The Slave and the Lawyers: Francis Barber, James Boswell and John Hawkins

This chapter, written by Michael Bundock, describes competing portrayals of Francis Barber, the Jamaican manservant and friend of writer Samuel Johnson who worked in his household for the better part of three decades and became his heir. The incompatible depictions are found in separate biographies of Johnson written by lawyers John Hawkins and James Boswell as well as in other writings and letters. Hawkins’ biography, published first, is openly hostile to Barber. His disdain for Barber’s interracial marriage and criticism of Johnson’s indulgent financial and emotional support of Barber is tinged with racism. Bundock supposes that Boswell’s own biography of Johnson was, in part, a response and rebuke to Hawkins’—especially so in his favourable characterization of Barber, his wife and their closeness with Johnson. Comparing these rival biographies, Bundock attempts to evaluate the authors’ motivations as well as their attitudes to race.