November 4, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
401 
4 
Th 
Stoke Newington and Brixton Shows. 
5 
6 
P 
Crystal Palace Show (two dajB). 
7 
SUN 
20th Sunday after Trinity. 
8 
M 
Lambeth Show (three days). 
[and St. Neots Shows. 
9 
TU 
Royal Hort. Society, Committees at 11 A.M. 
Kingston, Southampton, 
10 
W 
National Chrysanthemum Society. Croydon and Bath Shows. 
DEATH OF MR. GEORGE WILLIAM JOHNSON. 
T is our mournful duty to record the death of 
the founder of this Journal, Mr. George William 
Johnson, who passed quietly away at his resi¬ 
dence, Waldronhurst, Croydon, on Friday even¬ 
ing last, at the ripe age of eighty-four years. 
It will be remembered by many of our readers 
that after a period of thirty-two years of diligent 
and assiduous editorial labour, Mr. Johnson 
retired at the end of June, 1881, to benefit by repose that 
had become a necessity through failing health consequent on 
advancing years. 
If ever a worker earned the right to rest, that worker 
was Mr. Johnson. For fifty-five years his great intellect 
and strong mind were in constant activity. Conducting 
experiments and searching for truth appeared to be the chief 
work of his life. His capacity for research was enormous, as 
is evidenced in the compilation of his “ History of Garden¬ 
ing,” a work which few but himself could have accomplished 
so well. Yet the best he had to say for it was what another 
great man said of his own productions—“ 1 see daily ‘ com 
plete ’ systems and ‘ complete ’ dictionaries ; but I cannot | 
discover this perfection in any of my performances, which 
after all my labour and pains most provokingly still continue 
incomplete and erroneous.” This is characteristic of him 
whose loss we now deplore. A consciousness of something 
left undone impressed him, but at the same time impelled 
him the more determinedly to pursue the object of his search. 
“ Pause, and consider well before you begin anything, but if 
you once commence never give up, Nevek,” was his counsel 
to an assistant, and that firm, strong, decisive “Never,” 
uttered in a tone not to be forgotten, amply displayed the 
Unflinching resolution of a powerful mind. 
But with that strength was gentleness. Few men> 
perhaps, possessed in an equal degree the power to overawe 
and to fascinate—to command respect and deference, yet to 
incite love towards him. " If you want to know anything 
don’t be afraid to ask ; if you want any help come to me, and 
if I can help you I will.” Such words, kindly spoken, were 
the more assuring since everyone to whom they were ad¬ 
dressed well knew them to be the expression of real intention. 
There was no mistaking the moods of our departed friend. 
If he were joking (and he simply overflowed with humour), 
it was perfectly transparent, and equally so when he spoke 
the words of seriousness, and then not one was lightly 
u tered, every sentence being framed so clearly that it could 
not be misunderstood, every order given with precision to 
No. 332.— Vol. XIII., Third Series. 
insure its being carried out, and every promise made bound 
to be fulfilled. 
Mr. Johnson’s method of reproving, when occasion arose 
for its exercise, was original and impressive. No man could 
speak more sternly than he; no one was more quick to per¬ 
ceive if he caused pain ; and then his power of healing the 
wound was marvellous and magical, and seldom indeed did 
the recipient of a short lecture leave the room without a 
smile through some happy phrase or amusing reference that 
always appeared ready for the occasion. “ Who altered this 
word ? ” he asked one day on reading a proof; “ the Printer, 
I suppose ; send him down.” On his presenting himself he 
was asked if he did alter it, and replied, “Yes, sir, I did; 
because I thought it wrong.” “ Never mind that,” was the 
stern retort; “it is your duty to ‘follow copy,’ and mind 
you do follow it, even if it flies out of the window.” As the 
window was five storeys high in Fleet Street, the man had to 
rush out of the room to laugh at the grotesqueness of the pro¬ 
position. He was not hurt by the interview, but never forgot 
the rebuke. That was exactly what his superior desired— 
namely, to accomplish his object without hurting anyone ; 
and he invariably succeeded. 
It is generally admitted that when one faculty fails the 
remainder become the more acute. Mr. Johnson’s trouble 
of late years was deafness; but this was a trouble to others 
rather than to himself, for it is not easy to imagine a more 
thoroughly genial, happier man than he was. Full of racy 
anecdote, apt in humorous quotation, and quick in retort, 
gloom could not exist in his company. His memory, before 
his health failed him, was extraordinary; his mind appeared 
as if a reflex of his library. “ What are you searching for ? ’ 
he would ask, when index after index was consulted, and on 
being told he would go straight to a volume among thousands, 
open it, turn deliberately to a page, draw his finger down 
the lines to the passage containing the information sought 
for, finding in a few moments what others might not discover 
in a day or week, and possibly not at all. 
Mr. Johnson was, in the strictest sense, a just man, and 
exhibited his sense of acting on right principles in small, or 
what might be termed trivial matters, the true test of 
integrity. For instance, though he and Dr. Hogg worked 
together like brothers for years, the mutual trust between 
them being absolute, he would not use an office postage 
stamp for a private or personal letter, because only half of 
it was his own. It is these small episodes of life that best 
display real character, and judged by that severe test Mr. 
Johnson’s stands out sharp and clear as that of a high- 
minded honourable man. 
As a public speaker Mr. Johnson, though seldom heard, 
especially of late years, was singularly effective. He possessed 
in a marked degree qualities that if exercised must have 
made him an orator—a commanding presence, a firm, clear 
sonorous voice, a fertility of resource, a command of forcible 
and lofty language, a boundless store of pleasantries, and 
the power of imparting not only his ideas but his convictions 
and feelings to others, gaining their sympathy and absorbing 
their attention. 
As a writer he was thoughtful and perspicuous, clothing 
his ideas in simple language and elegant sentences. Any¬ 
thing approaching to pomposity on the one hand and slang 
No. 1988 —Vol. LXXV., Oij> Series. 
