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How did Samuel Johnson judge Richard Savage’s talents and behavior?

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Painting of Samuel Johnson showing Johnson seated at a desk with a quill in hand and papers before him, wearing a brown coat and white wig. — Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson, oil on canvas by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1756; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Samuel Johnson’s assessment of Richard Savage was complex, characterized by both compassionate defense and critical moral judgment. In his biography, An Account of the Life of Mr. Richard Savage, Johnson acknowledged that Savage was a "quarrelsome and an impecunious man" and held few illusions regarding his friend's self-publicizing behavior and character.12

Despite these flaws, Johnson acted as a significant defender of Savage, even supporting his disputed claim of noble birth. Johnson deeply valued Savage’s potential, lamenting that his poverty and lifestyle deprived society of a man whose eloquence and ideas could have enlightened moralists and influenced statesmen.2

Ultimately, however, Johnson’s judgment was stern. While he acted as a defense attorney throughout much of the work, he concluded with a devastating critique, asserting that "negligence and irregularity, long continued, will make knowledge useless, wit ridiculous, and genius contemptible". Thus, Johnson viewed Savage as a figure of wasted talent whose personal failings rendered his intellectual gifts ineffective.2