colum- bia; later he lived at Savannah, C.a., whence he return- ed to Columbia in 1816. In 1822 he was placed in charge of the female academy at Greenville, S. C. Ein-ht or nnie years later he removed t^ Edgeville, S. C.?as pastor, teaching also at the same time at a female high school, and suljsequently to Anderson, S. C, where a I university for ladies bears his name. He finallv returned I to (.reenviUe. S. C, where he labored faithfully for the Church of his choice up to the hour of his death, in perfect vigor of miiKl and soundness of bodv very unlike an octo- genarian. He died in 1867 or 1868. The degree of D D ' was cmferred upon him by Brown Universitv in 1833. i Ur. Johnson was a iiromineiit member of the^Bilde Ke- ! vision Soci.-ty, and one of the presidents of the General ! Bap >st ( onvention of the United States (formed in l«l 1 ). Over the Baptist Convention of his native state ic presided f(,r a score and a half of vears. He wrote ' lari;e|y f.-r the religious periodicals of his Church, and ! pubhslM.I nerelopmmt of the Gospel of .Tesus Christ li,ro„;jh the Gorernment and Order of the Churches, be- sides sermons, circulars, and addresses.-Appleton, Cy- clop. X, 36. " ' •'
Johnsonians, followers of John Johnson, a Baptist rniUHter at Livrpool. England, in the last centime of
there are still several o
)ngregatioi)s in tlifterunt
parts of England. He denied that faith was a duty, or even action of the soul, and defined it " an active prin- ciple" conferred by grace ; and denied also the duty of ministers to exhort the unconverted, or preach any moral duties whatever. Though Mr. Johnson enter- tained high supralapsarian notions on the divine de- crees, he admitted the universality of the death of Christ. On the doctrine of the Trinity, his followers are said to have embraced the indwelling scheme, with Calvinistic views of justification and the atonement. See Johnson's Faith of God's Elect; Brine's Jlistakes of Mr. Johnson (174:5).
Johnston, Arthur, a Scottish writer of great ce- lebrity, a native of Caskieben, near Aberdeen, was born in 1587. He w as a physician by profession, but spent most of his time in literary pursuits; especially thor- ough was his acquaintance with Latin, and it is mainly for his Latin version of the Psalms, one of his last and best works, that we mention his name here. They were published under the title of Fsalnwrum Davidis Para- phrasis Poetica, et Canticorum Eranf/elicorum (Aberd. 1637, 12mo, and often since). As another writer of note, George Buchanan, also furnished a Latin version of the Psalms, a comparison was frequently instituted as to the comparative merits of their work. Hallam [Liter, Hist, of Europe, 4th ed. Lond. 1854, iii, 53), in alluding to it, thinks that " Johnston's Psalms, all of which are in elegiac metre, do not fall far short of those of Buchanan either in elegance of style or correctness of Latinity." Johnston spent the earlier part of his life in France and Italy. His medical degree he obtained at Padua. He returned to Scotland in 1625, and about 1628 was ap- pointed physician to the court of Charles I. In 1637 his literary attainments received recognition by his election to the rectorate of King's College. He died in 1641. Besides the Psalms, he translated into Latin the Te Deum, Creed, Decalogue, etc. ; also Solomon's Song (Lond. 1633, 8vo). His other publications are Elegia in Ohitum R. Jacobi (Lond. 1625, 4to) : — Epigramniata (Aberdeen, 1632, 8vo). See memoirs of him in Benson's ed. of Johnston's version of the Psalms ; Allibone, Diet, of Eng. and Amer. Authors, ii, 983; Cyclop. Brit. vol. xii, s. V.