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February 26, 1980. DR. JOHNSON'S SECRET PADLOCK. Bernard C. Meyer, M.D.
Samuel Johnson suffered periods of severe depression marked by lethargy, intense feelings of guilt, and various preoccupations, the nature of which were taken up by Dr. Meyer. Johnson feared that he would become permanently insane. He suffered a prolonged depression, starting in 1759 at the time of his mother's death, from which he obtained relief only in 1765 when he was taken into the home of a couple who befriended him, Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. He lived intermittently in their home until shortly before the end of his life. By then, Mr. Thrale had died, and Mrs. Thrale had remarried, leaving Johnson broken-hearted. Shortly after his arrival Johnson had given this lady a padlock, the existence of which came to light many years later. Basing his ideas on a 1949 paper by Katherine Balderston, entitled "Johnson's Vile Melancholy," Dr. Meyer suggested that behind Johnson's possession of the padlock lay a perverse sexual organization in which bondage was a central element. He summarized two of Johnson's literary works: Rasselas, written at the time of his mother's death, and The Fountain, a fairy tale. In each, the protagonist seeks to escape a confinement which is at the same time portrayed as desirable. Johnson was also preoccupied with beatings. In her diary, Mrs. Thrale quoted him as saying, "… a Woman has such power … that she may tye a Man to a post and whip him if she will." At a later date Mrs. Thrale added in the margin: "This he knew of himself was literally and strictly true I am sure." Further evidence comes from a letter in which