Fawcett to London and examined him on the subject in a cabinet council (15, 16, 17 Feb. 1754). Fawcett prevaricated, and the charge was shown to be false. The Duke of Bedford, and subsequently Lord Ravensworth, called the attention of the House of Lords to the matter; Johnson defended himself satisfactorily (22 Feb.), although, according to Horace Walpole, ‘with insolence.’ An eloquent speech was delivered in Johnson's behalf by the Bishop of St. Asaph (Dr. Hay-Drummond), himself an ‘old Westminster,’ and the debate terminated without a division.
In 1759 Johnson was translated to Worcester, and during his tenure of that see made considerable improvements and embellishments in Hartlebury Castle, the ancient country palace of the diocese, in addition to laying out the sum of 5,000l. on the episcopal residence in Worcester. To the ecclesiastical patronage of the see he added the rectory of Richard's Castle in the diocese of Hereford. He died at Bath on 28 Nov. 1774, in consequence of a fall from his horse, and was interred among his ancestors at Laycock in Wiltshire. A monument, designed by Nollekens, was shortly afterwards erected to his memory in Worcester Cathedral. Johnson's amiability was unvarying. His private wealth was large. He was very hospitable, and especially generous to his relatives. He published four sermons separately.
[Alumni Westmonast. p. 288; Oxford Graduates; Bubb Doddington's Diary, 22 March 1753; Green's Hist. of Worcester, ed. 1796, i. 216; Bishop Newton's Autob., in Works, ed. 1782, i. 101–2; Walpole's Memoirs of George II, i. 304; G. Butt's Funeral Sermon at Bath; Gent. Mag. 1774, p. 598; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
JOHNSON, JAMES (d. 1811), Scottish engraver and publisher, is said to have been a native of Ettrick (Wilson, Reminiscences of Old Edinburgh, i. 280). He is first heard of as an engraver and music-seller in Edinburgh, where he published ‘The Scots Musical Museum’ (6 vols. 1787–1803), an extensive collection of Scottish melodies and songs. Burns, who corresponded largely with Johnson, and had a strong personal regard for him, contributed to it 184 pieces; of these some were original, including many of his best lyrics, while others were alterations of old ballads or copies of them. Most of the prefaces to the different volumes were written by Burns, and it may be said that he edited the work. ‘Perhaps you may not find your account lucratively in this business,’ Burns wrote to Johnson, ‘but you are a patriot for the music of your country, and I am certain posterity will look on themselves as highly indebted to your public spirit.’ In another letter the poet describes Johnson as ‘a good, worthy, honest fellow.’ In the Edinburgh subscription list, opened after Burns's death for the benefit of his family, the name of ‘James Johnson, engraver,’ is set down for 4l. There is no record of his having paid Burns anything for his work on the ‘Museum.’ The arrangements of the airs (of which there were six hundred) were prepared for the ‘Museum’ chiefly by Stephen Clarke of Edinburgh. The airs had no introductory or concluding symphonies, and nothing was added in harmony except a figured bass for the harpsichord. The ‘Museum’ was reprinted from the original plates in 1839 (6 vols.) and 1853 (4 vols.) These editions contain copious notes and illustrations by Stenhouse, Laing, and C. K. Sharpe. Johnson died in Edinburgh, 26 Feb. 1811. According to the obituary in the ‘Scots Magazine,’ he was ‘the first who attempted to strike music upon pewter, whereby a great saving is made in the charge of that article.’ He left a widow in indigent circumstances, for whom a public appeal was made in March 1819.
[Scots Magazine, 1811, p. 318; Works of Burns by W. Scott Douglas, 6 vols. Edinb. 1879; notes in reprint editions of the Museum.]
JOHNSON, JAMES (1777–1845), physician, was born at Ballinderry, county of Derry, Ireland, in February 1777. His family, whose name was originally spelt Johnstone, had migrated from Scotland, and become possessed of a small farm, on which his father lived. He lost his parents early, received the rudiments of a scanty education at a school in his native parish, and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to a surgeon-apothecary at Port Glenone, co. Antrim. Here he stayed two years; he passed two more at Belfast, and then moved to London, where he arrived without money or friends, in order to finish his medical education. While supporting himself as an apothecary's assistant he contrived, by hard study and irregular attendance on lectures, to pass a creditable examination at Surgeons' Hall in 1798. He was immediately appointed surgeon's mate in the navy, and sailed to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, visiting the naval hospitals whenever his ship was in harbour. In January 1800 he passed his second examination, and in February he was made full surgeon and was appointed to the Cynthia sloop-of-war. He accompanied the expedition to Egypt, but was forced to return to London invalided. He spent the winter in studying anatomy at the theatre in Great Windmill Street, and in June 1801 obtained an appointment to the Driver sloop-of-war, and served in the North Sea. At the
