THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE LETTERS OF SAMUEL JOHNSON G. BIRKBECK HILL VOL. II. PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THF. UNIVERSITY Letters OF Samuel Johnson, ll.d. COLLFXTED AND EDITED Bv GEORGE BIRKBECK HILL, D.C.L. PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD EDITOR OF BOSWELL'S ' LIFE OF JOHNSON ' /N TWO VOLUMES: VOL. II Jan. 15, 1777 — Dec. 18, 1784 NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 1892 r. 2- LETTERS OF DR. JOHNSON. 606. To Mrs. Thrale\ Wednesday, Jan. 15, One in the morning, 1777. Omnium reruni vicissiiiido^. The night after last Thursday was so bad, that I took ipecacuanha the next day. The next night was no better. On Saturday I dined with Sir Joshua. The night was such as I was forced to rise and pass some hours in a chair, with great labour of respiration. I found it now time to do something, and went to Dr. Lawrence ^, and told him I would do what he should order, without reading the prescription. He sent for a chirurgeon * and took about twelve ounces of blood, and in the afternoon I got sleep in a chair. At night, when I came to lie down after trial of an hour or two, I found sleep impracticable, and therefore did what the Doctor permitted in a case of distress ; I rose, and opening the orifice, let out about ten ounces more. Frank and I were but awkward ; but, With Mr. Levet's help ^, we stopped the stream, ' Piozzi Letters, i. 343. surgeon.' Under Surgeon he writes "^ * Omnium rerum heus vicissitudo ' corrupted by conversation from chi- est.' rurgeon.' Dr. Murray in his Diction- Terence. Eunuchus, ii. 2. 45. ary gives no later instance in prose For ' the sad vicissitude of things,' of this spelHng than one found in one see Li/e,v. 117. of Johnson's Letters. ^ Ante, i. 47, n. 2. ^ Levett, ' the obscure practiser in "• Johnson in his Dictionary under physic,' had a room in his house. Ozyz/r^,?(7«, says 'it is now generally 'I have heard Johnson say,' writes pronounced, and by many written, Bosvvell, ' he should not be satisfied, VOL. IL B and To Mrs. Aston. [A.D. 1777. and I lay down again, though to little purpose ; the difficulty of breathing allowed no rest, I slept again in the day-time, in an erect posture. The Doctor has ordered a second bleeding, which I hope will set my breath at liberty '. Last night I could lie but a little at a time. Yet I do not make it a matter of m.uch form. I was to-day at Mrs. Gardiner's ^ When I have bled to-morrow, I will not give up Langton, nor Paradise ^. But I beg that you will fetch me away on Friday. I do not know but clearer air may do me good ; but whether the air be clear or dark, let me come to you. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. To sleep, or not to sleep ^ 507. To James Boswell. [London], February i8, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 104. 508. To George Steevens. [London], February 25, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 100. 509. To Mrs. Aston ^. Dear Madam, Bolt-Court, March 8, 1777. As we pass on through the journey of life, we meet, and ought to expect, many unpleasing occurrences, but many like- wise encounter us unexpected. I have this morning heard from Lucy^ of your illness. I heard, indeed, in the next sentence though attended by all the College of Physicians, unless he had Mr. Levet with him.' Life, i. 243. ' Johnson wrote to Bosw^ell on February 18 : — ' I have been so dis- tressed by difficulty of breathing that I lost, as was computed, six and thirty ounces of blood in a few days.' lb. iii. 104. See ib. iii. 152, «. 3, for his resort to bleeding. * ' The wife of a tallow chandler on Snow Hill, not in the learned way, but a worthy good woman.' Ib. i. 242. ^ Attte, \. 314. '' He is parodying Hatiilct, Act iii. sc. I, 1. 56 : — ' To be, or not to be.' ^ Published in Croker's Boswell, page 528. '' Miss Porter, Mrs. Aston's near neighbour at Lichfield. . that Aetat. 67.] To MvS. Aston. that you are to a great degree recovered. May your recovery, dearest Madam, be complete and lasting ! The hopes of paying you the annual visit is one of the few solaces with which my imagination gratifies me ; and my wish is, that I may find you happy. My health is much broken ; my nights are very restless, and will not be made more comfortable by remembering that one of the friends whom I value most is suffering equally with myself. Be pleased, dearest lady, to let me know how you are ; and if writing be troublesome, get dear Mrs. Gastrell ' to write for you. I hope she is well and able to assist you ; and wish that you may so well recover, as to repay her kindness, if she should want you. May you both live long happy together ! I am, Dear Madam, &c., Sam: Johnson. 510. To James Boswell. [London], March ir, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 105. 511. To Mrs. Aston ^ Dearest Madam, The letter with which I was favoured [by] the kindness of Mrs. Gastrel has contributed very little to quiet my solicitude. I am indeed more frighted than by Mrs. Porter's account. Yet since you have had strength to conquer your disorder so as to obtain a partial recovery, I think it reasonable to believe that the favourable season which is now coming forward, may restore you to your former health. Do not, dear Madam, lose your courage, nor by despondence or inactivity give way to the disease. Use such exercise as you can bear, and excite cheerful thoughts in your own mind. Do not harrass \sic\ your faculties ' Mrs. Aston's sister. Ante, i. 160, well, page 529. Corrected by me n. 4. from the original in Pembroke ^ First published in Croker's Bos- College Library. B 2 with 4 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1777. with laborious attention, nothing is, in my opinion, of more mischievous tendency in a state of body Hke yours, than deep meditation, or perplexing solitude. Gayety is a duty when health requires it'. Entertain yourself as you can with small amusements or light conversation, and let nothing but your devotion ever make you serious. But while I exhort you, my dearest lady, to merriment, I am very serious myself. The loss or danger of a friend is not to be considered with indifference ; but I derive some consolation from the thought, that you do not languish unattended, that you are not in the hands of strangers or servants, but have a Sister at hand to watch your wants and supply them. If at this distance I can be of any use by con- sulting Physicians or for any other purpose I hope you will employ me. I have thought on a journey to Staffordshire, and hope in a few weeks to climb Stowhill^, and to find there the pleasure which I have so often found. Let me hear again from you. I am, dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. March 15, 1777. 512. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Madam, March 19, 1777. Be pleased to procure the bearer credit for a linen gown, and let her bring the bill to me. Did you stay all night at Sir Joshua's? and keep Miss up again ? Miss Owen had a sight — all the Burkes — the Harris's — ' This was a lesson which he often so useful as not to think.' Ante, i. taught: ' Grief has its time ' he said. 293. When Mr. Thrale died, he Li/e^ iv. 121. ' Grief is a species of wrote to his widow: — ' I think busi- idleness,' he wrote to Mrs. Thrale. ness the best remedy for grief, as Ante, i. 212. 'Encourage yourself soon as it can be admitted.' Post, in bustle, and variety, and cheerful- Letter of April 11, 1781. To Dr. ness,' he wrote to her ten weeks after Taylor he wrote: — 'Sadness only the death of her only surviving son. multiplies self Post, Letter of Au- Ante, i. 406. ' Even to think in the gust 3, 1779. most reasonable manner,' he said at '-' Her house was on Stow Hill. another time, 'is for the present not ' Piozzi Letters, i. 345. Miss Aetat. 67.] To Mrs. Thrale. Miss Reynolds — what has she to see more ? and Mrs. Horneck, and Miss'. You are all young, and gay, and easy; but I have miserable nights, and know not how to make them better ; but I shift pretty well a-days, and so have at you all at Dr. Burney's to-morrow^. I never thought of meeting you at Sir Joshua's, nor knew that it was a great day. But things, as sages have observed, happen unexpectedly; and you thought little of seeing me this fortnight except to-morrow. But go where you will, and see if I do not catch you. When I am away, every body runs away with you, and carries you among the grisettes, or whither they will. I hope you will find the want of me twenty times before you see me. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' ' Miss ' who was kept up again was Miss Thrale. Miss Burney de- scribes her at this time as just ' verg- ing on her teens. She is certainly handsome, and her beauty is of a peculiar sort ; fair, round, firm, and cherubimical ; with its chief charm exactly where lies the mother's failure — namely in the mouth. She is reck- oned cold and proud ; but I believe her to be merely shy and reserved. She was very silent, but very ob- servant ; and never looked tired though she never uttered a syllable.' Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 88. See also Early Diary of Frances Burney, ii. 153. 'Miss Owen, who is a re- lation of Mrs. Thrale's, is good- humoured and sensible enough. She is a sort of butt, and as such is a general favourite ; though she is a willing, and not a mean butt ; for she is a woman of family and fortune.' Memoirs of Dr. Bttrney, ii. 88. 'All the Burkes' would be Ed- mund Burke and his wife, his brother Richard, and his friend and distant relative William Burke, both of whom together with Edmund are described in Goldsmith's Retaliation. Harris was ' Hermes' Harris. Life, ii. 225, and post, Letter of April 25, 1780. His wife, Miss Burney de- scribes as ' in nothing extraordinary ; a so, so, sort of woman.' Early Diary, &c., ii. 57. The editor in a note protests against this judgment, appealing to the merits of her pub- lished letters. For the Hornecks see Life, i. 414, and ante, i. 221, n. 3. '^ Miss Burney, on January 9, 1788, in the days of her servitude at Court, records that the first volume of John- son's Letters to Mrs. T/irale, as yet unpublished, was lent to her. ' The book belongs to the Bishop of Car- lisle [Dr. Douglas], who lent it to Mr. Turbulent fa gentleman who read to the Queen], from whom it was again lent to the Queen, and so passed on to Mrs. Schwellenberg. Our name once occurs ; how I started at its sight! 'Tis to mention the party that planned the first visit to our house : Miss Owen, Mr. Seward, To To Henry Thrale. [A.D. 1777. 513. To Henry Thrale', Dear Sir, April 9, 1777. This is a letter of pure congratulation. I congratulate you, 1. That you are alive ^. 2. That you have got my mistress fixed again after her excen- tricities. 3. That my mistress has added to her conquests the Prince of Castiglione^ Mrs. and Miss Thrale, and Dr. John- son. How well shall we ever, my Susan, remember that morning ! ' The next day she records : — ' Mrs. Schwellenberg told me that in the second volume I also was mentioned. It has given me a sickness at heart inexpressible. It is not that I expect severity ; for previous to the mar- riage with Piozzi, if Mrs. Thrale loved not F. B. where shall we find faith in words ? But her present resent- ment of my constant disapprobation of her conduct may prompt some note, or other mark, to point out her change of sentiments.' Th2 Queen said to Miss Burney : — ' I said to Mr. Langton at the Drawing-room : — " Your friend. Dr. Johnson, Sir, has had many friends busy to publish his books, and his memoirs, and his meditations, and his thoughts ; but I think he wanted one friend more." "What for? Ma'am," cried he. "A friend to suppress them," I an- swered.' Mme. D'Arblay's^/^wtf/r.r, iv. 15, 19, 22. Miss Burney in a letter written at the time describes the party at her father's : — ' Mrs. Thrale is a very pretty woman still ; she is extremely lively and chatty ; has no supercilious or pedantic airs, and is really gay and agreeable.' Early Diary, &c., ii. 153. This letter she published fifty-five years later in an altererl form. In it she says : — ' I liked her in every thing except her entrance into the room, which was rather florid and flourishing, as who should say, " It's I ! — No less a person than Mrs. Thrale.'" Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 88. In the original letter she gives a long and curious description of Johnson. ' He is indeed very ill- favoured ; is tall and stout, but stoops terribly; he is almost bent double.' He had on his best clothes, ' being engaged to dine in a large company ; a large wig, snuff-colour coat and gold buttons, but no ruffles to his [shirt] ; doughty fists, and black worsted stockings.' There is an erasure in the original ; the editor suspects that ' doughty fists ' was originally ' dirty fists.' Early Diary, &c.. ii. 154. According to W'raxall {Memoirs, ed. 1815, i. 138), 'the total abolition of buckles and ruffles ' was not made ' till the era of Jacobinism and of Equality in 1793 and 1794.' Sir P. J. Clerk, though a strong Whig, wore ' very rich laced ruffles ' as late as 1 78 1. Life, iv. So. ' Pi OS si Letters, i. 346. ' 'His death had appeared in the newspapers.' Life, iii. 107. ^ ' Prince Gonzaga di Castiglione, when dining in company with Dr. Johnson, thinking it was a polite as 4. That Aetat. 67.] To Jokn Rylaud. 7 4. That you will not be troubled with me till to-morrow, when I shall come with * * * *. 5. That * * * * * will go away in the evening. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 514. To John Ryland '. Sir, I have sent you the papers. Of this parcel I have rejected [? ejected] no poetry^. Of the letters there are some which I should be sorry to omit, some that it is not proper to insert, and very many which as we want room or want matter we may use or neglect. When we come to these we will have another selection. But to these I think the present plan of pub- lication will never bring me. His poems with his play will I think make two volumes, The Adventurers will make at least one, and for the fourth, as I think you intend four, which will make the subscription a guinea, if you subscribe, we have so much more than we want that the difficulty will be to reject. If Mrs. Hawkesworth sells the copy^, we are then to consider how many volumes she sells, and if they are fewer than we have matter to fill, we will be the more rigorous in our choice. I am for letting none stand that are only relatively good, as they were written in youth. The Buyer has no better bargain well as gay thing to drink the Doc- ^ Had Hawkesworth's Poems been tor's health with some proof that he published perhaps there would be had read his works, called out from found included among them some the top of the table to the bottom, — poor pieces of verse assigned to At your good health, Mr. Vagabond.^ Johnson, but I am convinced, wrongly Piozzi's Synonymy, ii. 358. assigned. Life, i. 177-8. Hawkes- ' From the original in the pos- worth wrote, it is stated, the pieces in session of Mr. Alfred Morrison of the Getttleman's Magazine for 1746 Fonthill House. -8 signed Greville. See ib., 1779, It was sold by Messrs. Sotheby & p. 72, (where wrong references are Co., on May 10, 1875, for £6 \$s. given). This may be a mistake. See (Lot 95), and by Messrs. Christie & ante, i. p. 60, n. 2, for Hawkesworth's Co., on June 5, 1888 (Lot 36), formic. friendship with Fulke Greville. For the subject of this Letter see ^ The copyright. ante, i. 412-3. when 8 To John Ryland. [a.d. 1777. when he pays for mean performances, by being told that the authour wrote them young'. If the Lady can get an hundred pounds a volume, I should advise her to take it. She may ask more. I am not willing to take less. If she prints them by subscription the volumes should be four, if, at her own expense, I still do not see considering the great quantity of our matter how they can be fewer. But in that I shall not be obstinate. I have yet not mentioned Swift's Life", nor the NoveP which together will go far towards a volume. Who was his Amanuensis? that small hand strikes a reader with terrour. It is pale as well as small ■*. Many little things are, I believe, in the magazine ^, which should be marked and considered. I do not always know them but by conjecture. The poetry I would have printed in order of time, which he seems to have intended by noting the dates, which dates I should like to preserve, they shew the progress of [word torn off] mind, and of a very powerful mind ^ The same [word torn off] may be generally observed in the prose pieces. What we have to consider, and what I have considered, are the Authour's credit, and the Lady's advantages. I should be glad to take over the whole, when you can spend an hour or two with. Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. April 12, 1777. To Mr. Ryland. ' ' For his early pieces Milton Stuift by praising Hawkesworth's. seems to have had a degree of fond- ^ AlmoranandHamct ; anOriental ness not ver>' laudable ; what he has Tale. By John Hawkesworth, LL.D. once written he resolves to preserve, Gentlenuut's Magazine, 1761, p. 273. and gives to the public an unfinished •* Hawkesworth twenty years ear- poem [The Passion], which he broke licr had attacked Johnson's ' pot- off because he was "nothing satisfied hooks.' Ante, i. 60, ;/. 2. with what he had done," supposing ^ The GcntlcvtatCs Magazine. his readers less nice than himself.' * Hawkesworth was 'Johnson's Johnson's Works, vii. 118. closest imitator; though,' adds Bos- " Johnson begins his own Life of well, 'when he had become elated To Aetat. 67.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 515. To James Boswell. May 3, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 108. 516. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor '. Dear Sir, The weather now begins to grow tempting, and brings my annual excursion^ into my mind. It is now an interesting question whether you intend to come hither again, for if you do, I shall endeavour to accompany you back : if you let idleness prevail, and stay at home, I have my own course to take. Mr. Lucas has just been with me. He has compelled me to read his tragedy, which is but a poor performance, and yet may perhaps put money into his pocket ; it contains nothing immoral or indecent, and therefore, we may very reasonably wish it success^. My nights continue to be very flatulent, and restless, and my days are therefore sluggish and drowsy. After physick I have sometimes less uneasiness, as I had last night, but the effect is by no means constant ; nor have I found any advantage from going to bed either with a full or an empty stomach. Let me know what you resolve about your journey, as soon as you have taken your resolution. I am, Sir, Your affectionate humble servant, Sam: Johnson. May 3, 1777. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. by having risen into some degree of consequence, he, in a conversation with me, had the provoking effrontery to say he was not sensible of it.' Life, i. 234, 252. ' From the original in the posses- sion of Messrs. J. Pearson and Co., of 5 Pall Mall Place, S.W. ^ His annual excursion was to Lich- field and Ashbourne. In the thirteen years 1767-1779 (inclusive) he only failed thrice to visit these places. He often stayed at Oxford and Birmingham on his way. Life, iii. 452. ^ This paragraph is scored out in the original. In Baker's Biog. DraTn.,&6.. 1782, i. 289, Henry Lucas is described as a student at the Middle Temple, and son of the To I o To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. 1777. 517. To Challes O'Connor. [London], May 19, 1777. Published in the Life., iii. iii. 518. To Mrs. Thrale'. Madam, May 19, 1777. I have written to Dr. Taylor, you may be sure, but the business is pretty much out of the Doctor's way. His acquaint- ance \is or lies\ with the Lord Cavendishes, he barely knows the young Duke and Duchess ^ He will be proud to shew that he can do it ; but he will hardly try, if he suspects any danger of refusal. You will become such a gadder, that you will not care a penny for me. However, you are wise in wishing to know what life is made of; to try what are the pleasures which are so eagerly sought, and so dearly purchased. We must know pleasure before we can rationally despise it. And it is not desirable that when you are, with matronal authority, talking down juvenile hopes and maiden passions, your hearers should tell you, like Miss P , ' You never saw Sifetc' That you may see this show I have written, because I am. Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam : Johnson. 519. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, I am required by Mrs. Thrale to solicite you to exert your celebrated Irish patriot, Dr. Lucas. ' Piozzi Letters, \. ■i,i,-]. [Life, i. 311.] He is the author of This letter is explained by the one one play, printed in a volume of that follows. miscellanies. It is entitled The Earl " William, fifth Duke of Dcvon- 0/ Somerset, 17^0.' He was perhaps shire, born 1748; succeeded, 1764 ; the dramatic writer of whom John- married 1774, Georgiana, daughter son said :— ' I never did the man an of Earl Spencer. The Lord Caven- injury ; but he would persist in read- dishes were the Duke's uncles. intj his tragedy to me.' Gentlemmi's ^ First published in Notes and Maf^azine, 1791, P- 500- (2ueries, 6th S., v. 423. interest. Aetat. 67.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. II interest, that she may have a ticket of admission to the entertainment at Devonshire house'. Do for her what you can. I continue to have very troublesome and tedious nights, which I do not perceive any change of place to make better or worse. This is indeed at present my chief malady, but this is very heavy. My thoughts were to have been in Staffordshire before now. But who does what he designs ? My purpose is still to spend part of the Summer amongst you ; and of that hope I have no particular reason to fear the disappointment. Poor Dod was sentenced last week. It is a thing almost without example for a Clergyman of his rank to stand at the bar for a capital breach of morality. I am afraid he will suffer. The clergy seem not to be his friends. The populace that was extremely clamorous against him, begins to pity him. The time that was gained by an objection which was never con- sidered as having any force, was of great use, as it allowed the publick resentment to cool ^. To spare his life, and his life is all that ought to be spared, would be now rather popular than offensive. How little he thought six months ago of being what he now is. I am. Sir, &c., Sam: Johnson. May 19, 1777. 520. To THE Right Hon. Charles Jenkinson. [London, June 20, 1777]. Published in the Life, iii. 145. ' There is a print of Devonshire House in Piccadilly as it was in 1761, in Dodsley's London and its Envi- rons, ii. 225. " Dr. Dodd, on February 22, had been found guilty of forging a bond for ^4200 in the name of the young Earl of Chesterfield, and had been sentenced to death. On April 18, eleven of the twelve Judges (the Lord Chief Justice being absent) decided that the evidence of one of the wit- nesses, against which exception had been taken, was competent. On June 27, Dodd was hanged at Tyburn. Anmial Register, 1777, i. 168, 177, 187, 232. Horace Walpole wrote two days after his execution : — ' Are you not glad, Madam, there is an end of talking of poor Dr. Dodd 1 I felt excessively for him, without a good opinion, for between the law and his friends he suffered a thousand deaths.' Letters, vi. 449. See Life, iii. 1 19-122, 139-148. To 1 2 To Mrs. Boswell. [a.d. 1777. 521. To THE Reverend Dr. Dodd. [London, June 22, 1777]. Published in the Life^ iii. 145. 522. To James Boswell. [London], June 24, 1777. PubHshed in the Life, iii. 124. 523. To the Reverend Dr. Dodd. [London], June 26, 1777. PubHshed in the Life, iii. 147. 524. To James Boswell. [London], June 28, 1777. PubHshed in the Life, iii. 120. 525. To Bennet Langton. [London], June 29, 1777. PubHshed in the Life, iii. 124. 526. To W. Sharp, Junior. Bolt-court, July 7, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 126, where it is wrongly stated to be addressed to Edward Dilly. 527. To the Reverend Dr. Vyse '. [London], July 9, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 125. 528. To Ja.mes Boswell. [London], July 22, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 127. 529. To Mrs. Boswell. [Londonl, July 22, 1777. Published in the LAfc, iii. 129. To Aetat. 67.] To the Reveveiid Dr. Partner. 13 530. To THE Reverend Dr. Farmer \ Sir, The booksellers of London have undertaken a kind of body of English poetry, excluding generally the dramas, and I have undertaken to put before each authour's works a sketch of his life, and a character of his writings. Of some, however, I know very little, and am afraid I shall not easily supply my deficiencies. Be pleased to inform me whether among Mr. Baker's ^ manuscripts, or anywhere else at Cambridge, any materials are to be found. If any such collection can be gleaned, I doubt not of your willingness to direct our search, and will tell the booksellers to employ a transcriber. If you think my inspection necessary, I will come down ; for who that has once experienced the civilities of Cambridge would not snatch the opportunity of another visit ^ ? I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Bolt-court, Fleet-street, July 22, 1777. To Dr. Farmer, Emanuel Coll., Cambridge. ' First published in the Gentle- writing two months after the date of man's Magazme, 1835, part i. page Johnson's letter, and offering to write 47. the non-juror's Life^ says : — ' When Johnson recorded in his Diary this martyrs are as sensible as Mr. Baker, year : ' March 29, Easter Eve. I I doubt my own understanding more treated with booksellers on a bar- than his. I know I have not his gain, but the time was not long.' virtues, but should delight in doing Pr. and Med., Tp. 155, On April 24, justice to them.' Letters, vi. 488. Boswell wrote to ask ' about this Baker had collected a great mass of edition of " 77ie English Poets, with materials for a work which should do a Preface, biographical and critical, for Cambridge what Anthony Wood to each Authour, by Samuel John- had done for Oxford. They fill son, LL.D." which I see advertised.' forty-two folio volumes. 'An index Life, iii. 108. to the whole series was published in ^Thomas Baker (1656-1740), a 1848, and a " Catalogue " of the con- non-juror, who on the accession of tents of the Cambridge volumes in George I was deprived of his fellow- 1867.' Diet, of Nat. Biog., iii. 18. ship at St. John's College, Cam- -^ Johnson had paid a short visit to bridge, for refusing to take the Cambridge in 1765, when he was abjuration-oath. Horace Walpole, promised, he said, ' an habitation in To 14 To Henry Thrale. [A.D. 1777. 531. To THE Reverend Dr. Vyse '. July 22, 1777. If any notice should be taken of the recommendation which I took the liberty of sending you, it will be necessary to know that Air. De Groot is to be found at No. 8, in Pye-street, West- minster. This information, when I wrote, I could not give you; and being going soon to Lichfield, think it necessary to be left behind me. More I will not say. You will want no persuasion to succour the nephew of Grotius, I am, Sir, &c., Sam: Johnson. 532. To Henry Thrale ^. Dear Sir, [Oxford], July 31, 1777. I came hither on Monday, and find every thing much as I expected. I shall not stay long, but if you send any letters to me on Saturday, to University College, I shall receive them. Please to make my compliments to mistress and Oueeney. I have Emanuel College,' of which Dr. Farmer was Master. Life, i. 487, 517. He did not, I believe, visit the University a second time. See Life, iii. 427, for another Letter asking Farmer for information about Am- brose Philips, liroome and Gray. ' First published in Malone's edition of Boswell. Dr. Vyse was Rector of Lambeth (sec ante, i. 148, n. 3, for his father). Johnson on July 9 had 'requested his assistance in recommending an old friend to the Archbishop, as ( lovernor of the Charter-house. His name is De Groot ; he was born iit (iioucestcr ; I have known him many years. He has all the common claims to charity, being old, poor, and infirm, in a great degree. He has likewise another claim, to which no scholar can refuse attention ; he is by several descents the nephew of H ugo Grotius ; of him, from whom perhaps every man of learning has learnt something. Let it not be said that in any lettered country a nephew of Grotius asked a charity and was refused.' The appli- cation was successful. Life, iii. 125. ' In the Charter-house are main- tained eighty pensioners, who, accord- ing to the institution, are gentlemen, merchants, or soldiers, who are fallen into misfortunes. These are provided with handsome apartments, and all the necessaries of life except clothes ; instead of which each of them is allowed a gown and £7 per annum.' Dodsley's Lnvirons of London, ii. 98. * Piozzi Letters, i. 348. Johnson had arrived at Oxford on Monday, July 28. picked Aetat. 67.] To Mts. ThvaU. 15 picked up some little information for my Lives at the library. I know not whether I shall go forward without some regret. I cannot break my promise to Boswell and the rest ' ; but I have a good mind to come back again. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 533. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, [Oxford], August 4, 1777. I did not mean to express much discontent nor any ill- humour in my letter. When I went away I knew that I went partly because I had talked of going, and because I was a little restless. I have been searching the library for materials for my Lives, and a little I have got. Things have not gone quite well with poor Gwynne. His work was finished so ill that he has been condemned to pay three hundred pounds for damages, and the sentence is considered as very mild. He has however not lost his friends, and is still in the best houses, and at the best tables ^ I shall enquire about the harvest when I come into a region ' He had written to Boswell on of the action at law in which Gwynn May 3 : — ' My health is very bad, and was condemned, but the number is my nights are very unquiet. What missing in which in all likelihood a can I do to mend them ? I have report was given of the Summer for this summer nothing better in Assize. In 1771 John Gwynn was prospect than a journey into Stafford- appointed Surveyor to the new Board shire and Derbyshire, perhaps with of Commissioners of the Oxford Oxford and Birmingham in my way.' Paving Act, at a salary of ^150 a Life,\\\.\o<^. Boswell proposed that year. He directed the demolition of they should meet at Carlisle, a city the old gates, &c. The new Mag- which Johnson wished to see {ib. p. dalen Bridge was designed by him, 118) ; but Johnson was loath to go the Market and the Workhouse, so far north (/^. p. 123). On July 22 Owen, in John Chambers's Bio- he wrote : — ' I shall go to Ashbourne, graphical Illustrations of Worcester- and propose to make Dr. Taylor in- shire, ed. 1820, p. 504, described him vite you' (ib. p. 127). from personal recollection as 'lively, ^ Piozzi Letters, i. 349. quick and sarcastic, of quaint ap- ^ I have searched in vain in the pearance and odd manners.' He records of the City of Oxford for an iDuilt moreover bridges at Worcester account of this sentence. I had and Shrewsbury. See/^.y/, Letter of hoped in the set oi Jackson's Oxford January 30, 1778. Journal m the Bodleian to find a report w here 1 6 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.B.mi: where any thing necessary to life is understood '. I do not beUeve that there is yet any great harm, if the weather should now mend. Reaping time will only be a little later than is usual. Dr. Wetherell is abroad, I think at London ; Mr. Coulson is here, and well^. Every body that knows you, enquires after you. Boswell's project is disconcerted, by a visit from a relation of Yorkshire, whom he mentions as the head of his clan^. Boszy, you know, makes a huge bustle about all his own motions, and all mine. I have inclosed a letter to pacify him, and reconcile him to the uncertainties of human life. I believe it was after I left your house, that I received a pot of orange marmalade from Mrs. Boswell. We have now, I hope, made it up. I have not opened my pot"*. I have determined to leave Oxford to-morrow ^, and on Thurs- day hope to see Lichfield, where I mean to rest till Dr. Taylor fetches me to Ashbourne, and there I am likely enough to stay till you bid me come back to London. I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. 534. To James Boswell. Oxford, August 4, 1777. Published in the Zt/e, iii. 130. ' Johnson in a letter to the Master Coulson see an/e, i. 313, 323. of University College speaks of 'our ^ Squire Godfrey BosvilJe, of Gun- scholastick ignorance of mankind.' thwait, ' my Yorkshire chief,' as Bos- /.Z/'^', ii. 425. It had been complained well calls him. Z//Q?, ii. 169 ; 111.439. of before his time, as is shown by the For Johnson's pacifying letter see z'd. following; passage in T/ie Guardia7i, iii. 130. No. X, March 23, 1712-13: — 'I am * Johnson's acknowledgment of very glad to hear, being myself a the pot does not seem strictly accu- Fellow of Lincoln College, that there rate. He wrote to Mrs. Boswell on is at last in one of our Universities July 22: 'Though I am well enough arisen a happy genius for little things. pleased with the taste of sweetmeats. It is extremely to be lamented, that very little of the pleasure which I re- hithcrto we come from the college as ceived at the arrival of your jar of unable to put on our own clothes as marmalade arose from eating it.' lb. we do from nurse.' iii. 129. 'For Dr. Wetherell and Mr. ^ Tuesday, August 5. To Aetat. 67.] To Mrs. Thrale. 17 535. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, Lichfield, August 7, 1777. On Tuesday I left Oxford, and came to Birmingham. Mr, Hector is well ; Mrs. Careless ^ was not at home. Yesterday I came hither. Mrs. Porter is well. Mrs. Aston ^ to whom I walked before I sat down, is very ill, but better. Whether she will recover I know not. If she dies I have a great loss. Mr. Green"* is well, and Mrs. Adey^, more I have not yet seen. At Birmingham I heard of the death of an old friend, and at Lich- field of the death of another^. Anni prcedantiir amies'^. One was a little older, the other a little younger than myself. But amidst these privations the present must still be thought on, we must act as if we were to live. My barber, a man not unintelligent, speaks magnificently of the harvest ; and Frank, whom I ordered to make his observations, noted fields of very fine shew as we passed along. Lucy thinks nothing of my prologue for Kelly, and says she has always disowned it^. I have not let her know my trans- actions with Dr. Dodd^. She says, she takes Miss's corre- spondence very kindly. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' Piozzi Letters, i- SS'- ^ Hector's sister. Ante, i. 164. Ante, ii. 3. Ante, i. 161. Ante, i. 331. Post, p. 20. ' ' Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes.' Horace. 2 Epis. ii. 55. ' Years following years steal something every day.' Pope. I/nitatw?is, 1. 72. ** ' He wrote a Prologue which was spoken before A Word to the Wise, a comedy by Mr. Hugh Kelly which had been brought upon the stage in 1770 ; but Kelly being a writer for VOL. IL C ministry, in one of the newspapers, it fell a sacrifice to popular fury, and in the playhouse phrase, was damned. By the generosity of Mr. Harris, the proprietor of Covent Garden theatre, it was now exhibited for one night, for the benefit of the author's widow and children.' Life,\\\. 113. 'Lucy' is his step-daughter, Miss, or as she was now called, Mrs. Porter. ' Johnson wrote petitions and letters for Dodd, as well as his speech when sentence of death was about to be pronounced, and The Co7ivicfs Address to his unhappy Brethren, lb. iii. 121, 141. In the British Museum (Add. MSS. 24419), in a To i8 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. 536. To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, Lichfield, August 9, 1777. No great matter has happened since I wrote, but this place grows more and more barren of entertainment. Two whom I hoped to have seen are dead. I think that I am much more unwieldy and inert than when I was here last ; my nights are very tedious. But a light heart, &c.^ Lucy said, ' When I read Dr. Dodd's sermon to the prisoners I said, Dr. Johnson could not make a better.' One of Lucy's maids is dreadfully tormented by the taenia, or long-worm. She has taken many medicines without effect, and Letter dated Rectory, Great Warley, Essex, December i8, 1834, from Hastings Robinson, B.D., Late Fellow and Tutor of St. John's College, Cambridge, to John Murray of Albemarle Street, is the following anecdote ' communicated to me many years since,' says the writer, * by one of the party, and taken down in writ- ing at the time':— 'Miss Seward, her father, the Rev. R. G . Robinson of Lichfield, and Dr. Johnson were pass- ing the day at the Palace at Lichfield, of which Mr. vSeward was the oc- cupier. The conversation turned upon Dr. Dodd, who had been recently executed. It proceeded as follows : — 'Miss Seward. — "I think. Dr. Johnson, you applied to Mr. Jenkin- son in his behalf." 'Dr. Johnson. — "Why yes, Madam. I knew it was a man having no interest writing to a man who had no interest ; but I thought with myself, when Dr. Dodd comes to the place of execution he may say, 'Had Dr. Johnson written in my be- half, I had not I)een here,' and (with great emphasis) I could not bear the thought." ' Miss Seward.—" But, Dr. John- son, would you have pardoned Dr. Dodd?" ' Dr. Johnson.—" Madam, had I been placed at the head of the legis- lature, I should certainly have signed his death-warrant ; though no law either human or divine forbids our deprecating punishment either for ourselves or others." ' Johnson's letter to Jenkinson (afterwards Earl of Liverpool) is in the Life, iii. 145. It is most improb- able that he spoke of him as ' a man who had no interest.' He was at this time Secretary at War, and justly suspected for his private influence with the King. Burke, on May 14 of this year, attacked him in the House ' as the real Minister.' Pari. Hist.y xix. 251. ' Piozzi Letters, i. 352. ' ' Had she been light, like you, Of such a merr}', nimble, stir- ring spirit. She might ha' been a grandam ere she died ; And so may you : for a light heart lives long.' Lovers Labour's Lost, Act v. sc. 2. it Aetat. 67.] To Mvs. Th7'ale. 1 9 it is much wished that she could have the Knightsbridge powder. I will pay for it, if you, dear Madam, will be so kind as to pro- cure it, and send it with directions. Can it be franked ' ? If it cannot, the best way will be to unite it with something of greater bulk. I have promised Lucy to give her Cook's last voyage, for she loves prints ; but the last voyage cannot be well understood without some knowledge of the former. If you will lend us Hawkesworth's books, they shall be carefully returned ^. If you will do this for us, the powders may be easily put up with the books. Please to make my compliments to Master ^, and to Queeney. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 537. To Mrs. Thrale''. Dear Madam, Lichfield, August 13, 1777. Such tattle as filled your last sweet letter prevents one great inconvenience of absence, that of returning home a stranger and an enquirer. The variations of life consist of little things. Important innovations are soon heard, and easily understood. Men that meet to talk of physicks or metaphysicks, or law or history, may be immediately acquainted. We look at each other in silence, only for want of petty talk upon slight occurrences ^ Continue therefore to write all that you would say. ' The weight of a packet franked under the title of A Voyage towards by a Member of ParHament could not the South Pole, a7id round the World at this time exceed two ounces. It in the years 1772-5. was afterwards reduced to one ounce. ^ Mr. Thrale. Official franks, before the abolition of '' Piozzi Letters, i. 354. the system, 'had been used to free a ^ Johnson never for one moment great coat, a bundle of baby-linen, felt as Wordsworth did about ' per- and a piano-forte.' Letters of Hume sonal talk.' He would never have to Strahan, p. 188, n. 11. said: — ^ Cook's ' former voyage ' was in ' Better than such discourse doth the years 1 768-1 771. The account silence long, of it is in volume ii. of Hawkesworth's Long, barren silence square with Voyages in the Southern Hemisphere, my desire.' published in 1773 in 3 vols. His See Life, ii. 359, where he says: — ' last voyage ' was published in 1777, 'That is the happiest conversation C 2 You 20 To Mrs. Tlirale. [A.D. 1777. You have Lord Westcote ' and every body when I am away, and you go to Mr. Cator's^, and you are so happy. Miss Turton and Harry Jackson are dead-'. Mrs. Aston is, I am afraid, in great danger. Mr. Green, Mr. Garrick'*, and Mr, Newton^ are all well. I have been very faint and breathless since I came hither, but fancy myself better this day. I hope Master's walk will be finished when I come back, and I shall perambulate it very often. There seems to be in this country scarcely any fruit, there never indeed was much''; but great things have been said of the harvest, and the only fear is of the weather. It rains here almost every day. I dined yesterday with the corporation, and talked against a where there is no competition, no vanity, but a cairn quiet interchange of sentiments.' 'Those persons,' writes Burke, ' who creep into the hearts of most people, who are chosen as the companions of their softer hours, and their reliefs from care and anxiety, are never persons of shining qualities norstrongvirtues.' On the Sublime and Beautiful, ed. 1759. P- 206. ' Lord Westcote was the Mr. Lyttelton who invited Johnson to Haglcy in 1771 {ante, i. 177), and whom he visited with the Thrales in 1774, when 'they were disappointed of the respect and kindness that they expected.' Life, v. 456. Baretti in a note on Piozzi Letters, i. 42, says that 'Johnson was never pleased a moment with Lord Wcstcote's con- versation, which indeed is dull enough.' " Ante, i. 355. ' Miss Turton was, I suppose, the friend whose death Johnson heard of at Birmingham, and Harry Jack- son the friend whose death he heard of at Lichfield. Ante, ii. 17. P'or Jackson see ante, i. 378. * IVtcr C.arrick, the actor's eldest brother. The two brothers for a short time had been partners in the wine trade in Durham Yard in the Strand. ' Peter was calm, sedate, and metho- dical ; David was gay, volatile and impetuous.' Davies's Life of Gar- rick, i. 16. Boswell describes Peter Garrick as ' strongly resembling David in countenance and voice, but of more sedate and placid manners.' Life, ii. 311, 462. ^ The Thrales and Johnson had called on Mr. Newton in July, 1774. lb. v. 428. He was perhaps related to Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol, who was a Lichfield man. lb. iv. 285. ** 'Boswell.— " Is not a good garden a very common thing in Eng- land, Sir?" Johnson: "Not so common, Sir, as you imagine. In Lincolnshire there is hardly an orchard ; in Staffordshire very little fruit.'" lb. iv. 205. 'The greater part of the apples, and even of the onions, consumed in Great Britain, were in the last century [the seven- teenth] imported from Flanders.' Wealth of Nations, ed. iSii, i. 105. See ib. p. 210. workhouse Aetat. 67.] To Mrs. Thrale. 21 workhouse' which they have in contemplation'^ — there's the word now. I do not know that they minded me, for they said nothing to me. I have had so little inclination to motion that I have always gone the shortest way to Stowhill, and hardly any where else, so that I can tell you nothing new of Green's museum, but I design to visit him, and all friends. I hope for a letter to-morrow, for you must not forget that I am, Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam : Johnson. P.S. Why cannot Oueeney write? 538. To Mrs. Thrale I Dear Madam, _ Lichfield, August 23, 1777. At Lichfield ? Yes ; but not well. I have been trying a great experiment with ipecacuanha, which Akensyde'^ had ' Johnson defines ivorkhouse as ' a place where idlers and vagabonds are condemned to labour.' Hutton in his History of Derby, published in 1791 (p. 59), says that the design of workhouses, all of which had been established within memory, ' was an asylum for distress and a cure for the beggar.' As they are managed ' they are the nurseries of idleness, the corrupters of manners, the slaughter- houses of infants, and the plagues of old age.' In them perhaps not one infant in ten arrives at maturity. The old and weak ' are brow-beaten by the governor, and hunted by the rude.' Hutton had been an active Overseer of the Poor, and so spoke with authority. In G. M. Berkeley's Poems, published in 1797, Introduc- tion, p. 3 10, it is stated that ' most well- regulated Bridewells are Paradises compared to the Oxford Work- house. Nothing out of the infernal regions can be worse or worse con- ducted.' - Landor in his Imaginary Con- versations: Johnson and Home Tooke, makes Tooke say : — ' We do many things now which we never thought of doing formerly. We contemplate going to a ball and dancing a fandango.' Landor's Works, ed. 1876, iv. 249. To cotitemplate John- son defines : — ' To muse, to think studiously with long attention.' ^ Piozzi Letters, i. 356. '' Mark Akenside, the poet and physician. He used to frequent Tom's Coffee-house in Devereux Court, close to Johnson's haunts, where no doubt the two men often met. One evening ' Saxby of the Custom House' attacked the pro- fession of physic, which Akenside defended. 'Doctor,' said Saxby, ' after all you have said, my opinion of the profession of physic is this : inclined 22 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. inclined me to consider as a remedy for all constrictions of the breath. Lawrence' indeed told me that he did not credit him, and no credit can I find him to deserve. One night I thought myself the better for it, but there is no certainty. On Wednes- day night I took ten grains ; the night was restless. On Thursday morning I took ten grains ; the night again was rest- less. On P>iday night I took twenty grains, which Akensyde mentions as the utmost that on these occasions he has ventured to give ; the night was perhaps rather worse. I shall therefore take truce with ipecacuanha. Tell me, if you can, what I shall do next. Mr. Thrale's heart may be at rest. It is not fine Mrs. Anne that has been caught by the taenia^, but Mrs. Anne tumbled down stairs last night, and bruised her face. Both maid and mistress are very grateful to you for the kindness with which you procured the powders, and directed their use. They have not yet been tried. It has been washing week ; and I suppose every body shrinks a little from such rough remedies, of which at last the success is doubtful. However it will, I think, be tried in all its formalities. My master may plant and dig till his pond is an ocean, if he can find water, and his parterre a down ^. I have no doubt of a most abundant harvest ; and it is said that the produce of barley is particularly great. We are not far from the great year of a hundred thousand ban-els, which, if three shillings be gained The ancients endeavoured to make it a science, and failed ; and the moderns to make it a trade, and have succeeded.' Hawkins's yr'/z/z-fw?, pp. 244 6. In my edition of the Life, iii. 22, n. 4, I assign by mistake this sarcasm to Ballow, a lawyer. Burton in the Anatoviy of Mclaticholy, ed. 1660, p. 373, quotes Mat. Riccius as saying of the physic in China there is 'no science, no school, no art, no degree, but like a trade every man in private is instructed of his master.' Dr>-dcn in his Prologue to the Uni- versity of Oxford, says : — ' So poetry, which is in Oxford made An art, in London only is a trade.' Dryden's Poems, Aldine ed. iii. 89. ' Ante, i. 47, n. 2. ' Ante, ii. 18. ' Johnson defines f>arterre as 'a level division of ground that for the most part faces the south and best front of an house, and is generahy furnished with greens and flowers, (S:c.' Greens he does not define in its modern sense as a vegetable food, but as ' leaves ; branches ; wreaths.' upon Aetat. 67.] To Mrs. Thrale. 23 upon each barrel, will bring us fifteen thousand pounds a-year. • » » » * never pretended to more than thirty pounds a-day, which is not eleven thousand a-year. But suppose we shall get but two shillings a barrel, that is ten thousand a-year, I hope we still have the advantage. Would you for the other thousand have my master such a man as ****»' ? I showed dear Queeney's letter to Mrs. Aston and Mrs. Porter, they both took her remembrance of them very kindly. It was well done by Mr. Brooke to send for you. His house is one of my favourite places. His water is very commodious, and the whole place has the true old appearance of a little country town^. I hope Miss goes, for she takes notice. ' Mrs. Piozzi in a marginal note fills up the gap with the name of Whitbread, and adds : — ' He asked me to marry him after Mr. Thrale's death, when his fortune was much increased ; on my refusal (he had three children) Lady Mary Corn- wallis accepted his hand.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 309. Horace Walpole in 1 78 1 speaks of ' Mr. Whitbread, the brewer, and his insolent wealth.' Leite-zs, vii. 496. Johnson, posi, Letter of October 24, 1778, speaks of ' the ambition of out-brewing Whit- bread'; and Letter of November 16, 1 779, of ' Mr. Thrale's desire of being the first brewer.' See aiiie, i. 194, n. 1, for Johnson's identification of himself with the Thrales in his use of we. In 1759-60 Whitbread was second and Thrale eighth among the brewers, the amount of barrels brewed by each being as follows : — Whitbread . . . 63,400 Thrale .... 32,700 Annual Register, 1760, i. 174. In 1786-7 Whitbread was first and Thrale third, as is shown in Pennant's London, ed. 1790, p. 279 : — Barrels. Whitbread, Samuel . 150,280 Calvert, Felix . . 131,043 Thrale, Hester . . 105,559 The Annual Register for 1797, ii. ^•j, shows that Thrale's Brewery is second : — 1795-6. Barrels. Whitbread . 202,000 Thrale 137,810 1796-7. Whitbread . 192,740 Thrale 141,590 Calvert had fallen to the fifth place. Though Mrs. Thrale sold her brewery to Messrs. Barclay and Perkins in 1 78 1 {Life, iv. 132), the style of the firm was not, it seems, changed so late as 1797. - Mr. Francis Brooke, 'an eminent attorney-at-law,' lived near the Abbey at Town Mailing or West Mailing, a small country town on the road between Wrotham and Maidstone. Hasted's History of Kent, ed. 1782, ii. 219. Johnson, as his Diary shows, spent his birthday there in 1768. Pr. and Med., p. 81. Mrs. Thrale wrote to him on September 18, 1777 : — ' Come, here is news of Town-mailing — the quiet old-fashioned place in Kent, that you like so because it was agreeable to your own notions of a rural life ; I believe we were the first people, except the master of it, who had for many years taken delight in The 24 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. The races are next week. People seem to be weary of them, for many go out of town I suppose to escape the cost of entertaining company. Dr. Taylor will probably come, and probably take me away ; and I shall leave Mrs. Aston. Do not you lose, nor let Master lose, the kindness that you have for me. Nobody will ever love you both better than, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 539. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, Lichfield, [Wednesday], August 27, 1777. Our correspondence is not so vigorous as it used to be ; but now you know the people at Lichfield, it is vain to describe them, and as no revolutions have happened, there is nothing to be said about them. We have a new Dean, whose name is Proby ; he has the manners of a gentleman, and some spirit of discipline, which brings the cathedral into better method. He has a lady that talks about Mrs. Montague and Mrs. Carter ^ the old coach without springs, the two roasted ducks in one dish, the fortified flower garden, and fir trees cut in figures. — A spirit of innovation has however reached even these at last. — The roads are mended ; no more narrow shaded lanes, but clear open turnpike trotting. A yew hedge, or an cugh hedge if you will [see ante, i. 286, n. 5], newly cut down too by his nephew's desire. Ah those nephews ! And a wall pulled away, which bore incomparable fruit —to call in the country — is the phrase. Mr. Thrale is wicked enough to urge on these rough reformers ; how it will end I know not. For your comfort, the square canals still drop into one another ; and the chocolate is still made in the room by a maid, who curtsies as she presents every cup. Dear old Daddy Brooke looks well and even hand- some at eighty-one years old ; while I saw his sister, who is ninety-four years old, and calls him Frankey, eat more venison at a sitting than Mr. Thrale.' Piozzi Letlcrs^\.y](). There was a fashion at this time, not only to pull away garden walls, but to cut down fine avenues, so as to call in the country — to give a wider view, that is to say. See Life, v. 439. ' Piozzi Letters, i. 359. "" For the old Dean see ante, i. 300. The new Dean's lady was, it seems, a somewhat haughty lady. I heard On Aetat. 67.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 25 On next Saturday I go to Ashbourne, and thither must my letters be sent, if you are pleased ever to write to me. When I came hither I could hardly walk, but I have got better breath, and more agility. I intend to perambulate Master's dominions ' every day at least once. But I have miserable, dis- tressful, tedious nights ; do you think they will mend at Bright- helmstone? When I come to Ashbourne I will send my dear Queeney an account how I find things, for I hope she takes an interest in Dr. Taylor's prosperity. This is race week ; but Mrs. Aston, Mrs. Porter, and myself have no part in the course, or at the ball. We all sit at home, and perhaps pretend to wonder that others go, though I cannot charge any of us with much of that folly ^ Mrs. Gastrel, who wraps her head in a towel, is very angry at the present mode of dress and feathers ^. But amidst all these little things, there is one great thing. The harvest is abundant, and the weather a la merveille '*. No season ever was finer. Barley, malt, beer, and money. There is the series of ideas. The deep logicians call it a sorites. I hope my master will no longer endure the reproach of not keeping me a horse ^. The puppies played us a vile trick when they tore my letter, but I hope my loss will be repaired to-morrow. You are in the way of business and intelligence, and have something to write. at Lichfield the following verse quoted from some lines written against her : — ■ ' She would far sooner from the steeple fling her, Than let a tradesman touch her highborn finger.' Her talk about Mrs. Montagu and the learned Mrs. Carter shows that she was somewhat of a Blue- stocking. ' Mr. Thrale's park at Streatham. ^ 'Sir,' said Johnson, 'I am a great friend to public amusements ; for they keep people from vice.' Life, ii. 169. ^ Ante, i. 258. Mrs. Gastrell was Mrs. Aston's sister. " He ought to have said a mer- veille. The earlier part of the summer had been very wet. Ante, ii. 16. Horace Walpole wrote on August 4 : — ' One would think the elements this summer came from Scotland.' But on September 29 he wrote : — 'I did not use to love September, with all its betweenity of parched days and cold long evenings, but this has been all lustre and verdancy.' Letters, vi. 464, 489. 5 For Johnson's hunting see ante^ i. 349, n. 4. I am 26 To Mrs. Thrale. [AD. 1777. I am here in unactive obscurity, and have little other pleasure than to perceive that the poor languishing lady ' is glad to see me. I hope, dearest Lady, you will be glad to see me too ; and that it will be long before disease lays hold upon you. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 540. To James Boswell. [Ashbourne], August 30, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 131. 541. To James Boswell. Ashbourne, September i, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 132. 542. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dearest Lady, [Ashbourne], Sept. 6, 1777. It is true that I have loitered, and what is worse, loitered with very little pleasure. The time has run away, as most time runs, without account, without use, and without memorial. But to say this of a few weeks, though not pleasing, might be borne, but what ought to be the regret of him who, in a [q.\v days, will have so nearly the same to say of sixty-eight years ? But com- plaint is vain. If you have nothing to say from the neighbourhood of the metropolis, what can occur to me in little cities and petty towns ; in places which we have both seen, and of Avhich no description is wanted ? I have left part of the company with which you dined here, to come and write this letter ; in which I have nothing to tell, but that my nights are very tedious. I cannot persuade myself to forbear trying something. As you have now little to do, I suppose you are pretty dili- gent at the Thraliana ', and a very curious collection posterity ' Mrs. Aston. Ante, ii. 17. ' Piozzi Letters, i. 361. ^ ' Thraliana is contained in six books, of about 300 page seach, and will Aetat. 67.] To Mrs. Tkrak. 27 will find it. Do not remit the practice of writing down occur- rences as they arise, of whatever kind, and be very punctual in annexing the dates. Chronology you know is the eye of history ; and every man's life is of importance to himself. Do not omit painful casualties, or unpleasing passages, they make the variegation of existence ; and there are many transactions, of which I will not promise with yEneas, ct hcEc olim meminisse juvabit \ Yet that remembrance which is not pleasant may be useful. There is however an intemperate attention to slight circumstances which is to be avoided, lest a great part of life be spent in writing the history of the rest ^. Every day perhaps has something to be noted, but in a settled and uniform course few days can have much. Why do I write all this, which I had no thought of when I begun ? The Thraliana drove it all into my head. It deserves however an hour's reflection, to consider how, with the least loss of time, the loss of what we wish to retain may be prevented. Do not neglect to write to me, for when a post comes empty, I am really disappointed. Boswell, I believe, will meet me here. I am, dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. extends over thirty-two years and a it was [in 1861], 'deemed it of too half. The first entry is in these private and delicate a character to be words : — " It is many years since Dr. submitted to strangers.' He supplied Johnson advised me to get a Httle Mr. Hayvvard however with informa- book and write in it all the little tion extracted from it. Hayward's anecdotes which might come to my Piozzi,\. 7, 237. See her Anecdotes, knowledge Mr. Thrale has p. 45, and /.//&, iv. 343. Johnson now treated me with a repository, often urges her to ' annex the dates ' and provided it with the pompous to her letters, but with little effect, title of Thraliana. I must endeavour For his advice to keep a Journal see to fill it with nonsense, new and old. — • atite, i. 362, 71. i. 15th September, 1776." . . . The ' yEneid, i. 203: — last:— "30th March, 1809. — Every- 'An hour will come with pleasure thing most dreaded has ensued. ... to relate All is over, and my second husband's Your sorrows past as benefits of death is the last thing recorded in Fate.' Dryden. my first husband's present. — Cruel ^ ' He again advised me to keep a Death!"' Mr. Hayward adds that journal fully and minutely, but not to Mr. Salusbury, in whose possession mention such trifles as, that meat To 28 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777- 543. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Sept. 8, 1777. Surely the same vexatious interruption of our correspond- ence happens now that happened once when I was at Oxford ^ I write often, yet you seem not to have my letters. I charged Frank with trusting some other hand to the post-office, this he denies ; and indeed I have answers to other letters. I came hither on Saturday, August 30th. The books were not then come ; but I suppose, according to Davies's letter, they came that evening ^ Of the receipt of the powders I wrote word, and told that the girl delayed a little while to take them. From this place I wrote to Miss last Thursday, and to you last Saturday. Nothing has been mentioned by you of which I have not taken proper notice, except that I have said nothing of » ♦ * * * *^. Many instances there are of the vanity of human solicitude, and it is not strange to find another. We were all planning out for him some mode of life, and disease was hover- ing over him. If he dies, his mother will lose what has engaged her care, and incited her vanity. The son and the estate go away together. But life occupies us all too much to leave us room for any care of others beyond what duty enjoins ; and no duty enjoins sorrow or anxiety that is at once troublesome and useless. I would readily help the poor lady, but if I cannot do her good by assisting her, I shall not disturb myself by lamenting was too much or too Httle done, or that the weather was fair or rainy.' Life, ii. 358. ' Piozzi Letters, i. 364. ^ Ante, i 327. ^ The books were Cook's Voyao;cs. Ante, ii. 19. ' Davies wjis most hkely Tom Davies, the Ijookseller. Life, i. 390. * Mrs. Thrale in a note, dated September 18, says that she is anxious about Quecney, * whose first cousin * * * * is now absolutely dying of a consumption.' Piozzi Letters, \. 375. Johnson, post, pp. 29, 34, 38, alludes to the same case. Baretti in his notes says that Lady Lade, Mr. Thrale's sister {ante, i. 219, n. 3), is the mother, and Sir John Lade the invalid son. He describes him as ' a most hopeful gentleman that has married a harlot.' Sec Life, iv. 412, for an account of him, and for the verses which Johnson wrote on his coming of age. her : Aetat. 67.] To Mvs. Tlivale. 29 her': yet I suppose his death will be as hard a blow as is com- monly felt. Let me know if you hear how he goes on. I go on but uneasily. I am in hopes of seeing Mr. Boswell, and then he may perhaps tell me something to write, for this is but a barren place. Not a mouse stirring ^ I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. 544. To James Boswell. Ashbourne, September, 11, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 135. 545. To Mrs. Thrale^. Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Sept. 13, 1777. Now I write again, having just received your letter dated the loth. You must not let foolish fancies take hold on your imagina- tion. If Oueeney grows tall, she is sufficiently bulky, and as much out of danger of a consumption as nature allows a young maiden to be "*. Of real evils the number is great, of possible evils there is no end. ***** ^ is really to be pitied. Her son in danger ; the estate likely to pass not only from her, but to those on whom, I suppose, she would least wish it bestowed, and her system of life broken, are very heavy blows. But she will at last be rich, and will have much gratification in her power, both rational and sensual. ' ' Talking of our feeling for the '' This must be an answer to one distresses of others, Johnson said : — of Mrs. Thrale's Letters, dated in her " Why, Sir, there is much noise made Collection five days later, in which about it, but it is greatly exaggerated. she writes : — ' Something always No, Sir, we have a certain degree of happens when you go to Lichfield ; feeling to prompt us to do good : and our sitting down thirteen to table more than that. Providence does not yesterday made my fool's nerves intend. It would be misery to no flutter for Oueeney. * * * Mr. purpose."' Life, ii. 94. See ante. Murphy said, she had a hectic i. 141. colour.' Piozzi Letters, i. 375. ^ Hamlet, Act i. sc. i. ^ Ante, ii. 28. ^ Piozzi Letters, i. 366. Boswell, o O To Airs. Aston. [A.D. 1777. Boswell, I believe, is coming. He talks of being here to-day. I shall be glad to see him. But he shrinks from the Baltick expedition, which I think is the best scheme in our power. What we shall substitute, I know not. He wants to see Wales, but except the woods of Bachycraigh what is there in Wales ? What can fill the hunger of ignorance, or quench the thirst of curiosity ' ? We may perhaps form some scheme or other, but, in the phrase of Hockley in the Hole, it is a pity he has not a better bottom ^. Tell my young mistress that this day's letter is too short, and it brings me no news either foreign or domestick. I am going to dine with Mr. Dyot, and Frank tells sternly, that it is past two o'clock '. I am. dearest Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 546. To Mrs. Aston''. Dear Madam, As I left you so much disordered, a fortnight is a long time ' Boswell had written to Johnson on September 9 : — ' Let us, by all means, have another expedition. I shrink a little from our scheme of going up the Baltick. I am sorry you have already been in Wales ; for I wish to see it.' Life, iii. 134. After Johnson had returned from Wales he wrote : — ' Wales is so little different from England that it offers nothing to the speculation of the traveller.' lb. ii. 284. Bachycraigh (the name is spelt in a variety of ways) was the property of Mrs. Thrale. Johnson visited it in 1774. Ih. v. 436. "^ Hockley in the Hole in Clerken- vvell is described in the Spcctiitor, No. 436, as * a place of no small renown for the gallantry of the lower order of Britons.' See Life, iii. 134. «. I. In an account of a prize-fight on Wimbledon Common on April 6, 1796, we read: — 'The combatants set to soon after two o'clock, and after four rounds only the Irishman was declared victor. The want of what in the language of boxers is termed bottom on the part of the combatants disgusted the company exceedingly. The parties fought in a hollow, very near the foot of Abber- shaw's Gibbet, who seemed to regard the combat with the utmost apathy. When the victor had been duly crowned with a wreath of shamrock, and quaffed a libation to the memory oi Big Bin [Abbershaw, I conjecture] in a pint of Liptrap's best gin, the cavalcade moved towards the metro- pnlis with becoming decency.' Sport- ing Magazine for April, 1796, p. 46. ^ Mrs. Dyot has been mentioned before. Ante, i. 342. Frank was Johnson's black servant. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well., page 539. Corrected by me to Aetat. 67.] 1^0 Mrs. Tkrak. 31 to be without any account of your health. I am willing to flatter myself that you are better, though you gave me no reason to believe that you intended to use any means for your recovery. Nature often performs wonders, and will, I hope, do for you more than you seem inclined to do for yourself. In this weakness of body with which it has pleased God to visit you, he has given you great cause of thankfulness, by the total exemption of your Mind from all effects of your disorder. Your Memory is not less comprehensive or distinct, nor your reason less vigorous and acute, nor your imagination less active and spritely than in any former time of your life. This is a great Blessing, as it respects enjoyment of the present, and a blessing yet far greater as it bestows power and opportunity to prepare for the future. All sickness is a summons. But as you do not want exhorta- tions, I will send you only my good wishes, and intreat ' you to believe the good wishes very sincere, of, Dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Ashbourne, Sept. 13, 1777. To Mrs. Aston, at Stowhill, Lichfield. 547. To Mrs. Thralk ^ Dear Madam, [Ashbourne], Sept. 15, 1777. Do you call this punctual correspondence? There was poor I writing, and writing, and writing, on the 8th, on the iith^ on the 13th; and on the 15th I looked for a letter, but I may look and look. Instead of writing to me you are writing the Thraliana'*. But — he must be humble zvho would please'^. Last night came Boswell. I am glad that he is come. He seems to be very brisk and lively, and laughs a little at " 6 * + * ♦ * from the original in Pembroke ^ This letter is not published. College Library. '' Ante, ii. 26, «. 3. ' Johnson in his Dictionary only ^ Ante, i. 352, n. i. gives entreat, but Bailey gives the * ' On Sunday evening, September word under both forms. 14, I arrived at Ashbourne, and drove ' Piozzi Letters, i. 368. directly up to Dr. Taylor's door. I told 32 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. I told him something of the scene at Richmond \ You find, now you have seen the progenies Langtoiiiajia, that I did not praise them without reason ; yet the second girl is my favourite. You talk of pine-apples and venison. Pine-apples it is sure we have none ; but venison, no forester that lived under the green-wood-tree ever had more frequently upon his table. We fry, and roast, and bake, and devour in every form. We have at last fair weather in Derbyshire '^, and every where the crops are spoken of as uncommonly exuberant. Let us now get money and save it. All that is paid is saved, and all that is laid out in land or malt. But I long to see twenty thousand pounds in the bank, and to see my master visiting this estate and that, as purchases are advertised I But perhaps all this may be when Colin's forgotten and gone"*. Do not let me be forgotten before I am gone, for you will never have such another, as. Dearest dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Dr. Johnson and he appeared before I had got out of the post-chaise, and welcomed me cordially.' Life, ill. 135. It was Taylor whom Bos well laughed at. For his account of that * hearty English 'Squire, with the parson super-induced,' see ib. ii. 473 ; iii. iSo, and for Johnson's laugh at Taylor, post, Letter of May 25, 1780. ' Mrs. Thrale replied : — 'I am glad the Richmond scene diverted you ; my master laughed when I read it over to him.' Pioszi Letters, i. y]"]. The next passage in Johnson's letter leads me to think that Bennet Langton was at this time living at Richmond, and that it was his mode of life which was described. Life, iii. 48, 338. Mrs. Thrale in her letter of the 18th says: — 'Mr. Thrale is cured of his passion for Lady R already.' Langton's wife was the dowager Lady Rothes. For his three lovely children see ante, i. 393. - The weather in Staffordshire had been extraordinarily fine nearly three weeks earlier. Ante, ii. 25, ^ ' Even j hnson could not help dreaming felicities for himself, and, what is more ridiculous, for others. The two last years of Thrale's life his Brewery brought him thirty thousand a year neat profit. Was it happy on that account ?' He died.' — Baretti. '• ' While Colin forgotten and gone No more shall be talked of or seen ; Unless when beneath the pale moon. His ghost shall glide over the green.' ROVVE. Campbell's British Poets, ed. 1845, p. 334. 'ScQ post. Letter of April II, 1 7 to. To Aetat. 68.] To Mts. T/iralc. ^ ^ 548. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Sept. 1 8, 1777. Here is another birth-day. They come very fast. I am now sixty-eight. To lament the past is vain ; what remains is to look for hope in futurity. Oueeney has now passed another year ^. I hope every year will bring her happiness. Boswell is with us in good-humour ; and plays his part with his usual vivacity^. We are to go in the Doctor's vehicle and dine at Derby to-morrow. Do you know any thing of Bolt-court ? Invite Mr. Levet to dinner, and make enquiry what family he has, and how they proceed ^ I had a letter lately from Mrs. Williams. Dr. Lewis^ visits her, and has added ipecacuanha to her bark : but I do not hear much of her amendment. Age is a very stubborn disease. Yet Levet sleeps sound every night ^. I am sorry for poor Seward's pain ; but he may live to be better ^ Mr. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ * 's erection of an urn looks like an intention to bury me alive ; I would as willingly see my friend, however benevolent and hospitable, quietly inurned. Let him think for the present of some more acceptable memorial^. ' Piozzi Letters, i. 370. * I should never have expected = ' Thursday, September 18. Last that Levett {Life, i. 243) was ad- night Dr. Johnson had proposed mitted to Mrs. Thrale's table. For that the crystal lustre, or chandelier, the enquiry about him se&posi, p. 39. in Dr. Taylor's large room, should ^ He is mentioned post, Letter of be lighted up some time or other. October 16, 1779- Taylor said, it should be lighted up ^ He slept too soundly one night next night. " That will do very well more than four years later, when (said I), for it is Dr. Johnson's birth- 'Death broke at once the vital day." ' When we were in the Isle of chain. Sky, Johnson had desired me not to And freed his soul the nearest mention his birth-day. He did not way.' seem pleased at this time that I Life, iv. 137-9- mentioned it, and said (somewhat ' Afite, i. 346, n. I. He lived till sternly) "he would not have the 1799. Mme.D'Arblay'sZ)/^iry,vi.2i7. lustre lighted the next day." ' Life, ® Colonel Myddelton set up an iii. 157. Queeney's birth-day came a urn to him; but not, the inscription day earlier. seems to show, till after his death. ^ ' That is, he makes more noise Life, iv. 421, n.2. Boswell told John- than anybody in company, talking son, when they were at Auchinleck, and laughing loud.'— Baretti. that he intended to erect a monu- VOL. IL D Does 34 To Mrs. Tkrale. [A.D. 1777. Does nobody tell * * « that a warmer climate and a clearer air is likely to help her son, and that it may be convenient to run away from an English winter, before he becomes too weak for travel ? It appears to me not improbable that change of air, and the amusement and exercise of easy journeys, might enable one so young to overcome his disease'. Dr. Taylor has another buck. You must not talk to us of venison. Fruit indeed we have little, and that little not very good ; but what there is has been very liberally bestowed ". Mr. L ^and the Doctor still live on different sides of the street. We have had, for some time past, such harvest weather as a Derbyshire farmer dares scarcely hope. The harvest has this year been every where a month backward, but so far as I can hear, has recompensed the delay by uncommon plenty. Next year will, I hope, complete Mr. Thrale's wish of an hundred thousand barrels'*. Ambition is then to have an end, and he must remember, that non mino7' est virtus quam qucsrere, paria tuere''. When he has climbed so high, his care must be to keep himself from falling. , , ,, , 1 am. dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 549. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Sept. 20, 1777. I do not remember what has happened that you write on mourning paper, and use black wax. ment to him there. ' He could not bear to have death presented to him in any shape ; for his constitutional melancholy made the king of terrours more frightful. He turned off the subject, saying, " Sir, I hope to see your grand-children ! " ' Life. v. 380. ' Ante, ii. 28, tt. 4. " ' I have heard Dr. Johnson pro- test that he never had quite as much as he wished of wall-fruit except once in his life, and that was when we were all together at Ombersley.' Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 103. ^ Mr. Langley. Ante, i. 347. " ' Thrale went greatly beyond his hundred thousand barrels, and a good deal of their produce is now enjoyed by a paltry singing-master.' Baretti. Ante, ii. 23. ^ Tueri. Ovid. Ars Amat.\\.\->,. This misprint illustrates what John- son said of Mrs. Thrale: — 'Her learning is that of a school-boy in one of the lower forms.' Life, i. 494. * Piozzi Letters, \. 379. B Aetat.68.] To Mvs. T/irale. 35 B liked S better as he knew him more. and seems well pleased to be remembered by him and my master'. Pretty dear Queeney ! I wish her many and many happy birth-days. I hope you will never lose her, though I should go to Lichfield, and though she should sit the thirteenth in many a company ^. You have nothing to say because you live at Streatham, and expect me to say much when I return from Lichfield and Ashbourne, places to be considered as abounding in novelty, and supplying every hour materials for history. It is as much as I can do to furnish every post with a letter ; I keep nothing behind for oral communication. I took Boswell yesterday to see Keddlestone \ and the silk mills \ and the china work at Derby ; he was pleased with all. The Derby china is very pretty, but I think the gilding is all superficial ; and the finer pieces are so dear, that perhaps silver vessels of the same capacity may be sometimes bought at the same price ; and I am not yet so infected with the contagion of china-fancy, as to like any thing at that rate which can so easily be broken ^ • B is Boswell, and S pp. 193-205. Johnson's definition Seward, who had lately visited Edin- of mill does not include a silk- burgh. Life,\\\. 123, 6. mill; he defines it as 'an engine or = Ante, ii. 29, n. 4. fabrick in which corn is ground to 3 Lord Scarsdale's seat. Here meal, or any other body is commi- Johnson saw lying ' in his Lordship's nuted.' dressing-room his small Z'zV/ziwa^^'; ^ < jhe same fashion a few years showing it to Boswell he said :— ago prevailed in Genoa, which still 'Look 'ye. Quae regio in teri-is has place in England and Holland, of nostri non plefta laboris ? ' Life, using services of China-ware instead iii. 161. of plate ; but the senate, foreseeing * The silk-mills were those in the consequence, prohibited the use which William Hutton just forty of that brittle commodity beyond a years earlier had brought his servi- certain extent ; while the use of tude of ' intolerable severity ' to an silver-plate was left unlimited. And end. He describes them as ' a place I suppose in their late distresses they most curious and pleasing to the eye, felt the good effect of this ordinance, but which gave me a seven years' Our tax on plate is perhaps in this \x^^x\.-z.c\\&: Life of William Hiitton, view somewhat impolitic' Hume's p. 24, and Hutton's History of Derby, Essays, ed. 1770, ii. 93. D 2 Master 36 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. Master is very inconstant to Lady R \ Did he not hold out against forty such repellents from Mrs. P ? He grows nice I find ; let him try whether nicety will make him happy. Boswell has spent more money than he expected, and I must supply him with part of his expences home^. I have not much with me, and beg Master to send me by the next post a note of ten pounds, which I will punctually return, not in opportunities of beneficence, though the noblest payment in the world, but in money, or bank-paper. Do not let him forget me. Do not suppose that I wrote this letter on purpose to borrow. My soul disdains it. I did not think on it when I began to write. When I miss a post, I consider myself as deviating from the true rule of action. Seeing things in this light, I consider every letter as something in the line of duty ; upon this foot I make my arrangement, and under whatever circumstances of difficulty, endeavour to carry them into execution; for having in some degree pledged myself for the performance, I think the resolution both of my head and my heart engaged, and reprobate every thought of desisting from the undertaking ^ ' Perhaps Lady R- ■ is Lady Rothes, the wife of Bennet Langton. The Thrales apparently had visited them at their house at Richmond. Afite, ii. 32. Another Lady Rothes had married Dr. Lucas Pepys. Early Diary of Fanny Burney, ii. 306, n. 2. If she were meant, Mrs. P might be a former Mrs. Pepys. ^ 'When I happened to mention that the expence of my jaunt would come to much more than I had computed, he said, " Why, Sir, if the expence were to be an inconvenience, you would have reason to regret it : but, if you have had the money to spend, 1 know not that you could have pur- chased as much pleasure with it in any other way." ' /■fc, iii. 196. ^ Boswell records that during this visit to Ashbourne, Johnson one day ' found fault with nic for using the phrase to tnake money. " Don't you see (said he) the impropriety of it } To make money is to coin it : you should say get money." * * * He was at all times jealous of infrac- tions upon the genuine English language, and prompt to repress col- loquial barbarisms ; such as, pledg- ing niysef for undertaking ; line, for department, or bra?ick, as, the civil line, the banking line.' Life, iii. 196. In a note on The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act iv. so. 7, he says : — ' To cone oJT seems to mean what is in our time expressed by to come doivn, to pay liberally and readily. These accidental and colloquial senses are the disgrace of language and the plague of commentators.' Mrs. Piozzi, in her Synonymy, i. 93, repeating no doubt what she re- membered from Johnson's talk, Howel Aetat. 68.] To Airs. Thrale. Z1 Howel tells of a few words in Spanish, the true utterance of which will denominate the speaker biieno Ronianciador ; the last sentence will U7i buoio politico \ He that can rattle those words well together may say all that political controversy generally produces. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. P.S. Nay, but do enquire after Bolt-court. 550. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Sept. 22, 1777. Now to sit down to tell me a long newspaper story about Lord Harcourt and his dog ^. — I hoped when you had seen Levet you would have learned something that concerned me. says : — ' A man cannot lie tinder circumstances, because they are sure to stand around him.' Landor says that ' Hurd writes, ^^ under the cir- cumstances." Circumstances are about us, not above us.' Lander's Works, ed. 1876, v. 108. Murray (afterwards Lord Mansfield), in his legal opinion about Johnson'slibellous definition of Excise, given in 1755, says : — ' 6^«rtVr all the circumstances.' Life, i. 295, n. 9. Johnson surely forgets his fourteenth definition of under, as ' in a state of being liable to, or limited by,' where he quotes ' under pain of greater displeasure,' ' under a necessity,' &c. ' Howell, in a letter written from Madrid on August i, 1623 (Book ii. No. 71), says: — 'The conclusion of this rambling letter shall be a rhyme of certain hard throaty words which I was taught lately, and they are accounted the difficultest in all the whole Castilian language ; insomuch that he who is able to pronounce them is accounted Bucn Roniancisia, a. good speaker of Spanish : Abeja y oueja y piedra que rabeia, pendola tras oreja, y tugar en la ygreia, dessea a su hijo la vieja.^ Johnson says that in like manner the last sentence of the letter in the text, con- taining as it does the cant phrases of the orators or political writers of the day, will denominate the speaker a good politician. ^ Piozzi Letters, i. 382. ^ Horace Walpole wrote on Sept. 18 about *an amazing piece of news that I have this moment received from town. The dinner-bell had rung — where ? at Nuneham. The Earl [Lord Harcourt] did not appear. After much search, he was found standing on his head in a well, a dear little favourite dog upon his legs, his stick and one of his gloves lying near.' He added in his next letter that ' in all probability he perished by trying to save his dog. You know how that must touch w^.' Letters, vi. 481, 3. I hope l8 To Mrs. Th'ale. [A.D. 1777. I hope Master has been so kind as to send me the ten pounds, else I shall be forced to borrow at Ashbourne or Lichfield. Boswell has been this morning with mc to see Ham Garden '. He talks of going away this week, and I shall not think of staying here much longer, though the wind whistles very prettily. My nights are still such as I do not like ; but complaint will not mend them. If * * » * ^ holds life to one-and-twenty, he will probably live on ; for his constitution, if it does not grow weaker, will become firmer. The harvest in Staffordshire has been such for plenty, and so well gathered, as to be mentioned with admiration ^ Make your most of these golden years, and buy liberally what will now be liberally allowed. I hope to partake a little of the general abundance — But I am now sixty-eight. Make good use. my dear Lady, of your days of health and sprightliness. Sixty-eight is coming fast upon you ; — let it not find you wondering what has become of all the past. If Aunt •* comes now, she can do but little harm, for she will hardly go with you to Brighthelmstone, and she cannot long trouble you at Streatham. I hope soon to come to Lichfield, and from Lichfield to London. Taylor and Bos. send their compliments with those of. Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. ' Ham or Islam in Dovedale. It had been formerly the seat of the Congreves. Roswell was shown a recess in which Congreve was said to have written his Old Bachelor. It was on the road to Ham that Johnson told Boswell how the Plan of the Dictionary came to be in- scribed to Lord Chesterfield. The Thralcs and Johnson had seen the place in 1774. Life, i. 183, ;/. 4; iii. 187 ; V. 429. ' Sir John Lade. Ante, ii. 28, n. 4. ^ The Earl of Carlisle wrote from Castle Howard on September 12 : — 'We have great quantities of fruit, and better flavoured than I ever remember. The weather is very favourable for the harvest, and there are great appearances of plenty. Our farmers will be puzzled for cause of complaint.' Sehvyn and his Contemporaries, ed. 18S2, iii. 228. * She is mentioned, post, pp. 44. 47- To Aetat. 68.] To Mrs. Thrale. 39 551. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Sept. 25, 1777. Boswell is gone ; and is, I hope, pleased that he has been here ; though to look on any thing with pleasure is not very common. He has been gay and good-humoured in his usual way ^, but we have not agreed upon any other expedition. He had spent more money than he intended, and I supplied him ; my deficiencies are again made up by Mr. Thrale's bill, for which I thank him. I will send directions to the taylor to make me some cloaths according to Mr. Thrale's direction ^ though I cannot go with you to Brighthelmstone, having loitered away the time I know not how ; but if you would have me, I will endeavour to follow you, which upon the whole may perhaps be as well. I am here now on the 25th, and am obliged by promise to take Lichfield in my way, so that the 30th will come upon me too soon. The Levet that has been found in the register must be some other Levet ^ ; I dare say our friend does not in his heart believe that it is he. I am glad that the Benedictines found you at last. Father Wilkes, when he was amongst us, took Oxford in his way. I recommended him to Dr. Adams, on whom he impressed ' Piozzi Letters, i. 384. - ' That is, in his noisy and silly way.' Baretti. ' From this meet- ing at Ashbourne,' writes Boswell, ' I derived a considerable accession to my Johnsonian store.' Life, iii. 208. He stayed there but ten days ; nevertheless the account of the visit fills 74 pages of my edition of the Life. In the quietness of the country he found it no doubt much easier ' to keep his Journal very diligently.' ^ Boswell says that ' by asso- ciating with Mrs. Thrale Johnson's external appearance was much im- proved. He got better clothes ; and the dark colour, from which he never deviated, was enlivened by metal buttons.' Life, iii. 325. ■* Mrs. Thrale had written on September 18 : — ' My husband bids me tell you that he has examined the register, and that Levet is only seventy-two.' Piozzi L^etters, i. 374. Johnson, ^r? J-/, Letter of August 14, 1780, speaks of him as being four- score. In the lines he wrote on his death in 1782, he says : — ' His frame was firm, his powers were bright, Though now his eightieth year was nigh.' Life, iv. 138. a high 40 To Airs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. a high opinion of his learning. I am glad that my cell is reserved '. I may perhaps some time or other visit it, though I cannot easily tell why one should go to Paris twice. Our own beds are soft enough ^. Yet my master will tell you, that one wants to be doing something. I have something like a longing to see my master's performances ^ ; a pleasure which I shall hardly have till he returns from Brighthelmstone. I beg that before you go you will send the Bibliographia Britannica to my habitation ■*. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. P.S. Let your next be sent to Lichfield. 552. To Mrs. Thrale 5. Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Sept. 27, 1777. I think I have already told you that Bos. is gone. The day before he went, we met the Duke and Duchess of Argyle in the street, and went to speak to them while they changed horses ^ ; and in the afternoon Mrs. Langton and Juliet'' stopped in their ' See a?2ie, i. 401, 406. "^ Mrs. Thrale had written :— ' Mr. Cowley [the Prior of the Benedict- ines] says that a cell is kept ready for your use. We asked Lord Mulgrave to meet him, and he said a thing so like a thing of your saying, that I will repeat it directly. We talked of England and France. — The beds are softer there than here, quoth my master. Softer, if you will, but not so clean, Sir, replied the Prior. — No, no, dirty enough to be sure, con- fessed Mr. Thrale, but exceeding soft. Why then, interrupts Lord Mulgrave, one may infer, that a hog in England lives just like a gentle- man in France I find — so there let the parallel rest. Now was not that speech quite in the spirit of our dear Mr. Johnson?' Piozzi Letters, i. 374. Just as Johnson did not care to see Paris twice, so neither did he care to visit a second time Wales or the Hebrides. ' Other people,' he said, 'may go and see the Hebrides.' Life, iii. 134; iv. 199. ^ His alterations at Streatham. Ante, ii. 22. ■* It was, I think, the Biographia Britannica that he wanted to see. He told Boswell at Ashbourne that ' he had been asked to undertake the new edition of that work, but had declined it.' Life, iii. 174. Bolt Court, it may be noticed, he here speaks of as his habitation ; his home was at Streatham. Ante, i. 129, and post. Letter of November 7, 1779. ^ Piozzi Letters, i. 386. * They had dined with them in In- verary Castle in October, 1773. Life, V. 353. It is strange that Boswell in the Life cf fohnson passes over this meeting in silence ; the omission must, I think, have been intentional. ' If tiicse ladies were Bennet way Aetat. 68.] To Mrs. Thralc. 41 way to London, and sent for me ; I went to them, and sent for Boswell, whom Mrs. Langton had never seen. And so, here is this post without a letter. I am old, I am old, says Sir John Falstafif' . ' Take heed, my dear, youth flies apace.' You will be wanting a letter sometime. I wish I were with you, but I cannot come yet. Nives et frigora Rheni Me sine sola vides : Ah, ne te frigora Isedant ! Ah, tibi ne teneras glacies secet aspera plantas ! ^ I wish you well ; B and all ; and shall be glad to know your adventures. Do not however think wholly to escape me ; you will, I hope, see me at Brighthelmstone. Dare you answer me, as Brutus answered his evil genius -' ? I know not when I shall write again, now you are going to the world's end. Extra anni solisqiie vias^, where the post will be a long time in reaching you. I shall, notwithstanding all distance, continue to think on you, and to please myself with the hope of being once again, Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Langton's mother and sister they were not on the direct road to Lon- don from the family seat in Lincoln- shire. A passage in the next letter seems however to show that some actress and her daughter or com- panion were described. ^ 2 Henry IV, Act ii. sc. 4. - Virgil. Eclo^s^ues, x. 47. ' While you (alas, that I should find it so !) To shun my sight your native soil forego, And climb the frozen Alps, and tread the eternal snow. Ye frosts and snows her tender body spare. Those are not limbs for icicles to tear.' Dryden. It is to a visit to Brighton that what Johnson applies these lines. ^ ' Brutus. Speak to me thou art. Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. Brutus. Why comest thou.^ Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. Brutus. Well : then I shall see thee again ? Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. Brutus. Why, I will see thee at Philippi then.' Julius Ccesar, Act iv. sc. 3. '' Virgil. j-Eneid, vi. 796. ' Beyond the solar year, without the starry way.' Dryden. Virgil is a second time brought in to describe the remoteness of Brighton. See also post, p. 45. In 1770 the post, which had hitherto gone four To 42 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. 553. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam Ashbourne, Michaelmass day, 1777' And so because you hear that Mrs. Desmoulines ^ has written, you hold it not necessary to write ; as if she could write like you, or I were equally content with hearing from her. — Call you this, backing your friends ^ ? She did write, and I remember nothing in her letter, but that she was discontented that I wrote only Madam to her, and Dear Madam to Mrs. Williams'*. Without any great dearness in the comparison, Williams is, I think, the dearer of the two. I am glad that she mends, but I am afraid she cannot get the start of the season, and Winter will come before she is prepared for it. But at Streatham there are dears and dears, who before this letter reaches them will be at Brighthelmstone. Wherever they be, may they have no uneasiness but for want of me. Now you are gone, I wonder how long you design to stay; pray let me know when you write to Lichfield, for I have not lost hope of coming to you, yet that purpose may chance to fail. But my comfort is, that you cannot charge me with forgetting you when I am away. You perhaps do not think how eagerly I expect the post. Mrs. » . * » . grows old, and has lost much of her undulation and mobility. Her voice likewise is spoiled ; she can come upon days a week to Brighton, began to go every day but Sunday, from Mid- summer to Michaelmas in every year. For the other nine months it still went only four days. Dodslcy's Efwirons of London, v. 221, and Court and City Register for 1775, p. 121. ' Piozzi Letters, i. 388. " Boswell going up to London in the following March writes: — 'I found Dr. Johnson at his own house, sitting with Mrs. Williams, and was informed that the room formerly allotted to me was now appropriated to a charitable purpose ; Mrs. Des- moulins, and I think her daughter, and a Miss Carmichael, being all lodged in it. Such was his human- ity, and such his generosity, that Mrs. Desmoulins herself told me, he allowed her half-a-guinea a week. Let it be remembered, that this was above a twelth part of his pension.' Life, iii. 222. She was the daughter of his godfather. Ante, i. 6, n. 3. ^ ' Call you that backing of your friends?' i Henry IV, Act ii. sc. 4. •* See post, Letter of Nov. 7, 1779, for ' Discord keeping her residence in this habitation,' and Life, iii. 461. the Aetat. 68.] To Mrs. Tkrak. 43 the stage now only for her own benefit \ But Juliet is airy and cheerful, and has I hope done lamenting the inconstancy of man. My mistress is represented as unable to bear them company. There was not time for many questions, and no opportunity of winding and winding them, as Mr. Richardson '^ has it, so as to get truth out without questions. I do not indeed know that I am any great winder. I suspect a winder to be always a man vacant, and commonly little-minded. I think my dear little mistress no great proficient at winding, though she could wind if she would, conteninit potius qiiani nescit. Dr. Taylor desires always to have his compliments sent. He is, in his usual way, very busy ; getting a bull to his cows, and a dog to his bitches. His waterfall runs very well. Old Shakespeare is dead, and he wants to buy another horse for his mares ^. He is one of those who finds every hour something nexv to wish or to enjoy "*. Boswell while he was here saw Keddlestone and the silk mills, and took Chatsworth in his way home ^ He says, his wife does not love me quite well yet, though we have made a formal peace ^. He kept his journal very diligently; but then what was there to journalize. I should be glad to see what he says ' A7ite, ii. 40, ;/. 7. s Yqx Keddlestone and the silk- " Mrs. Piozzi, in a marginal note mills see artte, ii. 35. It was at on her own copy of the Piozzi Let- Edensor Inn, close by Chatsworth, ters, says : — ' Dr. Johnson said, that that the landlord told Boswell that if Mr. Richardson had lived till / ' the celebrated Dr. Johnson had came out, my praises would have been in his house. I inquired who added two or three years to his life. this Dr. Johnson was, that I might " For," says Dr. Johnson, " that hear mine host's notion of him. fellow died merely for want of "Sir, (said he,) Johnson, the great change among his flatterers : he writer ; Oddity, as they call him. perished for want of more, like a He's the greatest writer in England ; man obliged to breathe the same he writes for the ministry; he has air till it is exhausted." ' Hayward's a correspondence abroad, and lets Piozzi, i. 311. them know what's going on." ' Life, ^ Ante, i. 341. iii. 209. '' ' Blest madman, who could every ^ It was she who said to her hus- hour employ band : — ' I have seen many a bear With something new to wish or led by a man, but I never before to enjoy ! ' saw a man led by a bear.' Lb. ii. Dryden. Absalom and Achito- 269, n. i. pliel, 1. 553. of 44 To Mrs. Tkrale. [A.D. 1777. I think I told you that I took him to «■**** of ♦ • Ham^ Why should you suspect me of forgetting lilly lolly ^ ? Now you will see the Shellys "*, and perhaps hear something about the Cottons ^ ; and you will bathe, and walk, and dress, and dance, and who knows how little you will think on. Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 554. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Dear Madam, Ashbourne, October 6, 1777. You are glad that I am absent ; and I am glad that you are sick ^. When you went away, what did you do with your aunt ? I am glad she liked my Susy ; I was always a Susy, when nobody else was a Susy ^. How have you managed at your new place ? Could you all get lodgings in one house, and meat at one table? Let me hear the whole series of misery; for, as Dr. Young says, / love horronr. Methinks you are now a great way off; and if I come, I have a great way to come to you ; and then the sea is so cold, and the rooms are so dull : yet I do love to hear the sea roar and my ' Beauclerk, I suspect, is the name omitted. It suits the number of the asterisks. Johnson had just heard from Boswell a story to his [John- son'sl disadvantage told by Beau- clerk. Life, iii. 194, 209, 211. ^ Ham. Afiie, ii. 38. n. i. ' Mrs. Piozzi explains this in a marginal note. A Welsh squire had a half-witted son — his sole heir, whom he brought to a Christmas party at Llewenncy Hall. '"What does the child say ? " cries my aunt ; " it sounds like lilly lolly." " Indeed, my Lady Betty," replies the mother, in a sharp Welsh accent. " Dick does JrtK lilly lolly, sure enough ; but he mains: — How do you do. Sir Robert Cotton."' Hayward's Piozzi, i.310. ■* The Letters of October 31, 1778, and August 25, 1780, show that the friend of the Thralcs was Sir John Shelley, of RTaresfield Park, Sussex. He was not an ancestor of the poet Shelley. ^ Johnson in his tour to Wales in 1774 had visited Combermere, the seat of Sir Lynch Salusbury Cot- ton, Mrs. Thrale's cousin. Life, v. 433- * Piozzi Letters, ii. i. ' This is explained by a passage in his first letter to Boswell after they parted : — ' Mrs. Thrale is in hopes of a young brewer.' Li/e, \\\.2\o. On July 3 of the following year he wrote : — ' Mrs. Thrale, poor thing, has a daughter.' lb. p. 363. ^Antc, i. 354. mistress Aetat. 68.] To Mrs. Thrale. 45 mistress talk — For when she talks, ye gods ! how she will talk \ I wish I were with you, but we are now near half the length of England asunder. It is frightful to think how much time must pass between writing this letter and receiving an answer, if any answer were necessary ^ Taylor is now going to have a ram ; and then, after Aries and Taurus, we shall have Gemini. His oats are now in the wet ; here is a deal of rain. Mr. Langdon bought, at Nottingham fair, fifteen tun of cheese ; which, at an ounce a-piece, will suffice after dinner for four hundred and eighty thousand men ^ This is all the news that the place affords. I purpose soon to be at Lichfield, but know not just when, having been defeated of my first design. When I come to town, I am to be very busy about my Lives. — Could not you do some of them for me ? I am glad Master unspelled "" you, and run you all on rocks, and drove you about, and made you stir. Never be cross about it. Quiet and calmness you have enough of — a little hurry stirs life — and. Brushing o'er, adds motion to the pool ^. Now pool brings my master's excavations into my head. I wonder how I shall like them ; I should like not to see them, till we all see them together. He will have no waterfall to roar like the Doctor's. I sat by it yesterday, and read Erasmus's Militis Christiani Enchiridion ^. Have you got that book? Make my compliments to dear Queeney. I suppose she will ' Ante, i. p. 207. ^ He was at Ashbourne and she at Brighton. ^ Johnson must have reckoned a ton as made up of 20 cwt. of 100 lbs. each. For his ' delight in exercising his mind on the science of numbers,' see Life, \. 72 ; iii. 207. ■* This word is not in Johnson's Dictionary. ^ ' Nor love is always of a vicious kind, But oft to virtuous acts inflames the mind ; Awakes the sleepy vigour of the soul, And brushing o'er adds motion to the pool.' Dryden, quoted in Johnson's Dictionary under To Brush. ^ It was translated into English in 1544 under the following title : — • En- chiridion Militis Christiani ; which may be called in Englysche, the hansome weapon of a Chrysten Knyght, replenysched with many goodly and godly preceptes ; made by the famus clerke Erasmus of Rotterdame, and newly corrected and imprinted.' dance 46 To Mj's. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. dance at the Rooms ', and your heart will go one knows not how. I am, dearest, and dearest Lady, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 555. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, [Ashbourne], October 13, 1777. Yet I do love to hear from you. Such pretty kind letters as you send. But it gives me great delight to find that my master misses me. I begin to wish myself with you more than I should do, if I were wanted less. It is a good thing to stay away till one's company is desired, but not so good to stay after it is desired. You know I have some work to do. I did not set to it very soon ; and if I should go up to London with nothing done, what would be said, but that I was who can tell what? I therefore stay till I can bring up something to stop their mouths, and then ■'. ' Miss Burney, going to the Rooms at Brighton in October 1782, de- scribes the staring and whispering as she passed :^ — 'That's she! That's the famous Miss Burney!' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 160. Once when Queeney 'was consulting with a friend about a new gown and dressed hat she thought of wearing to \sic\ an assembly, suddenly Mr. Johnson called out : — " Wear the gown and wear the hat, Snatch thy pleasures while they last ; Hadst thou nine lives like a cat, Soon those nine lives would be past." ' Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 165. * Piozzi Letters, ii. 6. ^ Bosvvell says that when they were at Ashbourne he talked to Johnson about the projected edition of the English Poets. He adds :— ' My friend seemed now not much to relish talking of this edition.' Life, iii. 137. In Murray's Joiinsotiiana, p. 227, it is recorded on the authority of the Rev. Mr. Parker, who had it from Mrs. Aston and her sister, that ' a great portion of the Lives of the Poets was written at Stow Hill [Lichfield |. Johnson had a table by one of the windows, which was frequently surrounded by five or si.\ ladies engaged in work or conver- sation. Mrs. Gastrel had a very valuable edition of Bailey's Diction- ary to which she [a misprint, no doubt, for lie"] often referred. She told him that Miss Seward said that he had made poetry of no value by his criticism. " Why, my dear lady," Though Aetat. 68] To Mvs. Tki'ale. 47 Though I am still at Ashbourne, I receive your dear letters that come to Lichfield, and [do] you continue that direction, for I think to get thither as soon as I can. One of the does died yesterday, and I am afraid her fawn will be starved ; I wish Miss Thrale had it to nurse ; but the Doctor is now all for cattle, and minds very little either does or hens. How did you and your aunt part ' ? Did you turn her out of doors to begin your journey ? or did she leave you by her usual shortness of visits ? I love to know how you go on. I cannot but think on your kindness and my master's. Life has, upon the whole, fallen short, very short, of my early ex- pectation : but the acquisition of such a friendship, at an age when new friendships are seldom acquired, is something better than the general course of things gives man a right to expect. I think on it with great delight, I am not very apt to be delighted. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 556. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dearest Lady, Ashbourne, Oct. 1 6, 1777. I am just going out, and can write but little. How you should be long without a letter I know not, for I seldom miss a post. I purpose now to come to London as soon as I can, for I have a deal to look after, but hope I shall get through the whole business. I wish you had told me your adventure, or told me nothing. Be civil to Lord » - * *, he seems to be a good kind of man^ Miss may change her mind ; and will change it, when she finds herself get more credit by dancing than by whist "" ; and though she should continue to like, as she likes now, the harm is none. replied he ; " if silver is dirty, it is ' Mrs. Thrale in her letter of not the less valuable for a good October i, had mentioned 'Lord scouring." ' It is a great exaggera- * * * , who talks a great deal, and tion to say that he wrote ' a great from a very fashionably furnished portion of the Lives' at Stow Hill. mind.' Pioszi Letters, \. 392. ' See ante, ii. 38. '' ' Miss Thrale never could be ^ Piozzi Letter's, ii. 8. brought to love dancing.' Baretti. Do 48 To Mrs. Thi^ale. [A.D. 1777. Do not yet begin, dear Madam, to think about tJie last\ You may well dance these dozen years, if you keep your looks as you have yet kept them ; and I am glad that Hetty ^ has no design to dance you down. The poor P ^ I am sorry for the girl ; she seems to be doomed, before her time, to weakness and solicitude. What is that Bedrider '' the supervisor ? He will be up again. But life seems to be closing upon them. I hope you still continue to be sick ^, and my dear master to be well. I am no sender of compliments, but take them once for all, and deliver them to be kept as rarities by Miss Owen, Mrs. Nesbit^ Miss Hetty, and Dr. Burney. Still direct to Lichfield, for thither I am hastening ; and from Lichfield to London, and from London I hope to Brighthelm- stone, and from Brighthelmstone g7ia terra patet\ I am, dearest of all dear Ladies, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 557. To Mrs. ThraleI Dear Madam, Lichfield, October 22, 1777. I am come, at last, to Lichfield, and am really glad that I am got away from a place where there was indeed no evil, but very little good ^. You may, I believe, write once to Lich- ' Johnson refers, I think, to the passage in his last Idlfr, where he says, ' there are few things, not purely evil, of which we can say with- out some emotion of uneasiness, this is the last J ^ Miss Thrale, whose name was Esther. ^ A Mrs. P has been men- tioned, ante, ii. 36. Mrs. Thrale some years later [Piozzi Letters, ii. 3S9J speaks of poor P 's ill state of health, where P , I suspect, is Perkins, Thrale's clerk and successor. "* Bedrider is not in Johnson's Dictiottary. According to Skeat {Etymo. Diet.), ' bedridden is cor- rupted from Anglo-Saxon bedrida, lit. " a bed-rider ; " one who can only ride on a bed, not on a horse.' ^ Ante, ii. 44, n. 7. * For Miss Owen see atite, ii. 5, n. I, and for Mrs. Nesbit, ante, i. 221, n. 3. ' Ovid. Metainorphoses, i. 241. Quoted ante, i. 226. '^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 10. '•* He wrote to Boswell on Nov. field Aetat. 68.] To Mvs . Tkrale. 49 field after you receive this, but after that it will be best to direct to London. Your throat is, I suppose, well by this time. Poor Mrs. ♦ » ♦ « it is impossible to think on without great compassion. — Against a blow so sudden, and so unexpected, I wonder that she supports herself. The consolations of » » * * * 's girls must indeed be painful. She had intended to enjoy the triumph of her daughter's superi- ority \ They were prepared to wish them both ill, and their wishes are gratified. There is in this event a kind of system of calamity, or conflagration of the soul. Every avenue of pain is invaded at once. — Pride is mortified, tenderness is wounded, hope is disap- pointed. — Whither will the poor Lady run from herself? My visit to Stowhill has been paid. I have seen there a col- lection of misery. Mrs. Aston paralytick, Mrs. Walmsley lame, Mrs. Hervey blind, and I think another lady deaf. Even such is life^ I hope dear Mrs. Aston is a little better ; it is however very little. She was, I believe, glad to see me ; and to have any body glad to see me is a great pleasure ^ I will tell, while I think on it, that I really saw with my own eyes Mr. Chaplin of Lincolnshire's letter'* for Taylor's cow, accompanied with a draught on Hoare for one hundred and twenty-six pounds to pay for her. Frank says, the young bull is not quite so big as the old one ; Taylor, I think, says he is bigger. I have seen but one new place this journey, and that is Leek in the Morlands^ — An old church, but a poor town. 25 : — ' I staid long at Ashbourne, Such is life. Let us try to pass it not much pleased, yet awkward at well, whatever it be, for there is departing.' Life,\\\.i\\. surely something beyond it.' Ib.\\\. ' She is referred to again, post, 211. p. 54. ^ See ante, i. 316, where he says: ^ Mrs. Walmsley was the sister of — * I am always proud and pleased Mrs. Aston, and the widow of John- to have my company desired.' son's friend and patron, Gilbert "" Mr. Chaplin was, I suppose, an Walmsley. Mrs. Hervey was another ancestor of the present President of sister, the widow of the Hon. Henry the Board of Agriculture. See ante, Hervey. Life, i. 83, n. 4. Johnson i. 166, for 'the man who offered an wrote to Boswell :— ' I went to Lich- hundred guineas for the young bull' field, where I found my friend at ^ It was at Leek that Johnson's Stow Hill very dangerously diseased, father served his apprenticeship. VOL. H. E ' The 50 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. The days grow short, and we have frosts ; but I am in all v/eathers, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 558. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Lichfield, October 25, 1777. Cholmondely's story shocks me, if it be true, which I can hardly think, for I am utterly unconscious of it ; I am very sorry, and very much ashamed ^. I am here for about a week longer, and then I purpose to hasten to London. How long do you stay at Brighthelmstone ? Now the company is gone, why should you be the lag ^ ? The season of brewing will soon be here, if it is not already come. We have here cold weather, and loud winds. Miss Porter is better than is usual, and Mrs. Aston is, I hope, not worse, but she is very bad ; and being, I fancy, about sixty- eight, is it likely that she will ever be better ■* ? It is really now a long time that we have been writing and writing, and yet how small a part of our minds have we written ^ ? We shall meet, I hope, soon, and talk it out. Life, i. 37. Here the shght shock of an earthquake had been felt the night that Boswell rested there on his way to Ashbourne. lb. iii. 136. In an edition of Harwood's History of Lichfield in the Bodleian Library has been inserted at p. 487 the origi- nal of the following document : — 'Leek, 3 Decmb. 1745. To the Headborrow of Endon. You are required imediatly \sic\ to bring to Leek Twenty Able Horses with proper Carts under pain of Military Execution for the Service of the Prince of Wales. 'James Urquhart.' Johnson in his Dictiona?-y, defin- ing moreland as ' a mountainous or hilly country,' adds : — ' A tract of Staffordshire is called the Morlands.' ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 12. ^ ' Mr. Cholmondely's running a- way from his debtors.' Baretti. In this Baretti is wrong ; for why should Johnson be ashamed of it ? For his act of rudeness and for his apology, see Life, iv. 345. ^ 'Him while he past the monster blind bespoke : What makes my ram the lag of all the flock ? ' Pope's Homer's Odyssey, ix. 525. ■* He was thinking of himself, for sixty-eight was his own age. ^ When Goldsmith at the Literary Club said to Johnson, ' " There can now be nothing new among us : we have travelled over one another's minds," Johnson seemed a little angry, and said: — "Sir, you have not travelled over iny mind, I promise you."' Life, iv. 183. You Aetat. 68.] To Mts. Tkf^ale. 5 1 You are not yet sixty-eight, but it will come, and perhaps you may then sometimes remember me. In the mean time, do not think to be young beyond the time ; do not play Agnes ' ; and do not grow old before your time, nor suffer yourself to be too soon driven from the stage ^ You can yet give pleasure by your appearance ; show yourself therefore, and be pleased by pleasing. It is not now too soon to be wise ; nor is it yet too late to be gay. Streatham is now, I suppose, the eighth wonder of the world ^ ; I long to see it, but do not intend to go till, as I once said before, my master, and you, and I, and nobody else shall be with us — perambulate it together. Cicely, I warrant you, will do well enough ^ I am glad you are so sick, and nobody to pity. Now for another pretty little girl. — But we know not what is best. I am, dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. P.S. — Pay my respects to Miss Owen. 559. To Mrs. Thrale^. Dear Madam, Lichfield, October 27, 1777. You talk of writing and writing, as if you had all the writing to yourself. If our correspondence were printed, I am sure posterity, for posterity is always the authour's favourite ^, would ' He refers, I conjecture, to Agnes ^ He is referring to Mr. Thrale's in n^cole des Feinmes by Moliere, improvements. Ante, ii. 45. ^ Pope gives different advice : — * Cecilia Thrale married John ' Walk sober off ; before a spright- Meredith Mostyn, and died on May lier age i, 1857, aged 80, as is shown by her Comes titt'ring on, and shoves tomb-stone at Streatham. you from the stage.' ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 14. Imit. of Horace, 2 Epis. ii. 324. ^ Goldsmith, in the Preface to his Johnson too in his Vanity of Essays, %?iy?,\ — ' As my drafts are in Human Wishes, 1. 307, tells how some danger of being protested at * New forms arise, and diff'rent home, it may not be imprudent upon views engage, this occasion to draw my bills upon Superfluous lags the vet'ran on Posterity. Mr. Posterity. Sir, nine the stage.' hundred and ninety-nine years after E 2 say 52 To Mrs. TJirale. [A.D. 1777. say that I am a good writer too. — AncJiio sono pittore^. To sit down so often with nothing to say : to say something so often, almost without consciousness of saying, and without any remem- brance of having said, is a power of which I will not violate my modesty by boasting, but I do not believe that every body has it. Some, when they write to their friends, are all affection ; some are wise and sententious ; some strain their powers for efforts of gaiety: some write news, and some write secrets ; but to make a letter without affection, without wisdom, without gaiety, without news, and without a secret, is, doubtless, the great epistoHck art^ In a man's letters, you know, Madam, his soul lies naked, his letters are only the mirrour of his breast ; whatever passes within him is shown undisguised in its natural process ; nothing is inverted, nothing distorted ; you see systems in their elements; you discover actions in their motives. Of this great truth, sounded by the knowing to the ignorant, and so echoed by the ignorant to the knowing, what evidence have you now before you ! Is not my soul laid open in these veracious pages ^ ? Do not you see me reduced to my first sight hereof, pay the bearer, or order, a thousand pounds' worth of praise, free from all deductions whatsoever, it being a commodity that will then be very serviceable to him, and place it to the accompt of, &c.' Gold- smith's Works, ed. 1801, iv. 301. Porson ends his Preface to his Letters to Mr. Archdeacon Travis by saymg Mr. Travis and I may address our letters to posterity ; but they will never be delivered accord- ing to the direction! ' ' It was this that made Correggio cry out on seeing Raphael's works, " I also am a painter : " he felt a kindred spirit in his own breast.' Conversations of Northcote, p. 168. ^ EpistoHck is not in Johnson's Dictiotiary. ^ The motto of Howell's Letters is : — ' Ut clavis portam, sic pandit epistola pectus.' Johnson in the Li/e of Pope says : — ' It has been so long said as to be commonly be- lieved, that the true characters of men may be found in their letters, and that he who writes to his friend lays his heart open before him. But the truth is that such were the simple friendships of the Golden Age, and are now the friendships only of children. . . . There is in- deed no transaction which offers stronger temptations to fallacy and sophistication than epistolary inter- course.' Worksi viii. 314. Bosweil instances veracious as one of ' the three uncommon or learned words' which Johnson used in the Lives of the Poets. Life, iv. 39. principles? Aetat. 68.] To Mts. T/iralc. 53 principles ? This is the pleasure of corresponding with a friend, where doubt and distrust have no place, and every thing is said as it is thought. The original idea is laid down in its simple purity, and all the supervenient conceptions are spread over it stratum simper stratum, as they happen to be formed. These are the letters by which souls are united, and by which minds naturally in unison move each other as they are moved them- selves. I know, dearest Lady, that in the perusal of this, such is the consanguinity of our intellects, you will be touched as I am touched. I have indeed concealed nothing from you, nor do I expect ever to repent of having thus opened my heart. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 560. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, Lichfield, October 29, 1777. Though after my last letter I might justly claim an interval of rest, yet I write again to tell you, that for this turn you will hear but once more from Lichfield. This day is Wednesday, on Saturday I shall write again, and on Monday I shall set out to seek adventures ; for you know, None but the brave deserve the fair ^ On Monday we hope to see Birmingham, the seat of the mechanick arts ^ ; and know not whether our next stage will be Oxford, the mansion of the liberal arts ; or London, the resi- dence of all the arts together. The chymists call the world Academia Paracelsi ; my ambition is to be his fellow-student — to see the works of nature, and hear the lectures of truth. To London therefore — London may perhaps fill me ; and I hope to fill my part of London. In the mean time, let me continue to keep the part which I ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 14. city of philosophers ; we work with ^ ' None but the brave deserves our heads, and make the boobies of the fair.' Birmingham work for us with their Dryden. Alexander's Feast. hands.' Zz/^, ii. 464. ^ ' Sir,' said Johnson, ' we are a have 54 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. have had so long in your kindness, and my master's ; for if that should grow less, I know not where to find that which may supply the diminution. But I hope what I have been so happy as to gain I shall have the happiness of keeping. I always omitted to tell you that Lucy's maid took the worm- powder with strict regularity, but with no great effect '. Lucy has had several letters from you, but cannot prevail on herself to write ; but she is very grateful. Mrs. Walmsley has been at Stowhill, and has invited me, when I come to Bath, to be at her house. Poor Mrs. Aston either mends not at all, or not perceptibly; but she does not seem to grow worse. I suppose * * ♦ » » » ♦ * is by this time recovered, and perhaps grown wiser, than to shake his constitution so violently a second time ^ Poor Mrs. » ♦ « * * ^ i q^^ cannot think on her but with great compassion. But it is impossible for her husband's daughters not to triumph ; and the husband will feel, as Rochefoucault says, something that does not displease him "*. You and I, who are neutral, whom her happiness could not have depressed, may be honestly sorry. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' Ante, ii. i8. ^ Johnson, I think, is writing of Topham Beauclerk, whom he had seen at Brighthelmston this autumn. Life, iii. 210. Horace Walpole wrote on July 6, 1779: — 'Lord Bolingbrokc, I hear, will live. At first they thought he had taken laudanum. It would have been a monstrous injustice in opium to kill him, when it will not despatch Beau- clerk.' Letters, vii. 221. The injustice would have consisted in the fact that his divorced wife was married to Beauclerk with whom she had first lived in adultery. For Beauclerk's ill-health, see Life, iii. 104. ^ Ante, ii. 49. * ' Dans I'adversite de nos meil- leurs amis nous trouvons toujours quelque chose qui ne nous deplait pas.' La Rochefoucauld. Reflexions Morales, xcix. 'As Rochefoucault his maxims drew From nature, I believe them true; They argue no corrupted mind In him; the fault is in mankind. This maxim more than all the rest Is thought too base for human breast ; " In all distresses of our friends We first consult our private ends ; To Aetat. 68.] To Mrs. Thrale. 55 561. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, Lichfield, November 3, 1777. This is the last time that I shall write, in this excursion, from this place. To-morrow I shall be, I hope, at Birmingham; from which place I shall do my best to find the nearest way home. I come home, I think, worse than I went ; and do not like the state of my health. But, vive hodie ^, make the most of life. I hope to get better, and sweep the cobwebs. But I have sad nights. Mrs. Aston has sent me to Mr. Green ^ to be cured. Did you see Foote at Brighthelmstone ? — Did you think he would so soon be gone? — Life, says Falstaff, is a shuttle *, He was a fine fellow in his way ; and the world is really impover- ished by his sinking glories ^ Murphy ought to write his life, at least to give the world a Footeana ^. Now, will any of his con- temporaries bewail him ? Will Genius change his sex to weep ^ ? I would really have his life written with diligence ^. While Nature kindly bent to ease us Points out some circumstance to please us." ' Swift. On the Death of Dr. Swift. Works, ed. 1803, xi. 240. ' Piozzi Letters, i. 398. This letter is inserted by Mrs. Piozzi under the date of October 3. Johnson in his last letter written on Wednesday, October 29, says : — ' On Monday we hope to see Birmingham.' Monday was November 3. This letter was therefore written in the beginning of November. I have altered the month but kept the day of the month. Probably he delayed his journey one day. ^ ' Non est, crede mihi, sapientis dicere, Vivam. Sera nimis vita est crastina : vive hodie.' Martial, i. 16. 11. ^ The Lichfield apothecary, and proprietor of the Museum. Ante, i. 161, 71. 5. ■* Merry Wives of Windsor, Act v. sc. I. ^ Johnson in his Lives of the Poets applied the same thought to Gar- rick's death, ' which has,' he said, ' eclipsed the gaiety of nations, and impoverished the public stock of harmless pleasure.' Life, i. 82. * ' One half of it had been a string of obscenities.' Baretti. ' See Life, iii. 374, where he said to a bard who made him read his Ode to the Warlike Genius of Bri- tain : — 'Here is an error. Sir; you have made Genius feminine.' ^ Foote had died at Dover on his way to France on October 20, broken in spirit by a charge which had been brought against him, as false as it was infamous. Though it had been at once demolished when it was tried in the Court of King's Bench, with It 56 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1777. It will be proper for me to work pretty diligently now for some time. I hope to get through, though so many weeks have passed. Little lives and little criticisms may serve. Having been in the country so long, with very little to detain me, I am rather glad to look homewards. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 562. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, [Bolt Court], November lo, 1777. And so, supposing that I might come to town and neglect to give you notice, or thinking some other strange thought, but certainly thinking wrong, you fall to writing about me to Tom Davies "", as if he could tell you any thing that I would not have you know. As soon as I came hither, I let you know of my arrival ; and the consequence is, that I am summoned to Brighthelmstone through storms, and cold, and dirt, and all the hardships of wintry journies. You know my natural dread of all those evils ; yet to shew my master an example of compliance, and to let you know how much I long to see you, and to boast how little I give way to disease, my purpose is to be with you on Friday, I am sorry for poor Nezzy, and hope she will in time be better ; I hope the same for myself. The rejuvenescency ^ of Mr. Scrase gives us both reason to hope, and therefore both of us rejoice in his recovery. I wish him well besides, as a friend to my master. Lord Mansfield as judge, Mrs. Piozzi persisted in believing in it. * Dr. Johnson,' she adds, ' never could persuade himself that things were as bad as the sufferer or his friends represented them ; he thought it wrong to believe so, and steadily made the best .viii. 563. To Mrs. Aston '. Dear Madam, London, Nov. 20, 1777. Through Birmingham and Oxford I got without any diffi- culty or disaster to London, though not in so short a time as I expected, for I did not, reach Oxford before the second day. I came home very much incommoded by obstructed respiration, but by vigorous methods am something better, I have since been at Brighthehnston, and am now designing to settle. Different things, Madam, are fit for different people. It is fit for me to settle, and for you to move. I wish I could hear of you at Bath, but I am afraid that is hardly to be expected from your resolute inactivity. My next hope is that you will en- deavour to grow well where you are. I cannot help thinking that I saw a visible amendment between the time when I left you to go to Ashbourne, and the time when I came back. I hope you will go on mending and mending, to which exercise and cheerfulness will very much contribute. Take care there- fore, dearest Madam, to be busy and cheerful. I have great confidence in the care and conversation of dear Mrs. Gastrel. It is very much the interest of all that know her, that she should continue well, for she is one of few people that has the proper regard for those that are sick. She was so kind to me that I hope I never shall forget it, and if it be trouble- some to you to write I shall hope that she will do me another act of kindness by answering this letter, for I beg that I may hear from you by some hand or another. I am, Madam, Your most obedient servant, Sam: Johnson. The address, 'To Mrs. Aston, Stow Hill, Lichfield,' is in Mr. Thrale's writing, the Letter being franked by him. ' First published in Croker's r>os- the original in Pembroke College well^ p. 565. Corrected by me from Library. To Aetat. 68.] To Mts. Povter. 59 564. To Mrs. Porter '. Dear Love, London, Nov. 20, 1777. You ordered me to write you word when I came home. I have been for some days at Brighthelmstone, and came back on Tuesday night. You know that when I left you I was not well ; I have taken physic very diligently, and am perceptibly better ; so much better that I hope by care and perseverance to recover, and see you again from time to time. Mr. Nollekens, the statuary, has had my direction to send you a cast of my head -. I will pay the carriage when we meet. Let me know how you like it ; and what the ladies of your rout ^ say to it. I have heard different opinions. I cannot think where you can put it. I found every body here well. Miss'* has a mind to be womanly, and her womanhood does not sit well upon her. Please to make my compliments to all the ladies and all the gentlemen to whom I owe them, that is, to a great part of the town. I am, dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 565. To James Boswell. London, November 25, 1777. Published in the Life, iii. 210. ' First published in Croker's Bos- who, after he had sat an hour, refused well, page 565. to take a shilling, stating that he ^ An engraving from this bust is could have made more by begging, given in Fielding's quarto edition of * * * Upon hearing the name of the Dictionary and in Murray's an eminent sculptor mentioned John- Johnso7tia7ta,'(>. ^00. 'Johnson was son observed: — "Well, Sir, I think very much displeased at the man- my friend Joe Nollekens can chop ner in which the head had been out a head with any of them." ' loaded with hair, which the Nollekens and his Times, by J. T. sculptor insisted upon, as it made Smith, i. 51. him look more like an ancient ^ Johnson does not in his Dic- poet. It had been modelled from tionary give rout in the sense in the flowing locks of a sturdy Irish which it is used here, beggar, originally a street pavior, " Miss Thrale. To 6o To Mrs. Gastrell. [a.d. 1777. 566. To Mrs. Gastrell '. Dear Madam, Your long silence portended no good ; yet I hope the danger is not so near us as our anxiety sometimes makes us fear. Winter is indeed to all those that any distemper has enfeebled a very troublesome time, but care and caution may pass safely through it, and from Spring and Summer some rehef is always to be hoped. When I came hither, I fell to taking care of myself, and by physick and opium had the con- striction that obstructed my breath very suddenly removed. My nights still continue very laborious and tedious, but they do not grow worse. I do not ask you, dear Madam, to take care of Mrs. Aston, I know how little you want any such exhortations, but I earnestly entreat her to take care of herself. Many lives are prolonged by a diligent attention to little things, and I am far from thinking it unlikely that she may grow better by degrees. However, it is her duty to try, and when we do our duty we have reason to hope. I am, dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Bolt-court, Fleet-street. Dec. 27, 1777. 567. To James Boswell. [London], December 27, 1777. Tublished in the Life, iii. 214. 568. To James Boswell. [London], January 24, 1778. Published in the Life, iii. 215. ' First published in Croker's Bos- from the original in Pembroke Col- well, page 566. Corrected by me lege Library. To Aetat. 68.] To Thomas CadeLl. 6i Sir, 569. To Thomas Cadell '. If you should obtain what Mr. Davies tells me you design to ask, the office of Bookseller and Printer to the royal Academy, I take the liberty of requesting, and I request with great earnest- ness, that for any thing to be printed for the Academy, you will make use [of] Mr. Allen's press in Bolt court. Mr. Allen has hitherto done the work without payment, and having so long laboured only to his loss, it is reasonable that he should at last have some profit, at least some recompense. Mr. Allen's business is not extensive, and he will be glad of work which greater Printers do not want, nor value, and if you continue him in the employment you will confer a great favour upon. Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Jan. 28, 1778. To Mr. Cadell. 570. Sir, To Poor Mr. Gwyn is in great distress under the weight of the late determination against him, and has still hopes that some mitigation may be obtained. If it be true that whatever has ' From the original in the posses- sion of Messrs. Puttick and Simpson of 47 Leicester Square. Thomas Cadell was the apprentice, partner and successor of Andrew Millar. In conjunction with William Strahan he published the Histories of Robertson and Gibbon, the later editions of Hume's Works, and some of the later works of Johnson. He was not related to Sir Walter Scott's publisher, Robert Cadell of Edin- burgh. Hume's Letters to Strahan, p. 92, n. 5. I am informed by Mr. F. A. Eaton, Secretary to the Royal Academy, that Thomas Cadell was printer to the Royal Academy from 1778 to 1793. Edmund Allen was 'Johnson's landlord and next neighbour in Bolt Court.' Life, iii. 141. ^ From the original in the posses- sion of Mr. M. M. Holloway of Hillbrow, St. Julian's Road, Streat- ham. First published in my edition of the Life of Johnson, v. 454, «. 2. See ante, ii. 1 5. by 62 To Mrs. Porter. [A.D. 1778. by his negligence been amiss, may be redressed for a sum much less than has been awarded, the remaining part ought in equity to be returned, or, what is more desirable, abated. When the money is once paid, there is little hope of getting it again. The load is, I believe, very hard upon him ; he indulges some flattering opinions that by the influence of his academical friends it may be lightened, and will not be persuaded but that some testimony of my kindness may be beneficial. I hope he has been guilty of nothing worse than credulity, and he then cer- tainly deserves commiseration. I never heard otherwise than that he was an honest man, and I hope that by your countenance and that of other gentlemen who favour or pity him some relief may be obtained. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Bolt Court, Fleet Street, Jan. 30, 1778. 571. To Saunders Welch. [London], February 3, 1778. Published in the Life, iii. 217. 572 To Mrs. Porter '. Dear Madam. Feb. 19, 1778. I have several little things to mention which I have hitherto neglected. You judged rightly in thinking that the bust would not please. It is condemned by Mrs. Thrale, Mrs. Reynolds, and Mrs. Garrick ; so that your disapprobation is not singular ^. ' First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 568. ^ For the bust sec ante, ii. 59. Nollekens thought it one of his best works, and Chantrey thought it his finest work. Croker's Bosiuell, p. 568, n. 2. Mrs. Thrale's judgment was perhaps somewhat partial, if she had already entered Nollekens' studio that morning, when not know- ing her, he called out to Dr. Johnson who accompanied her : — '"I like your picture by Sir Joshua very much. He tells me it's for Thrale, a brewer, over the water ; his wife's a sharp woman, one of the blue-stocking These Aetat. G8.] To Mi's. Montagu. >3 These things have never cost me any thing, so that I do not much know the price. My bust was made for the Exhibition, and shown for honour of the artist, who is a man of reputation above any of the other sculptors. To be modelled in clay costs, I believe, twenty guineas, but the casts, when the model is made, are of no great price ; whether a guinea, or two guineas, I cannot tell. When you complained for want of oysters, I ordered you a barrel weekly for a month ; you sent me word sooner that you had enough, but I did not countermand the rest. If you could not eat them, could you not give them away ? When you want anything, send me word. I am very poorly, and have very rest- less and oppressive nights, but always hope for better. Pray for me. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 573. To Mrs. Montagu \ Madam, March 5, 1778. And so you are alarmed, naughty lady ^ ? You might know people." " Nolly, Nolly," observed the Doctor, " I wish your maid would stop your foolish mouth with a blue- bag." ' Nollekens and his Times, i. 114. The author of this book, J. T. Smith, Keeper of the Prints, &c. in the British Museum, says : — ' I re- member well when I was in my eighth year Mr. Nollekens taking me to Oxford Road to see Sixteen-string Jack go to Tyburn for robbing Dr. William Bell. He was dressed in a pea-green coat, with an immense nosegay in the button-holes, which had been presented to him at St. Sepulchre's Steps, and his nankin small clothes, we were told, were tied at each knee with sixteen strings. After he had passed, and Mr. Nollekens was leading me home by the hand, I recollect his stooping down to me, and observing in a low tone of voice : — " Tom, now, my little man, if my father-in-law, Mr. Justice Welch, had been High Constable, we could have walked by the side of the cart all the way to Tyburn.'" Nollekens and his Times, by J. T. Smith, 1828, i. 24. Welch had once been High Constable of Westminster, when he had been seen ' dressed in black, with a large wig, highly powdered, with long flowing curls, a high three-cornered hat and his black baton tipped with silver at either end, riding on a white horse to Tyburn with the malefactors.' lb. p. 121. Sixteen-string Jack — John Rann — was hanged on November 30, 1774. Centl email's Magazine, 1774, p. 592. 'Sixteen-string Jack,' said Johnson, ' towered above the common mark.' Life, iii. 38. The Rev. Dr. Bell who was robbed was probably the Pre- bendary of Westminster mentioned ante, i. 118. ' First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 569. For Mrs. Montagu see atite, i. '&']. ^ The alarm of Johnson's illness reached Edinburgh and distressed Boswell. In one of the London that 64 To Mrs. Montagu. [a.d. 1778. that I was ill enough when Mr. Thrale brought you my excuse. Could you think that I missed the honour of being at (your) table for any slight reason? But you (have) too many to miss any one of us, and I am (proud) to be remembered at last. I am much better. A little cough remains, which will not confine me. To houses of great delicacy I am not willing to bring it. Now, dear Madam, we must talk of business. Poor Davies, the bankrupt bookseller, is soliciting his friends to collect a small sum for the repurchase of part of his household stuff'. Several of them gave him five guineas ; It would be an honour to him to owe part of his relief to Mrs. Montagu. Let me thank you, Madam, once more, for your inquiry; you have, perhaps, among your numerous train not one that values a kind word or a kind look more than. Madam, Yours, &c., Sam: Johnson. 574. To Mrs. Montagu =. Madam, March 6, 1778. I hope Davies, who does not want wit, does not want grati- tude, and then he will be almost as thankful for the bill as I am for the letter that enclosed it. If I do not lose, what I hope always to keep, my reverence for transcendent merit, I shall continue to be with unalterable fidelity, Madam, Yours, &c., Sam : Johnson. 575. To James Boswell. [London], April 23, 1778. Published in the Life, iii. 277. papers ' the approaching extinction ' Life, iii. 223. of a bright luminary ' was announced. " First published in Croker*s Bos- Life, iii. 221. well, page 570. To Aetat. 68.] To Mrs. Thrale. 65 576. ^ ,^ To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Apni 30, 1778. Since I was fetched away from Streatham, the journal stands thus : Saturday.— Sir J. R Sunday. — Mr. Hoole ^. Monday. — Lord Lucan ^ Tuesday. — Gen. Paoli ^ Wednesday. — Mr. Ramsay. Thursday. — Old Bailey^. Friday. — Club \ Saturday. — Sir J. R ^. Sunday. — Lady Lucan ^ ' Piozzi Letters, ii. i8. April 30, the day on which Johnson wrote, was a Thursday. '^ Sir Joshua Reynolds. See Life, iii. 317, for an account of the dinner. ^ Life, ii. 289, n. 1. " ' At the house of Lord and Lady Lucan Johnson often enjoyed all that an elegant table and the best com- pany can contribute to happiness.' Life, iv. 326. ^ See lb. iii. 324 for an account of this dinner and p. 331 for an account of the dinner at Mr. Allan Ramsay's. ^ ' The dinner at the Old Bailey,' says Mr. Croker, ' is one given during the Sessions to the judges, counsel, and a few guests. The venerable Mr. Clarke, Chamberlain of London, who died in 1831, in his ninety-third year, told me that he remembered having taken Johnson to this dinner, he being then sheriff. The judges were Blackstone and Eyre. Mr. Justice Blackstone conversed with Johnson on the subject of their absent friend, Sir Robert Chambers.' Croker's Boswell, p. 610, n. i. ' The Sessions which began on Wednesday last, April 29, at the Old Bailey, ended on Tuesday, May 5, when VOL. IL F fourteen convicts received sentence of death.' Gentleman^ s Magazine, 1778, p. 235. '' Boswell wrote on April 4, 1775 :— ' I dine, Friday, at the Turk's Head, Gerrard-street, with our Club, Sir Joshua Reynolds, &c., who now dine once a month, and sup every Friday. Letters of Boswell, p. 186. He was not there this Friday. ^ At this dinner, says Boswell, ' there were several people by no means of the Johnsonian School, so that less attention was paid to him than usual, which put him out of humour ; and upon some imaginary offence from me, he attacked me with such rudeness, that I was vexed and angry, because it gave those persons an opportunity of enlarging upon his supposed ferocity, and ill treatment of his best friends. I was so much hurt, and had my pride so much roused, that I kept away from him for a week ; and, perhaps, might have kept away much longer, nay, gone to Scotland without seeing him again, had not we fortunately met and been reconciled.' Life, iii. 337. For the reconciliation see ib. p. 338. ^ ' Lady Spencer,' said Samuel Monday. 66 To Matiritius Lowe. [a.d. 1778. Monday. — Pray let it be Streatham, and very early ; do now- let it be very early. For I may be carried away — ^just like Ganymede of Troy. I hope my master grows well, and my mistress continues bad ^ I am afraid the ladies will be gone, and I shall say, She's gone, and never knew how much I lov'd her. Do now let me know whether you will send for me — early — on Monday. But take some care, or your letter will not come till Tuesday. j ^^^ ^^^^^^^ Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 577. To Mauritius Lowe"*. Sir, [London, (?) May 15, 1778.] I spoke at the Exhibition to Sir Joshua and Mr. Garrick, and found them both cold enough. Mr. Garrick, however, seemed to relent, and I think you have reason to expect some- thing from him ; but he must be tenderly handled. I have just, however, received what will please and gratify you. I have sent it just as it came. Write to return thanks. Your humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Mr. Lowe, Hedge Lane. Rogers, ' recollected Johnson well, as who is mentioned, died in January she used to see him often in her girl- 1779. It was probably written on hood. Her mother. Lady Lucan, May 15, 1778, as is shown by a letter would say, " Nobody dines with us in the Garrick Correspondejtce, ii. to-day ; therefore, child, we'll go and 306, in which Lowe on that day get Dr. Johnson." So they would acknowledges the receipt from drive to Bolt Court and bring the Garrick of ten pounds. It was very doctor home with them.' Rogers's likely that sum which Johnson sent Table Talk, p. 10. on 'just as it came.' ' Ante, ii. 44, n. 7. A fortnight or so earlier, when ' First published in the Examiner driving with Boswell, 'Johnson for May 24, 1873, by Mr. G. Turrefif stopped first at the bottom of Hedge of Aberdeen, who had been shown the Lane, into which he went to leave a original of this and others of John- letter, "with good news for a poor son's letters by Lowe's daughter, man in distress," as he told me.' Johnson's god-child. The letter is Life, iii. 324. For an account of wrongly dated by him 1782. Garrick, Lowe see Life, iii. 380 ; iv. 201. To Aetat. 68.] To James Elphiiiston. 67 578. To James Bosvvell, London, July 3, 1778. Published in the Life, iii. 362. 579. To William Strahan. London, July 27, 1778. Pubhshed in the Life, iii. 364. 580. 3lR To James Elphinston '. Having myself suffered what you are now suffering, I well know the weight of your distress, how much need you have of com- fort, and how little comfort can be given. A loss such as yours lacerates the mind, and breaks the whole system of purposes and hopes. It leaves a dismal vacuity in life, which affords nothing on which the affections can fix, or to which endeavour may be directed. All this I have known, and it is now, in the vicissitude of things, your turn to know it ^ But in the condition of mortal beings, one must lose another. What would be the wretchedness of life, if there was not some- thing always in view, some Being immutable and unfailing, to whose mercy man may have recourse. Toi- Trpwroy KivovvTa aKLVTJTOV^. Here we must rest. The greatest Being is the most bene- volent. We must not grieve for the dead as men without hope **, ' First published in Memoirs of the retrace the past or anticipate the Life and Wrilings of Dj: fohnso/i, future. The continuity of being is London, 1785, page 168. lacerated ; the settled course of senti- For'^Elphinston see ante, i. 17. ment and action is stopped ; and life ^ Eighteen months later Johnson stands suspended and motionless, till wrote to his friend Dr. Lawrence who it is driven by external causes into had just lost his wife : — 'He that out- a new channel. But the time of lives a wife whom he has long loved, suspense is dreadful.' Life, iii. 419. sees himself disjoined from the only See also ante, i. 383. mind that has the same hopes, and ^ '"Eo-ti yap n 6 del Kivel to. kivov- fears, and interest ; from the only fxeva Ka\ to -npcoTov kivovv aKivrjTov companion with whom he has shared avro.' Aristotle, Metaph. iii. 8 sub much good or evil ; and with whom finem. he could set his mind at liberty, to ** i Thessalonians, iv. 13. F 2 because 68 To John Nichols. [a.d. 1778. because we know that they are in his hands. We have indeed not leisure to grieve long, because we are hastening to follow them. Your race and mine have been interrupted by many obstacles, but we must humbly hope for an happy end. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, July 27, 1778. Sam : Johnson. 581. gjj^ To John Nichols \ You have now all Cowley. I have been drawn to a great length, but Cowley or Waller never had any critical examination before. I am very far advanced in Diyden, who will be long too. The next great life I purpose to be Milton s'^. It will be kind if you will gather the Lives of Denham, Butler, and Waller, and bind them in half binding in a small volume, and let me have it to shew my Friends, as soon as may be. I sincerely hope the press shall stand no more. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. July 27, 1778. To Mr. Nichols, 582. Sir, To John Nichols 3. August, 1778. You have now the life of Dryden and you see it is very long. You must however have an appendix. ' First published in the Gentle- Museum. From them I have supplied maris Magazine for 1785, page 9. some omissions. This is the first of a series of letters Johnson had once thought of pub- written to John Nichols, printer, lishing an edition of Cowley. /i(^. iii. 29. editor, and author, while the Zzwj ^ 'His Life of Cowley he considered the Poets were going through the as the best of the whole.' lb. iv. 38. press. Most of these letters were " ' Milton's Life was begun in published by Nichols in the Gefit/e- January, 1779, and finished in six man's Magazifte ( 1 785, p. 9) of which weeks.' Ge?7tleman's Magazine, 1 785, he was editor. Some of them Bos- p. 9, ?i. I. well inserted in a note in the Life, iv. ^ First published in the Gentle- 36. The originals are in the British man's Magazine, 17S5, page 9. The Aetat. 69.] To JVh's. Tlirale. 69 1. The invocation to the Georgicks from Milbourne' (this in the small print). 2. Dryden's remarks on Rymer, which are nearly transcribed ^ 3. Dryden's letter from Lambeth, which is promised me ^. I am. Sir, &c., [Sam: Johnson.] To Mr. Nichols. 583. To Mrs. ThraleI Dearest Madam, October 15, 1778. You that are among all the wits, delighting and delighted, have little need of entertainment from me, whom you left at home unregarded and unpitied, to shift in a world to which you have made me so much a stranger ; yet I know you will pretend to be angry if I do not write a letter, which, when you know the hand, you will perhaps lay aside to be read when you are dress- ing to-morrow ; and which, when you have read it, if that time ever comes, you will throw away into the drawer and say — stuff ! As to Dr. Collier's epitaph, Nollekens has had it so long, that I have forgotten how long. You never had it. So you may set the S s at defiance ^ ' ' The invocation before the Georgicks is here inserted from Mr. Milbourne's version, that, according to his own proposal, his verses may be compared with those which he censures.' Johnson's Wo7'ks, vii. 348. ^ These remarks were written by Dryden on the blank leaves of Rymer's Remarks on the Tragedies of the last Age. Johnson had had them copied from the original, which was in Garrick's possession. lb. p. 350. ' lb. p. 358. '* Piozzi Letters, ii. 20. ^ The death of Dr. Arthur Collier of Doctors Commons on May 23, 1777, is recorded in the Gentleinaii s Magazine for that year, p. 248. He had been a constant guest at the house of Lady Salusbury, where Mrs. Thrale had passed much of her girl- hood. Speaking of her suitors she says : — ' It was my sport to mimic some, and drive others back, in order to make Dr. Collier laugh, who did not perhaps wish to see me give a heart away which he held completely in his hand, since he kindly became my preceptor in Latin, logic, rhetoric, &c.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 250. ' The S s,' she says, ineans ' the Streat- field,' forgetful of the final s. She accused Miss Streatfield ' of en- deavouring to supplant her in the esteem of Mr. Thrale ; ' and adds There 70 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1778. There is a print of Mrs. Montague, and I shall think myself very ill rewarded for my love and admiration if she does not give me one ' ; she will give it nobody in whom it will excite more respectful sentiments. But I never could get any thing from her but by pushing a face ; and so, if you please, you may tell her. I hope you let Miss S know how safe you keep her book. It was too fine for a scholar's talons. I hope she gets books that she may handle with more freedom, and understand with less difficulty. Do not let her forget me. When I called the other day at Burney's, I found only the young ones at home ; at last came the Doctor and Madam, from a dinner in the country, to tell how they had been robbed as they returned. The Doctor saved his purse, but gave them three guineas and some silver, of which they returned him three-and- sixpence, unasked, to pay the turnpike ^ I have sat twice to Sir Joshua, and he seems to like his own performance. He has projected another, in which I am to be busy'^; but we can think on it at leisure. Mrs. Williams is come home better, and the habitation is all concord and harmony; only Mr. Levet harbours discontent. With Dr. Lawrence's consent^ I have, for the two last nights, ' that she was very dangerous indeed the Sugar Cane, wrote to Dr. Percy both from her beauty and learning.' on March 24, 1764 : — ' I was robbed Jb. p. 297. See also ib. ii. 329, and about 3 o'clock of the Day we parted, Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 203, for about three miles on this side St. an account of this young lady. Albans, Luckily he did not ask for ' See^tfj/, Letter of March 18,1779, my watch, and went off by telling where Johnson says :— ' I called for me he was sorry to take our money, the print, and got good words.' He So civil are our Highwaymen. In had in his dining-room, he said, France or Spain our death would ' portraits of some very respectable have preceded the robbery.' Messrs. people.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. Sotheby's Auction Catalogue for 41. \nih& Auction Catalogue oih'xs November 27, 1889. Lot 75. Library the last lot is a print of Mrs. " Mr. Taylor is inclined to think Montagu, framed and glazed. that the former of these two pictures " Probably Miss Streatfield, who is the one which is now in the had read the first eight books of CommonRoomof Pembroke College, Homer. Johnson said of her that Oxford, and the latter the picture in 'taking away her Creek she was as which Johnson holds a book close ignorant as a butterfly.' Mme. D'Ar- to his eyes. Leslie and Taylor's blay's Diary, i. 221. Reynolds, ii. 223. ^ James Grainger, the author of taken Aetat. 69.] To ThoDias Cadell. 71 taken musk ; the first night was a worse night than common, the second a better, but not so much better as that I dare ascribe any virtue to the medicine. I took a scruple each time. Now Miss has seen the camp, I think she should write me some account of it. A camp, however familiarly we may speak of it, is one of the great scenes of human life '. War and peace divide the business of the world. Camps are the habitations of those who conquer kingdoms, or defend them. But what are wits, and pictures, and camps, and physick ? There is still a nearer concern to most of us. — Is my master come to him- self? Does he talk, and walk, and look about him, as if there were yet something in the world for which it is worth while to live ? Or does he yet sit and say nothing ^ ? He was mending before he went, and surely he has not relapsed. To grieve for evils is often wrong ; but it is much more wrong to grieve without them. All sorrow that lasts longer than its cause is morbid, and should be shaken off as an attack of melancholy, as the forerunner of a greater evil than poverty or pain. I never said with Dr. Dodd \kvdXl love to prattle upon paper ^ but I have prattled now till the paper will not hold much more than my good wishes, which I sincerely send you. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 584. To Thomas Cadell. [London], October 17, 1778. In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue for May 10, 1875, Lot 96 is 'a Letter of Johnson to Mr. Cadell, one page quarto, dated October 17, 1778. Apologises for the delay in returning the proof sheets, mentioning those of the Life of Drydeii! It was sold for ^^5 2s. dd. ' In the alarm of a French invasion places to learn the world in.' Letters the mihtia had been called out. to tiis So?i, i. 276. Bennet Langton, as a Captain in the ■ ' The poor man could never sub- Lincolnshire Militia, was this month due his grief on account of his son's encamped on Warley Common. Lfe, death.' — Baretti. The following iii. 365. Lord Chesterfield said that summer he had an attack of apoplexy, ' Courts and Camps are the only Post, p. 94. To 72 To Mrs. Thrale. [a .d. 1778. 585. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dearest Lady, London, October 24, 1778. I have written Miss such a long letter ^ that I cannot tell how soon I shall be weary of writing another, having made no new discoveries since my last, either in art or nature, which may not be kept till we see each other ; and sure that time is not far off. The Duchess is a good Duchess for courting you while she stays, and for not staying to court you, till my courtship loses - all its value. You are there as I would have you, except your humours. When my master grows well, must you take your turn to be melancholy ? You appear to me to be now floating on the springtide of prosperity ; on a tide not governed by the moon, but as the moon governs your heads ; on a tide therefore which is never likely to ebb but by your own faults. I think it very probably in your power to lay up eight thousand pounds a-year for every year to come, encreasing all the time, what needs not be encreased, the splendour of all external appearance^. And surely such a state is not to be put into yearly hazard for the pleasure of keeping the house full, or the ambition of out- brewing Whitbread''. Stop now and you are safe — stop a few years and you may go safely on hereafter, if to go on shall seem worth the while. I am sorry for Mrs. * » » * ; we never could make any thing of the lawyer, when we had him among us. * * * * has got some vanity in her head. Vanity always oversets a lady's judgment. I have not told, unless it be Williams, and I do not know that I have told her. If Streatfield has a little kindness for me, I am glad. I call now and then on the Burneys, where you are at the top of mortality. When will you come home ? ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 24. written to Boswell :— ' Mr. Thrale =" ' Miss Thrale refused to give up dislikes tlie times like the rest of us.' that and some other letters the doctor Life, iii. 363. wrote her when her mother applied "^ ' Which was Thrale's only ambi- to her for them.'— Baretti. tion.'— BARErn. See ante, ii. 23. ^ Yet on July 3 of this year he had Two Aetat. 69.] To Mvs. Tkrale. 7 3 Two days ago Dr. Lawrence ordered a new medicine, which I think to try to-night, but my hopes are not high. I mean to try however, and not languish without resistance. Young Desmouhns ' is taken in a7i under something of Drury- lane ; he knows not, I believe, his own denomination. My two clerical friends, Darby and Worthington, have both died this month ^. I have known Worthington long, and to die is dreadful. I believe he was a very good man. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 586. To Mrs. Thrale 3. Dear Madam, October 31, 1778. Your letter seemed very long a-coming, and was very welcome at last ; do not be so long again. Long live Sir John Shelly ■*, that lures my master to hunt. I hope he will soon shake off the black dog ^, and come home as light as a feather. And long live Mrs. G , that downs ^ my mistress. I hope she will come home as flexible as a rush. I see my wish is rather ambiguous, it is to my mistress that I wish flexibility. As to the imitation imputed to Mrs. G , if she makes any thing like a copy, her powers of imitation are very ' He was the son of Mrs. Des- visited Dr. Worthington at Llan- moulins [ante, i. 6, n. 3), and the rhaiadr. Life, v. 453. Derby, not grandson of Johnson's god-father Darby, was the name of Johnson's Dr. Swinfen. He had one famous other friend, day in his Hfe. At Johnson's funeral ^ Piozzi Letters^ ii. 26. he rode in the same carriage as * A)ite, ii. 44. Burke and Windham. See list of the ^ Johnson uses the same expres- persons at the funeral in the British sion ofThrale,/^i-/, p. 76 ; of himself, Museum, Add. MSS. 33,498. post. Letter of June 28, 1783, and of ^ ' October 6, 1778. Dr. William Boswell, Life, iii. 414. Mrs. Thrale Worthington, sen., of Llanrhadra, replied to Johnson from Brighton : — Denbighshire, Prebendary of St. ' My master swims now, and forgets Asaph. The Rev. John Derby, the black dog.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 33. Rector of Southfleet and Longfield * See Life, iii. 335, where Johnson in Kent. He was editor of Bishop said : — ' Robertson was in a mighty Pearce's posthumous works.' Gentle- romantic humour, he talked of one inaiis Magazine, 1778, p. 495. In whom he did not know ; but I ^/cw/z^^ 1774 Johnson and the Thrales had him with the King of Prussia.' great, 74 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1778. great, for I do not remember that she ever saw me but once. If she copies me she will lose more credit by want of judgment than she will gain by quickness of apprehension. Of Mrs. B ' I have no remembrance ; perhaps her voice is low. Miss » * * * is just gone from me. I told her how you took to them all ; but told her likewise how you took to Miss * * * *. All poisons have their antidotes. Sir Joshua has finished my picture, and it seems to please every body, but I shall wait to see how it pleases you. Of your conditions of happiness, do not set your heart upon any but what Providence puts in your own power. Your debts ^ you may pay — much you may lay up. The rest you can only pray for. Of your daughters, three are out of the danger of children's distempers, the other two have hardly yet tried whether they can live or no. You ought not yet to count them among your settled possessions. Is it true that Mrs. D ^ is enceinte ? It will give her great influence. To-day Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Desmoulines had a scold, and Williams was going away, but I bid her 7iot ticrn tail, and she came back, and rather got the upper hand "*. I wish you would come back again to us all ; you will find nobody among your fine ladies that will love you as you are loved by. Dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' Perhaps Mrs. Byron. Post, P-79. ^ See ante, i. 192, «. 3. ^ Perhaps the Mrs. D men- tioned ante, i. 333. ■* For the inmates of Johnson's house see Life, iii. 368, 461. J, Cradock said that ' he once accom- panied Dr. Johnson and Mr.Steevens to Marylebone Gardens to see La Serva Padrona performed. Steevens, being quite weary of the Burletta, exclaimed : — " There is no plot, it is merely an old fellow cheated and deluded by his servant ; it is quite foolish and unnatural." Johnson instantly replied : — " Sir, it is not unnatural ; it is a scene that is acted in my family every day in my life." This did not allude to the maid- servant so much as to the two dis- tressed ladies who were always quarrelling.' Nichols's Lit. Anec, ix. 779- To Aetat. 69.] To Mts. Tkralc. 75 587. To Captain Langton. [London], October 31, 1778. Published in the Life, iii. 365. 588. To THE Reverend Dr. Wheeler. London, November 2, 1778. PubUshed in the Life, iii. 376. 589. To THE Reverend Dr. Edwards. London, November 2, 1778. Published in the Life, iii. 367. 590. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, Nov. 9, 1778. The Lord Mayor has had a dismal day. — Will not this weather drive you home ? Perhaps you know not any body that will be glad to see you. I hope our well will yield water again, and something fuller you will find the pond ; but then all the trees are naked, and the ground damp — but the year must go round. While you are away I take great delight in your letters, only when you talk so much of obligations to me, you should consider how much you put me into the condition of honest Joseph ^ Young Desmoulines thinks he has got something, he knows not what, at Drury-lane ; his mother talks little of it. — Sure it is not a humm^"} Mr. Levet, who thinks his ancient rights invaded, stands at bay, fierce as ten furies \ Mrs. Williams growls and scolds, but Poll ^ does not much flinch. Every body is in want. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 28. fessessious way with you, as that I ^ Johnson refers to Joseph Leman hardly know whether you are in jest in Clarissa, who wrote to Love- or earnest, when your honner calls lace : — ' Be pleased howsomever, if me honnest so often.' Clarissa, ed. it like your honner, not to call me 18 10, ii. 370. honnest foseph, and honnest foseph -^ A hoax. Not in Johnson's Dic- so often. For althofif I think myself tio7iary. verry honest and all that, yet I am ■* Paradise Lost, ii. 671. touched a littel, for fear I should not ^ A Miss Carmichael whom he had do the quite right thing ; and too taken in. Life, iii. 222, 368. besides your honner has such a I shall 76 To Mrs. Tlirale. [A.D. 1778. I shall be glad to see Streatham again, but I can find no reason for going to Brighthelmstone, but that of seeing my master and you three days sooner. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 591. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dearest Madam, Nov. 14, 1778. Then I really think I shall be very glad to see you all safe at home. I shall easily forgive my master his long stay, if he leaves the dog behind him. We will watch, as well as we can, that the dog shall never be let in again, for when he comes the first thing he does is to worry my master. This time he gnawed him to the bone. Content, said Rider's almanack -, makes a man richer than the Indies. But surely he that has the Indies in his possession, may without very much philosophy make him- self content. So much for my master and his dog, a vile one it is, but I hope if he is not hanged he is drowned ; with another lusty shake he will pick my master's heart out. I have begun to take valerian ; the two last nights I took an ounce each night — a very loathsome quantity. Dr. Lawrence talked of a decoction, but I say, all or nothing. The first night I thought myself better, but the next it did me no good. Young Desmoulines says, he is settled at a weekly pay of twenty-five shillings, about forty pounds a-year^ Mr. Macbean ' Piozzi Letters, ii. yj. ^ Rider's British Merlin began in 1655 and ended in 1840. A few months after the date of Johnson's letter Lord North brought in a Bill to vest the sole right of printing Almanacks in the two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and the Com- pany of Stationers. Their supposed exclusive patent had been recently certified void by the Court of Common Pleas. Erskine, speaking at the Bar of the House against the Bill, said : — ' It is notorious that the Universities sell their right to the Stationers' Company, who make a scandalous job of the bargain, and, to increase the sale among the vulgar, publish under the auspices of religion and learning, the most senseless ab- surdities. I should have been glad to cite some sentences from the 113th edition of Poor Robin's Alnianack, published under the revision of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. But I know no house — but a brothel — that could suffer the quotation.' The Bill was lost. Pari. Hist., xx. 60S. ^ No doubt Drury Lane Theatre at which he was engaged was closed many weeks each year. has Aetat. 69.] To Mrs. Tlirale. 11 has no business'. We have tolerable concord at home, but no love. Williams hates every body. Levet hates Desmoulines, and does not love Williams. Desmoulines hates them both. Poll loves none of them. Dr. Bumey had the luck to go to Oxford the only week in the year when the library is shut up. He was however very kindly treated ; as one man is translating Arabick, and another Welsh, for his service ^. Murphy told me that you wrote to him about Evelina. Francis wants to read it ^. ^ Ante, i. 319, 2tXi^ post, p. 81. ^ Bumey was seeking materials for a History of Music. The two intro- ductions which Johnson gave him were dated November 2. Life, iii. 366. By the Statutes of 1768 the Library was opened every day but Sundays, Christmas Day, and the other gi'eat festivals of the Church, and the days appointed for the in- spection of the Library by the Curators. At this period the inspec- tion was held once a year — on November 8. Corpus Statutorum Universitatis Oxoniensis, 1 768. Ap- pendix, pp. 10, 18. The custom had apparently arisen of closing the Li- brary for a week beforehand for the sake of preparing for the great day. This custom was sanctioned by the Statutes of 18 1 3. At the present time it is closed for cleaning the first week of October, and for inspection on November 7 and 8 ; for Good Friday and Easter Eve, Ascension Day, Commemoration Day, and from Christmas Day to January I. * In 1713 every stranger admitted to read in the Library had to pay nine shillings in fees.' Macray's Annals of the Bodleia7i, ed. 1890, p. 185. Apparently the fees were the same at the time of Dr. Bumey's visit. The Rev. John Price was Librarian at this time. In 1787 Dr. Beddoes, the Reader in Chemistry, in a Memorial to the Curators charged him with * discouraging readers by neglect and incivility.' The copy of Cook's Voyages, which had been pre- sented by the King, he had lent to the Rector of Lincoln College, 'telling him that the longer he kept it the better, " for if it was known to be in the Library he should be perpetually plagued with enquiries after it." ' lb. p. 269. How much the Library was neglected in those days is shown by the fact that the present year (1891) it possesses for the first time a copy of Johnson's edition of the English Poets ; neither has it an earlier edition of the Lives than the one of 1805. Dr. Radcliffe's Library was in a state of even greater neglect. On the death of Johnson's friend, Dr. Kenni- cott. Canon of Christ Church and Radclivian Librarian, a writer in the Gentleman'' s Magazine for 1783 (p. 718) says: — ' There are several chests of books unopened. The late learned Orientalist in this respect only trod in the steps of his predecessor, but it is high time a different track should be pursued. If the librarianship must be given to a person too old or too easy for the employment, some- thing decent might be spared out of near ;^4oo a year to a young man of genius and learning to act as deputy, and open to public inspection one of the first collections in the universe.' ^ Miss Buiney's Evelina had been published in January of this year. And 78 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1778. And on the 26th Burney is to bring me. Pray why so ? Is it not as fit that I should bring Burney^? My master is in his old lunes ^, and so am I. Well, I do not much care how it is, and yet — at it again. Pray make my compliments to Mr. Scrase I He has many things which I wish to have, his knowledge of business and of the law. He has likewise a great chair "*. Such an one my Master talked of getting ; but that vile black dog Mrs. Queeney might write to me, and do herself no harm ; she will neglect me till I shall take to Susy '", and then Queeney may break her heart, and who can be blamed? I am sure I stuck to Queeney as long as I could. Does not Master talk how full his canal ^ will be when he comes home. Now or never. I know not how the soil was laid ; if it slopes towards the canal, it may pour in a great deal of water, but I suspect it slopes the wrong way. This is but the fourteenth day ; there are twelve more to the twenty-sixth. Did you ever hear of notching a stick ? however we have it in Horace — triiditiir dies die^ ; as twelve days have gone, twelve days will come. Hector of Birmingham just looked in at me. He is come to his only niece, who is ill of a cancer ; I believe with very little hope, for it is knotted in two places. I think at least I grow no worse ; perhaps valerian may make me better. Let me have your prayers. I am, dearest Lady, Yours, &c., Sam: Johnson. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 37. Francis was Johnson's black ser- vant. ' ' See how touchy was Johnson ! He thought himself degraded by the phrase Burney shall bring you here on the 2.6th' Baretti. ^ ' Why, woman, your husband is in his old lunes again.' Merry Wives of Windsor, Act iv. sc. 2. 3 Ante, i. 395. * Johnson with his asthma would often find comfort in a great chair. ^ ' I was always a Susy when nobody else was a Susy.' Ante, ii. 44. * Canal was generally used of an ornamental piece of water. What we now call a canal was at this time often called a navigation, whence comes navvy. ' Horace. 2 Odes :fi\i\\. 15. ' Day presses on the heels of day.' Francis. To Aetat. 69.] To Mts. TJirale. 79 592. To Mrs. THRALE^ Dear Madam, Nov. 21, 1778. I will write to you once more before you come away ; but — ;/// mihi rescribas - — I hope soon to see you. Burney and I have settled it ; and I will not take a post-chaise, merely to shew my independence. Now the dog is drowned ^, I shall see both you and my m.aster just as you are used to be, and with your being as you have been, your friends may very reasonably be satisfied. — Only, be better if you can. Return my thanks, if you please, to Oueeney for her letter. I do not yet design to leave her for Susy ; but how near is the time when she will leave me, and leave me to Susy, or any body else that will pick me up. Currit enim ferox .^tas, et ilH, quos tibi demserit, Apponet annos. '^ Oueeney, whom you watched while I held her, will soon think our care of her very superfluous. Miss Biron, and, I suppose, Mrs. Biron, is gone '". You are by this time left alone to wander over the Steine ^, and listen to the waves,— This is but a dull life. Come away and be busy, and count your poultry, and look into your dairy, and at leisure hours learn what revolutions have happened at Streatham. I believe I told you that Jack Desmoulines is rated upon the book at Drury-lane five-and-twenty shillings a-week. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 40. was the wife of Admiral Byron and ^ ' Nil mihi rescribas ; attamen grandmother of the poet. ]\Iiss ipse veni.' Byron was her daughter Augusta. Ovid. Heroides, i. 2. See ]\Ime. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 331, ^ Ante, ii. y^)^ ?i. 5. 383, dind. post, Letters of November 4, '' Horace. 2 Odes, v. 13. I779> and November 12, 1781. 'Time to her shall count each " Mrs. Thrale\\Titingfrom Brighton day on July 19, 1780, says : — ' My master Which from you it takes away.' is gone out riding, and we are to Francis. drink tea with Lady Rothes ; after ^ In the Letter of November 2, which the Steyne hours begin, and 1779, Johnson correctly writes these we cluster round Thomas's shop.' ladies' name Byron. Mrs. Byron Mme. D'Arblay's Dia7y, i. 417. Baretti 8o To John Nichols. [a.d. 1778. Baretti has told his musical scheme to B '. and B will neither grant the question nor deny. He is of opinion, that if it does not fail it will succeed, but if it does not succeed he conceives it must fail. It is good to speak dubiously about futurity. It is likewise not amiss to hope. Did I ever tell you that * * * * was married ? It so fell out, that * * * * fell in love with a girl whose fortune was so small that he perhaps could not mention it to his father ; but it happened likewise, by the lottery of love, that the father liked her so well, as himself to recommend her to » * * * . Such coincidence is rare. Come now, do come home as fast as you can : Come with a whoop, come with a call, Come with a good will, or come not at all. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 593. To James Boswell, [London], November 21, 1778. Published in the Life, iii. 368. 594. To John Nichols ^ Mr. Johnson will hope for Mr. Nichols' company to tea about six this afternoon, to talk of the index, and settle the terms. Monday. ' ' Burney. The musical scheme lick entertainment in London, for the was the Carmen Sectdare, that joint benefit of Monsieur Philidor brought me ^150 in three nights, and Signor Baretti.' Life, iii. 373. and three times as much to Philidor, Philidor was famous as a chess- whom I got to set it to music. It player. He came to England in would have benefited us both, if 1771 with an introduction to Dr. Philidor had not proved a scoundrel, Burney from Diderot. The Early greatly more than those sums.' Diary of Frances Burney, \. wd. Baretti. ' The Carmen Secidare " First published in the Gentle- of Horace had this year been set to inan's Magazine for 1785, p. 9. musick, and performed as a pub- To Aetat. 69.] To the Honourable Tho^ias Fitzmaurice. 8 1 Sir, 595. To John Nichols '. I am very well contented that the Index is settled, for though the price is low, it is not penurious. Mr. Macbean having been for some time out of business, is in some little perplexities from which twelve guineas will set him free. This, we hope, you will advance, and during the continuance of the work subject to your inspection he desires a weekly pay- ment of sixteen shillings, the rest to remain till it is completed. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Nov. 26, 1778. Sir, 596. To THE Honourable Thomas Fitzmaurice ^ Good wishes are the necessary consequence of friendship, and of my good wishes, I hope, you make no doubt. But now ' First published in the Gentle- mmi's Magazine for 1785, part i. page 9. Macbean made a useful Index to the English Poets, giving what he calls ' a synoptical view of them ' in several particulars. It fills the last two volumes of the Collection. In the Preface to the Index in the edition of 1790 it is stated that the original plan had received Johnson's sanction. For Macbean see a7ite, i. 319. - From the original in the posses- sion of the Reverend Canon Moor, St. Clement's near Truro. There is no address to this Letter ; I have however no doubt that it was written to the Hon. Thomas Fitzmau- rice, the younger brother of the Earl ofShelburne. On December2i, 1777, he had married Mary, afterwards Countess of Orkney in her own right ; VOL. II. G their only son was born on October 2, 1778, Attn. Reg., 1778, i. 218, and Burke's Peerage under Lans- DOWNE and Orkney. Lady Shel- burne was the Dowager Lady, who died in December, 1780. Horace Walpole writes : — ' How has she left her fortune, once so great, but which with superabundant cunning she had rendered almost as crazy as she was latterly .' ' Letters, vii. 475. The first wife of the Earl had died on January 5, 1 771, he married his second wife in 1779. Gentleman' s Magazine,\']']\, p. 47, and Burke's Peerage. Fitz- maurice was living in Lleweney Hall, which, according to Mrs. Piozzi, ' had been in possession of the Salusburys a thousand years.' ZzJ/^, v. 435. He invited Johnson to pass part of the summer of 1780 with him there. Post, Letter of May 7, 1780. you ^' 82 To Mrs. Aston. [A.D.1778. you have a son I know not well what more to wish you except more sons, and a few daughters ; the sons to be all brave and the daughters all beautiful, and both sons and daughters to be wise and good. Now you have a son what can you want ? You have a mother to rejoice in her grandson, and a Lady to partake in all your felicities. With Lady Shelburn I once had the honour of con- versing, and entreat you, Sir, to let her know that I have not forgotten it ; to your Lady I am a stranger, but who can doubt the excellence of her, who \sic\ you have chosen, and who has chosen you ? If encrease of happiness cannot be expected it still remains to wish the continuance, and very long it will continue, if there be any power in the desires of, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson, Dec. 7, 1778. 597. To John Nichols. [London], December, 1778. Published in the Life, iv. 36, n. 4. 598. To THE Reverend John Hussey. [London], December 29, 1778. Published in the Life^ iii. 369. 599. _ To Mrs. Aston \ Dear Madam, Now the new year is come of which I wish you and dear Mrs. Gastrel many and many returns, it is fit that I give you some account of the year past. In the beginning of it I had difficulty of breathing, and other ilness \sic\ from which however I by degrees recovered and from which I am now tolerably free. In the spring and summer I flattered myself that I should come ' First published in Croker's Bos- from the original in Pembroke Col- well, page 622. Corrected by me lege Library. to Aetat. 69.] To Mts. Povter. 83 to Lichfield, and forebore to write till I could tell of my inten- tions with some certainty, and, one thing or other making the journey always improper, as I did not come, I omitted to write, till at last I grew afraid of hearing ill news. But the other day Mr. Prujean ' called^ and left word that you, dear Madam, are grown better, I know not when I heard any thing that pleased me so much. I shall now long more and more to see Lichfield, and partake the happiness of your recovery. Now you begin to mend, you have great encouragement to take care of yourself, do not omit any thing that can conduce to your health, and when I come I shall hope to enjoy with you and dearest Mrs. Gastrel many pleasing hours. Do not be angry at my long omission to write, but let me hear how you both do, for you will write to nobody to whom your welfare will give more pleasure than to, Dearest Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. London, Bolt-court, Fleet-street. Jan. 2, 1779. 600. To Mrs. Porter ^ Dearest Love, Bolt Court, Fleet street, Jan. 2, 1779. Though I have so long omitted to write, I will omit it no longer. I hope the new year finds you not worse than you have formerly been ; and I wish that many years may pass over you without bringing either pain or discontent. For my part, I think my health, though not good, yet rather better than when I left you. My purpose was to have paid you my annual visit in the summer, but it happened otherwise, not by any journey another way, for I have never been many miles from London, but by such hindrances as it is hard to bring to any account. Do not follow my bad example, but write to me soon again, and let me know of you what you have to tell ; I hope it is all good. ' ' He married the youngest of the "^ First published in Croker's Bos- Misses Aston,' Croker. tuell, page 622. G 2 Please 84 To Miss Reyjiolds. [A.D. 1779. Please to make my compliments to Mrs. Cobb, Mrs. Adey, and Miss Adey, and all the ladies and gentlemen that frequent your mansion. If you want any books, or any thing else that I can send you, let me know. I am. dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 601. To Mrs. Garrick \ Dr. Johnson sends most respectful condolence to Mrs. Garrick, and wishes that any endeavour of his could enable her \sic\ support a loss which the world cannot repair. Feb. 2, 1779. 602. To Miss Reynolds ^. Dearest Madam, [Streatham], Feb. 15, 1779. I have never deserved to be treated as you treat me. When ' From the original in the pos- session of Mr. Edward Ford, Old Park, Enfield. Garrick died on January 20. Johnson's note was written the day after the funeral. ' I saw,' writes Cumberland, ' old Samuel Johnson standing beside Garrick's grave, at the foot of Shake- speare's monument, and bathed in tears.' Cumberland's Memoirs, ii. 210. 'Garrick's widow is buried in the same grave. She survived him forty-three years — "a little bowed- down old woman, who went about leaning on a gold-headed cane, dressed in deep widow's mourning, and always talking of her dear Davy." {Pe?i attd hik Sketches, 1864).' Stanley's Westminster Abbey, ed. 1868, p. 305. Captain Alfred C. Christopher of the Seaforth Highlanders has given me the following note made by his ancestor. Sir Henry Wilmot Seton, who died in 1848. ' I saw Mrs. Gar- rick on her ninetieth birthday, and by her express permission kissed her. Her words, pronounced with all the grace and dignity of a Royal Command, were " Kiss me." ' ' First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 623. This letter probably refers to that ' small degree of coolness ' which for some time existed between Miss Reynolds and her brother. * Dr. Johnson,' says Northcote, ' partici- pated with her in her troubles, and offered to write a letter himself, which when copied should pass as her own. It began thus: — "I am well aware that complaints are always odious, but complain I must." She saw that the intended deception would no more have passed with Sir Joshua than if Johnson had attired you Aetat. 69.] To Mrs. Aston. 85 you employed me before, I undertook your affair and succeeded, but then I succeeded by choosing a proper time, and a proper time I will try to choose again. I have about a week's work to do, and then I shall come to live in town, and will first wait on you in Dover-street ^ You are not to think that I neglect you, for your nieces ^ will tell you how rarely they have seen me. I will wait on you as soon as I can, and yet you must resolve to talk things over without anger, and you must leave me to catch opportunities ; and be assured, dearest dear, that I should have very little enjoyment of that day in which I had neglected any opportunity of doing good to you. I am, dearest Madam, Your humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 603. To John Nichols. [London], March i, 1779. Published in the Life, iv. 36, n. 4. 604. To Mrs. Aston ^. Dear Madam, Mrs. Gastrell and You are very often in my thoughts, though himself in her cap and gown, and endeavoured to impose his identical person upon him as his sister.' Northcote's Reynolds, i. 203. Rey- nolds had had built for himself 'a chariot, on the panels of which were painted the seasons of the year in allegorical figures. The wheels were ornamented with carved foliage and gilding. He insisted on it that his sister should go out with it as much as possible, and let it be seen in the streets to make a show, which she was much averse to, being a person of great shyness of disposition. This anecdote, Northcote says, 'he had from her own mouth.' Leslie and Taylor's Reynolds, i. 183. See also ib. p. 91, «. 2, and Memoirs of Dr. Burney, i. 331. ' Miss Reynolds lodged in the house of Hoole, the translator of Ariosto. Taylor's Reynolds, i. 91, n. 2. Perhaps he lived in Dover Street. ^ ' Sir Joshua's nieces, the Miss Palmers, the elder afterwards Mar- chioness of Thomond, the younger Mrs. Gwatkin, lived with him oc- casionally, and one of them after- wards habitually.' Menioirs of Dr. Burney, i. 332. ^ First published in Croker's Bcs- ivell, page 623. Corrected by me from the original in Pembroke Col- lege Library. I do 86 To Mrs. Porter. [A.D. 1779. I do not write so often as might be expected from so much love and so much respect. I please myself with thinking that I shall see you again, and shall find you better. But futurity is uncer- tain, poor David ^ had doubtless many futurities in his head, which death has intercepted, a death, I believe, totally unex- pected ; he did not in his last hour seem to think his Life in danger. My old complaints hang heavy on me, and my nights are very uncomfortable and unquiet ; and sleepless nights make heavy days. I think to go to my Physician, and try what can be done. For why should not I grow better as well as you ? Now you are better, pray, dearest Madam, take care of your- self. I hope to come this Summer and watch you. It will be a very pleasant journey if I can find you and dear Mrs, Gastrel well. I sent you two barels \sic\ of oysters. If you would wish for more, please to send your commands to, Madam, Your most humble servant, Bolt-court, March 4, 1779. SaM : JOHNSON. 605. To Mrs. Porter ^ My dear Love, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, March 4, 1779. Since I heard from you, I sent you a little print, and two barrels of oysters, and I shall have some little books to send you soon ^. I have seen Mr. Pearson "*, and am pleased to find that he has got a living. I was hurried when he was with me, but had time to hear that my friends were all well. ' David Garrick. ' He had,' writes Davies, ' so little apprehension of death being so near that, I am well informed, he said to the servant who gave him a draught a day or two before he died, " Well, Tom, I shall do very well yet, and make you amends for all this trouble." ' Davies's Life of Garrick, ii. 353. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 623. ^ No doubt the first four volumes of the Lives of the Poets which were published this spring. ■* The Rev. John B. Pearson was Perpetual Curate of St. Michael's Church from 1774 to 1782. Har- wood's Lichfield, p. 517. He must have received this year some other preferment. He was Lucy Porter's legatee. From his widow Mr. Croker received copies of many of Johnson's letters to his step-daughter. Croker's Boswell, Preface, p. xiv. Poor Aetat. 69.] To Mrs. Thrale. 87 Poor Mrs. Adey ' was, I think, a good woman, and therefore her death is less to be lamented ; but it is not pleasant to think how uncertain it is, that, when friends part, they will ever meet again. My old complaint of flatulence, and tight and short breath, oppress me heavily. My nights are very restless. I think of consulting the doctor to-morrow. This has been a mild winter, for which I hope you have been the better. Take what care you can of yourself, and do not forget to drink ^ I was somehow or other hindered from coming into the country last summer, but I think of coming this year. I am, dear love, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 606. To Mrs. Thrale 3. [Bolt Court], March 10, 1779. And so, dear Madam, it is a mumm "" to see who will speak first. I will come to see you on Saturday, only let me know whether I must come to the Borough, or am to be taken up here. Baretti's golden dream is now but silver. He is of my mind ; he says, there is no money for diversions ^ But we make another onset on Friday, and this is to be the last time this season. I got my Lives, not yet quite printed, put neatly together, and sent them to the King ; what he says of them I know not. If the King is a Whig, he will not like them ; but is any king aWhig^? ' Ante, i. 139. * Ante, i. 368, n. i. ^ Pio22i Letters, ii. 42. "* This, Hke ' a humm ' of ante, ii. 75, is ' a cant word ' not in John- son's Dictionary. ^ See afite, ii. 80, ?i. i. There was great distress owing to the heavy taxation caused by the Ameri- can War. Horace Walpole wrote on February 25 : — ' It was but yester- day Lord North could tell the House he had got the money on the loan, and is happy to get it under eight per cent.' Letters, vii. 181. ^ It was the first four of the ten volumes which Johnson sent to the King. Horace Walpole says that four years earlier George III 'had sent for Johnson's Journey to the Western IslaJids in MS., and then wondering said, " I protest, Johnson seems to be a Papist and a Jaco- bite ! " ' Letters, vi. 1 79. So 8S To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1779. So far had I gone, when in came Mr. Thrale, who will have the honour of bringing it. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 607. To James Boswell. [London], March 13, 1779. Published in the Life, iii. 372. 608. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, March 18, 1779. There is some comfort in writing, when such praise is to be had. Plato is a multitude^. On Monday I came late to Mrs. Vesey^ Mrs. Montague was there ; I called for the print '^, and got good words. The evening was not brilliant, but I had thanks for my company. The night was troublesome. On Tuesday I fasted, and went to the Doctor ; he ordered bleeding. On Wednesday I had the teapot, fasted, and was blooded. Wednesday night was better. To-day I have dined at Mr. Strahan's at Islington ^, with his new wife. To-night ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 43. = Ante, i. 374. ^ Hannah More, in 1783 (.M>;/Z(2'/>j', i. 286), describes ' Mrs. Vesey's plea- sant parties. It is a select society which meets at her house every other Tuesday, on the day on which the Turk's Head Club dine together. In the evening they all meet at Mrs. Vesey's, with the addition of such other company as it is difficult to find elsewhere.' Miss More addressed to her The Bus Bleu which begins : — * Vesey ! of verse the judge and friend, Awhile my idle strain attend.' See Life, iii. 424, for an account of the brilliant company which one evening at her house gathered four or five deep round Johnson's chair. '' Ante, ii. 70. ^ The Rev. George Strahan, Vicar of Islington {ante, i. 95). ' His house afforded Johnson an agreeable change of place and fresh air.' Life, iv. 416. Lamb, in a Sonnet written seventeen years later, says : — ' I turn my back on thy detested walls, Proud City, and thy sons I leave behind. I pass not thee so lightly, humble spire, That mindest me of many a plea- sure gone, Of merriest days, of Love and Islington, Kindling anew the flames of past desire ; there Aetat. 69.] To Tho7nas Cadell. 89 there will be opium. To-morrow the teapot. Then heigh for Saturday. 1 wish the Doctor would bleed me again. Yet every body that I meet says that I look better than when I was last met. I am, dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 609. Sir, To Thomas Cadell'. The Duty of Man is not the right. Nelson is bound in Sheepskin, a thing I never saw before. I was bred a Bookseller, and have not forgotten my trade ^. Do not let us teize one another about books. That they are lent about I suppose is true, but it must be principally by those that have bought them, which would have been done much less, if you had united every writer's life to his works, for then the borrower might have carried away near twenty volumes, whereas he now takes but four. I will venture to say that of those which I have given very few are lent. But be that as it may, you must supply me with what I think it proper to distribute among my friends ^. And I shall muse on thee, slow journeying on, To the green plains of pleasant Hertfordshire.' Ainger's Letters of Charles Lamb, i. 4. See also ib. ii. 82. The Old Vicarage was pulled down about 1885 ; its site is occupied by the premises of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The Academy, Jan. 5, 1889, p. 2. ' From the original in the posses- sion of Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, 47 Leicester Square, London. For Thomas Cadell see aiite, ii. 61, n. I, and Life, ii. 425, n. 2. ^ ' Nelson ' is no doubt Robert Nelson's Festivals and Fasts. Johnson, in the two years which he spent at home after he left school and before he went to Oxford, was partly employed in his father's shop. ' I have heard him say,' writes Haw- kins, ' that he was able to bind a book.' Life, i. 56, n. 2. It was said in 1819 that 'books of his binding are still extant in Lichfield.' Murray's Johnsotiiana, p. 465. ^ Cadell, it seems, had complained that the copies of the first four volumes of the Lives of the Poets which Johnson had given to his friends had been lent about, and so the sale had been hindered. John- son replies, 'had you not printed the Lives separately the borrowers — who borrowed mostly from those who bought the books — must have carried away near twenty volumes. This would have rendered borrowing Let 90 To Mrs. Aston. [a.d. 1779. Let me have no dispute about it. I think myself not well used. I am, Sir, Your very humble servant, Sam: Johnson. April 3, 1779. To Mr. Cadel. 610. To James Boswell. Harley Street, [April 26, 1779]. Published in the Life, iii. 391. 611. To John Nichols. [London], May 2, 1779. Published in the Life, iv. 36, n. 4. The date of this Letter, in which Johnson mentions Hughes's Letters, is in the original, but not in Boswell. 612. To THE Reverend John Wesley. [London], May 3, 1779. Published in the Life, iii. 394. 613. To Mrs. Aston '. Dear Madam, May 4, 1779. When I sent you the little books ^, I was not sure that you were well enough to take the trouble of reading them, but have lately heard from Mr. Greeves that you are much recovered. I hope you will gain more and more strength, and live many and many years, and I shall come again to Stowhill, and live as I used to do, with you and dear Mrs. Gastrell. much more inconvenient.' Con- well, page 631, where it is stated sidering 'his extraordinary modera- that the original is in Pembroke tion ' in the payment which he had College. Probably the statement demanded for writing the Lives was incorrect ; at all events the {Life, iii. ill, n. i), this complaint of Letter is not there now, Cadell's is pitiful. - No doubt the first four volumes ' First published in Croker's Bos- of the Lives. I am Aetat. 69.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 91 I am not well : my nights are very troublesome, and my breath is short ; but I know not that it grows much worse. I wish to see you. Mrs. Harvey ' has just sent to me to dine with her, and I have promised to wait on her to-morrow. Mr. Green comes home loaded with curiosities ^ and will be able to give his friends new entertainment. When I come, it will be great entertainment to me if I can find you and Mrs. Gastrell well, and willing to receive me. I am, Dearest Madam, &c., Sam : Johnson, 614. To Mrs. Porter. [London], May 4, 1779. Published in the Life, iii. 393. Dear Madam. 615. To Mrs. Thrale^. May 20, 1779. The vicissitudes of things, and the eddies of life, are now carrying you southward, and me northward'*. When shall we meet again ? I must beg of you to send Mr. Watson's papers to my house, directed for him, and sealed up. I know not whether he does not think himself in danger of piracy ^ Take care that Susy sees all that Sophy has seen, that she may tell her travels, and give them a taste of the world. And take 'Most likely Mrs. Hervey, Mrs. Aston's sister. Ante, i. 182. - For his Museum at Lichfield. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 44. * He was going to Lichfield and Ashbourne, she to Brighton. Miss Burney wrote from that town on May 26:— 'Mr., Mrs., Miss Thrale, and Miss Susan Thrale and I travelled in a coach with four horses, and two of the servants in a chaise, be- sides two men on horseback. Mr. Thrale's house is in West Street, which is the Court end of the town.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 209. ^ Mr. Watson was probably Pro- fessor Watson of Aberdeen, whose History of Philip II Johnson had offered to revise. Ante, i. 412, The last volume was published this year. The piracy which was feared was, I suppose, that of piratical pub- lishers, such as those of Dublin. care. 92 To Mi's. TJirale. [a.d. 1779. care, and write to me very often, till we meet again ; and keep Master in good thoughts of me. Vale. Sam: Johnson. 616. To Mrs. Thrale \ Madam, * Lichfield, May 29, 1779. I have now been here a week^ and will try to give you my journal, or such parts of it as are fit in my mind for com- munication. On Friday. — We set out about twelve, and lay at Daventry^. On Saturday. — We dined with Mr. Rann at Coventry. He intercepted us at the town's end. I saw Tom Johnson^, who had hardly life to know that I was with him. I hear he is since dead. In the evening I came to Lucy, and walked to Stowhill ; Mrs. Aston was gone or going to bed ; I did not see her. Sunday. — After dinner I went to Stowhill, and was very kindly received. At night I saw my old friend Brodhurst '' — you know him — the play-fellow of my infancy, and gave him a guinea. Monday. — Dr. Taylor came, and we went with Mrs. Cobb to Greenhill Bower. I had not seen it perhaps for fifty years. It is much degenerated ^. Every thing grows old. Taylor is to fetch me next Saturday. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 45. ^ ' A Court is held by the Bailiffs ^ Seventy-two miles from London. on Whit Monday in the Guild Hall, Falstaff with his soldiers had taken which is immediately adjourned to the same road, when the one shirt in an open mount called Green Hill all his company was ' stolen from (at which time also a Court Leet is my host at Saint Alban's, or the held), when the names of all the red-nose innkeeper of Daventry.' householders of the twenty-one I Henry IV, Act iv, sc. 2. He would wards of the City are called over, as not go with his men the rest of owing suit and service to this Court, the road. ' I'll not march through It was anciently called The Court of Coventry with them, that 's flat.' Array, or View of Men and Arms. Coventry was 19 miles from Daven- Processions are made by the Con- try, and Lichfield 25?? miles from stables and Dozeners {ante, i. 162, Coventry. n. 3] of each ward, who anciently ' Ante, i. 154. bore tutelary saints, but which are * I find no other mention of him. now converted into garlands or em- Mr. Green Aetat. 69.] To Mrs. Thrale. Mr. Green came to see us. and I ordered some physick. Tuesday. — Physick, and a little company. I dined, I think, with Lucy both Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, "i I had a few visits, from Peter Garrick ^ among Thursday. ) the rest, and dined at Stowhill. My breath very short. Friday. — I dined at Stowhill. I have taken physick four days together. Saturday. — Mrs. Aston took me out in her chaise, and was very kind. I dined with Mrs. Cobb, and came to Lucy, with whom I found, as I had done the first day, Lady Smith and Miss Vyse ^. This is the course of my life. You do not think it much makes me forget Streatham. However it is good to wander a little, lest one should dream that all the world was Streatham, of which one may venture to say, none but itself can be itsparalleP. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 617. To Mrs. Thrale '^. Dear Madam, Ashbourne, June 14, 1779. Your account of Mr. Thrale's illness is very terrible ; but when blems of their trade. They are attended by Morice dancers, who dance sarabands &c., in imitation of the Moors, and on the following day beg for money. During the day the inhabitants of the wards are regaled with cold meat, cake and wine at the expense of the Corporation.' Har- wood's History of Lichfield, p. 352. ' Ante, i. 4, n. 5. ^ Lady Smith is mentioned, ante, i. 329, and Miss Vyse, attte, i. 334. ^ 'None but thyself can be thy parallel ' is from Theobald's Double FalseJiood. Pope calls it ' a marvel- lous line,' and thus introduces it in Tlie Dunciad, first edition, iii. 271 : — ' For works like these let deathless Journals tell, " None but thyself can be thy parallel." ' In Martinns Scriblerus, ch. vii, it is suggested that ' it is borrowed from the thought of that master of a show in Smithfield, who writ in large letters over the picture of his ele- phant : — " This is the greatest Elephant in the world except Him- self." ' Warton says in a note that ' this line of Theobald, which is thought to be the masterpiece of absurdity, is evidently copied from a line of Seneca in the Hercules Fiiretis : — " Ouaeris Alcidae parem ? Nemo est nisi Ipse.'" Warton's Pope's IVorks, vi. 208. " Piozzi Letters, ii. 47. I remember 94 To Mrs. Tkrale. [A.D. 1779. I remember that he seems to have it peculiar to his constitu- tion, that whatever distemper he has, he always has his head affected, I am less frighted. The seizure was, I think, not apo- plectical ', but hysterical, and therefore not dangerous to life. I would have you however consult such physicians as you think you can best trust. Bromfield seems to have done well, and by his practice appears not to suspect an apoplexy^. That is a solid and fundamental comfort. I remember Dr. Marsigli ^, an Italian physician, whose seizure was more violent than Mr. Thrale's, for he fell down helpless, but his case was not con- sidered as of much danger, and he went safe home, and is now a professor at Padua. His fit was considered as only hysterical. I hope Sir Philip ^, who franked your letter, comforts you as well as Mr. Seward. If I can comfort you, I will come to ' ' He was mistaken ; it was a downright apoplectic fit. That, which was but the second, he got over, but died soon after of a fourth fit.' Baretti. Mrs. Piozzi in a marginal note says : — ' I was sitting in the drawing-room when my serv-ant Sam opened the door with un air effare saying: — " My master is come home, but there is something amiss." I started up, and saw a tall black fe- male figure who cried, " Don't go into the library ; don't go in I say." My rushing by her somewhat rudely was all her prohibition gained ; but there sate Mrs. Nesbitt holding her brother's hand, who, I perceived, knew not a syllable of what was pass- ing.' She adds that ' he had dropped as if lifeless from the dinner-table at Mrs. Nesbitt's house, and had been brought five or six miles out of town in that condition ' without being seen by a doctor. Hayward's Piozzi, i. 299. Miss Burney wrote a day or two later : — ' At dinner everybody tried to be cheerful ; but a dark and gloomy cloud hangs over the head of poor Mr. Thrale, which no flashes of merriment or beams of wit can pierce through ; yet he seems pleased that everybody should be gay.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 220. ^ ' Dr. Bromfield of Gerrard Street, my old accoucheur,' writes Mrs. Piozzi. ' He convinced me it was an apoplectic seizure.' Hayward's /"/c^^/, i. 300. See ante, i. 178, n. 6. ■^ He was in England in 1757. Life, i. 322. ■* Sir Philip Jennings Clerk. Life, iv. 80. Mr. Thrale was, no doubt, too ill to frank his wife's letter. She seems however to have been in the habit of imitating his writing, for in a letter to Johnson dated May 16, 1776, she says: — ' Pll make Mr. Thrale frank this letter Jiimself \\}a!& italics are hers] for a fancy.' On this Baretti says in a marginal note : —'She franked for Mr. Thrale.' Piozzi Letter's, i. 332. If she did so she was guilty of felony, and liable to transportation for seven years. Gcntloiiaifs Mas^azine, 1764, p. 184. In the summer assizes at Exeter in 1 7 S3, 'a young gentleman' was sentenced to transportation for this offence. Gentleman^ s Magazi7ie,\']%2>-> p. 708. you Aetat. 69.J To Mrs. Thrale. 95 you, but I hope you are now no longer in want of any help to be happy. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. The Doctor^ sends his compliments ; he is one of the people that are growing old. 618. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, June 14, 1779. How near we all are to extreme danger. We are merry or sad, or busy or idle, and forget that death is hovering over us. You are a dear lady for writing again. The case, as you now describe it, is worse than I conceived it when I read your first letter. It is still however not apoplectick, but seems to have something worse than hysterical, a tendency to a palsy, which I hope however is now over, I am glad that you have Heberden ^, and hope we are all safer. I am the more alarmed by this violent seizure, as I can impute it to no wrong practices, or intemperance of any kind '*, and therefore know not how any ' Dr. Taylor. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 49. ^ 'Johnson on being asked in his last ilhiess what physician he had sent for, " Dr. Heberden," replied he, " ultimiis RoDianorinn, the last of the learned physicians.'" Seward's Biographiana, p. 601. An interest- ing Memoir of Heberden was pub- lished in 1879 by Mr. A. C. Duller. Great though Heberden's learning was, in one matter he acted in a manner unworthy of a scholar. Hearing that a publisher had offered Dr. Middle- ton's widow ^150 for an unpublished work of her husband's, entitled The Inefficacy of Prayer^ he gave her ^200, and destroyed the manuscript. Life a?id Works of Heberden, p. 14. Perhaps it was partly on account of this action that Cowper addressed him as ' virtuous and faithful Heber- den.' Cowper's/*(?^»zj, ed. 1786, i. 272. ■* ' The mere grief he could not overcome of his only son's loss. Johnson knew it, but would not tell it.' Baretti. Mrs. Thrale recorded in her Diary soon after his seizure : — ' Few people live in such a state of preparation for eternity, I think, as my dear master has done since I have been connected with him ; regular in his public and private devotions, constant at the Sacrament, temperate in his appetites, moderate in his passions — he has less to ap- prehend from a sudden summons than any man I have known who was young and gay, and high in health and fortune like him.' Hay- ward's Piozzi, ii. 29. After his attack, when his mind perhaps was weakened, he indulged too much in eating. Sttpost, p. 97, n. 2, and Life, defence 96 To Henry Thrale. [a.d. 1779. defence or preservative can be obtained. Mr. Thrale has cer- tainly less exercise than when he followed the foxes, but he is very far from unwieldiness or inactivity, and further still from any vicious or dangerous excess. I fancy, however, he will do well to ride more. Do, dear Madam, let me know every post how he goes on. Such sudden violence is very dreadful ; we know not by what it is let loose upon us, nor by what its effects are limited. If my coming can either assist or divert, or be useful to any purpose, let me but know. I will soon be with you. Mrs. Kennedy, Queeney's Baucis, ended last week a long life of disease and poverty \ She had been married about fifty years. Dr. Taylor is not much amiss, but always complaining. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. P. S. Direct the next to Lichfield. 619. To Henry Thrale^. Dear Sir, June 15, 1779. Though I wrote yesterday to my mistress, I cannot forbear writing immediately to you, my sincere congratulation upon your recovery from so much disorder, and your escape from so much danger. I should have had a very heavy part in the misfortune of losing you, for it is not likely that I should ever find such another friend ^ and proportionate at least to my fear must be my pleasure. iii. 422, where Mrs. Thrale writes to ' Parva quidem, stipulis et canna Johnson : — ' Mr. Thrale looks well tecta palustri.' enough, but I have no notion of Perhaps Queeney had read Swift's health for a man whose mouth can- Baucis aftd Philemon ; she might not be sewed up.' Miss IJurney, however have read the original, for after describing in May 1779, 'a Johnson gave her Latin lessons, very grand dinner,' adds that ' it was Post, p. 98, n. 2. nothing to a Streatham dinner.' ~ Piozzi Letters^ ii. 57. Mme. D'Arblay's /)/V/rj', i. 211. This letter is wrongly dated July ' Miss Thrale had visited Lich- 15. It was no doubt written the field in 1774. Life, v. 428. Baucis's day after the letter to Mrs. Thrale of hut is described in Ovid's Metauior- June 14. phases, viii. 630, as ^ Post, Letter of April 5, 1781. As Aetat. 69.] To Mrs. T/irule. 97 As I know not that you brought this disease upon yourself by any irregularity, I have no advice to give you. I can only wish, and I wish it sincerely, that you may live long and happily, and long count among those that love you best, dear Sir, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 620. To Mrs. Thrale\ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, June 17, 1779. It is certain that your first letter did not alarm me in pro- portion to the danger, for indeed it did not describe the danger as it was. I am glad that you have Heberden, and hope his restoratives and his preservatives will both be effectual. In the preservatives dear Mr. Thrale must concur; yet what can he reform ? or what can he add to his regularity and temperance ^ ? He can only sleep less ^. We will do, however, all we can. I go to Lichfield to-morrow, with intent to hasten to Streatham. Both Mrs. Aston and Dr. Taylor have had strokes of the palsy. The Lady was sixty-eight, and at that age has gained ground upon it ; the Doctor is, you know, not young, and he is quite well, only suspicious of every sensation in the peccant arm. I hope my dear master's case is yet slighter, and that as his age is less, his recovery will be more perfect. Let him keep his thoughts diverted, and his mind easy"*. I am, dearest and dearest, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 51. eat much or Httle. A strange man ! ' ^ Mrs. Piozzi said that after this ^ Mme. D'Arblay mentions his attack ' Mr. Thrale's natural disposi- ' immoderate sleep after meals. Dr. tion to conviviaHty degenerated into Johnson,' she adds, ' was so little a preternatural desire for food.' Hay- aware of the insalubrity of his -ward's Piozzi, i. 300. Baretti says course of life that he often laughingly that 'Dr. Johnson knew that Thrale said, " Mr. Thrale will out-sleep the would eat like four, let physicians Seven Sleepers." ' Memoirs of Dr. preach. May be he did not know it, Biiniey, ii. 206. so httle did he mind what people were ** ' That was impossible : his lost doing. Though he sat by Thrale at son was always uppermost in his dinner he never noticed whether he mind.' Baretti. VOL. II. H To 98 To Henry Thrale. [a.d. 1770. 621. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, Lichfield, June 19, 1779. Whether it was that your description of dear Mr. Thrale's disorder was indistinct, or that I am not ready at guessing calamity, I certainly did not know our danger — our danger, for . sure I have a part in it, till that danger was abated. I am glad that Dr. Heberden, and that you perceive so plainly his recovery. He certainly will not be without any warning that I can give him against pernicious practices. His proportion of sleep, if he slept in the night, was doubtless very uncommon ; but I do not think that he slept himself into a palsy. But perhaps a lethargick is likewise a paralytical disposition. We will watch him as well as we can. I have known a man, who had a stroke like this, die forty years afterward without another. I hope we have now nothing to fear, or no more than is unalterably involved in the life of man. I begin now to let loose my mind after Queeney and Burney ^. I hope they are both well. It will not be long before I shall be among you ; and it is a very great degree of pleasure to hope that I shall be welcome. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 622. To Henry Thrale ^ Dear Sir, Lichfield, June 23, 1779. To shew you how well I think of your health, I have sent ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 52. most learned scheme I know not ; * Burney is Miss Burney. ' They but, as I have always told you, I am were,' writes Mrs. Pioz-^i, ' learning sure I fag more for fear of disgrace Latin of him ; but Dr. Burney would than for hope of profit.' In Decem- not let his girl go on: he thought ber, 1780, she wrote :^' Miss Thrale grammar too masculine a study for and I renewed our Latin exercises misses.' Hay ward's Piozzi, \. 317. with Dr. Johnson, and with great Miss Burney writing on July 20 of dclat of praise.' Mme. D'Arblay's this year says : — ' Dr. Johnson gives Diary, i. 243, 427. us a Latin lesson every morning. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 54. What progress we may make in this you Aetat. 69.] To Mts. Tkrak. 99 you an hundred pounds to keep for me. It will come within one day of quarter day, and that day you must give me '. I came by it in a very uncommon manner, and would not confound it with the rest ^, My wicked mistress talks as if she thought it possible for mc to be indifferent or negligent about your health or hers. If I could have done any good, I had not delayed an hour to come to you, and I will come very soon to try if my advice can be of any use, or my company of any entertainment. What can be done you must do for yourself; do not let any uneasy thought settle in your mind. Cheerfulness and exercise are your great remedies. Nothing is for the present worth your anxiety. Vivite laeti is one of the great rules of health ^. I believe it will be good to ride often, but never to weariness, for weariness is itself a temporary resolution of the nerves, and is there- fore to be avoided ■*. Labour is exercise continued to fatigue — exercise is labour used only while it produces pleasure. Above all, keep your mind quiet, do not think with earnestness even of your health, but think on such things as may please without too much agitation ; among which I hope is, dear Sir, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 623. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Dear Madam, [Lichfield], June 24, 1779. Though I wrote yesterday to Mr. Thrale, I think I must write ' Quarter Day was the 24th. John- gentleman, "live pleasant.'" Life^ son, I think, means to say that the i. 344. Perhaps Johnson had seen hundred pounds will reach Mr. the motto round the picture of Thrale on the 25th, but that he must Racket, Bishop of Lichfield and pay interest on it for the whole Coventry: — ^ Jnservi Deo et Icetare.' quarter as if he had received it on "* See fiost, p. 102, where Johnson the 24th. writes : — ' I take the true definition ^ See /('i'/. Letter of March 5, 1 78 1, of exercise to be labour without where he says that he had received weariness.' Resolution ]ohnsonu^es one hundred pounds as part pay- in a sense which he does not give in ment of the sum due for the Lives. his Dictionary ; though he comes It is possible that it was this sum that near to it when he defines it as dis- he would not confound with the rest. solution, and instances ' the resolu- ^ ' Mr. Burke once admirably tion of humidity congealed.' counselled a grave and anxious ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 55. H 2 this lOO To Miss Reynolds. [a.d. 1779. this day to you ; and I hope this will be the last letter, for I am coming up as fast as I can ; but to go down cost me seven guineas ', and I am loth to come back at the same charge. You really do not use me well in thinking that I am in less pain on this occasion than I ought to be. There is nobody left for me to care about but you and my master, and I have now for many years known the value of his friendship, and the im- portance of his life, too well not to have him very near my heart. I did not at first understand his danger, and when I knew it, I was told likewise that it was over — and over I hope it is for ever. I have known a man seized in the same manner, who, though very irregular and intemperate, was never seized again. Do what you can, however, to keep my master cheerful, and slightly busy, till his health is confirmed ; and if we can be sure of that, let Mr. Perkins "^ go to Ireland and come back as oppor- tunity offers, or necessity requires, and keep yourself airy, and be a funny little thins" ^. to •^ -^ ^ I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 624. To Miss Reynolds ^ Dear Madam, London, June 27, 1779. I have sent what I can for your German friend. At this time it is very difficult to get any money, and I cannot give much ^ I am. Madam, Your most affectionate and most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 625. To Charles Dilly. [London, July 13, 1779-] Published in the Life, iii. 394. ' Ante, \. ;^28,n. l. sort of clothes, however; they are "^ The superintendant of Mr. unsuitable in every way. What ! Thrale's Brewery and his successor. have not all insects gay colours ?" ' ^ Funny is no doubt a misprint for Life, i. 495. sunny. The words are, I suspect, a "* First published in Croker's Bos- quotation. One day 'on Mrs. Thrale well, page 632. appearing before him in a dark- ^ For the difficulty of getting coloured gown he said, " You little money see ante, ii. 87, n. 5. creatures should never wear those To Aetat. 69.] To the Revereitd Dr. Taylor. loi 626. To James Boswell. [London], July 13, 1779. Published in the Life, iii. 395. 627. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor '. Dear Sir, Since my return hither I have applied myself very diligently to the care of my health. My nights grew better at your house, and have never since been bad ; but my breath was very much obstructed ; yet I have at last got it tolerably free. This has not been done without great efforts ; of the last fifty days I have taken mercurial physick, I believe, forty, and have lived with much less animal food than has been my custom of late ^. From this account you may, I think, derive hope and comfort. I am older than you, my disorders had been of very long con- tinuance, and if it should please God that this recovery is lasting, you have reason to expect an abatement of all the pains that encumber your life. Mr. Thrale has felt a very heavy blow. He was for some time without reason, and, I think, without utterance. Heberden was in great doubt whether his powers of mind would ever return. He has however perfectly recovered all his faculties and all his vigour ^. He has a fontanel ■* in his back. I make little doubt but that, notwithstanding your dismal prognostication, you may see one another again. He purposes this autumn to spend some time in hunting on ' First published in Notes and way as well as in his neighbours'.' Queries, 6th S. v. 461. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 245. "^ Miss Barney had written five ^ ' Mr. Thrale is as well as ever he days earlier to Mr. Crisp : — ' I fear was in health, though the alarming you are not so steady in your in- and terrible blow he so lately received tended reformation as to diet and has, I fear, given a damp to his spirits exercise as you proposed being. Dr. that will scarce ever be wholly con- Johnson has made resolutions exactly quered. Yet he grows daily rather similar to yours, and in general ad- more cheerful.' lb. heres to them with strictness ; but the " ' An issue ; a discharge opened old Adam, as you say, stands in his in the body.' Johnson's Dictionary. the I02 To Mrs. Tlu^ale. [a.d. 1779. the downs of Sussex. I hope you are diligent to take as much exercise as you can bear. I had rather you rode twice a day than tired yourself in the morning. I take the true definition of exercise to be labour without weariness '. When I left you, there hung over you a cloud of discontent which is I hope dispersed. Drive it away as fast as you can. Sadness only multiplies self. Let us do our duty, and be cheerful. Dear Sir, your humble Servant, Sam: Johnson. August 3, 1779. To the Rev'^ Dr. Taylor at Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 628. To James Boswell. Streatham, September 9, 1779. Published in the Life, iii. 396. 629. To Mrs. Thrale -. Dear Madam, Monday, Oct. 4, 1779. I had intended to send you such a card as I have inclosed, when I was alarmed by hearing that my servant had told in the house, for servants never tell their masters, his opinion — that for the two last days Mr. Thrale was visibly worse. His eyes are keen, and his attention upon such occasions vigorous enough. I therefore earnestly wish, that before you set out, even though you should lose a day, you would go together to Heberden, and see what advice he wall give you. In this doubtful pendulous state of the distemper, advice may do much ; and physicians, be their powers less or more, are the only refuge that we have in sickness ^ I wish you would do yet more, and propose to Heberden a consultation with some other of the doctors; and if Lawrence is at present fit for business'*, I wish he might be called, but call somebody. As you make yourselves of more importance, you will be more considered. Do not go away with ' Ante, ii. 99. * Perhaps he had had the first ' Piozzi Letters, n. $^. attacks of the palsy which three ^Johnson's piety here seems to years later made him unable to write, slumber. Life, iv. 144, «. 3. any Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. TJirale. 103 any reason to tax yourselves with negligence. You are in a state in which nothing that can be done ought to be omitted. We now do right or wrong for a great stake. You may send the children and nurses forward to-morrow, and go yourselves on Wednesday '. Little things must not now be minded, and least of all must you mind a little money. What the world has is to be sold, and to be enjoyed by those that will pay its price. Do not give Heberden a single guinea, and subscribe a hundred to keep out the French '^ ; we have an invasion more formidable^ and an enemy less resistible by power, and less avoidable by flight. I have now done my duty. I am, dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 630. To Mrs. Thrale^. Dear Madam, Oct. 5, 1779. When Mr. Boswell ■* waited on Mr. Thrale in Southwark, I directed him to watch all appearances with close attention, and bring me his observations. At his return he told me, that with- out previous intelligence he should not have discovered that Mr. Thrale had been lately ill. It appears to me that Mr. Thrale's disorder, whether grumous or serous ^, must be cured by bleeding ; and I would not have him begin a course of exercise without considerable evacuation ^. ' They were going to Tunbridge Wells. ^ Adolphus in \\\?, History of Ettg- land, ill. 158, writing of this year when we were at war with the United States, France and Spain, says : — 'Individuals and publicbodies entered into large subscriptions for raising troops, giving bounties to seamen, and equipping privateers.' Johnson ridiculed the fears of an invasion. Post, p. 109. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 60. ■* Boswell, who had made a sudden journey to London, had called at Johnson's house the morning before and found him in bed. ' He called briskly, " Frank, go and get coffee, and let us breakfast in splendour." ' Life,\\\. 400. Unfortunately Boswell was very indolent in keeping his Journal this visit. ^ Grumous Johnson defines as ' thick, clotted ' ; serous as ' thin, watery ; used of the part of the blood which separates in congelation from the grumous or red part.' ^ Johnson had written to Boswell on September 9 : — ' Mr.Thrale goes to Brighthelmstone about Michaelmas To I04 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1779. To encrease the force of the blood, unless it be first diluted and attenuated, may be dangerous. But the case is too important for my theory. The weakness in my ankles left them for a day, but has now- turned to a pain in my toe, much like that at Brighthelmstone. It is not bad, nor much more than troublesome ; I hope it will not be greater, nor last long. You all go with the good wishes of, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 631 To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, London, Oct. 8, 1779. I begin to be frighted at your omission to write ; do not tor- ment me any longer, but let me know where you are, how you got thither, how you live there, and every thing else that one friend loves to know of another. I will show you the way. On Sunday the gout left my ankles, and I went very commo- diously to Church. On Monday night I felt my feet uneasy. On Tuesday I was quite lame. That night I took an opiate, having first taken physick and fasted. Towards morning on Wednesday the pain remitted. — Bozzy came to me, and much talk we had ^ I fasted another day ; and on Wednesday night could walk tolerably. On Thursday, finding myself mending, I ventured on my dinner, which I think has a little interrupted my convalescence. To-day I have again taken physick, and eaten only some stewed apples. I hope to starve it away. It is now no worse than it was at Brighthelmstone. This, Madam, is the history of one of my toes ; the history of my head would perhaps be much shorter. I thought it was the to be jolly and ride a hunting.' Life, to say when he was indolent with his iii. 397. For Johnson's ' dabbling in Journal : — ' During this visit to physic ' see Life, iii. 1 52. London I had several interviews with ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 61. Dr. Johnson, which it is unnecessary "" BoswcU has no record of this to distinguish particularly.' Life, iii. day. He says, as he was accustomed 400. gout Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 105 gout on Saturday. It has already lost me two dinners abroad, but then I have not been at much more charges, for I have eaten little at home. Surely I shall have a letter to-morrow. I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. 632. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, London, Oct. n, 1779. I thought it very long till I heard from you, having sent a second letter to Tunbridge, which I believe you cannot have received ^. I do not see why you should trouble yourself with physicians while Mr. Thrale grows better. Company and bustle will, I hope, complete his cure. Let him gallop over the Downs in the morning, call his friends about him to dinner, and frisk in the rooms at night ^ and outrun time and outface misfortune. Notwithstanding all authorities against bleeding, Mr. Thrale bled himself well ten days ago. You will lead a jolly life, and perhaps think little of me ; but I have been invited twice to Mrs. Vesey's conversation ^, but have not gone. The gout that was in my ankles when Queeney criticised my gait, passed into my toe, but I have hunted it, and starved it, and it makes no figure. It has drawn some attention, for Lord and Lady Lucan sent to enquire after me. This is all the news that I have to tell you. Yesterday I dined with Mr. ' Piozsi Letters^ ii. 63. ^ They soon left Tunbridge Wells for Brighton. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 267. ^ ' In the evening we went to the rooms, which at this time are open every other night at Shergold's, or the New Assembly Rooms, and the alternate nights at Hick's or the Ship Tavern. There was very little com- pany. Almost everybody but our- selves went to cards.' Id. p. 268. * Conversation is apparently a translation of conversazione. John- son uses it again, post, Letter of December 31, 1783. In the Letter of June 15, 1780, he writes : — 'I was at Renny's cottversatione.'' As we have not the originals a misprint is possible. Hawkins writes of ' a tea- conversation.' Post, p. 1 13, n. 3. For Mrs. Vesey see a7ife, ii. i^, n. 3, and for Lady Lucan, ii. 65. Strahan, io6 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1779. Strahan. and Bosvvell was there '. We shall be both to-morrow at Mr. Ramsay's ^ Now sure I have told you quite all, unless you yet want to be told that I am. &c., Sam: Johnson. 633. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Dear Madam, Oct. 16,1779. The advice given you by Dr. Pepys '' agrees very exactly with my notions. I would not bleed but in exigencies. Riding and cheerfulness will, I hope, do all the business. All alive and merry, must be my master's motto. How did you light on your specifick for the tooth-ach ? You have now been troubled with it less. I am glad you are at last relieved. You say nothing of \\i& younglings'" ; I hope they are not spoiled with the pleasures of Brighthelmston, a dangerous place, we were told, for children. You will do well to keep them out of harm's way. From the younglings let me pass to a veteran ; you tell me nothing of Mr. S • ^ ; I hope he is well, and cheerful and communicative. Does Mr. Thrale go and talk with him, and do you run in and out ? You may both be the better for his conversation. I am sorry for poor Thomas ^ who was a decent and civil ' Life., ill. 400. " Life, iii. 407. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 64. " Sir Lucas Pepys. Boswell call- ing on Johnson on March 22, 1783, says : — ' He was better, but I per- ceived he was but an unruly patient, for Sir Lucas Pepys, who visited him, while I was with him said, "If you were tractable, Sir, I should pre- scribe for you." ' Life, iv. 169. ^ Miss Bumey and Miss Thrale. * Perhaps Mr. Scrase (ante, i. 395) or a Mr. Selwin to whom Miss Burney took ' a prodigious fancy,' who was now at Brighton. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 285 ; v. 300. ^ ' Mrs. Thrale entered all our names at Thomas's, the fashionable bookseller ; but we find he has now a rival, situated also upon the Steyn, who seems to carry away all the custom and all the company. This is a Mr. Bowen who is just come from London. Mrs. Thrale, at the same time that she sees his manage- ment and contrivance, so much admires his sagacity and dexterity, that, though open-eyed, she is as easily wrought upon to part with her man. Aetat. 70.] To Miss Reynolds. 107 man. It is hard that he should be overwhelmed by a new-comer. But thoti by some other shall be laid as loiv. Bowen's da}' may come. A finer shop may be erected, kept by yet a fairer man, and crowded by greater numbers of fine gentlemen and fine ladies. My foot gives me very little trouble ; but it is not yet well. I have dined, since you saw me, not so often as once in two days. But I am told how well I look ; and I really think I get more mobility. I dined on Tuesday with Ramsay, and on Thursday with Paoli, who talked of coming to see you, till I told him of your migration. Mrs. Williams is not yet returned ; but discord and discontent reign in my humble habitation as in the palaces of monarchs. — Mr. Levet and Mrs. Desmoulins have vowed eternal hate. Levet is the more insidious, and wants me to turn her out'. Poor Williams writes word that she is no better, and has left off her physick. Mr. Levet has seen Dr. Lewis, w^ho declares himself hopeless of doing her any good. Lawrence desponded some time ago. I thought I had a little fever some time, but it seems to be starved away. Bozzy says, he never saw me so well. I hope you will say the same when you see me : methinks it will be pleasant to see you all — there is no danger of my forgetting you. Only keep or grow all well, and then I hope our meeting will be happy. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 634. To Miss Reynolds ^ Dearest Madam, Oct. 19, 1779- You are extremely kind in taking so much trouble. My foot is almost well ; and one of my first visits will certainly be to Dover Street^. You will do me a great favour if you will money as any of the many dupes in ' Ante, ii. 74, 77. this place whom he persuades to ^ First published in Croker's Bos- require indispensably whatever he well, page 639. shows them.' lb. i. 267. ^ Ante, ii. 85, n. i. buy io8 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. 1779. buy for me the prints of Mr. Burke, Mr. Dyer ', and Dr. Gold- smith, as you know good impressions. If any of your own pictures are engraved, buy them for me. I am fitting up a Httle room with prints. I am your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 635. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor^. Dear Sir, [When I found that the Deanery had given you no uneasi- ness, I was satisfied, and thought no more of writing. You may indeed be very well without it, and [I] am glad to find that you think so yourself. You have enough, if you are satisfied ^.] Mr. Thrale, after whose case you will have a natural curiosity, is with his family at Brighthelmston. He rides very vigorously, and runs much into company, and is very angry if it be thought that any thing ails him. Mrs. Thrale thinks him for the present in no danger. I had no mind to go with them, for I have had what Brighthelmston can give, and I know not they much wanted me. I have had a little catch ^ of the gout ; but as I have had no great opinion of the benefits which it is supposed to convey, I made haste to be easy, and drove it away after two days ^. ' Samuel Dyer, a member of the Queries, 6th S. v. 461. Ivy Lane Club and the Literary ^ This paragraph is erased in the Club. Lt/e, iv. 10, 436. Johnson original. The only Deanery that consulted him about a piece of Latin, had been filled up this summer was saying: — 'Sir, I beg to have your that of Rochester, on June 16. Le judgment, for I know your nicety.' Neve's Fast. Eccl. Angl., ii. 579. lb. iv. II. Sir Joshua Reynolds See post, Letter of November 14, thought ' he was the author of /z/'/z/wj 1781, for Taylor's longings after assisted by Edmund and William another Deanery. Burke.' Prior's Malone, p. 419. "* There is no instance in Johnson's The print of him which Johnson Dictionary or in Dr. Murray's of wanted was the mezzotinto from catch used in this sense. Reynolds's portrait. * It has been ^ Horace Walpole writing after an copied for the Lives of the Poets by attack of the gout, says : — ' The pain mistake, as if it were the portrait of would be endurable were it to end John Dyer, author of a poem called here ; but being the wicket through the Fleeced lb. p. 423. which one squeezes into old age, and ' First published in Notes and the prospect pointing to more such Publick Aetat. 70.] To the Revereiid Dr. Taylo^r 109 Publick affairs continue to go on without much mending, and tliere are those still who either fright themselves or would fright others with an invasion ' ; but my opinion is that the French neither have nor had in any part of the Summer a number of ships on the opposite coast equal to the transportation of twenty or of ten thousand Men. Such a fleet cannot be hid in a creek, it must be safely [easily ?] visible and yet I believe no man has seen the man that has seen it. The ships of war were within sight of Plymouth, and only within sight. I wish, I knew how your health stands. My friends con- gratulate me upon my looks, and indeed I am very free from some of the most troublesome of my old complaints, but I have wickets, I cannot comfort myself with that common delusion of inter- mediate health. What does the gout cure that is so bad as itself .'' ' Letters^ v. 260. Nevertheless twelve years later he wrote : — ' The gout prevents other illnesses and prolongs life. Could I cure it, should not I have a fever, a palsy, or an apo- plexy?' lb. viii. 362. John Wes- ley refers to the same delusion when he writes : — ' Regard not them who say, " The gout otight 7iot to be cured." ' Primitive Physzck, ed. 1 762, p. 70. ' The Earl of Carlisle wrote to George Selwyn on June 18 of this year : — ' I never saw less despond- ency, and more spirit manifested in a difficult moment, than at the pre- sent. Our common practice is to be alarmed for two or three days, and then to go to all the balls and operas, as if the country was in the greatest safety.' G. Selwyn's Life, &c., ed. by Jesse, iv. 198. Susan Burney, who was staying at Chesington in Surrey, wrote on August 25 : — 'A report reached us from Kingston that the French and Spaniards were /anded. Mr. Crisp, who spends his life in perpetual ap- prehension of terrible national ca- lamities, went to Kingston the next morning, and came back with a countenance calculated to terrify and crush temerity itself. He could eat no dinner. Troops of French and Spaniards were landed at Falmouth, whilst the combined Fleets were tlu'ojving bombs itito Plymouth. This day and the next we spent really very miserably. Sunday we received intelligence from my father, who was at Mr. Chamier's [the Under Secretary of State], that the French had not yet attempted to land, and though much was to be dreaded, there yet remained some- thing to hope.' Early Diary of Fanny Burney, ii. 263. Mrs. Barbauld writing in July, 1803, when Napoleon was threaten- ing England, says :— ' Pray are you an alarmist ? One hardly knows whether to be frightened or diverted on seeing people assembled at a dinner-table, appearing to enjoy ex- tremely the fare and the company, and saying all the while with a most smiling and placid countenance, that the French are to land in a fortnight, and London is to be sacked and plundered for three days— and then they talk of going to watering-places.' Barbauld's Works, ii. 92. gained I lO To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1779. gained this relief by very steady use of mercury and purgatives, with some opium, and some abstinence. I have eaten more fruit this summer than perhaps in any since I was twenty years old, but though it certainly did me no harm, I know not that I had any medicinal good from it '. Write to me soon. We are both old. How few of those whom we have known in our youth are left alive ! May we yet live to some better purpose. I am, Sir, your most humble Servant, Sam: Johnson. London, Oct. 19, 1779. To the Rev'i Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 636. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, October 21, 1779. Your treatment of little * « » * was undoubtedly right ; when there is so strong a reason against any thing as uncon- querable terrour, there ought surely to be some weighty reason for it before it is done. But for putting into the water ^ a child already well, it is not very easy to find any reason strong or weak. That the nurses fretted, will supply me during life with an additional motive to keep every child, as far as is possible, out of a nurse's power. A nurse made of common mould will have a pride in overpowering a child's reluctance. There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful ; power is nothing but as it is felt, and the delight of superiority is proportionate to the resistance overcome "*. I walked yesterday to Covent-garden, and feel to-day neither ' In his Life of Swift he scoffs at that writer's notion that the giddi- ness from which he suffered had been caused by eating too much fruit in his youth. 'Ahnost every boy eats as much fruit as he can get, without any great inconvenience.' Works, viii. 194. ^ Piozzi Letters^ ii. 67. ' No doubt into the sea, for they were at Brighton. '* Johnson in the Rambler, No. 1 14, after showing how flattering and delightful are power and superiority, continues : — ' We love to overlook the boundaries which we do not wish to pass ; and as the Roman satirist remarks, he that has no design to take the life of another is yet glad to have it in his hands.' The Roman satirist is Juvenal. Satires, x. 96. pain Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 1 1 1 pain nor weakness. Send me, if you can, such an account of yourself and my master. Sir Philip ' sent me word that he should be in town, but he has not yet called. Yesterday came Lady Lucan and Miss Bingham ^ and she said it was the first visit that she had paid. Your new friend Mr. Bowen, who has sold fifty sets, had but thirty to sell, and I am afraid has yet a set or two for a friend. There is a great deal of fallacy in this world. I hope you do not teach the company wholly to forsake poor Thomas ^. The want of company is an inconvenience, but Mr. Cumber- land is a million '*. Make the most of what you have. Send my master out to hunt in the morning, and to walk the rooms in the evening ; and bring him as active as a stag on the mountain, back to the borough. When he is in motion he is mending. The young ones are very good in minding their book. If I do not make something of them, "'twill reflect upon vie, as I ktiew not my trade ; for their parts are sufficiently known, and every body will have a better opinion of their industry than of mine. How- ever, I hope when they come back, to accustom them to more lessons ^ Your account of Mr. Scrase gives me no delight. He was ' Sir Philip J. Clerk. Ante, ii. 94. ' Bingham isthe familynameof the Earls of Lucan. M iss Bingham mar- ried in 1781 the second Earl Spencer ; and by him was the mother of Vis- count Althorp, the Leader of the House of Commons from 1830 to 1834. During the time that her husband was at the head of the Admiralty ' she is often touchingly mentioned in the letters of Nelson and Collingwood, as one who was sure to sympathise with them in their difficulties. She used playfully to call Nelson her bull- dog.' Memoir of Viscount Althorp, p. 20. Gibbon described her in 1785 as 'a charming woman who with sense and spirit has the sim- plicity and playfulness of a child.' Gibbon's Misc. Worlds, ii. 384. See ante, ii. 65, nn. 4, 9. ^ For Bowen and Thomas, see ante, ii. 106, n.6. The 'sets' were sets of the first four volumes oi Xh& Lives . See next Letter where Johnson owns that he did Bowen wrong. * Boswell quotes this passage in a note. Life, iv. 384, ;/. 2. Northcote, according to Hazlitt {Coitversations of Northcote, p. 275), said that John- son and his friends ' never admitted C [Cumberland] as one of the set ; Sir Joshua did not invite him to dinner. If he had been in the room, Goldsmith would have flown out of it as if a dragon had been there. I remember Garrick once saying, " D— n his dish-ctoitt face ; his plays would never do, if it were not for my patching them up and acting in them." ' 5 A7tte, ii. 98, ;;. 2. a friend 112 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1779. a friend upon all occasions, whether assistance was wanted from the purse or the understanding '. When he is gone, our barrier against calamity is weakened ; and we must act with caution, or we shall be in more danger. Consult him, while his advice is yet to be had. What makes C hate B . D is indeed a rival, and can upon occasion provoke a bugle. But what has B done ? Does he not like her look ^ ? * » * * has passed one evening with me. He has made great discoveries in a library at Cambridge, and he finds so many precious materials, that his book must be a porter's load. He has sent me another sheet ^. I am, dearest of all dear Ladies, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 637. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, London, October 25, 1779. Let me repair an injury done by misinformation to Mr. Bowen. He had at first indeed only thirty, that is, two shares ; but he afterwards purchased two shares more ^ So all that he says I suppose is true. ' Ante, i. 348, 395. jealousy. He had by this time ^ C — is Cumberland, B — Miss brought out only one of his seven Burney, and D — Dr. Delap, who tragedies — Hecuba — and that had had with him 'another tragedy, and reached only the third night. Baker's told Miss Burney she would have it Biog. Dram., ii. 289. to read.' He begged Mrs. Thrale ' Provoke a bugle,' if it is not for a prologue. Cumberland avoided a quotation, was perhaps one of Miss Burney, because, as all the the catch-words of the Streatham folk said, it had got abroad that she set. Johnson gives as one of was ' to bring out a play that season. the meanings of bugle., ' a sort of Though in all other respects he is an wild ox.' agreeable and a good man, he is ^ ScejzJ^i-/, p. 118, where the same notorious for hating and envying author is probably mentioned. I and spiting all authors in the dra- suspect that Dr. Burney is meant, matic line. He had given evident who a year earlier had gone to Ox- marks of displeasure at Dr. Delap's ford in search of materials for his name whenever Mrs. Thrale has History of Music. It fills four quarto mentioned it.' Mme. D'Arblay's volumes. Johnson's name is in the Diary, i. 272, 275, and Hayward's list of subscribers. Piozzi, i. 302. Dr. Delap's success * Piozzi Letters, ii. 70. had not been so great as to justify ^ As is shown by the title-page of On Aetat. 70.] To Mts. Thi'ak. I I 3 On Saturday I walked to Dover-street', and back. Yesterday I dined with Sir Joshua. There was Mr. ElHot of Cornwall ^, who enquired after my master. At night I was bespoken by Lady Lucan ; but she was taken ill, and the assembly was put off. I am to dine with Renny ^ to-morrow. I hope Mr. Thrale scours the country after the early horn, and at night flutters about the rooms, and once a-day makes a lusty dinner. I eat meat but once in two days, at most but four times a-week, reckoning several weeks together ; for it is neither necessary nor prudent to be nice in regimen. Renny told me yesterday, that I look better than when she knew me first. It is now past the postman's time, and I have no letter ; and that is not well done, because I long for a letter ; and you should always let me know whether you and Mr. Thrale, and all the rest, are or are not well. Do not serve me so often, because your silence is always a disappointment. Some old gentlewomen at the next door are in very great dis- tress. Their little annuity comes from Jamaica, and is therefore uncertain ; and one of them has had a fall, and both are very helpless ; and the poor have you to help them. Persuade my master to let me give them something for him. It will be bestowed upon real want. I hope all the younglings go on well, that the eldest are very prudent, and the rest very merry. We are to be merry but a little while ; Prudence soon comes to spoil our mirth. Old Times the Lives^ thirty-six firms of book- With cream and sugar temper'd sellers had shares in it. J. Bowen's well, name comes last. Another dish of tea. ' Where Miss Reynolds lodged. xt r 4.1, .. t ..i -j A f •■ Q Nor fear that I, my gentle maid, 2 IcS J T J T71- .. u u J Shall long detain the cup, ^ Afterwards Lord Eliot. He had ,,,, ^ ,, u .^ t ,,,.,„,.,.„ , ^ , When once unto the bottom 1 travelled with Philip Stanhope, Lord -^ , 1 ^u r „, , z- ,j, •„ ■• T -r Have drunk the liquor up. Chesterfield s illegitimate son. Life, iv. 332. Yet hear at last this mournful ^ Miss Reynolds. ' At a tea-con- truth, versalion,' writes Hawkins, ' Johnson Nor hear it with a frown, addressing himself to Miss Reynolds Thou canst not make the tea so went on rhyming thus : — f^^t " I pray thee, gentle Renny dear, As I can gulp it down." ' That thou wilt give to me, Hawkins's Life of Johnson, p. 389, VOL. IL I have 114 'I^o Mrs. Aston. [a.d. 1779. have bequeathed us a precept, to be merry and wise, but who has been able to observe it. There is a very furious fellow writing with might and main against the life of Milton '. I am, &c,, Sam: Johnson. 638. To Mrs. Aston ^ Dearest Madam, Mrs. Gastrel is so kind as to write to me, and yet I always write to you, but I consider what is written to either as written to both. Publick affairs do not seem to promise much amend- ment, and the nation is now full of distress. What will be [the] event of things none can tell, we may still hope for better times^. My health, which I began to recover, when I was in the country, continues still in a good state ; it costs me indeed some physick, and something of abstinence, but it pays the cost. I wish, dear Madam, I could hear a little of your improvements. Here is no news. The talk of the invasion"* seems to be over. But a very turbulent Session of Parliament is expected ^, though turbulence is not likely to do any good. Those are happyest who are out of the noise and tumult. There will be no great violence of faction at Stowhill, and that it may [be] free from that and all other inconvenience and disturbance, is the sincere wish of all your friends. I am, Dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Oct. 25, 1779. Sam : Johnson. Bolt-court, Fleet-street. ' ' Against his Life of Milton the was content with being an individual hounds of Whiggism have opened in in so free and splendid a nation, full cry.' Life, iv. 40. 'Tis all gone, Madam, and methinks ° First published in Croker's Bos- one sinks in one's own estimation in w^//, page 640. Corrected by me from proportion.' L^etters,\'\\. 16%. John- the original in Pembroke College son's tone, when he speaks of public Libraiy. affairs, henceforth is gloomy. ^ Horace Walpole, a week later, * Ante, ii. 109. lamenting the decay of England, ^ Parliament met on November 25. says: — 'Ambition I never felt, but Pari. /list. \x. 1020. To Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 115 639. To James Boswell. London, October 27, 1779. Published in the Life, iii. 413. 640. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, London, October 28, 1779. Some days before our last separation, Mr. Thrale and I had one evening an earnest discourse about the business with Mr. Scrase. For myself, you may be sure I am very willing to be useful ; but surely all use of such an office is at a very great dis- tance ^. Do not let those fears prevail which you know to be unreasonable ; a will brings the end of life no nearer^. But with this we will have done, and please ourselves with wishing my master mtcltos et felices. C L '' accuses ♦ * » * of making a party against her play. I always hissed away the charge, supposing him a man of honour ; but I shall now defend him with less confidence. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 72. ^ For Mr. Scrase, the solicitor, see ante, i. 395. The office that John- son was to fill was that of one of Mr. Thrale's executors. Life, iv. 85, and post, pp. 1 19, 126. ^ ' Thus I gather that death is dis- agreeable to most citizens, because they commonly die intestate ; this being a rule that when their will is made they think themselves nearer a grave than before : now they, out of the wisdom of thousands, think to scare destiny, from which there is no appeal, by not making a will, or to live longer by protestation of their unwillingness to die.' An Essay on Death. Bacon's Works, ed. 1803, ii. 476, (In Spedding's Baco7i, vi. 594, it is maintained that this Essay is not Bacon's.) Johnson with all his wisdom was with difficulty brought to complete his own will, and only finally executed it five days before his death. Life, iv. 402. " ' Charlotte Lennox.' Baretti. ' Dr. Goldsmith, upon occasion of Mrs. Lennox's bringing out a play, said to Dr. Johnson at the Club, that a person had advised him to go and hiss it, because she had attacked Shakspeare in her book called Shak- speare Illustrated. JOHNSON. "And did not you tell him he was a rascal ?" Goldsmith. " No, Sir, I did not. Perhaps he might not mean what he said." Johnson. " Nay, Sir, if he lied, it is a different thing." Colman slily said, (but it is believed Dr. Johnson did not hear him,) " Then the proper expression should have been, — Sir, if you don't lie, you're a rascal."' Life, iv. 10. The play, it is believed, was The Sister, brought out in 1769. Gentleman's Magazine for 1769, p. 199. Cumberland very likely was the person Mrs. Lennox accused. Ante, ii. 112, n. 2. I 2 Neqitid ii6 To Mrs. Thrale [A.D. 1779. Neqiiid nimis. Horace says, that Nil admirari is the only thing that can make or keep a man happy'. It is with equal truth the only thing that can make or keep a man honest. The desire of fame not regulated, is as dangerous to virtue as that of money. I hope C scorns his little malice^. I have had a letter for » * ♦ » ^, which I have inclosed. Do not lose it ; for it contains a testimony that there may be some pleasure in this world ; and that T may have a little of the little that there is, pray write to me. I thought your last letter long in coming. The two younglings, what hinders them from writing to me. I hope they do not forget me. Will Master give me any thing for my poor neighbours ? I have had from Sir Joshua and Mr. Strahan ; they are very old maids, very friendless and very helpless. Mrs. Williams talks of coming home this week from Kingston, and then there will be merry doings'". I eat meat seldom, and take physick often, and fancy that I grow light and airy ^ A man that does not begin to grow light and airy at seventy, is certainly losing time, if he intends ever to be light and airy. I dined on Tuesday with » * * . ^ and hope her little head begins to settle. She has, however, some scruples about the company of a lady whom she has lately known. I pacified her as well as I could. So no more at present ; but hoping you are ' Horace, i Epis. vi. i. * Not to admire is all the art I know To make men happy, and to keep them so.' Creech. ^ C , I suppose, is Charlotte. ^ I suspect Johnson wrote not 'for,' but 'from Boswell.' Boswell had written to him in high spirits from Chester, and begged two lines in reply, so as ' to keep his lamp burn- ing bright.' Johnson wrote back on the 27th : — ' Of what importance can it be to hear of distant friends to a man who finds himself welcome wherever he goes, and makes new friends faster than he can want them?' Life, iii. 413. "* ' So here are merry doings,' he writes, post, Letter of October 27, 1781. ^ Airy is a favourite word with Johnson. Mrs. Cholmondely he called ' a very airy lady.' Life, v. 248. In Rasselas, ch. xxv, he says, ' the daughters of many houses were airy and cheerful.' He defines it as 'gay, sprightly, full of mirth,' &c. * ' I could fill up this blank if I chose, but will not, as thereby hangs a tale.' Baretti. all Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Tlirale. 117 all in good health, as I am at this time of writing, (excuse ^^^'^^)- I am, dearest dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 641. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, London, Nov. 2, 1779. This day I thought myself sure of a letter, but so I am constantly served. Mr. Cumberland and Mrs. * * « * , and Mrs. Byron ^ and any body else, puts me out of your head ; and I know no more of you than if you were on the other side of the Caspian. I thought the two young things were to write too ; but for them I do not much care. On Saturday came home Mrs. Williams, neither better nor worse than when she went ; and I dined at ♦ * ♦ ♦ 's, and found them well pleased with their Italian journey. He took his Lady and son, and three daughters. They staid five months at Rome. They will have now something to talk of. I gave my poor neighbour-' your half guinea, and ventured upon making it two guineas at my master's expence. Pray, Madam, how do I owe you half a guinea? I dined on Sunday with Mr. Strahan, and have not been very well for some little time. Last night I was afraid of the gout, but it is gone to-day. There was on Sunday night a fire at the north end of London- bridge, which has, they say, destroyed the water-work ''. Does Mr. Thrale continue to JuDit in fields for Jicalth unboughtf^ ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 74. ^ Ante, ii. 79. ^ Johnson, I suspect, wrote neigh- bours. Ante, ii. 113. * 'In the year 1582 Peter Morice, a Dutchman, contrived a water- engine to supply the citizens with Thames water ; this was about fifty years ago improved by Mr. Sorocold, and since that time by that great master of hydrauHcs, Mr. Hadley. The wheels placed under the arches of the Bridge are moved by the com- mon stream of the tide-water of the Thames. In the first arch next the City [the north end of the bridge] is one wheel with double work of sixteen forcers.' Dodsley's London attd its Environs, ed. 1761, iv. 146. For the fire see Gentleman's Maga- zine, 1779, p. 562. ^ ' Better to hunt in fields for health unbought Than see the doctor for a nau- seous draught.' Dryden. Lines to John Driden. If ii8 To Mrs. Th^ale. [A.D. 1779. If his taste of former pleasures returns, it is a strong proof of his recovery. When we meet, we will be jolly blades. I know not well how it has happened, but I have never yet been at the B s. ,..♦♦» has called twice on me, and I have seen some more sheets — and away we go'. I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. 642. To Mrs. THRALE^ Madam, London, Nov. 4, 1779. So I may write and write, and nobody care ; but you can write often enough to Dr. Burney. Oueeney sent me a pretty letter, to which » * » added a silly short note, in such a silly white hand, that I was glad it was no longer ^ I had heard before that * » * * had lost not only ten thousand, as you tell me, but twenty thousand, as you with great consist- ency tell Dr. Burney ; but knowing that no man can lose what he has not, I took it little to heart. I did not think of borrowing ; and indeed he that borrows money for adventures deserves to lose it. No man should put into a lottery more than he can spare. Neither D , however, nor B have given occasion to his loss"*. Notice is taken that I have a cold and a cough ; but I have been so long used to disorders so much more afflictive, that I have 1 The B s are, I think, the Burneys. Afiie, ii. 112, n. 3. ^ Piozzi Letters^ ii. 76. ^ 'Do you know I have been writing to Dr. Johnson ! I tremble to men- tion it ; but he sent a message in a letter to Mrs. Thrale, to wonder why his pupils did not write to him, and to hope they did not forget him. Miss Thrale therefore wrote a letter immediately, and I added only this little postscript :— " P.S. Dr. Johnson's other pupil a little longs to add a few lines to this letter, — but knows too well that all she has to say might be comprised in signing herself his obliged and most obedient servant, F. B. : so that's better than a long rigmarole about nothing."' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 285. ■* The person who had had the loss is described, ^^J/", p. 123, as C . Cumberland would seem to be the man, the more so as D and B would fit in with what has been said about Dr. Delap and Miss Burney. Ante, ii. 1 12, n. 2. For Mrs. Thrale's ' laxity of narration,' see Li/e, iii. 243. thought Aetat. 70.] To MvS. AstoU. I I9 thought on them but httlc. If they grow worse, something should be done. I hear from every body that Mr. Thrale grows better. He is cohunen dovms ' ; and if he stands firm, little evils may be over- looked. Drive him out in the morning, lead him out at night, keep him in what bustle you can. Do not neglect Scrase. You may perhaps do for him what you have done for » * * * The serious affair I do not wonder that you cannot mention ; and yet I wish it were trans- acted while Scrase can direct and superintend it ^. No other man, if he shall have the same skill and kindness, which I know not where to find, will have the same influence. Sir Philip -^ never called upon me, though he promised me to do it. Somebody else has laid hold upon him. I live here in stark solitude. Nobody has called upon me this live-long day ; yet I comfort myself that I have no tortures in the night. I have not indeed much sleep ; but I suppose I have enough, for I am not as sleepy in the day-time as formerly. I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. 643. To Mrs. Aston'*. Dearest Madam, Having had the pleasure of hearing from Mr. Boswel that he found you better than he expected, I will not forbear to tell you how much I was delighted with the news^. May your health encrease and encrease, till you are as well as you can wish yourself, or I can wish you. My Friends tell me that my health improves too. It is certain that I use both physick and abstinence, and my endeavours have been blessed with more success than at my age I could reason- ably hope. I please myself with the thoughts of visiting you ' Ante, i. 405. from the original in Pembroke College ^ Ante, ii. 115, n. 2. Library. ^ Aiite, ii. 94, n. 4. ^ Boswell, on his return from his " First published in Croker's Bos- autumn visit to London, had passed well, page 640. Corrected by me a night at Lichfield. Life,\\\. ^w. next I20 To Mrs. Astoii. [a.d. 1779. next year in so robust a state that I shall not be afraid of the hill between Mrs. Gastrel's house and yours, nor think it neces- sary to rest myself between Stowhill and Lucy Porter's. Of publick affairs I can give you no very comfortable account. The Invasion has vanished for the present as I expected. I never believed that any invasion was intended'. But whatever we have escaped we have done nothing, nor are likely to do better another year. We, however, who have no part of the nation's welfare entrusted to our management, have nothing to do but to serve God, and leave the world submissively in his hands. All trade is dead, and pleasure is scarce alive. Nothing almost^ is purchased but such things as the buyer cannot be without, so that a general sluggishness and general discontent are spread over the town. All the trades of luxury and elegance are nearly at a Standi What the Parliament when it meets will do, and indeed what it ought to do is very difficult to say. Pray set Mrs. Gastrel, who is a dear good lady, to write to me from time to time, for I have great delight in hearing from you, especially when I hear any good news of your health. I am, Dear Madam, Your most humble Servant, Sam : Johnson. London, Bolt-court, Fleet-street. Nov. 5, 1779. ' Ante, ii. 109. lish, ask how we did before tea and * See Life, ii. 446, for a note on sugar were known. Better, no doubt ; almost nothing. Beattie, like Bos- but as I did not happen to be born well's ' accurate English friend,' two or three hundred years ago, I looked upon it as not English. See cannot recollect precisely whether his Scoticisvis, p. 9. diluted acorns and barley bread, ^ Horace Walpolc wrote ten days spread with honey, made a very later :— ' The friends of Government, luxurious breakfast.' Letters, vii. 275. who have thought of nothing but of On November 16 he wrote :—' Dis- reducing us to our islandhood, and tress and dissatisfaction do begin to bringing us back to the simplicity of murmur everywhere. Men do per- ancient times, when we were the ceive that they cannot live upon frugal, temperate, virtuous old Eng- loyalty and dissipation.' lb. p. 277. To Aetat. 70.] To AIvS. Tkralc. 12 1 644. To Mrs. THRALE^ London, November 7, 1779. Poor Mrs. »»»*,! am glad that she runs to you at last for shelter. Give her, dear Madam, what comfort you can. Has any calamity fallen upon her? Her husband, so much as I hear, is well enough spoken of; nor is it supposed that he had power to do more than has been done^. But life must have its end, and commonly an end of gloomy discontent, and lingering distress. While you are vigorous and sprightly, you must take into your protection as many as you can of those who are tottering under their burden. When you want the same support, may you always find it. I have for some time had a cough and a cold, but I did not mind it ; continuance, however, makes it heavy ; but it seems to be going away. My master, I hope, hunts and walks, and courts the belles, and shakes Brighthelmston. When he comes back, frolick and active, we will make a feast, and drink his healthy and have a noble day. Of the Lucans^ I have never heard since. On Saturday, after having fasted almost all the week, I dined with Renny"*. For ' Pioszi Letters, ii. 78. Horace Walpole, writing on Sep- "" I only arrived at the clue to this tember 16 about the capture of passage by the discovery that a letter Grenada, says : — ' The subsequent of Mrs. Thrale given in Mme. D'Ar- narrative of the engagement is more blay's Diary under the date of 17S1 favourable. It allows the victory to (ii. 3) must have been written in the the enemy, but makes their loss of autumn of 1779. In it she writes : — men much the more considerable.' ' In the midst of my own misery Letters, vii. 252. For an account of I felt for my dear Mrs. Byron's ; the French conquests in the West but Chamier [Under Secretary of Indies see Ann. Reg. 1779, i. 199. State, Life, i. 478, n. i] has relieved Poor Mrs. B and her husband that anxiety by assurances that the were, I conjecture, Admiral and Mrs. Admiral behaved quite unexception- Byron, grand-parents of the poet. ably, and that as to honour in the A7ite, ii. 79, n. 5, and post, Letter of West Indies all goes well. The November 12, 1781. Grenadas are a heavy loss indeed, ^ Ante, ii. 65, nti. 4, 9. nor is it supposed possible for Byron '' Miss Reynolds. Ante, ii. 113, to protect Barbadoes and Antigua.' //. 3. Wednesday, 122 To Mrs. Tlirale. [A.D. 1779. Wednesday I am invited by the ♦ ^ » » s, and if I am well, purpose to go. I imagine there will be a large company. The invitation is to dine and spend the evening. Too much at a time. I shall be in danger of crying out, with Mr. Head, catamaran, whatever that may mean, for it seemed to imply tediousness and disgust '. I do not much like to go, and I do not much like to stay away. Have you any assemblies at this time of the year ? and does Queeney dance? and does B dance too? I would have B dance with C , and so make all up"". Discord keeps her residence in this habitation, but she has for some time been silent. We have much malice, but no mischief. Levet is rather a friend to Williams, because he hates Desmou- lines more. A thing that he should hate more than Desmoulines, is not to be found ^. ' Mrs. Piozzi says that Mr. Head's real name was Plunkett. He was a low Irish parasite, whom Mr. Thrale and Mr. Murphy once made per- sonate some lord whom they had promised to introduce to the beauti- ful Miss Gunnings \Life, v. 359, n. 2] when they came over to make their fortunes. ' The girls played off their best airs, till the fellow wearied with his ill-acted character burst out on a sudden as they sat at tea, and cried " Catamaran ! young gentlemen with two shoes and never a heel : when will you have done with silly jokes now ? Ladies," turning to the future peer- esses, " never mind these merry boys ; but if you really can afford to pay for some incomparable silk stock- ings, or true India handkerchiefs, here they are now " ; rummaging his smuggler's pockets ; but the girls jumped up and turned them all three into the street, where Thrale and Murphy cursed their senseless as- sistant, and called him Head, because they swore he had none.' Hayward's Pio2zi, i. 317. " Miss Bumcy and Cumberland. They had met at the Rooms, but he had at once turned round. ' Mrs. Thrale,' writes Miss Burney, 'told me the conversation she had just had with him. As soon as I made off, he said with a spiteful tone of voice, " Oh ! that young lady is an author, Ihear." "Yes," answered Mrs. Thrale, "author oi Evelinar "Humph! — I am told it has some humour." " Ay, indeed, Johnson says nothing like it has appeared for years." " So," cried he, biting his lips, and waving uneasily in his chair, " so, so ! " " Yes," continued she, " And Sir Joshua Reynolds told Mr. Thrale he would give fifty pounds to know the author." "So, so! — oh ! vastly well!'' replied he, putting his hand on his forehead. " Nay," added she, "Burke himself sat up all night to finish it."' Tliis seemed quite too much for him ; he put both his hands to his face, and waving backwards and forwards said :— " Oh ! vastly well ! — this wiil do for anything ! " with a tone as much as to say, " Pray, no more." ' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 276. ^ A7iie, ii. 107. I hear, Aetat. 70.] To Mts. Tkralc. I hear, but you never tell me any thing, that you have at last begun to bathe'. I am sorry that your toothach kept you out of the water so long, because I know you love to be in it. If such letters as this were to cost you any thing, I should hardly write them ^ ; but since they come to you for nothing, I am willing enough to write, though I have nothing to say ; because a sorry letter serves to keep one from dropping totally out of your head ; and I would not have you forget that there is in the world such a poor being as, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 645. To Mrs. Thrale^. Dear Madam, London, Nov. 8, 1779. You are a dear dear lady. To write so often, and so sweetly, makes some amends for your absence. Your last letter came about half an hour after my last letter was sent away ; but now I have another. You have much to tell me, and I have nothing to tell you ; yet I am eager to write, because I am eager for your answer. I thought C had told you his loss^ If it be only report, I do not much credit it. Something perhaps he may have ventured, but I do not believe he had ten thousand pounds, or the means of borrowing it. Of B , I suppose the fact is true, that he is gone ; but for his loss, can any body tell who has been the winner? And if he has lost a sum disproportionate to his fortune, why should he run away when payment cannot be compelled ? Of Sir Thomas^ I can make no estimate; but if he is ' The month of November is late to Mr. Thrale, who, as a inember of in the year for sea-bathing. We find parliament, received them free of Johnson, when he was sixty-seven charge, years old, bathing near the end of ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 81. October. Life, iii. 92. See post, '* Ante, \i. 118. Letter of November 14, 17S2, ;/. = ' Sir Thomas Mill.' Baretti. Johnson no doubt addressed them distressed, 124 To Mrs. T/irale. [a.d. 1779. distressed, I am sorry; for he was in his prosperity civil and officious. It has happened to , as to many active and prosperous men, that his mind has been wholly absorbed in business, or at intervals dissolved in amusement : and habituated so long to certain modes of employment or diversion, that in the decline of life it can no more receive a new train of images, than the hand can acquire dexterity in a new mechanical operation. For this reason a religious education is so necessary. Spiritual ideas may be recollected ' in old age, but can hardly be acquired. You shall not hide Mrs. » * » * ^ from me. For if she be a feeler ^, I can bear a feeler as well as you ; and hope, that in tenderness for what she feels from nature, I am able to forgive or neglect what she feels by affectation. I pity her, as one in a state to which all must come ; and I think well of her judgment in chusing you to be the depository of her troubles, and easer of her bosom. Fondle her, and comfort her. Your letters have commonly one good paragraph concerning my master, who appears to you, and to every body, to mend upon the whole ; though your vigilance perceives some accidental and temporary alterations, which, however, I am willing to hope are more rare and more slight than they were at first. Let him hunt much, and think little, and avoid solitude. I hope time has brought some company whom you can call now to your table ■*. Does he take to ? Does he love her as you profess to love ? with a fifth part of the kindness that she has for me ^. I am well rewarded for what I have taught you ' Johnson defines to recollect as men to dinner. Among them was ' to recover to memory.' See Life, Single - speech Hamilton.' Mme. iv. 126, where he distinguishes be- D'Arblay's Diary, i. 293. Miss Bur- tween remember and recollect. ney gives amusing reports of the ^ Ante, ii. 121. conversation at the Rooms and else- ^ 'BOSWELL. " I have often blamed where, /i:!'. 278-296. myself, Sir, for not feeling for others ^ Mrs. Thrale replied : — ' Poor as sensibly as many say they do." Mrs. * * * * is past dissembling her Johnson. " Sir, don't be duped by cares, or their consequences, a ruined them any more. You will find these constitution : my master does not very feeling people are not very like her much, nor dislike her : he is ready to do you good. They /cj/ all so gay now — up iunong tJie boughs, yowhy feeling.'^' Life,'n. ()^. as Miss Owen calls it.' Piozzi Letters^ * 'We had a large party of gentle- ii. 85. of Aetat. 70.] To J\/rs. 77irale. 125 of computation ', by seeing our friendship divided into factions ; so we stand, do we? as two to ten. A pretty appearance upon paper, and still prettier in the heart. Well^^^ thy ways old Jack \ Of the capture of Jamaica nothing is known, nor do I think it probable or possible ^ How the French should in a few day take from us an island, which we could not in almost a century take from a few fugitive Negroes whom the Spaniards left behind them, is not easily imagined "*, If you stay much longer in Sussex, you may perhaps hear that London is taken. We have a kind of epidemick cold amongst us, of which I have had my part, but not more than my part ; and I think myself growing well. I have lived very sparingly, but shall have some dinner to-day; and Baretti dines with me \ I am, dearest Madam, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 646. To James Boswell. London, November 13, 1779. Published in the Life, iii. 416. ' Post, Letter of July 24, 1783. took possession of the island, after it ^ I Hetiry IV, Act ii. sc. 4. had been in the possession of the ^ Horace Walpole wrote on No- Spaniards 161 years. The slaves, vember 6 : — ' If there is a sprig of called Maroons, who had fled to the truth left growing in Bedfordshire mountains, continued formidable. I entreat your Ladyship to spare me Down to the end of the eighteenth a cutting, for there is not a leaf to be century their disaffection caused had in town for love or money ; much trouble. Encyclo. Brit., 9th everything is so dear! and yet false- ed., xiii. 550. hood bears a still higher price. ^ ' That I did as seldom as I could, Jamaica is taken, and it is not ; the though often scolded for it, but I combined fleets are sailed, and they hated to see the victuals gnawed by are not,' &c. Letters, vii. 270. poor Mrs. Williams, that would often "" Near the end of the reign of carve though stone-blind.' Baretti. Elizabeth, and again in the reign of Boswell who dined at Johnson's house Charles I, the English made attacks describes everything as ' in very good on Jamaica but did not occupy it. In order.' Life, ii. 215. 1655 an expedition sent by Cromwell To 126 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1779. 647. To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, London, Nov. 16, 1779. Pray how long does a letter tarry between London and Brighthelmston ? Your letter of the 12th I received on the 15th. Poor Mrs. * » » ♦ is a feeler^. It is well that she has yet power to feel. Fiction durst not have driven upon a few months such a conflux of misery. Comfort her as you can. I have looked again into your grave letter. You mention trustees. I do not see who can be trustee for a casual and variable property, for a fortune yet to be acquired. How can any man be trusted with what he cannot possess, cannot ascer- tain, and cannot regulate ? The trade must be carried on by somebody who must be answerable for the debts contracted ^. This can be none but yourself; unless you deliver up the property to some other agent, and trust the chance both of his prudence and his honesty. Do not be frighted ; trade could not be managed by those who manage it, if it had much difficulty''. Their great books are soon understood, and their language, If speech it may be call'd, that speech is none Distinguishable in number, mood, or tense ^, is understood with no very laborious application. The help which you can have from any man as a trustee, you may have from him as a friend ; the trusteeship may give him power to perplex, but will neither increase his benevolence to assist, nor his wisdom to advise. Living on God, and on thyself rely. Who should be trustee but you, for your own and your children's prosperity? I hope this is an end of this unpleasing speculation, and lighter matters may take their turn. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 90. ^ A parody of Paradise Lost, ii. ' Ante, ii. 124. 667 : — ^ The brewery was carried on in 'If shape it might be called that her name after her husband's death. shape had none Ante, ii. 23, n. i. Distinguishable in member, joint * Post, Letter of April 11, 1781. or limb.' What Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thi'ale. 12' What Mr. Scrase says about the Borough is true, but is nothing to the purpose. A house in the square will not cost so much as building in Southwark ; but buildings are more likely to go on in Southwark if your dwelling is at St. James's '. Every body has some desire that deserts the great road of pros- perity, to look for pleasure in a bye-path. I do not see with so much indignation Mr. Thrale's desire of being the first Brewer, as your despicable dread of living in the Borough '. Ambition in little things, is better than cowardice in little things ; but both these things, however little to the publick eye, are great in their consequences to yourselves. The world cares not how you brew, or where you live ; but it is the business of the one to brew in a manner most advantageous to his family, and of the other to live where the general interest may best be superintended. It was by an accidental visit to the Borough that you escaped great evils last Summer. Of this folly let there be an end, at least an interm'ssion. I am glad that Queeney danced with Mr. Wade ^ She was the Sultaness of the evening ; and I am glad that Mr. Thrale has found a riding companion whom he likes''. Let him ride, say I, till he leaves dejection and disease behind him ; and let them ' Mr. Scrase, I think, had urged them to take a house at St. James's as cheaper than building in South- wark. Johnson repHed, 'Yes; but if you leave Southwark Mr. Thrale will be more likely to begin enlarging his Brewery ; for he would not be inconvenienced by the building going on close to his house. His great ambition is to enlarge his Brewery, so as to outbrew Whitbread.' ^ ' Mr. Thrale took a ready-fur- nished house in Grosvenor Square.' Baretti. See Life, iv. 72. From an old physician ' I learnt,' writes Mrs. Piozzi, ' what had determined my husband's choice to me. He had, the doctor said, asked several women, naming them, but all except me re- fused to live in the Borough, to which and to his business, he observed, he was as unaccountably attached now as he had been in his father's time averse from both.' H ay ward's Piozzi, i. 256. ^ In a note on one of her letters written from Bath a year later Mrs. Piozzi says, that Mr. Wade had been ' hooted out of Bath for showing a lady's love-letters to him ; such is the resentment of all the females that even the housemaid refused to make his bed.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 134; Hay ward's Piozzi, i. 320. '• Perhaps Single-speech Hamilton who was at Brighton. One day riding after the hounds with Dr. Johnson on the Brighton Downs, ' he called out, " Why Johnson rides as well, for aught I see, as the most illiterate fellow in England.'" Y\ozz\'% Anec- dotes, p. 206. limp 128 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1779. limp after him an hundred years without overtaking him. When he returns, let me see him frolick and airy, and social, and busy, and as kind to me as in former times. You seem to be afraid that I should be starved before you come back. I have indeed practised abstinence with some stubbornness, and with some success ; but as Dryden talks of •writing zvith a hat\ I am sometimes very witty with a knife and fork. I have managed myself very well ; except that having no motive, I have no exercise. At home we do not much quarrel ; but perhaps the less we quarrel the more we hate. There is as much malignity amongst us as can well subsist, without any thoughts of daggers or poisons. Mrs. is by the help of frequent operations still kept alive ; and such is the capricious destiny of mortals, that she will die more lamented by her husband, than I will promise to usefulness, wisdom, or sanctity. There is always something operating distinct from diligence or skill. Temple therefore in his composition of a hero, to the heroick virtues adds good fortune ^ I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. 648. To Mrs. Thrale I London, Nov. 20, 1779. Indeed, dear Madam, I do not think that you have any reason to complain of Mr. ' 'I'll write a Play, says one, for I have got A Broad-brim'd Hat, and Waste- Belt towards a Plot. Says th' other, I have one more large than that. Thus they out-write each other with a Hat.' Prologtie to the Conquest of Granada. "^ Sir William Temple in his Essay Of Heroic Virtue, says that ' the excellency of genius ' must not only ' be cultivated by education and in- struction,' but also ' must be assisted by fortune to preserve it to maturity; or Mr. What because the noblest spirit or genius in the world, if it falls, though never so bravely, in its first enterprises, cannot deserve enough of mankind to pretend to so great a reward as the esteem of heroic virtue.' Temple's Works, ed. 1757, iii. 306. ^ Pioszi Letters, ii. 94. " Baretti fills up these two blanks with the names of Crutchley and Cator, who were joint executors with Johnson. Life, iv. 202, n. i; 313. ' Mrs. Thrale suspected Crutchley to be the natural son of Thrale.' Hay- ward's Piozzi, ii. 351. I proposed Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Portev. 1 29 I proposed is, I suppose, unusual. However, Mr. Thrale knows that I have suggested nothing to you that I had not first said to him. I hear he grows well so fast, that we are not likely to try whose way is best ; and I hope he will grow better, and better, and better ; and then away with executors and executrixes. He may settle his family himself. I am not vexed at you for not liking the Borough, but for not liking the Borough better than other evils of greater magnitude. You must take physick, or be sick ; you must live in the Borough, or live still worse. Pray tell my Queeney how I love her for her letters ; and tell Burney that now she is a good girl, I can love her again. Tell Mr. Scrase, that I am sincerely glad to hear that he is better. Tell my master, that I never was so glad to see him in my life, as I shall be now to see him well ; and tell yourself, that except my master, nobody has more kindness for you, than, Dear Madam, your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 649. To Mrs. Porter'. ^y^^. 2 1779. I have enclosed Mr. Bosweli's answer. I still continue better than when you saw me, but am not just at this time very well, but hope to mend again. Publick affairs remain as they were. Do not let the papers fright you. 650. To Dr. Lawrence. [London], January 20, 1780. Published in the Life^ iii. 419. ' Printed in Messrs. Sotheby and forwarding ' Lucy Porter's petition,' Co.'s Ai(ctio7i Catalogue for Au- said: — ' Return me her letter, which gust 21, 1872, Lot 80. One page I have sent that you may know the quarto. whole case, and not be seduced to Miss Porter wanted Boswell ' to anything that you may afterwards inquire concerning the family of a repent. Miss Doxy perhaps you know gentleman who was then paying his to be Mr. Garrick's niece.' Life^ iii. addresses to Miss Doxy.' Johnson, 417. VOL. II. K To i^o To John Nichols. [A.D. 1780. 651. To John Nichols '. [Early in 1780.] Mr. Johnson purposes to make his next attempt upon Prior, at least to consider him very soon, and desires that some volumes pubHshed of his papers, in two vols. 8vo, may be procured ^ The turtle and sparrow can be but a fable ^. The Conversation I never read. 652. To John Nichols. [Early in 1780]. Dr. Warton tells me that Collins's first piece is in the G. M. for August, 1739 "". For August there is no such thing. Amashis ' This and the next two notes were first published in the Gentlemaii^s Magazine for 1785, pages 9, 10. They refer to the Lives of Prior, Grafiville and Collins. These, as we learn by Johnson's Letter to Mrs. Thrale of May 9, 1780, were finished before that date. ^ Miscellaneous Works of the late Matthew Prior, Esq., 2 vols. %vo., advertised in the Gentleman' s Maga- zine, 1739, p. 556. ^ 'This refers,' says Nichols in a note, 'to a hint given him in conse- quence of what is said in the Life of Prior \Works, viii. 15] that "of his Tales there are only four." ' Johnson was right in his statement, for The Turtle and Spaj-row, if it is a tale, xsAn Elegiac Tale, occasiotted by the Death of Prince George, 1708, and Conversation, though it also is called a taie, does not any more than the other belong to the class of which Johnson was thinking. " Johnson, in his Life of Collins, says that ' he first courted the notice of the public by some verses to a Lady Weeping, published in the Gentlemati's Magazine.' As a kind of appendix to the Life we find the following : — ' Mr. Collins's first production is added here from the Poetical Calendar : — TO MISS AURELL\ C- -R, ON HER WEEPING AT HER SISTER'S WEDDING. Cease, fair Aureha, cease to mourn ; Lament not Hannah's happy state ; You may be happy in your turn, And seize the treasure you regret. With Love united Hymen stands, And softly whispers toyour charms ; " Meet but your lover in my bands. You'll find your sister in his arms." ' Among Collins's Poetns—ia.r too few in number— this piece has been always given. Henceforth, I fear, it must no longer appear in that grace- ful company. It was first published in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1739, p. 41, and is signed Amasius. Its author therefore was Dr. Swan. Collins's first piece was published, not in the August number of the Gentleman's Magazine, as Dr. was Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. i.^i was at that time the poetical name of Dr. Swan, who translated Sydenham '. Where to find Collins I know not. I think I must make some short addition to Thomson's sheet, but will send it to-day. 653. ctt^ To John Nichols. rr^ , • Sir, •' [Early m 1780.] In examining this Book I find it necessary to add to the life the preface to the British Enchanters, and, you may add, if you will, the notes on Unnatural Flights-. I am. Friday. To Mr. Nicol \sic\ Sir, &c. 654. To Mrs. Thrale 3. Dearest Lady, ''"' "'•''^^" -^"^-'^^^ • April 6, 1780. You had written so often. I have had but two letters from Warton said, but in that for October (P- 545)' It, too, is about a Lady's tears ; hence perhaps the confusion between the two poems. It is as follows : — * WhenPhcebe form'd a wanton smile, My soul ! it reach'd not here : Strange that thy peace, thou trembler, flies Before a rising tear ! From midst the drops my love is born, That o'er those eyelids rove ; Thus issued from a teeming wave The fabled queen of love.' Johnson, I conjecture, mentions Amasius in his Letter, because in the August number there are some lines signed with that name which Nichols might have attributed to Collins. Hawkins says that Cave, the editor of the Magazine, showed him one day Collins's beautiful poem To Fair Fidele" s grassy tomb. ' Cave,' he adds, 'could not be convinced of the propriety of the name Fidele ; he K thought Pastora a better one, and so printed it.' Hawkins's y^/^wi-f?;?, p. 49. It is thus printed in the Cenfloiian's Magazine for 1749, p. 466. Johnson in 1765 published it in his edition of .Shakespeare at the end of Cynibeline. I have found the following entry among The Orders of the Delegates of the Clarendon Press : — 'Februarys, 1769. Mr. Collins's Copy of Verses to Sir Thos. Hanmer to be inserted after the Preface [of Hanmer's edition of Shakespeare].' ' Sydenham, the great physician, whose Life Johnson has briefly written [Works, vi. 405) published his medical treatises in Latin. - The Essay on Unnatural Flights in Poetry and The British Enchaftters are by George Granville, afterwards Lord Lansdowne. N either the preface nor the notes are added to his Life. See post, Letter of August 8, 17S0. ■* Piozzi Letters, \\. 95. This letter is misdated 1 779. Miss 2 Bath, 132 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. Bath, and the second complains that the first, which you call so many, was neglected, and you pretend to be afraid of being for- gotten. I wonder what should put you out of my mind. You say rightly, that I shall not find such another ; for there is not, if I had the choice of all, such another to be found. It is happy, both for you and Mrs. Montague ', that the fates bring you both to Bath at the same time. Do not let new friends supplant the old ; they who first distinguished you have the best claim to your attention ; those who flock about you now, take your excellence upon credit, and may hope to gain upon the world by your countenance. I have not quite neglected my Lives "", Addison is a long one, but it is done. Prior is not short, and that is done too. I am upon Rowe, who cannot fill much paper ^. If I have done them before you come again, I think to bolt upon you at Bath ; for I shall not be now afraid of Mrs. Cotton ■*. Let Burney take care that she does me no harm. Burney, writing from Bath on April 7, 1780, describes the journey. 'Mr. Thrale,' she says, ' was charmingly well and in very good spirits, and Mrs. Thrale must be charming, well or ill.' On their journey they slept one night at the Bear Inn, Devizes. They saw the landlord's son, 'a most lovely boy of ten years of age, who seems to be not merely the wonder of their family, but of the times, for his astonishing skill in drawing. We found that he had been taken to town, and that Sir Joshua Reynolds had pronounced him, the mother said, the most promising genius he had ever met with.' The boy was Thomas Lawrence, afterwards President of the Royal Academy. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 310, 312. * ' I am very glad,' writes Miss Burney, ' at this opportunity of seeing so much of Mrs. Montagu ; for, allow- ing a little for parade and ostentation, which her power in wealth and rank in literature offer some excuse for, her conversation is very agreeable ; she is always reasonable and sen- sible, and sometimes instructive and entertaining ; and I think of our Mrs. Thrale, we may say, the very reverse, for she is always entertain- ing and instructive, and sometimes reasonable and sensible ; and I write this because she is just now looking over me — not but what I think it too.' lb. i. 325. ^ ' In 1780, the world was kept in impatience for the completion of his Lives of the Poets, upon which he was employed so far as his indolence allowed him to labour.' Life, iii. 418. ^ In a note on the Life of Rowe, Nichols says : — 'This Life is a very remarkable instance of the uncommon strength of Dr. Johnson's memory. \\ hen I received from him the MS. he complacently observed that the criticism was tolerably well done, considering that he had not read one of Rowe's plays for thirty years.' Works, vii. 417. " No doubt the Mrs. C , a relation of Mrs. Thrale, whom Miss The Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. ^Vo The diligence of Dr. Moisy ' I do not understand. About what is he diligent ? If Mr. Thrale is well, or only not well because he has been ill, I do not see what the physician can do. Does he direct any regimen, or does Mr. Thrale regulate himself? Or is there no regularity among you? Nothing can keep him so safe as the method which has been so often mentioned, and which will be not only practicable but pleasant in the Summer, and before Summer is quite gone, will be made supportable by custom. If health and reason can be preserved by changing three or four meals a week, or if such a change will but encrease the chances of preserving them, the purchase is surely not made at a very high price. Death is dreadful, and fatuity is more dread- ful, and such strokes bring both so near, that all their terrours ought to be felt. I hope that to our anxiety for him, Mr. Thrale will add some anxiety for himself. Seward called on me one day, and read Spence ^ I dined yesterday at Mr. Jodrel's -^ in a great deal of company. On Burney describes as ' an ugly, proud old woman, but marvellous civil to me.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 313. Mrs. Thrale says : — ' Miss Burney was much admired at Bath (1780) ; the puppy-men said, " She had such a drooping air and such a tim.id in- telligence " ; or " a timid air," 1 think it was, " and a drooping intelligence," never sure was such a collection of pedantry and affection [z>. affectation] as filled Bath when we were on that spot.' Hayward's Piozzi, ii. 341. ' Mrs. Thrale in one of her letters says : — ' Oh, here comes Dr. Moysey, to talk about \\'hig and Tory, and the reign of King Charles the Second ; how that style of conversation does wear one out, especially from a pro- fessional man, and when one is wishing to bring forward a subject really interesting.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 130. 'Abel Moysey, M.D. of Bath, died August 11, 1780, aged 64.' Nichols's Lit. Artec. ^ ix. 538. ^ Spence's Anecdotes were pub- lished in 1820. Warburton, Joseph Warton, Johnson, and Malone had been allowed to read them in the manuscript, as we are told in the Preface. See Life, iv. 63. Johnson described Spence as ' a weak con- ceited man.' BoswELL. 'A good scholar, Sir?' JOHNSON. ' Why, no, Sir.' BoswELL. ' He was a pretty scholar.' JOHNSON. ' You have about reached him.' lb. v. 317. ' He was,' writes Horace Walpole, ' a good-natured, harmless little soul, but more like a silver penny than a genius. It was a neat fiddle-faddle, bit of sterling, that had read good books and kept good company, but was too trifling for use, and only fit to please a child.' Letters, vii. 366. ^ Richard Paul Jodrell was the author of The Persian Heroine, a Tragedy, which, in Baker's Biog. DraiJi., i. 400, is wrongly assigned to his son Sir R. P. Jodrell, M.D. Sunday 134 1^0 Mrs. Porter. [a.d. 1780. Sunday I dine with Dr. Lawrence, and at night go to Mrs. Vesey. I have had a little cold, or two, or three, but I did not much mind them, for they were not very bad. Make my compliments to my master, and Queeney, and Burney, and Mrs. Cotton, and to all that care about me, and more than all — or else. Now one courts you, and another caresses you, and one calls you to cards, and another wants you to walk ; and amidst all this, pray try to think now and then a little of me, and write often. Mrs. Strahan is at Bath, but, I believe, not well enough to be in the rooms. ^ , ^.^ , 1 am, dearest Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 655. To James Boswell. [London], April 8, 1780. Published in the Zi/e, iii. 420. 656. Dear Madam, ^^ ^^^- ^0^"^^^ '• London, April 8, 1780. I am indeed but a sluggish correspondent, and know not whether I shall much mend : however, I will try. I am glad that your oysters proved good, for I would have every thing good that belongs to you ; and would have your health good, that you may enjoy the rest. My health is better than it has been for some years past ; and, if I see Lichfield again, I hope to walk about it. Your brother's request I have not forgotten. I have bought as many volumes as contain about an hundred and fifty sermons, which I will put in a box, and get Mr. Mathias to send him'. I shall add a letter. Nichols's Zz/. Anec, ix. 2. He was ' First published in Croker's Bos- a member of Johnson's Essex Head zuc//, page 643. Club (Zz/i?, iv. 254), and lived at 21, " He wrote four days later: — 'I Portland Place, the house at present am sorry that Mr. Porter has not had occupied by Mr. Alexander Mac- his box ; but by sending it to Mr. millan, the publisher. Here it was Mathias, who very readily undertook that Johnson dined with him. the conveyance, I did the best I We Aetat. 70.] To Mts. TJirak. . 135 We have been lately much alarmed at Mr. Thrale's. He has had a stroke, like that of an apoplexy ; but he has at last got so well as to be at Bath, out of the way of trouble and business, and is likely to be in a short time quite well. I hope all the Lichfield ladies are quite well, and that every thing is prosperous among them. A few weeks ago I sent you a little stuff gown, such as is all the fashion at this time. Yours is the same with Mrs. Thrale's, and Miss bought it for us. These stuffs are very cheap, and are thought very pretty. Pray give my compliments to Mr. Pearson, and to every body, if any such body there be, that cares about me. I am now engaged about the rest of the Lives, which I am afraid will take some time, though I purpose to use despatch ; but something or other always hinders. I have a great number to do, but many of them will be short. I have lately had colds ; the first was pretty bad, with a very troublesome and frequent cough ; but by bleeding and physic it was sent away. I have a cold now, but not bad enough for bleeding. F'or some time past, and indeed ever since I left Lichfield last year, I have abated much of my diet, and am, I think, the better for abstinence. I can breathe and move with less difficulty; and I am as well as people of my age commonly are. I hope we shall see one another again some time this year. I am, dear love, Your humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 657. To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, On Sunday I dined with poor Lawrence, who is deafer than ever^. When he was told that Dr. Moisy visited Mr. Thrale, he could.' Life^ iv. 89. For Mathias in January of this year. Z//t', iii.418. see ante, i. 159, n. 4, and Early Two years later Johnson wrote: — Diary of Fraiices Burney, ii. 307, 9. ' Poor Lawrence has almost lost the ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 98. sense of hearing ; and I have lost the " Dr. Lawrence had lost his wife conversation of a learned, intelligent, ^ enquired. 1.^.6 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. enquired, for what? and said that there was nothing to be done, which Nature would not do for herself. On Sunday evening I was at Mrs. Vesey's, and there was enquiry about my master, but I told them all good. There was Dr. Barnard of Eaton, and we made a noise all the evening ; and there was Pepys, and Wraxal till I drove him away '. And I have no loss of my mistress, w^ho laughs, and frisks, and frolicks it all the long day, and never thinks of poor Colin '^. If Mr. Thrale will but continue to mend, we shall, I hope, come together again, and do as good things as ever we did ; but per- haps you will be made too proud to heed me, and yet, as I have often told you, it will not be easy for you to find such another. Queeney has been a good girl, and wrote me a letter ; if Burney and communicative companion, and a friend whom long familiarity has much endeared. Lawrence is one of the best men whom I have known.^ — Nosfrunt omnium miserere Deus! Life, iv. 143. ^ For Bennet Langton's account of this evening see Life, iii. 424. Dr. Barnard was Provost of Eton College. ' He was,' said Johnson, ' the only man that did justice to my good breeding.' Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 36. Pepys, afterwards Sir William Weller Pepys, Baronet, was a Master in Chancery. His second son became Lord Chancellor and Earl of Cotten- ham. Samuel Pepys, the author of the Diary, was of the same family. Burke's Peerage, article Cottenham. Johnson speaking of Pepys, 'when they had been disputing about the classics for three hours together one morning at Streatham, said : — "I knew the dog was a scholar ; but that he had so much taste and so much knowledge I did not believe. I might have taken Barnard's word though, for Barnard would not lie." ' Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 142. Pepys, when he was eighty-four years old, told Mme. D'Arblay that he and Hannah More were the only sur- vivors of the original set of the Bas Bleu. Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 263. Wraxall was the author of the Historical Memoirs of My Own Time. He was perhaps thinking of this evening when he wrote : — ' Those whom Johnson could not always vanquish by the force of his intellect, by the depth and range of his argu- ments, and by the compass of his gigantic faculties, he silenced by rudeness ; and I have myself more than once stood in the predicament which I here describe. Yet no sooner was he withdrawn, and with him had disappeared these personal imperfec- tions, than the sublime attainments of his mind left their full effect on the audience : for such the whole assembly might be in some measure esteemed while he was present.' Memoi?-s, ed. 1S15, i. 147. " ' Then to her new love let her go ; And deck her in golden array ; Be finest at every fine show And frolic it all the long day.' ROWE. Colin' s Complaint. Camp- bell's British Poets, ed. 1845, P- 334- See post, p. 139, n. i. said Aetat. 70.] To M7'S. Thrale. 137 said she would write, she told you a fib. She writes nothing to me. She can write home fast enough. I have a good mind not to let her know, that Dr. Bernard ', to whom I had recommended her novel, speaks of it with great recommendation ; and that the copy which she lent me, has been read by Dr. Lawrence three times over. And yet what a gypsey it is. She no more minds me, than if I were a Brangton ^. Pray speak to Oueeney to write again. I have had a cold and a cough, and taken opium, and think I am better. We have had very cold weather ; bad riding weather for my master, but he will surmount it all. Did Mrs. Browne make any reply to your comparison of business with solitude, or did you quite down her^? I am much pleased to think that ' Dr. Barnard. ^ Miss Burney writes on April 13: — ' Dr. Johnson has sent a bitter re- proach to Mrs. Thrale of my not writing to him, for he has not yet received a scrawl I have sent him. He says Dr. Barnard, the Provost of Eton, has been singing the praises of my book.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 323. The Branghtons are the family of a silversmith of Snow Hill, described in Miss Burney's Evelina, Letter xvii. In her Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 193, she describes a visit Bosvvell paid to Streatham soon after Evelina had been published. At lunch he had left his seat and placed himself behind Johnson's chair. ' The Doctor turned angrily round upon him, and clapping his hand rather loudly upon his knee said in a tone of displeasure, "What do you do there, Sir ? Go to the table, Sir." Boswell presently recollected some- thing that he wished to exhibit, and was running away in its search, when the Doctor calling after him said, "What are you thinking of Sir? Why do you get up before the cloth is removed ? Come back to your place, Sir." Again, and with equal obsequiousness, Mr. Boswell did as he was bid ; when the Doctor, pursing his lips, not to betray rising risibility, muttered half to himself : — " Running about in the middle of meals ! One would take you for a Branghton ! " "A Branghton, Sir ? " repeated Mr. Boswell with earnest- ness. " What is a Branghton, Sir ? " " Where have you lived. Sir," cried the Doctor laughing, " and what com- pany have you kept not to know that .' " Mr. Boswell, now doubly curious, yet always apprehensive of falling into some disgrace with Dr. Johnson, said in a low tone to Mrs. Thrale :— " Pray, Ma'am, what's a Branghton ? Do me the favour to tell me. Is it some animal here- abouts ? " Mrs. Thrale only laughed heartily, but without answering. But Mr. Seward cried: — "I'll tell you, Boswell,— I'll tell you — if you will walk with me into the paddock ; only let us wait till the table is cleared : or I'll shall be taken for a Branghton too." ' Boswell forgot to record this scene in the Life. ' Mrs. Thrale writing to Johnson on May 9, says: ' ^^'hy Mrs. Browne Mrs. Cotton I ^8 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1780. Mrs. Cotton thinks me worth a frame, and a place upon her wall. Her kindness was hardly within my hope, but time does wonder- ful things. All my fear is, that if I should come again, my print would be taken down. I fear I shall never hold it. Who dines with you ? Do you see Dr. Woodward or Dr. Har- rington ' ? Do you go to the house where they write for the myrtle ^ ? You are at all places of high resort, and bring home hearts by dozens ; while I am seeking for something to say about men of whom I know nothing but their verses, and sometimes very little of them. Now I have begun, however, I do not de- spair of making an end. Mr. Nicholls holds that Addison is the most taking of all that I have done. I doubt they will not be done before you come away. Now you think yourself the first writer in the world for a letter about nothing. Can you write such a letter as this ? So mis- cellaneous, with such noble disdain of regularity, like Shake- speare's works ; such graceful negligence of transition, like the ancient enthusiasts ? The pure voice of nature and of friendship. Now of whom shall I proceed to speak? Of whom but Mrs. Montague? Having mentioned Shakespeare and Nature, does not the name of Montague force itself upon me^? Such were should be called a Methodist you pole's Letters, vi. 171. Miss Burney must tell ; for 'tis considered always records in her Diary at this time : — a term of reproach, I trust ; because ' Do you know now that, notwith- I never yet did hear that any one standing Bath-Easton is so much person called himself a Methodist.' laughed at in London, nothing here Piozzi Letters, \\.\\<^. Y ox downing is more tonish than to visit Lady see ante, ii. "]■},, n. 6. Miller. She is a round, plump, ' 'Dr.Woodwardcalled this morn- coarse-looking dame of about forty, ing. He is a physician here, and a and while all her aim is to appear an chatty, agreeable man. At dinner we elegant woman of fashion, all her had Dr. Harington,anotherphysician. success is to seem an ordinary woman It is his son who published those in very common life, with fine clothes remains of his ancestor. Sir John on.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i, Harington, under the title of Niigce 364. AtitiqiiO!.^ Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ^ Mr. Croker takes this humorous i. 317, 341. See Z//t', iv. 1 80. passage as serious praise. ' Com- ^ Lady Miller ' held a Parnassus- pare,' he writes, 'this with two fair every Thursday ' at her villa at former phrases in which Shakespeare Bath-Easton. ' A Roman vase, and Mrs. Montagu are mentioned, dressed with pink ribands and and wonder at the inconsistencies to myrtles, received the poetry.' W'al- which the greatest genius and the the Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 139 the transitions of the ancients, which now seem abrupt, because the intermediate idea is lost to modern understandings. I wish her name had connected itself with friendship ; but, ah Colin, thy hopes are in vain '. One thing however is left me, I have still to complain - ; but I hope I shall not complain much while you have any kindness for me, I am, Dearest and dearest Madam, Your, &c., London, April II, 1780. SaM: JoHNSON. You do not date your letters ^. 658. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dearest Madam, April 15, 1780. I did not mistake Dr. Woodward's case ; nor should have highest spirit may be reduced ! Perhaps Johnson's original disposi- tion to depreciate Mrs. Montagu may have arisen from his having heard that she thought Rasselas an opiate {Carter's Letters, iii. io8). His later praise was no doubt pro- duced by her charity to Mrs. Williams. This, though it may ex- plain, does not excuse the incon- sistencies.' Croker's Bostvell, p. 644. It almost passes belief that such nonsense as this should have been written by a man of intelligence, and should have been repeated in suc- ceeding editions. Johnson despised Mrs. Montagu's Essay on Shakespeare because it is as worthless as it is pre- tentious. ' 'What though I have skill to complain, Though the Muses my temples have crown'd ; What though, when they hear my soft strain. The virgins sit weeping around ? Ah, Colin ! thy hopes are in vain, Thy pipe and thy laurel resign. Thy false one inclines to a swain Whose music is sweeter than thine.' ROWE. Campbell's British Poets, ed. 1845, p. 334. As early as September, 1778, John- son said that he believed that he was not in Mrs. Montagu's good graces. Life, iv. 64, n. i. In 1781 his Life of Lyttelton ' produced a declaration of war against him from her.' He said, ' Mrs. Montagu has dropped me. Now, Sir, there are people whom one should like very well to drop, but would not wish to be dropped by.' Id. iv. 64, 73. Miss Burney, writing to him on November 19, 1783, recalls a saying of his about her outcry. ' What, as you said of a certain great lady, signifies the barking of a lap- dog, if once the lion puts out his paw? ' Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 357. ^ Johnson, no doubt quoting Rowe, wrote, ' I have skill to complain.' ^ Johnson himself in early life had not always been careful to date his letters. Lije, i. 122, 3. He often urges Mrs. Thrale to date hers, but with no result. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 102. wanted 140 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. wanted any explanation. But broken ' is a very bad word in the city. Here has just been with me » * ♦ » 2, who has given — What has he given ? Nothing, I beHeve, gratis. He has given fifty- seven lessons this week. Surely this is business. I thought to have finished Rowe's life to-day, but I have five or six visitors who hindered me ; and I have not been quite well. Next week I hope to dispatch four or five of them. It is a great delight to hear so much good of all of you. Fanny ^ tells me good news of you, and you speak well of Fanny; and all of you say what one would wish of my master. And my sweet Queeney, I hope is well. Does she drink the waters? One glass would do her as much good as it does her father ■*. You and Mrs. M must keep Mrs. # » * * about you ; and try to make a wit of her ^. She will be a little unskilful in her first essays ; but you will see how precept and example will bring her forwards. Surely it is very fine to have your powers. The wits court you, and the Methodists love you ^, and the whole world runs about you ; and you write me word how well you can do without me : and so, go thy ways poor Jack ^. That sovereign ^/(Tz^i- of water is the great medicine ; and though his legs are too big, yet my master takes a glass of water. This is bold practice. I believe, under the protection of a glass of water drank ° at the pump, he may venture once a-week upon a stew'd lamprey^. ' ' The King's grown bankrupt, like a broken man.' Richard 11, Act ii. sc. i. 1. 257. "" Perhaps Dr. Burney. ^ Miss Rurney. * Mrs. Thrale wrote in reply : — ' I think the one glass of water which you scorn so has an effect [on Mr. Thrale], and that not a good one— it gives dizziness.' Piozzi Letttns, ii. 131- ^ Mrs. Piozzi fills up the blanks with the names of Montagu and Byron. Hayward's Piozz!, i. 319, * Ante, ii. 137, ;/. 3. ' 'C^/^Jack.' Ante, ii. 125, n. 2. * Johnson in his Dictionary gives drunk and drunken as the past participle oi to drink ; but in a quota- tion which he gives from Arbuthnot we find ' he had drank.' '' Lampreys, it should seem, were a favourite dish with Mr. Thrale. Mrs. Piozzi says that when Johnson once urged temperance, ' he answered him only by inquiring when lamprey season would come in.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 303. I wish Aetat. 70.] To Mvs. Tkrak. 141 I wish you all good ; yet know not what to wish you which you have not. ]\Iay all good continue and increase. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 659. To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, London, April 18, 1780. Of the petticoat government I had never heard ^. Of the Shakespeare, I was once told by Miss Lawrence ; and that is all that I know of it. I have not seen nor heard of any body that has seen the wonders. You may be sure I should tell you any thing that would gratify your curiosity, and furnish you for your present expences of intellectual entertainment. But of this dra- matick discovery I know nothing ■'. I cannot see but my master may with stubborn regularity totally recover. But surely, though the invasion has been re- pelled from life, the waste it has made will require some time and much attention to repair it. You must not grow weary of watching him, and he must not grow impatient of being watched. Pray, of what wonders do you tell me ? You make verses, and they are read in publick, and I know nothing about them. This very crime, I think, broke the link of amity between Richardson and Miss M "", after a tenderness and confidence of many years. However, you must do a great deal more before I leave you for Lucan^ or Montague, or any other charmer ; if any other charmer would have me. I am sorry that you have seen Mrs. W ^. She and her ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 104. " ' Miss Mulso.' Baretti. Miss " Johnson refers to petticoat Mulso is better known as ' the ad- government, post, pp. 151, 2. It is mirable Mrs. Chapone.' She was possible that some political pamphlet one of the literary ladies who sat at had lately been brought out under Richardson's feet. I cannot find any that title, in imitation of one by John account of this quarrel in Richard- Dunton in 1702. son's Correspondence., ed. by Mrs. ^ Perhaps ' the Shakespeare ' was Barbauld. Malone's Supplement to the Edition ^ Lady Lucan. Atite, ii. 65. of Shakespeare's Plays by Samuel * Most probably the lady men- Johnson and George Steevens, pub- tioned ante, ii. 128. lished this year. husband 142 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. husband exhibited two very different appearances of human nature. But busy, busy, still art thou '. He prevailed on himself to treat her with great tenderness ; and to show how little sense will serve for common life, she has passed through the world with less imprudence than any of her family. Sir Philip's bill has been rejected by the Lords. There waSj I think, nothing to be objected to it, but the time at which it was proposed, and the intention with which it was projected. It was fair in itself, but tended to weaken government when it is too weak already ^. * * * * has no business about you, but to be taught. Poor B 's ^ tenderness is very affecting. Comfort her all you can. I sincerely wish her well. Declining life is a very awful scene. ' ' But busy, busy still art thou To bind the loveless, joyless vow, The heart from pleasure to delude, To join the gentle to the rude.' A Song. Thomson's Works, ed. 1775, ii. 268. It is Fortune who is so cruelly busy. - Miss Burney records in February 1779 that one day at Streatham Sir Philip J. Clerk, ' a professed minority man,' described ' a bill he had in agitation against contractors. Dr. Johnson at first scoffed at it; Mr. Thrale betted a guinea it would not pass, and Sir Philip that he should divide a hundred and fifty upon it. Dr. Johnson having made more particular inquiries into its merits first softened towards it, and then declared it a very rational and fair bill, and joined with Mrs. Thrale in soliciting Mr. Thrale's vote. Sir Philip was quite delighted. He opened upon politics more amply, and declared his opinions, which were so much bordering upon the republican principles that Dr. John- son suddenly took fire ; he called back his recantation, and begged Mr. Thrale not to vote for the bill. " It ought," said he, " to be opposed by all honest men. In itself and considered simply, it is equitable, and I would forward it ; but when we find what a faction it is to support and encourage, it ought not to be listened to. All men should oppose it who do not wish well to sedition." ' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 192. The bill, which is known as the Contractors' Bill, was to restrain any member of parliament from being concerned in any Government contract unless the contract were made at a public bidding. Leave to bring it in was carried by 158 to 143, so that Sir Philip won his guinea. It was lost however upon the motion for referring it to a Committee. Pari. Hist., xx. 124. The following year it was carried without a division, but it was lost in the Lords. Ann. Reg., 17S0, i. 153, 181. It was brought in again in March, 1782, and was carried through both Houses. Ann. Reg., 1782, i. 308, and Chitty's Statutes, iv. 1 124, ed. 1880, where the date is wrongly given as 1749. In iSoi after the Union a similar provision was made for Ireland by 41 George III, c. 52, sec. 4. ^ Probably Mrs. Byron. Ante, ii. 121, n. 2. See Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 317, 331- Please Aetat. 70.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. H3 Please to tell Mr. Thrale, that I think I grow rather less ; and that I was last week almost dizzy with vacuity. I repeat my challenge to alternate diet ' ; and doubt not but both of us, by adhering to it, may live more at ease, and a much longer time. Though I am going to dine with Lady Craven^, I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 660. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor^. Dear Sir, The quantity of blood taken from you appears to me not ' The challenge has not been given in any previous letter. Each, I con- jecture, was to abstain from animal food, every other day. See post, pp. 147, 164, 181. ^ ' The beautiful, gay and fascinat- ing Lady Craven,' as Boswell calls her. ' Lord Macartney,' he adds, ' told me that he met Johnson at her house, and that he seemed jealous of any interference. " So (said his Lord- ship smiling) I kept back."' Life, iii. 22. She was the daughter of the fourth Earl of Berkeley, and wife first of the sixth Lord Craven and afterwards of the Margrave of Anspach. In 1825 she published her Memoirs. Walpole's Letters, ix. 75, n. I. ^ First published in the Catalogue of Mr. Alfred Morrison's Autographs, ii. 343- This Letter, though it is dated 1778, must have been written in 1780, improbable as it seems that John- son should have fallen into such a blunder. Thrale's first attack was in June, 1779, when he was in extreme danger. Ante, p. 93 ; Life of Johnson, iii. 397, and Hayward's Piozzi, \. 299 (where 1770 is a misprint for 1779) ; ii. 28. Johnson had the remission of the convulsions which he mentions on June 18, 1779. He recorded on June 18, 1780: — ' In the morning of this day last year I perceived the remission of those convulsions in my breast which had distressed me for more than twenty years. I returned thanks at church for the mercy granted me, which has now continued a year.' — Prayers and Meditations, p. 183. Three days later he wrote to Mrs. Thrale : — ' It was a twelvemonth last Sunday since the convulsions in my breast left me. I hope I was thankful when I recollected it ; by removing that disorder a great improvement was made in the enjoyment of life.' Post, Letter of June 21, 1780. He was at Ashbourne on June 18, 1779. Life, iii. 453. On April 20, 1778, the very day of which this letter bears the date, he recorded : — 'After a good night, as I am forced to reckon, I rose seasonably. . . . In reviewing my time from Easter, 1777, I found a very melancholy and shameful blank. So little has been done that days and months are with- out any trace. My health has, indeed, been very much interrupted. My nights have been commonly not only sufficient. 144 To Dr. Btt7'ney. [A.D. 1780. sufficient. Thrale was almost lost by the scrupulosity' of his physicians, who never bled him copiously till they bled him in despair ; he then bled till he fainted, and the stricture or obstruction immediately gave way and from that instant he grew better. I can now give you no advice but to keep yourself totally quiet and amused with some gentle exercise of the mind. If a suspected letter comes, throw it aside till your health is re- established ; keep easy and cheerful company about you, and never try to think but at those stated and solemn times when the thoughts are summoned to the cares of futurity, the only real cares of a rational Being. As to my own health I think it rather grows better ; the convulsions which left me last year at Ashbourne have never returned, and I have by the mercy of God very comfortable nights. Let me know very often how you are, till you are quite well. I am, Sir, Your affectionate humble servant, London, April 20, 1778 [? 1780]. SaM : JOHNSON. To the Rev. Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 661. To Dr. Burney^ Mr. Johnson received an invitation from Mrs. Ord for to- morrow, and having forgotten her street, desires to be informed restless, but painful and fatiguing. . . . Some rcla.\ation of my breast has been procured, I think, by opium, which, though it never gives me sleep, frees my breast from spasms.' — Prayers and Meditations, p. 169. ' See Life, iv. 5, //. 2, for instances of Johnson's use of scrupulosity, which was remarked on by Sir William Jones. Adam Smith 1 have found using the word in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, ed. 1801, ii. 49, where he describes the prudent man as ' respecting with an almost religious scrupulosity all the estab- lished decorums and ceremonials of society,' and a second time, p. 334, where he writes of ' a frivolous and weak scrupulosity of conduct.' "^ From the original in the posses- sion of Mr. Millin Chamberlain of the Boston Public Library, Boston, United States. As there is nothing to fix the date of this letter I enter it here, because in the next letter Johnson for the first time mentions his having visited Mrs. Ord. Hannah More describes where Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 145 where she Hves. If Dr. Burney goes to-morrow, Mr. Johnson will call on him, and beg the favour of going with him. Wednesday. To D^ Burney — or any Burney'. 662. Dear Madam, ^o Mrs. Thrale ^ Mr. E ^ and Mr. P "^ called on me to-day with your letter to the electors, and another which they had drawn up, to serve in its place. I thought all their objections just, and all their alterations proper. You had mentioned his sickness in terms which gave his adversaries advantage, by confirming the report which they already spread with great industry, of his infirmity and inability. You speak, in their opinion, and in mine, with too little confidence in your own interest. By fearing, you teach others to fear. All this is now avoided, and it is to take its chance. how, in 1780, she went to one of that lady's assennblies at a time when ' the mourning for some foreign Wilhel- mina Jaquelina was not over. Every human creature was in deep mourn- ing, and I, poor I, all gorgeous in scarlet. Even Jacobite Johnson was in deep mourning.' Life and Cor- respondence of Hannah More, i. 170. ' One of the last letters which Johnson wrote was on his return to London less than a month before his death, in which he says : — ' Mr. John- son who came home last night sends his respects to dear Dr. Burney and all the dear Burneys, little and great.' Life, iv. 377. See also post, Letter of November 14, 1781. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 106. On April 6 Dunning's famous motion ' that the influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished' had been carried by a majority of 18 — 233 to 215. ' The blow seems to me decisive,' wrote Horace Walpole two VOL. II. days later. Letters, vii. 348. On the nth he wrote: — 'Religious pro- phets were more prudent than I ; they commonly formed their predic- tions after t\e,nis, not before. . . . Not but the Administration was beaten again yesterday ; yet only by two.' lb., p. 349. On the 25th, the date of Johnson's letter, he wrote : — ' Dun- ning moved yesterday to address the King that the Parliament might not be prorogued or dissolved till the demands of the petitions [respecting an economical reform, &c.] are satis- fied. The motion was rejected by 254 to 203. . . . The session will probably end much sooner than was expected.' lb., p. 357. Parliament was dissolved in the following Sep- tember. Pari. Hist. xxi. 767. ^ ' Mr. Evans.' Baretti. Post, p. 154. ^ ' Mr. Perkins.' Baretti. See Life, iii. 440, for an address to the Electors written for Thrale by John- son. How 146 To Mi^s. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. How do you think I live ? On Thursday I dined with Hamilton', and went thence to Mrs. Ord ^ On Friday, with much company at Reynolds's. On Saturday, at Dr. Bell's ^ On Sunday, at Dr. Burney's, with your two sweets from Kensing- ton, who are both well ; at night came Mrs. Ord, Mr. Harris "*, and Mr. Greville ^ &c. On Monday, with Reynolds ^, at night with Lady Lucan ; to-day with Mr. Langton ; to-morrow with the Bishop of St. Asaph ^; on Thursday with Mr. Bowles^; Friday, ; Saturday, at the Academy'^; Sunday, with Mr. Ramsay '°. T told Lady Lucan how long it was since she sent to me ; but she said I must consider how the world rolls about her. She seemed pleased that we met again ". The long intervals of starving I do not think best for Mr. Thrale, nor perhaps for myself, but I knew not how to attain any thing better; and every body tells me that I am very well, and I think there now remains not much cause for complaint : but O for a glass, once in four-and-twenty hours, of warm water ! Can warm water be had only at Bath, as steam was to be found ' William Gerard Hamilton. ^ Perhaps it was the evening de- scribed by Hannah More. 'I was the other night at Mrs. Ord's. Every- body was there, and in such a crowd I thought myself well off to be wedged in with Mr. Smelt, Langton, Ramsay and Johnson. Johnson told me he had been with the King that morning, who enjoined him to add Spenser to his Lives of the Poets. I seconded the motion ; he promised to think of it, but said the booksellers had not included him in their list of the poets.' H. More's Memoirs.^ i. 174. Of this interview with the King nothing more is known than we learn here. 3 Probably the Rev. Dr. Bell, Pre- bendary of Westminster. Life, ii. 204, //. I. See ante, i. 1 18 ; ii. 62, n. 2. '' ' Hermes' Harris, 'a sound sullen scholar,' but ' a prig and a bad prig.' Life, iii. 245. Miss Burney describes him as 'a most charming old man.' Early Diary of Frances Burney^ ii. 97. Perhaps this Sunday evening at Dr. Burney's Johnson heard 'a little concert,' as the Dean of Winchester had heard one on a Sunday evening a few years earlier, and was not shocked. Lb. ii. 114. ^ Richard Fulke Greville. Ante, i. 60, n. 2. ^ ' Reynolds's pocket-book has " 4. Dr. Johnson, Lady Lucan." ' Leslie and Taylor's Reynolds, ii. 287. '4,' I suppose, is the hour of the dinner. ' Dr. Shipley. Ante, i. 400. ^ Johnson visited him in 1783 at his seat at Healc, near Salisbury. Life, iv. 234. ' Post, p. 150. '° Allan Ramsay, the portrait painter, son of Allan Ramsay, the poet, a man who could give *a splendid dinner.' Life, iii. 336. " Atite, ii. 65, III. only Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. T/iralc. 147 only at Knightsbridge '. Nature distributes her gifts, they say, variously, to show us that we have need of one another ; and in her bounty she bestowed warm water upon Bath, and condemned the inhabitants of other places, if they would warm their water, to make a fire. I would have the young ladies take half a glass every third day, and walk upon it. I not only scour the town from day to day, but many visitors come to me in the morning ; so that my work makes no great progress, but I will try to quicken it. I should certainly like to bustle a little among you, but I am unwilling to quit my post till I have made an end ^. You did not tell me in your last letter how Mr. Thrale goes on. If he will be ruled, for aught appears, he may live oti these hundred years^. Fix him when he comes in alternate diet. I am, dearest Lady, Your, &c., London, April 25, 1780. SaM : JOHNSON. Now there is a date ; look at it. 663. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dearest Madam, Mr. Thrale never will live abstinently^ till he can persuade himself to abstain by rule. I lived on potatoes on Friday, and on spinach to-day ; but I have had, I am afraid, too many dinners ' For the glass of hot water, see On the death of Dr. Swift. Swift's a7ite, ii. 140. ' I knew a lady,' said Works, ed. 1803, xi. 245. Johnson, ' who came up from Lin- * Piozzi Letters, ii. 109. colnshire to Knightsbridge with one Boswell gives in the Life, iii. 421, of her daughters, and gave five a letter from Mrs. Thrale to Johnson, guineas a week for a lodging and dated April 28 of this year, thus a warm bath ; that is, mere warm prefacing it : — ' shall present my water. That, you know, could not readers with one of her original letters be had in Lincoltishire ! She said, to him at this time, which will amuse it was made either too hot or too them probably more than those well- cold there.' Life, v. 286. written but studied epistles which ^ Of his Lives. she has inserted in her collection, ^ *Had he been ruled, for aught because it exhibits the easy vivacity appears, of their literary intercourse.' He He might have lived these gives moreover part of Johnson's twenty years.' reply — the letter in the text. L 2 of 148 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D, 1780. of late. I took physick ' too both days, and hope to fast to- morrow. When he comes home, we will shame him, and Jebb^ shall scold him into regularity. I am glad, however, that he is always one of the company, and that my dear Oueeney is again another. Encourage, as you can, the musical girl ^. Nothing is more common than mutual dislike where mutual approbation is particularly expected. There is often on both sides a vigilance not over benevolent ; and as attention is strongly excited, so that nothing drops unheeded, any difference in taste or opinion, and some difference where there is no restraint will commonly appear, it \sic\ immediately generates dislike'*. Never let criticisms operate upon your face or your mind ; it is very rarely that an author is hurt by his criticks ^. The blaze of reputation cannot be blown out, but it often dies in the socket ; a very few names may be considered as perpetual lamps that shine unconsumed. From the author of Fitzosborne's Letters ^ ' By physick Johnson in these Letters always, I think, means ' a purge.' In his Dictionary he defines physick^ in its third meaning, as ' in common phrase, a purge.' ^ Sir Richard Jebb. Horace Wal- pole writing of him on Jan. 29 of this year says : — ' Sir Richard Jebb pro- nounced the poor girl in a consump- tion ; but he is such a raven that I did not believe him, nor do.' Letters^ vii. 320. Miss Burney wrote the following year: — 'Dr. Johnson is very good and very clubable, but Sir R. Jebb is quite a scourge to me. He is so haughty, so impracticable a creature.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 9. ' Mrs. Thrale had written : — ' Poor Queeney's sore eyes have just re- leased her ; she had a long confine- ment, and could neither read nor write, so my master treated her very good-naturedly with the visits of a young woman in this town, a taylor's daughter, who professes musick, and teaches so as to give six lessons a day to ladies, at five and threepence a lesson. Miss Burney says she is a great performer ; and I respect the wench for getting her living so prettily : she is very modest and pretty-mannered, and not seventeen years old.' Life, iii. 422. " Mrs. Thrale had written :— ' Yes- terday's evening was passed at Mrs. Montagu's : there was Mr. Melmoth, I do not like him though, nor he me ; it was expected we should have pleased each other ; he is, however, just Tory enough to hate the Bishop of Peterborough for Whiggism, and Whig enough to abhor you for Toryism.' lb. 5 Mrs. Thrale had written :— ' I felt my regard for you in my face last night when the criticisms were going on.' lb. For the silence with which attacks should be met, see Life, ii. 61, 71. 4. ' Mr. Melmoth, 'Pliny' Melmoth as he was called. Ih. iii. 422, 71. 2 ; iv. 272, n. 4. I cannot Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 149 I cannot think myself in much danger. I met him only once about thirty years ago, and in some small dispute reduced him to whistle ; having not seen him since, that is the last impression. Poor Moore the fabulist ' was one of the company. Mrs. Montague's long stay, against her own inclination, is very convenient. You would, by your own confession, want a com- panion ; and she is par pluribus, conversing with her you may ji7id variety in one ^. At Mrs. Ord's I met one Mrs. B ^ a travelled lady, of great spirit, and some consciousness of her own abilities. We had a contest of gallantry an hour long, so much to the diversion of the company, that at Ramsay's last night, in a crowded room, they would have pitted us again. There were Smelt^ and the Bishop of St. Asaph, who comes to every place ^; and Lord Monboddo*^, and Sir Joshua, and ladies out of tale. ' The author of Fables for the Female Sex, and of the tragedy of The Gamester, and editor of The World. Goldsmith, in his Present State of Polite Learning (ch. x.), after describing the sufferings of authors, continues : — ' Let us not then aggravate those natural incon- veniences by neglect ; we have had sufficient instances of this kind al- ready. Sale and Moore will suffice for one age at least. But they are dead, and their sorrows are over.' ' ' For here the false unconstant lover, After a thousand beauties shown, Does new surprising charms discover, And finds variety in one.' The Spectator, No. 470. ■^ Mrs. Buller. Miss Burney de- scribes her as ' tall and elegant in her person ; she is a famous Greek scholar, a celebrated traveller upon the Continent to see customs and manners ; and a woman every way singular for her knowledge and enter- prising way of life.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 243. H. C. Robinson describes her in 181 1 as 'a most accomplished lady of the old school. The poems of Scott and Southey she has put into her Index Expurga- torius. She cannot bear the irregu- larity of their versification.' H. C. Robinson's Diary, i. 321. See also ib. p. 392. ■* Leonard Smelt was sub-governor to the Prince of Wales (George IV). For his ' singular virtues and char- acter' see Walpole's Memoirs of George III, iv. 312. He is often mentioned in Mme. D'Arblay's Diary. ^ ' Dr. Johnson disapproved of bishops going to routs, at least of their staying at them longer than their presence commanded respect. He mentioned a particular bishop. " Poh ! (said IMrs. Thrale) the Bishop of is never minded at a rout.'" Life, iv. 75. The Bishop of St. Asaph was most likely the one censured. ' S&&Ltfe, v. 74, for Johnson's visit The 150 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D, 1780. The exhibition, how will you do, either to see or not to see ! The exhibition is eminently splendid. There is contour, and keeping, and grace, and expression, and all the varieties of arti- ficial excellence ^ The apartments were truly very noble. The pictures, for the sake of a sky light, are at the top of the house ; there we dined, and I sat over against the Archbishop of York ^ to Monboddo's house in 1773. ' I knew they did not love each other,' writes Boswell. When they met in 1784 at a friend's house Boswell observed that ' Monboddo avoided any communication with Johnson.' lb. iv. 273, n. I. Beattie mentions ' Monboddo's hatred of Johnson, though he never heard Johnson say anything severe of him.' Forbes's Beattie, p. 333. Monboddo's conceit might have provoked ridicule. Lord Hailes says in a note : — ' Lord Mon- boddo said to me, 23 Dec. 1789, I have forgotten more of antiquities than any man now living knows, idque addito jurainetito sanxit. ' Hist. MSS. Comm. 1874, p. 532. John- son moreover might have laughed at him as a wooer, for ' he had lately [written of April, 1782] proposed twice, without success, to Mrs. Garrick.' Leslie and Taylor's Rey- nolds, ii. 361. ' Mrs. Thrale replied : — ' When did I ever plague you about contour, and grace, and expression ? I have dreaded them all three since that hapless day at Compeigne, when you teized me so, and Mr. Thrale made what I hoped would have proved a lasting peace.' Piozsi Letters, ii. 116. "" The Royal Academy this year, for the first time, held its Exhi- bition in Somerset House. Leslie and Taylor's Reynolds, ii. 288. Horace VValpole wrote early in May: — 'You know, I suppose, that the Royal Academy at Somerset House is opened. It is quite a Roman palace, and finished in per- fect taste as well as boundless ex- pense. It would have been a glorious apparition at the conclusion of the great war ; now it is an insult on our poverty and degradation.' Letters, vii. 359. ' Mr. Seward saw Dr. Johnson presented to the Archbishop of York, and described his Bow to an Arch- BiSHOP, as such a studied elabora- tion of homage, such an extension of limb, such a flexion of body, as have seldom or ever been equalled.' Life, iv. 198. Jeremy Bentham, who had been under the Archbishop when he was Master of W^estminster School, thus describes him : — ' Our great glory was Dr. Markham ; he was a tall portly man, and " high he held his head." He married a Dutch woman, who brought him a consider- able fortune. He had a large quantity of classical knowledge. His business was rather in courting the great than in attending to the school. Any excuse served his purpose for desert- ing his post. He had a great deal of pomp, especially when he lifted his hand, waved it, and repeated Latin verses. If the boys performed their tasks well, it was well ; if ill, it was not the less well. We stood prodigiously in awe of him ; indeed he was an object of adoration.' Bent- ham's Works, X. 30. .See Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 151 See how I live when I am not under petticoat govern- ment'. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. London, May i, 1780. Mark that — you did not put the year to your la.st^ Madam, Mr. P- 664. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Bolt-court, Fleet-street, May 7, 1780. -■* has just been with me, and has talked much talk, of which the result is, that he thinks your presence neces- sary for a few days. I have not the same fulness of conviction ; but your appearance would certainly operate in your favour, and you will judge better what measures of diligence and of expence are necessary. Money, Mr. P says, must be spent ; and he is right in wishing that you be made able to judge how far it is spent properly. Perhaps, it is but perhaps, some desire that I have of seeing you, makes me think the better of his reasons. Can you leave Master? Can you appoint Mrs. governess? If you can, the expence of coming is nothing, and the trouble not much ; and therefore it were better gratify your agents. Levy behaves well. I dined on Wednesday with Mr. Fitzmaurice, who almost made me promise to pass part of the Summer at Llewenny^ To-morrow I dine with Mrs. Southwel^; and on Thursday with Lord Lucan. To-night I go to Miss Monkton's^ Thus I ' Ante, ii. 141, n. 2. by the Hon. Thomas Fitzmaurice, She had succeeded in putting brother of the Earl of Shelburne. Pennant's Wales, ed. 18 10, ii. 144. For Johnson's intimacy with the Earl see Life, iv. 191. See also ante^ ii. 81. ^ For the Southwells see ante, \. 205, n. 3. ^ ' The lively Miss Monckton (now Countess of Corke), who used to have the finest bit of blue at the house of her mother, Lady Galway.' Life, iv. 108. The bit of blue is an allusion to the Blue-stocking Club. lb. scramble, the day of the month — April 28. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 112. " ' Perkins.' Baretti. ^ Johnson with the Thrales had stayed at Lleweney Hall in Den- bighshire in 1774. It was then the residence of Mrs. Thrale's cousin Robert Cotton, Life, v. 435. In her utter indifference to dates and ac- curacy she said that it had stood a thousand years. Hayward's Piozzi, ii. 206. It was afterwards bought 152 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1780. scramble, when you do not quite shut me up ; but I am miserably under petticoat government, and yet am not very weary, nor much ashamed. Pray tell my two dear girls that I will write to both of them next week ; and let Burney know that I was so angry — I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. I know of Mrs. Desmoulines' letter '. It will be a great charity. Let me know when you are to come. 665. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, May 8, 1780. Would you desire better sympathy — At the very time when you were writing, I was answering your letter. Having seen nobody since I saw Mr. P ^, I have little more to say, than when I wrote last. My opinion is, that you should come for a week, and shew yourself, and talk in high terms ; for it will certainly be propagated with great diligence, that you despair and desist ; and to those that declare the contrary, it will be answered, Why then do they not appear? To this no reply can be made that will keep your friends in countenance. A little bustle and a little ostentation will put a stop to clamours, and whispers, and suspicions of your friends, and calumnies of your opponents. Be brisk, and be splendid, and be publick. You will probably be received with much favour ; and take from little people the opportunity which your absence gives them of magnifying their services, and exalting their importance. You may have more friends and fewer ob- ligations. It is always necessary to shew some good opinion of those whose good opinion we solicit. Your friends solicit you to come ; if you do not come, you make them less your friends, by dis- regarding their advice. Nobody will persist long in helping those that will do nothing for themselves. ' For Mrs. Desmoulines, see ante, " Piozzi Letters, ii. 114. ii. 42, «. 2. ^ ' Perkins.' Baretti. The Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 153 The voters of the Borough are too proud and too Httle dependant to be solicited by deputies ; they expect the gratifica- tion of seeing the candidate bowing or curtseying before them. If you are proud, they can be sullen'. Such is the call for your presence ; what is there to withhold you? I see no pretence for hesitation. Mr. Thrale certainly shall not come ; and yet somebody must appear whom the people think it worth the while to look at ^. Do not think all this while that I want to see you. — I dine on Thursday at Lord Lucan's, and on Saturday at Lady Craven's ; and I dined yesterday with Mrs. South wel. As to my looks at the Academy, I was not told of them ; and as I remember, I was very well, and I am well enough now, and ' Dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 666. To Mrs. Thrale^. Dear Madam, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, May 9, 1780. This morning brought me the honour of a visit from Sir Philip ■*, who has been to survey Streatham, and thinks it will be long before you can return thither ; which he considers as a loss to himself of many pleasant days which your residence might have afforded. We then talked about our mistress, and ^ ; and I said you had most wit, and most literature. ' ' A Borough election,' writes Mrs. Piozzi, 'once showed me Mr. John- son's toleration of boisterous mirth. A rough fellow, a hatter by trade, seeing his beaver in a state of decay seized it suddenly with one hand, and clapping him on the back with the other, "Ah, Master Johnson." says he, "this is no time to be thinking about hais." " No, no. Sir," replies our Doctor in a cheerful tone, " hats are of no use now, as you say, except to throw up in the air and huzza with," accompanying his words with the true election halloo.' Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 214. ^ Johnson wrote on October 17 : — ' Mr. Thrale's loss of health has lost him the election.' Life, iii. 442. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 124. ■* Sir Philip Jennings Clerk. Ante, ii. 5 n. 2. ^ ' Mrs. Montagu for a penny.' Baretti. ' As to Mrs. Montagu she reasons well, and harangues well, but wit she has none. Mrs. Thrale has almost too much ; for when she is in spirits it bursts forth in a torrent almost overwhelming.' Mme. D'Ar- blay's Diary, i. 335. Mr. Evans 154 T^o Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1780. Mr. Evans' brought me your letter, to which I had already sent the answer ; nor have I any thing to add, but that the more I reflect, and the more I hear, the more I am convinced of the necessity of your presence. Your adversaries will be for ever saying, that you despair of success, or disdain to obtain it by the usual solicitation. Either of these suppositions generally re- ceived ruins your interest, and your appearance confutes both. Cette Anne si belle, Qu'on vante si fort, Pourquoi ne vient t'elle ? Vraiment elle a tort. While you stay away your friends have no answer to give. Mr. P , as I suppose you know, has refused to join with H ^ and is thought to be in more danger than Mr. Thrale. Of 's letter, I would have you not take any notice ; he is a man of no character. My Lives creep on. I have done Addison, Prior, Rowe, Granville, Sheffield, Collins, Pitt, and almost Fenton. I design to take Congreve next into my hand. I hope to have done before you can come home, and then whither shall I go ^ ? What comes of my dear, sweet, charming, lovely, pretty, little Queeney's learning'^.? This is a sad long interruption, and ' Ante, i. 393, «. 2. " He was thinking of the Latin ^ Mr. P was Nathaniel Polhill, lessons which he gave her. Ante, Thrale's colleague; H was Sir ii. 98, ;>?. 2. Miss Burney nine months Richard Hotham. At the close of earlier describes her as 'coldly civil the poll on September 15, the num- as usual.' Of her singing she says : — bers were : — ' Her voice is very sweet, and will Hotham . . . 1 1 77 improve with practice. She has Polhill .... 1025 much to do, but nothing to ufido; Thrale. . . . 769 how&v&r,''^ Maftca T annua, e Paniina Annual Register, 1780, i. 227. sempre inancara''" Eaily Diary of ^ On August 21 Johnson wrote to Frances Burney, ii. 257, 9. Char- Boswell : — ' I have sat at home in lotte Burney, writing of her two years Bolt-court, all the summer, thinking later, says :^' Miss Thrale was to my to write the Lives, and a great part no small astonishment civil to me, of the time only thinking. Several and sat by me the whole evening. of them, however, are done, and I She has taken it into her head to be still think to do the rest.' Life, iii. civil to people this winter, I hear.' 435. They were finished in March, lb. p. 306. 17S1. lb. iv. 34. wicked Aetat. 70.] To the Revereiid Thomas Warlon. 155 the wicked world will make us no allowance, but will call us . Lady Lucan says, she hears Queeney is wonderfully accom- plished, and I did not speak ill of her. Did I tell you that Scot and Jones both offer themselves to represent the University in the place of Sir Roger Newdigate ^ They are struggling hard for what others think neither of them will obtain. I am not grown fat. I did thrive a little, but I checked the pernicious growth, and am now small as before. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 667. To THE Reverend Thomas Warton^. Sir Bolt Court, Fleet Street, May 9, 1780. I have your pardon to ask for an involuntary fault. In a parcel sent from Mr. Boswell I found the enclosed letter, which, without looking on the direction, I broke open ; but, finding ' Newdigate, who had been mem- ber since 1751 {Pari. Hist. xiv. 76), was retiring. To obtain the seat Jones ' would,' he said, 'have cheer- fully sacrificed to it not only an Indian Judgeship of six thousand a year, but a Nabobship with as many millions.' Finding however that he had no chance of success he with- drew, and offered to support Dr. Scott (afterwards Lord Stowelll. Life of Sir W. Jones, pp. 216, 228, 231. Scott also withdrew, and Sir William Dolben and Francis Page were elected without opposition. Jackson's Oxford Journal, Sep- tember 16, 1780. It is not the only time in the history of the University that the men of acres have triumphed over the men of learning. In the Pari. Hist. xxi. 780 Newdigate is wrongly entered as elected in 1780. Scott in 1 801 succeeded Page, Horace Walpole wrote to Mason in 1780: — 'Mr. Jones, the orientalist, is candidate for Oxford. On Tuesday was se'nnight Mrs. Vesey presented him to me. The next day he sent me an absurd and pedantic letter, desiring I would make interest for him. I answered it directly, and told him I had no more connection with Oxford than with the Antipodes, nor desired to have.' He adds : — ' The man, it seems, is a staunch Whig, but ver}^ wrong - headed.' Letters, vii. 361. It seems strange to our notions that the strength of a staunch Whig should lie, as Jones said his did, 'among the non-resi- dent voters.' Life of Jones, p. 224. ' First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 647. For Thomas Warton see Life, i. 270. I did 1 56 To the Reverend Dr. Joseph Wai'ton. [a.d. 1780. I did not understand it, soon saw it belonged to you. I am sorry for this appearance of a fault, but believe me it is only the appearance. I did not read enough of the letter to know its purport. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 668. To THE Reverend Dr. Joseph Warton '. Dear Sir, May 23, 1780. It is unnecessary to tell you how much I was obliged by your useful memorials. The shares of Fenton and Broome in the Odyssey I had before from Mr. Spence. Dr. Warburton did not know them ^. I wish to be told, as the question is of great importance in the poetical world, whence you had your intelli- gence ; if from Spence, it shows at least his consistency; if from any other, it confers corroboration. If any thing useful to me should occur, I depend upon your friendship. Be pleased to make my compliments to the ladies of your house, and to the gentleman that honoured me with the Greek Epigrams, when I had, what I hope sometime to have again, the pleasure of spending a little time with you at Winchester^. I am, dear Sir, Your most obliged and most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. ' First published in Wooll's Me- moirs of Dr. IVarton, page 390. - ' Pope, weary of the toil, called Fenton and Broome to his assistance ; and, taking only half the work upon himself, divided the other half be- tween his partners, giving four books to Fenton and eight to Broome.' In a note ' he mentions only five books as written by the coadjutors. ... A natural curiosity after the real con- duct of so great an undertaking, in- cited me once to inquire of Dr. Warburton, who told me in his warm language, that he thought the relation given in the note "a lie"; but that he was not able to ascertain the several shares. The intelligence which Ur. Warburton could not afford me, I obtained from Mr. Langton, to whom Mr. Spence had imparted it.' Johnson's Works, \\\\. 2't,o. See also zb. pp. 56, 273, i^^. ^ For Johnson's visit, see Life, i. 496, n. 2 ; iii. 367. To Aetat. 70.] To Mrs, Thrale. 157 669. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, May 23, 1780. Your letter told me all the good news. Mr. Thrale well, Queeney good, and yourself not so ill but that you know how to be made well ; and now is gone % you have the sole and undivided empire of Bath ; and you talk to many whom you cannot make wiser, and enjoy the foolish face of praise ^. But •■* and you have had, with all your adulations, nothing finer said of you than was said last Saturday night of Burke and me. We were at the Bishop of 's, a bishop little better than your bishop ^ ; and towards twelve we fell into talk, to which the ladies listened, just as they do to you ; and said, as I heard, there is no rising tmless somebody will cry fire. I was last night at Miss Monkton's ; and there were Lady Craven and Lady Cranburne, and many ladies and few men. Next Saturday I am to be at Mr, Pepys's^, and in the inter- mediate time am to provide for myself as I can. You cannot think how doggedly I left your house on Friday ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 127. Mrs. Thrale had returned to Lon- don from Bath on electioneering business. ' Let me see you at the Borough-house as soon as I get there,' she wrote to Johnson on May 9. ' Everybody says I must come up directly.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 122. Miss Burney, who had accompanied her, describes her as ' involved in business, electioneering, canvassing and letter-writing.' On the morning of their return to Bath, ' we rose,' she writes, ' at four o'clock, and when we came down stairs, to our great surprise found Dr. Johnson waiting to receive and breakfast with us.' They reached Bath that same day. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 354. - ' Mrs. Montagu we miss cruelly.' lb. p. 357. ^ Pope. Prologue to the Satires, 1. 212. * Miss Burney. ^ The first Bishop was most likely the Bishop of St. Asaph, and the second Hinchliffe, Bishop of Peter- borough, who was at Bath. ' He adores, and is adored in return by Mrs. Thrale.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 356. * For Miss Monckton see ante, ii. 151, 71. 7, and for Lady Craven, ii. 143. Lady Cranboume's husband succeeded his father this year as seventh Earl of Salisbury. In 1789 he was created Marquis. She met a miserable end in the fire which burnt the west wing of Hatfield House on November 27, 1S35. Her grandson is the present Marquis. For Pepys, see ante, ii. 136, n. i. My 158 To John Nichols. [a.d. 1780. morning, and yet Mrs. Abbess gave me some mushrooms ; but what are mushrooms without my mistress ? My master has seen his hand-bill ' ; will he stand to it ? I have not heard a word from the Borough since you went away. Dr. Taylor is coming hastily to town, that he may drive his lawsuit forward. He seems to think himself very well. This lawsuit will keep him in exercise, and exercise will keep him well- It is to be wished that the law may double its delays. If Dr. Wilson dies, he will take St. Margaret's, and then he will have the bustle of the parish to amuse him^. I expect him every day. I am, dear Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 670. To John Nichols^. [?May, 1780.] In reading Rowe in your edition, which is very impudently called mine, I observed a little piece unnaturally and odiously obscene. I was offended, but was still more offended when I could not find it in Rowe's genuine volumes. To admit it had been wrong ; to interpolate it is surely worse. If I had known of such a piece in the whole collection, I should have been angry. What can be done ? ' No doubt his Address to the undertaking directed by him : he Electors. A?ite, ii. 145. was to furnish a Preface and Life - For Dr. Taylor's law-suit in 1776, to any poet the booksellers pleased, see ante, i. 379. Dr. Wilson had I asked him if he would do this to the living of St. Margaret's, West- any dunce's works, if they should ask minster. He lived nearly four years him. JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir; and jfty longer. Post, p. 163, and Letter of he was a dunce.'" Life, iii. 137. May 13, 1784. Nichols says in a note to the Gentle- ^ First published in the Gentle- man's Magazine, that the piece of man's Magazifte for 1785, page 10. which Johnson complained 'has not Johnson, it must be remembered, only appeared in the Wo7'ks of Rowe, was not the editor of The English but has been transplanted by Pope Poets. ' The edition,' writes Bos- into the Miscellanies he published in well, ' for which he was to write his own name and that of Dean Prefaces and Lives, was not an Swift.' To Aetat. 70.] To Mvs. Tkrale. 159 671. To John Nichols'. [May 24, 17S0.] Mr. Johnson is obliged to Mr. Nicol for his communication, and must have Hammond again. Mr. Johnson would be glad of Blackmore's Essays for a few days. 672. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, Here has been Dr. Lawrence with me, and I showed him your letter ; and you may easily believe we had some talk about my master^. He said, however, little that was new, except this, which is of great importance, that if ever he feels any uncommon sensation in his head, such as, heaviness, pain, or noise, or giddi- ness, he should have immediate recourse to some evacuation, and thinks a cathartick most eligible. He told me a case of a lady, who said she felt a dizziness, and would bleed ; to bleed, how- ever, she neglected, and in a few days the dizziness became an apoplexy. He says, but do not tell it, that the use of Bath water, as far as it did any thing, did mischief. He presses abstinence very strongly, as that which must do all that can be done ; and recommends the exercise of walking, as tending more to extenuation'* than that of riding. ' First published in the Getttle- are recommended by his language.' man!s Magazine for 1785, page Works, viii. 43. 10. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 135. Johnson says of Blackmore's ^ Mrs. Thrale had written that ' the Essays that 'they can be com- one glass of water,' which Mr. Thrale mended only as they are written for took every day at Bath, caused dizzi- the highest and noblest purpose, the ness. lb. ii. 131. promotion of religion. Blackmore's * Dr. Norman Moore, whom I prose is not the prose of a poet ; for have consulted on this passage, in- it is languid, sluggish, and lifeless ; forms me that he thinks Johnson his diction is neither daring nor means by ' extenuation ' reduction of exact, his flow neither rapid nor easy, fat. In his DictioJiary h& d&fin&s and his periods neither smooth nor to extenuate, in its fifth meaning, as strong. His account of wit will show to make lean. See post, Letter of with how little clearness he is content October 27, 1781, where it seems to to think, and how little his thoughts mean * loss of flesh.' has 1 60 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1780. ' has let out another pound of blood, and is come to town, brisk and vigorous, fierce and fell, to drive on his lawsuit. Nothing in all life now can be more profligater than what he is ; and if, in case, that so be, that they persist for to resist him, he is resolved not to spare no money, nor no time ^. He is, I believe, thundering away. His solicitor has turned him off; and I think it not unlikely that he will tire his lawyers. But now don't you talk. My dear Queeney, what a good girl she is. Pray write to me about her, and let me know her progress in the world. Bath is a good place for the initiation of a young lady. She can neither become negligent for want of observers, as in the country ; nor by the imagination that she lies concealed in the crowd, as in London. Lady Lucan told me, between ourselves, how much she had heard of Queeny's accomplishments ; she must therefore now be careful, since she begins to have the public eye upon her. A lady has sent me a vial, like Mrs. Nesbit's^ vial, of essence of roses. What am I come to ? Congreve, whom I dispatched at the Borough while I was attending the election"*, is one of the best of the little lives ; but then I had your conversation. You seem to suspect that I think you too earnest about the success of your solicitation : if I gave you any reason for that suspicion, it was without intention. It would be with great dis- content that I should see Mr. Thrale decline the representation of the Borough, and with much greater should I see him ejected. To sit in Parliament for Southwark, is the highest honour that his station permits him to attain^; and his ambition to attain it, ' Dr. Taylor. Attte, \\. \^Z. He to Johnson just after her second mar- was in the habit of having himself riage, said, it is stated : — ' My second bled periodically. Life, iii. 152. husband is a gentleman, which is "^ ' This was the elegant phrase- more than could be said of my first.' ology of that doctor.' Baretti. Miss Hawkins's ^/t-w^/rj-, i. 66. Bos- ^ Mrs. Nesbitt was Mr. Thrale's well, where he first speaks of Mr. sister. Ante, i. 219, n. 3. Thrale, after mentioning his great ^ A7ite, ii. 157, n. i. wealth, says : — 'There may be some ^ Brewers had not as yet been who think that a new system of gen- made peers. Mrs. Piozzi, in a letter tility might be established upon prin- is Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. i6i is surely rational and laudable. I will not say that for an honest man to struggle for a vote in the legislature, at a time when hone.st votes are so much wanted, is absolutely a duty, but it is surely an act of virtue. The expence, if it was more, I should wish him to despise'. Money is made for such purposes as this. And the method to which the trade is now brought, will, I hope, save him from any want of what he shall now spend. Keep Mr. Thrale well, and make him keep himself well, and put all other care out of your dear head. Sir Edward Littleton's business with me was to know the character of a candidate for a school at Brewood in Staffordshire ; to which, I think, there are seventeen pretenders ^ ciples totally different from what have hitherto prevailed.' After stating ' the specious but false arguments ' for such a proposition he continues : — ' To refute them is needless. The general sense of mankind cries out with irresistible force, " Un gentil- hoi/Dne est toujoiirs gentilhommeP ' Life, i. 491. Boswell seems at times to mark his sense of Mr. Thrale's inferiority by speaking of him as Thrale and his house as Thrale's. He never, I believe, is thus familiar in the case of Beauclerk, Burke, Langton, and Reynolds. ' See Life, ii. 153, where Johnson says : — ' A very rich man from low beginnings may buy his election in a borough ; but, cateris paribtts, a man of family will be preferred ; ' and V. 106, where he says that ' the Nabob will carry an election by means of his wealth in a country where money is highly valued, as it must be where nothing can be had without money.' In Moore's Life of Sheridan, ed. 1826, i. 405, is given an account of Sheridan's ' Expenses at the Borough of Stafford for Election, Anno 1784.' The first entry is 248 Burgesses paid ;i^5 5^. each VOL. II. M "" Johnson records that when he was at Hagley in 1774 he met at dinner Sir Edward Littleton of Staf- fordshire. Life, V. 457. With Sir Edward's death the baronetcy ex- pired. He was succeeded in his estates by his grand-nephew, who in 1835 was created Baron Hatherton. Burke's Peerage. Johnson himself forty-four years earlier had sought the post, not of master, but of an assistant to the master of Brewood School. Life, iv. 407, ti. 4. Pretender he merely defines as ' one who lays claim to anything.' Its present meaning of ' one who falsely lays claim to a thing ' he does not mention. The title of Pretender therefore when first applied to the son of James II was nothing more than Claimant. By the time Bos- well published his Tour to the Hebri- des, and no doubt much earlier, it had acquired its secondary and offen- sive meaning. Boswell speaking of Charles Edward says :— ' I do not call him the Pretender, because it appears to me as an insult to one who is still alive, and, I suppose, thinks very differently.' Life, v. 185. Do 1 62 To He7i7y Thrale. [a.d. i78o. Do not I tell you every thing? what wouldst thou more of man? It will, I fancy, be necessary for you to come up once again at least, to fix your friends and terrify your enemies. Take care to be informed, as you can, of the ebb or flow of your interest ; and do not lose at Capua the victory of Cannae. I hope I need not tell you, dear Madam, that I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. Thursday, May 25, 1780. No. 8, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, London. Look at this, and learn ^ 673. To THE Reverend Dr. Farmer. [London] May 25, 1780. Published in the Life^ iii. 427. 674. To Henry Thrale ^. Dear Sir, London, May 30, 1780. You never desired me to write to you, and therefore cannot take it amiss that I have never written. I once began a letter, in which I intended to exhort you to resolute abstinence ; but I rejoice now that I never sent, nor troubled you with advice which you do not want. The advice that is wanted is commonly un- welcome, and that which is not wanted is evidently impertinent. The accounts of your health, and of your caution, with which I am furnished by my mistress, are just such as would be wished, and I congratulate you on your power over yourself, and on the success with which the exercise of that power has been hitherto rewarded. Do not remit your care ; for in your condition it is certain that security ^ will produce danger. You always used to tell me, that we could never eat too little ; the time is now come to both of us, in which your position is verified. I am really better than I have been for twenty years ' She was to learn to date her ^ Johnson gives as the first mean- letters, ing of security^ ' carelessness ; free- " Piozzi Letters y ii. 139. dom from fear.' past ; Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 163 past '^ ; and if you persist in your present laudable practice, you may live to tell your great-grandchildren the advantages of abstinence. I have been so idle, that I know not when I shall get either to you, or to any other place ; for my resolution is to stay here till the work is finished, unless some call more pressing than I think likely to happen should summon me away. Taylor, who is gone away brisk and jolly, asked me when I would come to him, but I could not tell him. I hope, however, to see standing corn in some part of the earth this Summer, but I shall hardly smell hay, or suck clover flowers ^. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 675. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, You mistake about Dr. Taylor's claim upon the Abbey ; the prebends are equal, but the senior prebendary has his choice of the livings that are in the gift of the chapter, of which St. Margaret's is one ; which if Wilson dies, he may take if he pleases ''. He went home lusty and stout ; having bustled ably about his lawsuit, which at last, I think, he will not get. Mr. Thrale, you say, was pleased to find that I wish him well ; which seems therefore to be a new discovery. I hoped he had known for many a year past that nobody can wish him better. It is strange to find that so many have heard of his fictitious re- lapse, and so few of his continual recovery. And you think to run me down with the Bishop and Mrs. Carter, and Sir James ^; and I know not whether you may not ' See post, p. 181. It is worthy of notice that the great improvement in Johnson's health took place in the years when he was at work on the Lives of the Poets. It is very likely that the occupation, by keeping his mind from dwelling so much on itself, had benefited his bodily health. " He lost both his summer and his autumn ramble this year, though he did visit Brighton in October. Life, iii. 453. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 141. " Ante, ii. 158. 5 The Bishop was the Bishop of Peterborough. Ante, ii. 157, n. 5. Miss Burney, who was introduced to Mrs. Carter at Bath, describes her as ' really a noble-looking woman ; I never saw age so graceful in the M 2 will 164 To Mrs. Tkrale. [A.D. 1780. win a heat, now the town grows empty. Mrs. Vesey suspects still that I do not love them since that skrimage^. But I bustle pretty well, and shew myself here and there, and do not like to be quite lost. However, I have as many invitations to the country as you ; and I do not mind your breakfasts, nor your evenings. Langton is gone to be an engineer at Chatham ^ ; and I sup- pose you know that Jones and Scot oppose each other for what neither will have ^. If Mr. Thrale at all remits his vigilance, let the Doctor loose upon him. While he is watched he may be kept from mischief, but he never can be safe without a rule ; and no rule will he find equal to that which has been so often mentioned, of an alternate dief*; in which, at least in this season of vegetation, there is neither difficulty nor hardship. I am, dearest Madam, Your, &c., London, No. 8, Bolt-court, Fleet-street. SaM : JOHNSON. June 6, 1780 ^ Mind this, and tell Queeney. female sex yet ; her whole face seems to beam with goodness, piety and philanthropy.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diar)\ i. 373. Sir James was pro- bably the same man as Sir J. C who invited far more people to his party than his rooms would hold ; ' a bawling old man.' lb. pp. 367, 376. ' Neither skrimage nor scrimmage is in Johnson's Dictionary. It is the same word as skirtjiish. The ' skrimage,' I suppose, was the party where he and Dr. Barnard ' made a noise all the evening.' Ante, ii. 136. ^ He was an officer in the Lincoln- shire militia. Life, iii. 360. Jones, writing in the autumn of this year, says : — ' At Chatham I sought in vain for Mr. Langton among the new ravelines and counterscarps.' Life of Sir William Jones, p. 235. He took a house at Rochester, where Johnson visited him in 1783. Life, iv. 232. Johnson defines engineer as ' one who manages engines ; one who directs the artillery of an army.' ^ Ante, ii. 155. ■* ' Nobody ever had spirit enough to tell him that his fits were apoplectic ; such is the blessing of being rich that nobody cares to speak out.' — Baretti. For ' alternate diet ' see ante, ii. 143. ^ It is strange that Johnson does not mention the Gordon Riots, of which he gives an account in his next letter to Mrs. Thrale. Miss Burney recorded on June 9 :— ' Dr. Johnson has written to Mrs. Thrale, without even mentioning the exist- ence of this mob ; perhaps at this very moment he thinks it "a hum- bug upon the nation," as George Bo- dens called the parliament.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 401. The riot was rising to its worst while Johnson To Aetat. 70.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 165 676. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor '. Dear Sir, Just as you went away you asked me whether I thought mercury would do you any good ''. I never had considered it before, but the mention of it made an impression upon me, and I am of opinion, that as your disorders apparently arise from an obstructed circulation, mercury may help you. I would have you try it cautiously, by adding two grains of calomel to your pill at night. Thus taken, it will remain in your body all night, and will be directed downwards in the morning. So small a quantity can have no sudden effect, good or evil, but if in a month you think yourself better continue it, if worse, leave it off, and rid yourself of it by a brisk purge. I hope it will do good. You will add very little to the bulk of your pill, and taste it has none, and as it is combined with a purgative it can never ac- cumulate. Let me know whether you take it or not. Be sure, whatever else you do, to keep your mind easy, and do not let little things disturb it ^. Bustle about your hay and your cattle, and keep yourself busy with such things as give you little solicitude. I am. Sir, Your affectionate St [servant], June 6, 1780. London, SaM : JOHNSON. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor, in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. was writing, but no doubt he had physic' see Life, iii. 152. Miss posted his letter before Newgate was Burney wrote of him on September attacked. That in the midst of the 14, 1781 : — 'Dr. Johnson has been general alarm he should have passed very unwell indeed. Once I was the whole tumult over in silence, quite frightened about him ; but he and insisted on the importance of continues his strange discipline — accurately dating a letter, is certainly starving, mercury, opium ; and a curious trait of character. Perhaps though for a time half demolished by he did not want to alarm Mr. Thrale. its severity, he always in the end In his Letter to Dr. Taylor of the rises superior both to the disease and same day he is equally reticent. the remedy, which commonly is the ' From the original in the posses- most alarming of the two.' Mme. sion of Mr. J. C. Brooks of Newcasde D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 107. on Tyne. ^ For the art of managing the mind "^ For Johnson's 'dabbling in see Zz/^, ii. 440; iii. 164. To i66 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. 677. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, London, [Friday] June 9, 1780. To the question. Who was impressed with consternation ? it may with great truth be answered, that every body was impressed, for nobody was sure of his safety ^. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 143. The riots described in this and the next few letters were caused by Protestant bigotry. The severe penal provisions against the Roman Catholics had been relaxed so far as England was concerned by an Act passed the year before. Popish priests, or Papists keeping school, were no longer liable to perpetual imprisonment. The Catholics were still subject to all the penalties created in the reigns of EHzabeth, James I, Charles II, and in the first ten years of William III. Scotland was alarmed by the report that the Scotch Catholics were in like manner to be relieved. The spirit of bigotry broke out there into acts of violence and cruelty, and the Government was timid and feeble. The success of these Scotch bigots seems to have given rise to the Protestant Associa- tion in England, of which Lord George Gordon was the head. Ajin. Reg., 1780, i. 254-6: 1781, i. 237. Horace Walpole wrote on February II, 1779: — 'The good people of Edinburgh have set but an ugly example. There has been a serious insurrection against the Papists, and two mass-houses were burnt, and the Provost quieted the tumult only by promising that the toleration of Popery should not be extended to Scotland.' Letters, vii. 174. On March 1 8 Burke, attacking the supine- ness of the Ministers towards the Scotch rioters, ' hoped that Govern- ment was not dead but only asleep. At this moment he looked directly at Lord North who was asleep, and said in the Scripture phrase, " Brother Lazarus is not dead but sleepeth." The laugh was not more loud on one side of the House than on the other.' Pa7-l. Hist., XX. 326. Horace Wal- pole, to his disgrace, ' always disliked and condemned the repeal of the Popish statutes Papists and liberty are contradictions.' Letters, vii. 378 ; viii. 426. Gibbon wrote on June 27 : — ' The month of June, 1780, will ever be marked by a dark and diabolical fanaticism which I had supposed to be extinct, but which actually subsists in Great Britain, perhaps beyond any other country in Europe.' Misc. Works, ii. 241. - Horace Walpole wrote on June 7 : — ' Yet I assure your Ladyship there is no panic. Lady Aylesbury has been at the play in the Hay- market, and the Duke and my four nieces at Ranelagh this evening.' Letters, vii. 388. The following Monday he wrote : — ' Mercy on us ! we seem to be plunging into the horrors of France, in the reigns of Charles VI and VII! — yet, as ex- tremes meet, there is at this moment amazing insensibility. Within these f )ur days I have received five appli- cations for tickets to see my house ! ' lb. p. 395. Gibbon, who lived in Bentinck Street, Manchester Square, wrote on June 8 : — ' Our part of the town is as quiet as a country village.' Misc. Works, ii. 240. On Aetat 70 ] To Mrs. Thrale. 167 On Friday [June 2] the good Protestants met in St. George's Fields, at the summons of Lord George Gordon, and marching to Westminster, insulted the Lords and Commons, who all bore it with great tameness '. At night the outrages began by the demolition of the mass-house "^ by Lincoln's Inn. An exact journal of a week's defiance of government I cannot give you. On Monday, [June 5], Mr. Strahan, who had been insulted, spoke to Lord Mansfield, who had I think been in- sulted too, of the licentiousness of the populace ; and his Lord- ship treated it as a very slight irregularity ^ On Tuesday night ' Horace Walpole wrote on June 3 : — ' I smile to-day— but I trembled last night ; for an hour or more I never felt more anxiety. I knew the bravest of my friends were barricaded into the House of Commons, and every avenue to it impossible. . . . The Duke of Gloucester had reached the House with the utmost difficulty, and found it sunk from the temple of dignity to an asylum of lamentable objects Mr. Conway and Lord F. Cavendish told me there was a moment when they thought they must have opened the doors and fought their way out sword in hand. Lord North was very firm, and at last they got the Guards and cleared the pass.' Walpole's Letters, vii. 375-7- The poet Crabbe describes how he met ' a resolute band of vile- looking fellows, ragged, dirty, and in- solent, armed with clubs, going to join their companions ' at West- minster, Crabbe's Works, ed. 1834, i. 82. ^ ' He means the Sardinian Chapel, as it is commonly called. But so ilhberal was Johnson made byreligion that he calls here that chapel a Mass- house, by way of contempt, alluding to the names oi bun-house, chop-house, slaughter-house, and other such ; yet he hated the Presbyterians.' — Ba- RETTI. Johnson used the common term — the one used by Horace Wal- pole (see last note). In the Gentle- maffs Magazine for 1767, p. 141, there is an account of two ' private mass- houses ' which were entered by the peace-officers. The Sardinian Chapel was attached to the house of the Sardinian Minister in Lincoln's Inn Fields. The House and Chapel of Count Haslang, in Golden Square, were also plundered. 'As,' writes Horace Walpole, 'he is a Prince of Smugglers as well as Bavarian Minister, great quantities of run tea and contraband goods were found in his house. This one cannot lament ; and still less, as the old wretch has for these forty years usurped a hired house, and, though the proprietor for many years has offered to remit his arrears of rent, he will neither quit the house nor pay for it.' Letters, vii. 381. It was no doubt by an abuse of the protection which he enjoyed as a Foreign Minister that he was able to swindle his landlord. ^ Johnson wrote to Boswell : — ' Mr. Strahan got a garrison into his house, and maintained them a fort- night ; he was so frighted that he removed part of his goods.' Li'/e, iii. 435. Strahan was to have sat this week to Sir Joshua Reynolds for his portrait; but 'the appointments between Monday and Thursday have they 1 68 To Mrs. Tlirale. [A.D. 1780. they pulled down Fielding's house, and burnt his goods in the street '. They had gutted on Monday Sir George Savile's house, but the building was saved ^. On Tuesday [June 6] evening, leaving Fielding's ruins, they went to Newgate to demand their companions who had been seized demolishing the chapel. The keeper could not release them but by the Mayor's permission, which he went to ask ; at his return he found all the prisoners released, and Newgate in a blaze ^. They then went to Blooms- bury and fastened upon Lord Mansfield's house, which they pulled down ; and as for his goods, they totally burnt them. They have since gone to Cane-wood, but a guard was there before them ''. They plundered some Papists, I think, and burnt a mass-house in Moorfields the same night. a pen drawn through them.' Leslie and Taylor's Reynolds, ii. 302. Horace Walpole describes how at the riot at Westminster on the 2nd, ' Lord Mansfield, whose [carriage] glasses had been broken, quivered on the wool-sack like an aspen.' Letters, vii. 376. ' He was the Speaker pro- ternpore in the absence of the Lord Chancellor.' Pari. Hist., xxi. 665. Lord Campbell praises his great courage this day. Lives of the Chief Justices, ed. 1849, ii. 521. He mentions, however, his 'want of moral courage.' Lb. p. 576. It seems likely that his answer to Strahan was due to his timidity. See Letters of Hume to Strahafi, p. 125. ' Sir John Fielding, half-brother of Henry Fielding, the novelist, was bhnd from birth ; nevertheless he had been associated with his brother as assisting-magistrate for Middlesex and Westminster, and succeeded him on his death. His house was in Bow Street. He outlived the riot only three months, and died on September 4 of this year. Did. of Nat. Biog., xviii. 424. '^ Savile had brought into Parlia- ment the bill in favour of the Catholics. He lived in Leicester Fields. Ann. Reg., 1780, i. 260. 'The rails torn from his house were the chief weapons and instruments of the mob.' Wal- pole's Letters, vii. 402. Reynolds, who lived in the same Square, most likely witnessed the scene of destruc- tion. ^ Crabbe, who was present, says : — ' I saw about twelve women and eight men ascend from their confinement to the open air, and they were con- ducted through the street in their chains.' Crabbe's Works, i. 83. There were about three hundred prisoners in all. Ann. Reg., 1780, i. 260. "* ' Wednesday, five o'clock, June 7. George Selwyn came into my chaise in a fury, and told me Lord Mans- field's house is in ashes, and that five thousand men were marched to Caen Wood — it is true, and that one thousand of the Guards are gone after them Caen Wood is saved ; a regiment on march met the rioters June 9, at night. My bosom, I think, does not want humanity, yet I cannot feel pity for Lord Mansfield. I did feel joy for the four convicts who were released On Aetat. 70] To Mrs. Thrale. 169 On Wednesday [June 7] I walked with Dr. Scot ' to look at Newgate, and found it in ruins, with the fire yet glowing. As I went by, the Protestants were plundering the Sessions-house at the Old Bailey. There were not, I believe, a hundred ; but they did their work at leisure, in full security, without sentinels, with- out trepidation, as men lawfully employed, in full day. Such is the cowardice of a commercial place ^. On Wednesday they from Newgate within twenty-four hours of their execution ; but ought not a man to be taught sensibiHty who drove us cross the Rubicon ? I would not hurt a hair on his head ; but if I sigh for the afflicted innocent, can I blend him with them ? . . . June 10. How poor a sketch I have given of what Guicciardini would have formed a folio ! yet we would forget the wretched wives and mothers that will rue that night, and expatiate on the precious manuscripts burnt in Bloomsbury [in Lord Mans- field's house].' Walpole's Letters., vii. 385, 6, 392, 7. Jeremy Bentham, speaking of an old friend, said : — ' I remember joining him to deplore the loss of Lord Mansfield's manuscripts by the mob ; I should now think such a loss a gain.' Bentham's Works, X. 51. Dr. Warner wrote to George Selwyn on June 8 : — ' Barnard's Inn — what remains of it — Thursday morning, 5 o'clock. The fire they say is stopped, but what a rueful scene has it left behind ! Sunt lachrymae rerum, indeed : the sen- tence that struck me upon picking up a page of Lord Mansfield's Virgil yes- terday, in Bloomsbury Square. Sortes Virgiliance ! ^ ' Selwyn and his Con- tejnporaries, iv. 334. Lord Mansfield, with a touch of eloquence which must have deeply moved his hearers, when giving his opinion in the House of Lords on the lawfulness of employing soldiers for quelling riots, said : — 'I have not consulted books ; — Indeed I have no books to consult.' Pari. Hist., xxi. 694. Caen Wood is close to Hampstead Heath. In the IVent- ivorth Papers, p. 298, it is said that ' it was sold in 171 2 by Lord Berkeley of Stratton to Lord Blantire for ^4,000.' ' Dr. Scott, afterwards Lord Stowell. His younger brother John, afterwards Lord Eldon, with the other 'youngsters at the Temple armed themselves as well as they could, and drew up in the court ready to follow out a troop of soldiers who were there on guard. When however they had passed through the gate it was,' he continues, ' suddenly shut in our faces, and locked ; and the officer in command shouted from the other side, " Gentlemen, I am much obliged to you for your intended assistance ; but I do not choose to allow my soldiers to be shot, so I have ordered you to be locked in.'" Twiss's Eldon, ed. 1846, i. S3- Johnson's house was only a few minutes' walk from Newgate. ^ ' Not two in all London could resolve of joining to each other in their own defence. The English gave me a very mean idea of themselves upon that occasion.'— Baretti. At Bath there was just as much cowardice as at London. Miss * Sortes Virgiliana is a mode of divination. He who would try it opens Virgil by chance, and from the line which first catches his eye divines some future event. broke lyo To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. broke open the Fleet, and the King's-bench, and the Marshalsea, and Woodstreet-counter, and Clerkenwell Bridewell, and released all the prisoners. At night they set fire to the Fleet, and to the King's-bench, and I know not how many other places ; and one might see the glare of conflagration fill the sky from many parts. The sight was dreadful ^ Some people were threatened ; Mr. Strahan ad- vised me to take care of myself. Such a time of terror you have been happy in not seeing. The King said in council, that the magistrates had not done their duty, but that he would do his own ; and a proclama- tion was published, directing us to keep our servants within doors, as the peace was now to be preserved by force "". The soldiers were sent out to different parts, and the town is now at quiet. What has happened at your house you will know, the harm is only a few butts of beer ; and I think you may be sure that the Burney, describing the burning of the Roman Catholic Chapel in that town, says : — ' The rioters do their work with great composure, and though there are knots of people in every corner all execrating the authors of such outrages, nobody dares oppose them.' Mme. D'Arblay'sZ^z'^r/, i. 403. ' 'Wednesday night, past two in the morning, June 7. I was at Gloucester House between nine and ten. The servants announced a great fire, we went to the top of the house, and beheld not only one but two vast fires.' Walpole's Letters, vii. 386. Sir John Macpherson, who was at Downing Street this same night, says : — ' Lord North accompanied by us all mounted to the top of the house, where we beheld London blazing in seven places, and could hear the platoons regularly firing in various directions.' Wraxall's A4einoirs, ed. 1815, i. 336. " 'June 5. Have you faith enough in me to believe that the sole precaution taken was, that the Cabinet Council on Thursday em- powered the First Lord of the Treasury to give proper orders to the civil magistrates to keep the peace, — - and his Lordship forgot it ! . . . June 9. The Magistrates intimidated by the demolition of Fielding's and Justice Hyde's houses, did not dare to act. A general Council was summoned at Buckingham House, at which the twelve judges attended. It was determined not to shut up the Courts, but to order military execution.' Walpole's Letters, vii. 380, 391. For the Proclamation see Ann. Reg., 1780, i. 265. The following General Order was issued from the Adjutant- General's Office on June 7: — 'In obedience to an order of the King in Council the military to act without waiting for directions from the civil magistrates, and to use force for dis- persing the illegal and tumultuous assemblies of the people.' lb. p. 266. danger Aetat. 70.] To Airs. Thrale. 171 danger is over. There is a body of soldiers at St. Margaret's Hill'. Of Mr. Tyson I know nothing, nor can guess to what he can allude ; but I know that a young fellow of little more than seventy, is naturally an unresisted conqueror of hearts -. Pray tell Mr. Thrale that I live here and have no fruit, and if he does not interpose, am not likely to have much ; but I think he might as well give me a little, as give all to the gardener ^ Pray make my compliments to Oueeney and Burney. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' Johnson wrote to Boswell on August 21 :— ' In the late disturb- ances, Mr. Thrale's house and stock were in great danger ; the mob was pacified at their first invasion, with about fifty pounds in drink and meat ; and at their second, were driven away by the soldiers.' Zz/9', iii. 435. The Brewery was saved by the manage- ment of Perkins, the Superintendent. ' Perkins,' Johnson wrote on June 1 5, ' seems to have managed with great dexterity.' Post,T^.\']%. Miss Burney, who was at Bath with the Thrales, has the following entries in her Diary. 'Saturday [June 10]. Mrs. Thrale had letters from Sir P. Clerk and Mr. Perkins to acquaint her that her town-house had been three times attacked, but was at last saved by guards, — her children, plate, money and valuables all removed. Streatham also threatened, and emptied of all its furniture. The same morning we saw a Bath and Bristol paper in which Mr. Thrale was asserted to be a Papist. . . . Perhaps he may himself be a marked man for the fury of the mob. We are going directly from Bath, and intend to stop only at villages. All the Catholics in the town have privately escaped.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 399, 403. The Thrales fled to Brighton, whence Mrs. Thrale went to Streatham. On her return she wrote to Miss Burney on June 29 : — ' My master was not displeased that I had given Perkins two hundred guineas, instead of one — a secret I never durst tell before, not even to Johnson, not even to you.' lb. p. 409. St. Margaret's Hill is in Southwark. At the Court House there, on the six days beginning with July 10, many of the rioters were tried, and twenty- four capitally convicted. A7t7i. Reg., 1780, i. 220, 277. Here thirty-four years earher many of the Scotch Rebels had been tried, seventeen of whom were put to death with torture on Kennington Common. Smollett's Hist, of England, iii. 188. ^ Miss Burney describes Mr. Tyson as ' a very civil Master of the Cere- monies.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 376. Johnson himself was more than seventy.' ^ This passage very likely meant to give Mr. Thrale a confidence. little was little To 172 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. 678. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, [Saturday], June 10, 1780. You have ere now heard and read enough to convince you, that we have had something to suffer, and something to fear, and therefore I think it necessary to quiet the soHcitude which you undoubtedly feel, by telling you that our calamities and terrors are now at an end. The soldiers are stationed so as to be every where within call ^ ; there is no longer any body of rioters, and the individuals are hunted to their holes, and led to prison ; the streets are safe and quiet ; Lord George was last night sent to the Tower ^. Mr. John Wilkes'' was this day with a party of soldiers in my neighbourhood, to seize the publisher of a seditious paper. Every body walks, and eats, and sleeps in security^. But the history of the last week would fill you with amazement, it is without any modern example. Several chapels have been destroyed, and several inoffensive Papists have been plundered, but the high sport was to burn the ' Piozzi Letters^ ii. 152. ^ ' I bless every soldier I see,' wrote Dr. Burney to his daughter ; ' we have no dependence on any defence from outrage but the military.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 407. Horace Walpole wrote on the same day as Johnson : — ' While in the thick of the conflagration I was all indignation and a thousand passions. Last night, when sitting silently alone, horror rose as I cooled ; and grief succeeded, and then all kinds of gloomy presages. For some time people have said, where will all this end ? I as often replied, where will it begin "i It is now begun, with a dreadful overture, and I tremble to think what the chorus may be ! The sword reigns at present, and saved the capital ! What is to depose the sword ? ' Letters, vii. 394. ^ ' The tower is much too dignified a prison for him— but he had left no other.' lb. vii. 398. ' The guards that attended him were by far the greatest in number ever remembered to guard a state prisoner.' Ann. Reg., 1780, i. 263. '' Wilkes had been lately elected City Chamberlain, and was no longer ' a W'ilkite.' Life, iii. 430, n. 4. Ten years later he was seen going up to vote against Fox at Westminster ' amidst the hisses and groans of a multitude.' Moore's Life of Sheridan.^ ed. 1826, ii. 120. ^ For security see ante, ii. 162, 71. 3. On Thursday in this week — two days before the date of Johnson's Letter — even though the soldiers had poured in fast ' the shops were universally shut from Tyburn to Whitechapel.' Ann. Reg., 1780, i. 262. jails. Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale, "^ll jails. This was a good rabble trick. The debtors and the criminals were all set at liberty'; but of the criminals, as has always happened, many are already retaken, and two pirates have surrendered themselves, and it is expected that they will be pardoned ^. Government now acts again with its proper force ; and we are all again under the protection of the King and the law. I thought that it would be agreeable to you and my master to have my testimony to the publick security; and that you would sleep more quietly when I told you that you are safe. I am, dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 679. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, London, June 12, 1780. All is well, and all is likely to continue well. The streets ' ' June 9. We have now super- abundantly to fear robbery ; 300 desperate villains were released from Newgate. Lady Albemarle was robbed at Mrs. Keppel's door in Pall Mall at twelve at night. Baron D'Aguilar's coach was shot at here last night, close to the Crown [at Twickenham] June 12. One hears of nothing but robberies on the highway.' Walpole's Letters, vii. 392, 9. Miss Burney's sister wrote to her : — ' There have been gangs of women going about to rob and plunder. Miss Kirwans went on Friday afternoon to walk in the Museum Gardens, and were stopped by a set of women, and robbed of all the money they had.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 408. "^ The two pirates had been found guilty on March 31 at a Court of Admiralty, of causing a revolt in a privateer, and sentenced to death. They were to have been hanged on May 4, but they were respited ' in con- sequence of notice taken of the case in the House of Commons. The captain, it seems, had been con- cerned in some illicit practices, and they had resisted going into port for fear of being pressed.' Genilefiian's Magazine, 1780, pp. 199, 248. A correspondent states that ' the judge omitting to pass sentence of death, and only saying they should be carried "to the usual place of exe- cution," a doubt arose, and this weighed in their favour as much as the alleviating circumstances. Dur- ing the late riots they are said to have surrendered themselves to the judge, and offered to defend him when he fled from the fury of the populace.' lb. p. 374. A man named Purse, who was under sentence of death for rape, and ' sur- rendered himself again into the custody of Mr. Akerman,' received a free pardon on July 15. Ann. Reg., 1780, i. 212, 220. For Akerman, the Keeper of Newgate, see Life, iii. 43i> 3- ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 154. are 174 ^0 Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1780. are all quiet, and the houses are all safe '. This is a true answer to the first enquiry which obtrudes itself upon your tongue at the reception of a letter from London. The publick has escaped a very heavy calamity. The rioters attempted the Bank on Wednesday night, but in no great number ; and like other thieves, with no great resolution. Jack Wilkes headed the party that drove them away ^. It is agreed, that if they had seized the Bank on Tuesday, at the height of the panick, when no resistance had been prepared, they might have carried irrecoverably away whatever they had found. Jack, who was always zealous for order and decency, declares, that if he be trusted with power, he will not leave a rioter alive ^. There is however now no longer any need of heroism or bloodshed ; no blue riband is any longer worn ■*. called on Friday at Mrs. Gardiner's ^ to see how she escaped or what she suffered ; and told her, that she had herself too much affliction within doors, to take much notice of the dis- turbances without. It was surely very happy that you and Mr. Thrale were away ' Wraxall records a curious fact 1780, i. 262, 'several fell, and many which he witnessed when the riot were wounded.' was at its height. In Holborn, at a ^ ' Wilkes has very sensibly ridden short distance from the blazing home on Lord George Gordon, and premises of a large distillery, 'a distinguished himself by zeal and watchman,' he says, 'with his spirit.' Walpole's Letters, vii. 401. lanthorn in his hand passed us, See Life, iii. "/T, 430, n. 4. calling the hour, as if in a time of * The ' Protestants ' wore blue profound tranquillity.' Wraxall's ribbons in their hats. Horace Wal- Memoirs, ed. 1815, i. 329. pole wrote on Wednesday, June 7:— ^ Crabbe, at eleven o'clock that ' It will probably be a black night ; I night, met ' large bodies of horse and am decking myself with blue ribbons foot soldiers coming to guard the like a May-day garland. Horsemen Bank.' Crabbe's Works,\.%i,. Horace are riding by with muskets.' Letters Walpole, writing three hours later, vii. 386. Two days later he wrote says: — 'Colonel Jennings told me that ' now the soldiers tear away blue there had been an engagement at the cockades.' lb. p. 390. Royal Exchange to defend the Bank, ^ Johnson's friend, the wife of a and that the Guards had shot sixty tallow-chandler, on Snow Hill. Life, of the mob; I have since heard \.ii,i. She must have seen Newgate seventy.' Letters, vii. 387. The blazing hard by on one side, and the number is no doubt exaggerated. great distillery on the other. According to the Annual Register, in Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. T/irale. 175 in the tumult ; you could have done nothing better than has been done, and must have felt much terrour which your absence has spared you. We have accounts here of great violences committed by the Protestants at Bath ; and of the demolition of the masshouse. We have seen so much here, that we are very credulous '. Pray tell Miss Burney that Mr. Hutton^ called on me yesterday, and spoke of her with praise ; not profuse, but very sincere, just as I do. And tell Oueeney, that if she does not write oftener, I will try to forget her. There are other pretty girls that perhaps I could get, if I were not constant. My Lives go on but slowly. I hope to add some to them this week. I wish they were well done. Thus far I had written when I received your letter of battle and conflagration ^. You certainly do right in retiring ; for who can guess the caprice of the rabble ? My master and Oueeney are dear people for not being frighted '^. I wrote to you a letter of intelligence and consolation ; which, if you staid for it, you had on Saturday; and I wrote another on Saturday, which per- haps may follow you from Bath, with some atchievement of John Wilkes. ' For the demolition of the mass- house see ante, ii. 167, n. 2. Horace Walpole wrote on the 12th: — 'Last night, at Hampton Court, I heard of two Popish chapels demolished at Bath, and one at Bristol. My coach- man has just been in Twickenham, and says half Bath is burnt ; I trust this is but the natural progress of lies, that increase like a chairman's legs by walking.' Letters, vii. 395. For Johnson's general habit of incredulity see Life, iii. 229. ^ Hutton the Moravian. See Life, iv. 410, Letters of Hume to Strahan, pp. 364-9, and The Early Diary of Fanny Biirtiey, i. 294, where a curious account is given of his intro- duction to the Burney family. ^ Mrs. Thrale gives this letter, or a substitute, for it. It belongs to those ' well-written but studied epistles ' which Boswell evidently did not think authentic. Ajite, ii. 147, «. 4. It is not easy to believe that writing as she says she was at 3 o'clock in the morning, after a night of ' trembling agitation,' she quoted Shakespeare, and drew a simile from ' the iron bed of the tyrant Procrastes ' {sic). Part of the letter nevertheless may be genuine, though we should like to know how she got the original. She scarcely made a copy of it in her ' trembling agitation.' " ' Miss Burney is frighted, but s-he says better times will come. Mr. Thrale seems thunderstricken, he don't mind anything; and Queeney's curiosity is stronger than her fears.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 147. Do 176 To Mrs. T/trale. [A.D. 1780. Do not be disturbed ; all danger here is apparently over : but a little agitation still continues. We frighten one another with seventy thousand Scots to come hither with the Dukes of Gordon and Argyle, and eat us, and hang us, or drown us ; but we are all at quiet '. I am glad, though I hardly know why, that you are gone to Brighthelmstone rather than to Bristol. You are somewhat nearer home, and I may perhaps come to see you. Brighthelm- stone will soon begin to be peopled, and Mr. Thrale loves the place ; and you will see Mr. Scrase ^ ; and though I am sorry that you should be so outrageously unroosted ^, I think that Bath has had you long enough. Of the commotions at Bath there has been talk here all day. An express must have been sent ; for the report arrived many hours before the post, at least before the distribution of the letters. This report I mentioned in the first part of my letter, while I was yet uncertain of the fact. When it is known that the rioters are quelled in London, their spirit will sink in every other place, and little more mischief will be done. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 680. To Mrs. Thrale 1 Dear Madam, London, June 14, 1780. Every thing here is safe and quiet. This is the first thing to be told ; and this I told in my last letter directed to Bright- helmstone. There has indeed been an universal panick, from ' Lord George Gordon was the son of the third Duke of Gordon. Two days later Horace Walpole, after mentioning that Lord George Gordon was in the Tower, con- tinued : — ' What a nation is Scotland ; in every reign engendering traitors to the State, and false and pernicious to the Kings that favour it the most ! National prejudices, I know, are very vulgar ; but if there are national characteristics, can one but dislike the soils and climates that concur to produce them V Letters, vii. 400. " Ante, i. 395. ^ This word Johnson gets from The Winter's Tale, Act ii. sc. 3. ■• Piozzi Letters, ii. 158. which Aetat. 70.] To JVh's. Tlivale. 177 which the King was the first that recovered. Without the con- currence of his ministers, or the assistance of the civil magistrate, he put the soldiers in motion, and saved the town from calamities, such as a rabble's government must naturally produce'. Now you are at ease about the publick, I may tell you that I am not well ; I have had a cold and cough some time, but it is grown so bad, that yesterday I fasted and was blooded, and to day took physick and dined : but neither fasting nor bleeding, nor dinner, nor physick, have yet made me well. No sooner was the danger over, than the people of the Borough found out how foolish it was to be afraid, and formed themselves into four bodies for the defence of the place ; through which they now march morning and evening in a martial manner^. I am glad to find that Mr. Thrale continues to grow better ; if he is well, I hope we shall be all well : but I am weary of my cough, though I have had much worse. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 681. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Dear Madam, London, June 15, 1780. Last night I told you that I was not well ; and though you have much else to think on, perhaps you may be willing enough to hear, that by the help of an opiate, I think myself better to-day. Whether I am or am not better, the town is quiet, and every body sleeps in quiet, except a few who please themselves with ' The King, it must be remem- vvark . . . have formed themselves bered, was solely answerable for the into very useful, and at the same choice of a set of Ministers of whom time unexceptionable associations ; Johnson said :— ' Such a bunch of and if something of the same kind imbecility never disgraced a country.' was adopted in the City there is no Life, iv. 139. doubt but much use and great secu- =" Several inhabitants of the City, rity would arise therefrom ; but the who had proposed to arm themselves using of fire-arms is improper, un- for their common preservation, re- necessary, and cannot be approved.' ceived from the Adjutant-General on Ami. Reg. 17^0, i. 266. June 12 the following letter:— 'The ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 159. inhabitants of the Borough of South- VOL. II. N guarding 178 To Mi's. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. guarding us now the danger is over. Perkins seems to have managed with great dexterity. Every body, I beheve, now sees, that if the tumult had been opposed immediately, it had been immediately suppressed ' ; and we are therefore now better pro- vided against an insurrection, than if none had happened. I hope you, and Master, and Queeney, and Burney, are all well. I was contented last night to send an excuse to Vesey, and two days ago another to Mrs. Horneck "" ; you may think I was bad, if you thought about it ; and why should you not think about me who am so often thinking about you, and your appurtenances. But there is no gratitude in this world. But I could tell you, Doris, if I would ; And since you treat me so, methinks I should. So sings the sublime and pathetick Mr. Walsh ^. Well ! and I will tell you too. Among the heroes of the Borough, who twice a-day perambulate, or perequitate* High-street and the Clink ^, rides that renowned and redoubted knight, Sir Richard Hotham^ There is magnanimity, which defies every danger that is past, and publick spirit, that stands sentinel over property ' Horace Walpole wrote on the same day : — ' I can give you little account of the original of this shock- ing affair ; Negligence was certainly its nurse, and Religion only its god- mother The lowest and most villanous of the people, and to no great amount, were almost the sole actors.' Letters^ vii. 402. ^ Ante, i. 344. ^ ' Yet I could tell you, fair-one, if I would, And since you treat me thus, methinks I should.' Eclogue ii. Chalmers's English Poets, ed. 1810, viii. 415. Pope introduces Walsh in the Pro- logue to the Satires, 1. 135 : — ' But why then publish ? Granville the polite, And knowing Walsh would tell me I could write.' Johnson ends his brief Life of him by saying : — ' In all his writings there are pleasing passages. He has however more elegance than vigour, and seldom rises higher than to be pretty.' Works, vii. 244. ■* Johnson does not give in his Dictio7iary equitate, equitation, or perequitate. Boswell, seven years earlier, had written : — ' This day we were to begin our equitation, as I said ; for / would needs make a word too.' Life, v. 131. ^ ' Clink Street begins at Dead- man's Place and extends to St. Mary Overy's Dock. Clink Prison in Clink Street belongs to the Liberty of the Bishop of Winchester, called the Clink Liberty, but is little used. It is a very dismal h(jle, where debtors are sometimes confined.' Dodsley's Lotidon, ii. 147. ^ Ante, ii. 154, 7i. 2. that Aetat. 70.] To Miss Reynolds. 179 that he does not own. Tell me no more of the self-devoted Decii, or of the leap of Curtius. Let fame talk henceforward with all her tongues of Hotham the Hatmaker. I was last week at Kenny's conversatione ', and Renny got her room pretty well filled ; and there were Mrs. Ord, and Mrs. Horneck, and Mrs. Bunbury ^ and other illustrious names, and much would poor Renny have given to have had Mrs. Thrale too, and Oueeney, and Burney : but human happiness is never perfect ; there is always une vuide ajfretise, as Maintenon com- plained ^, there is some craving void left aking in the breast. Renny is going to Ramsgate ; and thus the world drops away, and I am left in the sultry town, to see the sun in the crab, and perhaps in the lion '', while you are paddling with the Nereids. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 682. To Miss Reynolds ^ Dear Madam, Bolt Court, June 16, 1780. I answer your letter as soon as I can, for I have just received it. I am very willing to wait on you at all times, and will sit for the picture, and, if it be necessary, will sit again, for whenever I sit I shall be always with you ^ ' Renny was Miss Reynolds. For conversatione see ante, ii. 105, 71. 4. ^ H. W. Bunbury, the caricaturist, had married one of Mrs. Horneck's daughters. Forster's Goldsniiih, ii. 283. See ante, i. 344, n. 2. See Ap- pendix A. ^ Madame de Maintenon wrote to Madame de la INIaisonfort : — ' J'ai etd jeune et jolie ; j'ai goute des plaisirs ; j'ai €x.€ aimee partout. Dans un age plus avance, j'ai passd des annees dans le commerce de I'esprit ; je suis venue k la faveur, et je vous proteste, ma chere fille, que tous les etats laissent un vide affreux.' Voltaire, Sikle de Louis XIV, ch. 27. Baretti, noticing Johnson's error N in gender says : — ' I have some notion that he wrote it right, and the ignorant woman made it wrong, thinking she was doing right.' " The sun enters the Crab on June 21, and the Lion on July 22 or 23. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 649. * For Johnson's sitting to Miss Reynolds for his portrait see post. Letter of August 20, 1783. Though he often sat to her he once said that 'he thought portrait -painting an improper employment for a woman. " Public practice of any art (he ob- served) and staring in men's faces is very indelicate in a female." ' Life, ii. 362.. 2 Do i8o To Mrs. Tkrale. [A.D. 1780. Do not, my love, burn your papers. I have mended little but some bad rhymes ^ I thought them very pretty, and was much moved in reading them. The red ink is only lake and gum, and with a moist sponge will be washed off. I have been out of order, but, by bleeding and other means, am now better. Let me know on which day I shall come to you. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 683. Sir, To John Nichols I have been out of order, but by bleeding and physick think I am better, and can go again to work. Your note on Broome will do me much good. Can you give me a few dates for A. Philips? I wrote to Cambridge about them, but have had no answer ^ I am, Sir, Your humble servant, June 1 6, 1780. SaM: JOHNSON. To Mr. Nicol. 684. To Mrs. Thrale*. Dear Madam, Wednesday, June 21, 1780. Now you come to a settled place ^ I have some inclina- tion to write to you ; for in writing after you there was no pleasure. All is quiet ; and that quietness is now more likely to continue than if it had never been disturbed. 's case, if ' ' Of a poem now before me. Johnson read it attentively, and made numerous corrections ; but after all it is not worth much.' Croker. * First published in the Gentle- man's Ma^azifte for 1785, page 10. ^ Johnson on May 25 had written to Dr. Farmer for 'the dates or other informations which College or Uni- versity registers can supply relating to Ambrose Philips, Broome and Gray. Life, iii. 427. His correspondent's neglect to answer is apparent in the Lives of these men. The informa- tion which was not supplied by him was not obtained elsewhere. " Piozzi Letters, ii. 162. ^ Brighton. it Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. T/ivale. i8i it be not affected, is ridiculous ; but there is in the world much ' tenderness where there is no misfortune, and much courage where there is no danger. My cold is grown better, but is not quite well, nor bad enough now to be complained of. I wish I had been with you to see the Isle of Wight ; but I shall perhaps go some time without you, and then we shall be even. What you told me of Mr. Middleton frighted me ; but I am still of my old opinion, that a semivegetable diet will keep all well. I have dined on Monday and to-day only on peas '. I suppose the town grows empty, for I have no invitations ; and I begin to wish for something, I hardly know what : but I should like to move when every body is moving ; and yet I purpose to stay till the work is done, which I take little care to do. Sic labiUir cetas ^. The world is full of troubles. Mrs, has just been with me to get a chirurgeon ^ to her daughter ; the girl that Mrs. Cumins * rejected, who has received a kick from a horse, that has broken five fore-teeth on the upper side. The world is likewise full of escapes ; had the blow been a little harder it had killed her. It was a twelvemonth last Sunday since the convulsions in my breast left me ^. I hope I was thankful when I recollected it : by removing that disorder, a great improvement was made in the enjoyment of life. I am now as well as men at my age can expect to be, and I yet think I shall be better. I have had with me a brother of , a Spanish merchant, whom the war has driven from his residence at Valencia ; he is gone to see his friends, and will find Scotland but a sorry place after twelve years' residence in a happier climate. He is a very agreeable man, and speaks no Scotch ^. ' Post, p. 184, we find the word * In the Letter of October 31, spelt pease, in accordance with the 1781, there is mention of Cummins rule given in Johnson's Dictioiary and of Mrs. Cumyns. Perhaps in under Pease. See ante, ii. 143, for these three ways of spelling one his alternate diet. name only is included. * ' Cito pede labitur eetas.' OviD, ^ See atite, ii. 143, «. 3. Ars. Am. iii. 65. * Boswell's brother David was this ^ Ante, ii. i, «. 4. 'very agreeable man.' Boswell quotes Keep 1 82 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1780. Keep Master to his diet, and tell him that his illwillers' are very unwilling to think that he can ever sit more in parliament, but by caution and resolution he may see many parliaments. Pay my respects to Queeney and Burney. Living so apart we shall get no credit by our studies " ; but I hope to see you all again some time. Do not let separation make us forget one another. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 685. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, London, July 4, 1780. You are too happy for any body but yourself to travel in such pretty company, and leave every thing safe behind you, and find every thing well when you arrive ; and yet I question if you are quite contented, though every body envies you ■*. Keep my master tisfht in his g-eers ^ for if he breaks loose the mischief will be very extensive. Your account of Mr. S and of Miss O is very melan- choly; I wish them both their proper relief from their several this passage and says in a note :— climate to happiness ? Place me in ' Mrs. Piozzi has omitted the name, the heart of Asia, should I not be she best knows why.' Life, ill. 434. exiled ? What proportion does cli- Writing of him to Temple he says :— mate bear to the complex system of * In Spain he gave up all philoso- human life ? You may advise me to phizing, and applied himself to real go to live at Bologna to eat sausages. business. He says he found out that The sausages there are the best in men who speculate on life, as you and the world ; they lose much by being I do, are not successful in substantial carried." ' Life, ii. 195. concerns.' Letters 0/ Boswen,^^.2SA' ' Illiviller is not in Johnson's Johnson had spoken very differently Dictionary. of the effect of climate eight years - See ante, ii. 98, for the lessons earlier, when Boswell talked to him in Latin which he gave to Queeney about this same brother : — ' I men- and Miss Burney. tioned a friend of mine who had re- ^ Pioszi Letters, ii. 164. sided long in Spain, and was un- ■• Mrs. Thrale had been to Streal- willing to return to Britain. John- ham and returned to Brighton. SON. " Sir, he is attached to some Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 409. woman." BoswELL. " I rather be- ^ Gears in Johnson's Dictionary — lieve, Sir, it is the fine climate which ' the traces by which horses or oxen keeps him there." Johnson. " Nay, draw.' Sir, how can you talk so .-• What is maladies, Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 183 maladies ^ But I am glad that Oueeney continues well ; and hope she will not be too rigorous with the young ones, but allow them to be happy their own way ; for what better way will they ever find ^ ? C'est que I'enfant toujours est homme ; C'est que rhomme est toujours enfant. I have not seen or done much since I had the misfortune of seeing you go away, I wasonenight at Burney's. There were [jzV] Pepys, and there were Mrs. Ord, and Paradise, and Hoole, and Dr. Dunbar of Aberdeen, and I know not how many more. And Pepys and I had all the talk ^ To-day called on me the Dean of Hereford ^ who says that the barley-harvest is likely to be very abundant. There is something for our consolation. Don't forget that Lam, Dear Madam, Your, &c,, Sam: Johnson, ' Mrs. Thrale wrote to Miss Bur- ney on June 29 : — ' This morning I carried a bunch of grapes to Mr, Scrase, who was too ill to swallow one, or to see even me. My master however is quite in rosy health, and jokes Peggy Owen for her want of power to flash.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 409. ^ ' Mr. Johnson,' writes Mrs. Piozzi {Anecdotes, p. 21), 'was exceedingly disposed to the general indulgence of children, and was even scrupulously and ceremoniously attentive not to offend them. He had strongly per- suaded himself of the difficulty people always find to erase early impressions either of kindness or resentment.' See Life, iv. 196. This perhaps he had got from South, who, addressing ' the educators of youth,' says : — ' Let them remember that excellent and never to be forgotten advice, that boys will be men; and that the memory of all base usage will sink so deep into, and grow up so in- separably with them, that it will not be so much as in their own power ever to forget it.' South's Sermons., ed. 1823, iii. 398. ^ Miss Burney wrote to Mrs. Thrale on July 8 : — ' I have not seen Dr. Johnson since the day you left me, when he came hither, and met Mrs. Ord, Mr. Hoole, Mrs. Reynolds, Baretti, the Paradises, Pepys, Castles, Dr. Dunbar and some others ; and then he was in high spirits and good humour, talked all the talk, affronted nobody, and delighted everybody. I never saw him more sweet, or better attended to by his audience.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i, 412, Johnson had met Dr. Dunbar at Aberdeen. Life, iii. 436 ; v. 92. He was the uncle of Sir James Dunbar of Boath, Capt. R.N,, whose widow died in 1888, aged 93. '^ Dr. Nathan Wetherell, who was also Master of University College, Oxford. Le Neve's Fast. EccL Angl. iii. 538. To t84 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1780. 686. ; To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, London, July 10, 1780. If Mr. Thrale eats but half his usual quantity, he can hardly eat too much. It were better however to have some rule, and some security. Last week I saw flesh but twice, and I think fish once, the rest was pease. You are afraid, you say, lest I extenuate myself too fast, and are an enemy to violence : but did you never hear nor read, dear Madam, that every man has his genius, and that the great rule by which all excellence is attained, and all success procured, is, to follow genius ; and have you not observed in all our conversa- tions that my genius is always in extremes ; that I am very noisy, or very silent ; very gloomy, or very merry ; very sour, or very kind ? And would you have me cross my genius, when it leads me sometimes to voracity and sometimes to abstinence "" ? You know that the oracle said follow your genius. When we get together again, (but when alas will that be ?) you can manage me, and spare me the solicitude of managing myself. Poor Miss O ^ called on me on Saturday, with that fond and tender application which is natural to misery, when it looks to every body for that help which nobody can give. I was melted ; and soothed and counselled her as well as I could, and am to visit her to-morrow. She gave a very honourable account of my dear Queeney ; and says of my master, that she thinks his manner and temper more altered than his looks, but of this alteration she could give no particular account ; and all that she could say ended in this, that he is now sleepy in the morning. I do not wonder at the scanti- ness of her narration, she is too busy within to turn her eyes abroad. I am glad that Pepys'' is come, but hope that resolute ' Piozzi Letters, ii. l66. For Johnson's extreme of silence see ^ 'Johnson, though he could be ib. iii. 307. rigidly abstemious, was not a tern- ^ Miss Owen. Mme. D'Arblay's perate man either in eating or drink- Diary, i. 410. ing. He could refrain, but he could " Sir Lucas Pepys, the physician, not use moderately.' Life, i. 468. Ante, ii. 106, n. 3. temperance Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 185 temperance will make him unnecessary. I doubt he can do no good to poor Mr. Scrasc. I stay at home to work, and yet do not work diligently; nor can tell when I shall have done, nor perhaps does any body but myself wish me to have done ; for what can they hope I shall do better? yet I wish the work was over, and I was at liberty'. And what would I do if I was at liberty? Would I go to Mrs. Aston and Mrs. Porter, and see the old places, and sigh to find that my old friends are gone ? Would I recal plans of life which I never brought into practice, and hopes of excellence which I once presumed '^, and never have attained ? Would I compare what I now am with what I once expected to have been ? Is it reasonable to wish for suggestions of shame, and opportunities of sorrow ? If you please. Madam, we will have an end of this, and contrive some other wishes. I wish I had you in an evening, and I wish I had you in a morning ; and I wish I could have a little talk, and see a little frolick. For all this I must stay, but life will not stay. I will end my letter and go to Blackmore's Life ^, when I have told you that I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. 687. To Mrs. Thrale ^ London, July 27, 1780. And thus it is, Madam, that you serve me. After having ' ' This paragraph paints him to the very life.' Baretti. ^ Johnson does not give in his Diciionary any instance of this con- struction. Perhaps however he means ' which I once presumed to attain.' ^ Blackmore was one of the four poets who, by his recommendation, were added to the collection. Watts, Pomfret, and Yalden were the others. Life, iii. 370 ; iv. 54. Mrs. Thrale wrote to him on May 9 of this year : — ' Shall we have some chat about the Lives now } that of Blackmore will be very entertaining I dare say, and he will be rescued from the old wits who worried him, much to your dis- liking : so a little for love of his Christianity, a little for love of his physick, a little for love of his courage — and a little for love of con- tradiction, you will save him from his malevolent criticks, and perhaps do him the honour to devour him yourself.' Piozzi Letters^ ii. 122. ■• Piozzi Letters, ii. 169. kept 1 86 To Mrs. Tlirale. [a.d. 1780. kept me a whole week hoping and hoping, and wondering and wondering what could have stopped your hand from writing, comes a letter to tell me, that I sufifer by my own fault. As if I might not correspond with my Queeney, and we might not tell one another our minds about politicks or morals, or any thing else. Queeney and I are both steady, and may be trusted ; we are none of the giddy gabblers, we think before we speak. I am afraid that I shall hardly find my way this summer into the country, though the number of my Lives now grows less. I will send you two little volumes in a few days'. As the workmen are still at Streatham, there is no likelihood of seeing you and my master in any short time ; but let my master be where he will so he be well. I am not, I believe, any fatter than when you saw me, and hope to keep corpulence away ; for I am so lightsome and so airy, and can so walk, you would talk of it if you were to see me. I do not always sleep well ; but I have no pain nor sickness in the night. Perhaps I only sleep ill because I am too long a-bed ^. I dined yesterday at Sir Joshua's with Mrs. Cholmondely, and she told me, I was the best critick in the world ; and I told her, that nobody in the world could judge like her of the merit of a critick \ On Sunday I was with Dr. Lawrence and his two sisters-in- law, to dine with Mr. G '* at Putney. The Doctor cannot hear in a coach better than in a room, and it was but a dull ' Miss Burney wrote to Mrs. Thrale fortunate in my own family,' wrote on August 16 : — ' Dr. Johnson has Horace Walpole on December 5, delighted me with another volume of 1746; 'my nephew. Captain Chol- Vxs Lives — that which contains Black- mondeley, has married a player's more, Congreve, &;c., which he tells sister.' Letters, ii. 68. The Captain me you have had.' Mme. D'Arblay's afterwards quitted the army and took Diary, i. 420. These volumes were orders. lb. n. 4. Boswell dined with not yet published. her at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, when ' 'That was true enough.' Baretti. 'she was in a high flow of spirits, ■'' Mrs. Cholmondeley was a younger and exhibited some lively sallies of sister of Peg Woffington. She mar- hyperbolical compliment to Johnson, ried the Hon. Robert Cholmondeley, with whom she had been long ac- second son of the third Earl of quainted, and was very easy.' Life, Cholmondeley and grandson of Sir iii. 318. Robert Walpole. ' 1 have been un- * ' Gawler.' Baretti. day; Aetat. 70.] To Lovd Wcstcote. 187 day; only I saw two crownbirds, paltry creatures', and a red curlew. Every body is gone out of town, only I am left behind, and know not when I shall see either Naiad or Dryad ; however, it is as it has commonly been, I have no complaint to make but of myself. I have been idle, and of idleness can come no goodness. Mrs. Williams was frighted from London as you were frighted from Bath. She is come back, as she thinks, better. Mrs. Desmoulins has a disorder resembling an asthma ; which I am for curing with calomel and jalap, but Mr. Levet treats it with antimonial wine. Mr. Levet keeps on his legs stout, and walks, I suppose, ten m.iles a-day^. I stick pretty well to diet, and desire my master may be told of it ; for no man said oftener than he, that tJie less we eat the better. Poor , after having thrown away Lord 's patronage and three hundred a-year, has had another disappointment. He procured a recommendation from Lord to the Governor of Jamaica ; but to make this useful, something was to be done by the Bishop of London, which has been refused. Thus is the world filled with hope and fear, and struggle, and disappointment. Pray do you never add to the other vexations, any diminution of your kindness for. Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 688. To Lord Westcote^ My Lord, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, July 27, 1780. The course of my undertaking will now require a short life ' ' Very rare and singular birds ; tops, like those of an Earl's coronet, but Johnson cared for little but books, of a yellowish colour.' and more books.' Baretti. There = ' His frame was firm, his powers is a print of a crown-bird in the were bright, Gentlemmi's Magazine for 1750, p. Though now his eightieth year 264, where it is described as ' a very was nigh.' stately fine fowl, of the bigness of a Life, iv. 138. large turkey. Upon the top of its ^ Published in Croker's Boswell, head grow certain shafts or stalks, page 650. For Lord Westcote, see bearing little round balls on their ante, i. 177, n. 4. of 1 88 To Lord Westcote. [A.D. 1780. of your brother, Lord Lyttelton. My desire is to avoid offence, and to be totally out of danger'. I take the liberty of proposing to your lordship, that the historical account should be written under your direction by any friend you may be willing to employ, and I will only take upon myself to examine the poetry. Four pages like those of his work ^, or even half so much, will be sufficient. As the press is going on, it will be fit that I should know what you shall be pleased to determine. I am, My Lord, Your lordship's most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 689. To Lord Westcote ^ My Lord, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, July 28, 1780. I wish it had been convenient to have had that done which I proposed. I shall certainly not wantonly nor willingly offend ■* ; but when there are such near relations living, I had rather they would please themselves. For the life of Lord Lyttelton I shall need no help — it was very public, and I have no need to be minute. But I return your lordship thanks for your readiness to help me. I have another life in hand, that of Mr. West^, about which I am quite at a loss ; any information respecting him would be of great use to. My Lord, Your lordship's most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. ' For the offence which he gave, see Life, iv. 57. ^ By 'his work' Johnson means, I suppose, his History of He?t}y If which was published in quarto. ^ Published in Croker's Boswell, page 650. * He forgot this promise when in the Life he described 'poor Lyttel- ton with humble gratitude returning acknowledgments' to the Critical Reviewers. ^ Gilbert West. His mother and the mother of Lyttelton and West- cote were sisters — daughters of Sir Richard Temple of Stowe. Burke's Peerage. Johnson, in writing his Life, says : — ' The intelligence which my inquiries have gained is general and scanty.' To Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 189 690. To Mrs. Thrale'. Madam, London, August I, 1780. I had your letter about Mr. S and Miss O ^ ; but there was nothing to which I had any answer, or to which any answer could be made. This afternoon Dr. Lawrence drank tea, and, as he always does, asked about Mr. Thrale ; I told him how well he was when I heard ; and he does not eat too much, said the Doctor ; I said, not often ; and the return was, that he who in that case should once eat too much, might eat no more. I keep my rule very well ^ and, I think^ continue to grow better. Tell my pretty dear Queeney, that when we meet again, we will have, at least for some time, two lessons in a day. I love her, and think on her when I am alone ; hope we shall be very happy together^ and mind our books. Now August and Autumn are begun, and the Virgin takes possession of the sky. Will the Virgin do any thing for a man of seventy ? I have a great mind to end my work under the Virgin *. I have sent two volumes to Mr. Perkins to be sent to you, and beg you to send them back as soon as you have all done with them. I let the first volume get to the Reynolds's, and could never get it again ^ I sent to Lord Westcote about his brother's life, but he says he knows not whom to employ; and is sure I shall do him no injury. There is an ingenious scheme to save a day's work, or part of a day, utterly defeated ^ Then what avails it to be wise? The plain and the artful man must both do their own work. — But I think I have got a life of Dr. Young ^ ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 172. ^ Mr. Scrase and Miss Owen. ^ Ante, ii. 143. ■• The sun enters Virgo on August 23, and leaves it on September 22 or 23. ^ Sir Joshua lost one of the epi- taphs which Johnson wrote for Gold- smith. Ante, i. 407. ' 'When Johnson was publishing his Life of Gray^ says Mr. Cole, ' I gave him several anecdotes, but he was very anxious as soon as possible to get to the end of his labours.' Matthew Arnold's Essays in Criti- cism, 2nd series, 1888, p. 7i' ' From Herbert Croft. It was of this Life that Burke said : — ' No, no, it is not a good imitation of Johnson ; Susy igo To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. Susy and Sophy have had a fine Summer ; it is a comfort to think that somebody is happy. And they make verses, and act plays'. Mrs. Montague is, I think, in town, and has sent Mrs. Williams her annuity^; but I hear nothing from her, but I may be con- tented if I hear from you, for I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 691. To Mrs. Thrale 3. Dear Madam, August 8, i 780. What do you scold so for about Granville's life ; do you not see that the appendage neither gains nor saves any thing to me ? '^ I shall have Young's life given me, to spite you. Methinks it was pity to send the girls to school ; they have indeed had a fine vacation, dear loves, but if it had been longer it had been still finer. Did Master read my books } You say nothing of him in this letter ; but I hope he is well, and growing every day nearer to perfect health. When do you think of coming home ? I have not yet persuaded myself to work, and therefore know not when my work will be done. Yet I have a mind to see Lichfield. Dr. Taylor seems to be well. He has written to me without a syllable of his lawsuit ^. You have heard in the papers how * » * is come to age ; I have enclosed a short song of congratulation, which you must it has all his pomp without his force ; it has all the nodosities of the oak without its strength ; it has all the contortions of the Sybil without the inspiration.' Life^ iv. 59. ' Mrs. Thrale wrote to Miss Bur- neyon June 29 : — ' Susan and Sophy have taken to writing verses — 'tis the fashion of the school they say, and Sophy's are the best performances of all the misses, except one monkey of eighteen years old.' Mme. D'Ar- blay's Diary, i. 409. == Ante, i. 371, n. i. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 174. "" ' Somebody offered to write an appendage to the Life of Granville after his doing it ; but that did not square with his idleness, as he wished to save himself the trouble of writing that life.' Baretti. This explana- tion seems improbable. Mrs. Thrale must, I think, have seen the Life before the additions mentioned ante, ii. 131. ^ Ante^ ii. 158. not Aetat. 70.] To Mrs. Thrale. 191 not show to anybody ', It is odd that it should come into any body's head. I hope you will read it with candour ; it is, I believe, one of the author's first essays in that way of writing, and a beginner is always to be treated with tenderness. My two gentlewomen are both complaining. Mrs. Desmoulins had a mind of Dr. Turton '^ ; I sent for him, and he has prescribed for Mrs. Williams, but I do not find that he promises himself much credit from either of them. I hope it will not be long before I shall have another little volume for you, and still there will be work undone. If it were not for these Lives, I think I could not forbear coming to look at you, now you have room for me. But I still think to stay till I have cleared my hands. Queeney is not good. She seldom writes to me, and )'et I love her. and I love you all, for I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 692. To Mrs. Thr.4.le 3. Dear Madam, August 14, 1780. I hope my dear Oueeney's suspicions are groundless. Whenever any alteration of manner happens, I believe a small cathartick will set all right ^. I hope you have no design of stealing away to Italy before ' The song was on Sir John Lade, Mr. Thrale's nephew. In the Gentle- mati's Magazine for 1759, p. 392, among the Births is recorded on August I : — * Relict of Sir John Lade, Bt., of a son and heir, who is im- mediately entitled to a veiy large estate.' Johnson, a fortnight before he died, repeated the song ' with great spirit, saying he had never repeated it but once since he com- posed it, and had given but one copy of it.' It is printed in the Lz/e, iv. 413- - For the phrase ' to have a mind of a. person or thing,' see ante, i. 314, 343. Turton attended Goldsmith on his death-bed. 'When Goldsmith was dying. Dr. Turton said to him, "Your pulse is in greater disorder than it should be, from the degree of fever which you have : is your mind at ease ? " Goldsmith answered it was not.' Life, iii. 164. ^ Piozsi Letters, ii. 176. " The suspicions, no doubt, were about a change for the worse in Mr. Thrale's health. the 192 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1780. the election, nor of leaving me behind you ' ; though I am not only Seventy, but Seventy-one^. Could not you let me lose a year in round numbers ? Sweetly, sweetly, sings Dr. Swift, Some dire misfortune to portend, No enemy can match a friend^. But what if I am Seventy-two ; I remember Sulpitius says of Saint Martin (now that's above your reading), Est animus victor annortmi, et sencctitti cedere itesciiis'^. Match me that among your young folks. If you try to plague me, I shall tell you that, according to Galen, life begins to decline from Thirty-Jive ^ ' ' A man who has not been in Italy,' said Johnson, ' is always con- scious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see.' Life, iii. 36. They had been on the point of going there in 1776, but had abandoned their intention on the sudden death of Mr. Thrale's son. Ante, i. 389. Miss Burney records on March 23, 1781, that ' Mr. Thrale had resolved upon going abroad ; first to Spa, next to Italy, and then whither his fancy led him ! that Dr. Johnson was to ac- company them.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. li. Thrale's death, which followed within a fortnight, for a second time barred Johnson's hopes of seeing Italy. In the last year of his life, for the third time, a prospect opened before him of visiting that country, but it came to nothing. Life, iv. 336. "" He was not yet seventy-one. * 'Some great misfortune to por- tend. No enemy can match a friend.' Swift's Works, ed. 1803, xi. 243. * Saint Martin was Bishop of Tours in the fourth century. ' The saint,' writes Gibbon, ' once mistook (as Don Quixote might have done) an harmless funeral for an idola- trous procession, and imprudently committed a miracle.' Decline and Fall, ed. 1807, v. 88. Johnson's quo- tation is from the Third Epistle of Sulpicius Severus. The dying Saint is represented as saying : — ' Sub signis tuis, quoadusque ipse jusseris, militabo ; et quamvis optata sit seni missio post laborem, est tamen ani- mus victor annorum,_et cedere nescius senectuti.' Bibliotheca Patrian La- tina Patrologi from Swift : — 'And had her stock been less, no doubt, She must have long ago run out.' ^ Johnson, I conjecture, wrote having. * ' Resolve never to be poor.' Life, iv. 163. ^ The following note I owe to the kindness of Dr. Norman Moore. ' Gravedo is commonly used as a synonym for catarrh and for coryza. Catarrh in its widest sense includes general rheumatic pains. I think that Dr. Johnson's meaning may be interpreted through one of his physicians. Dr. Heberden, and the term gravedo taken to mean a dis- order with " cold in the head " ac- companied by pains in the limbs. ' Heberden says : — " Necessarium est OS et fauces et nares atque oculos assidue madere ; quapropter humor manat de quibusdam glandulis, et membranis ; qui si modum naturalem excedat, dicitur destillatio gravedo vel catarrhus." He had known such an habitual gravedo followed by palsy, and by asthma. Both symp- toms to some extent formed part of Dr. Johnson's illness.' See post. Letter of February 17, 1782. make 230 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1781. make good resolutions, which on my side, I hope to keep ; but such hopes are very deceitful. I would not willingly think the same of all hopes, and particularly should be loath to suspect of deceit, my hope of being always, Dearest Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 744. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dearest dear Lady, [Lichfield], Oct. 27, 1781. Your Oxford letter followed me hither, with Lichfield put upon the direction in the place of Oxford, and was received at the same time as the letter written next after it. All is there- fore well. Oueeney is a naughty captious girl, that will not write because I did not remember to ask her. Pray tell her that I ask her now, and that I depend upon her for the history of her own time. Poor Lucy's illness has left her very deaf, and, I think, very inarticulate. I can scarcely make her understand me, and she can hardly make me understand her. So here are merry doings '. But she seems to like me better than she did. She eats very little, but does not fall away. Mrs. Cobb and Peter Garrick are as you left them. Garrick's legatees at this place are very angry that they receive nothing^. Things are not quite right, though we are so far from London "*. ' Piozzi Letters^ ii. 208. proportion to their legacies, and wait '^ Anie,\\. \\b. until the death of my wife, &c.' ^ Garrick left large legacies to his Davies's Life of Garrick, ii. 427. two brothers, sister, two nephews and She perhaps outlived them all, for a niece, ' to be paid,' he said, ' out of she survived her husband 43 years, the residue of my personal estate See post, Letter of April 30, 1782, which shall remain after paying the where Johnson writes : — ' Poor legacies [of ^6,000] to my wife, and Garrick's funeral expenses are yet securing the annuities as aforesaid. unpaid, though the undertaker is [She was to have an annuity of broken.' ^1,500 if she lived in England, and ■• ' Resolved at length from vice of ;{^i,ooo if she resided in Scotland, and London far Ireland, or beyond sea.] If there To breathe in distant fields a shall not be sufficient to pay all the purer air.' legacies, the legacies shall abate in Johnson's London, 1. 5. Mrs. Aston Aetat. 72.] To Mrs. Thrale. 231 Mrs. Aston is just as I left her. She walks no worse ; but I am afraid speaks less distinctly as to her utterance. Her mind is untouched. She eats too little, and wears away. The ex- tenuation ' is her only bad symptom. She was glad to see me. That naughty girl Queeney, now she is in my head again, how could she think that I did not wish to hear from her, a dear sweet. — But he must suffer who can love. All here is gloomy; a faint struggle with the tediousness of time ; a doleful confession of present misery, and the approach seen and felt of what is most dreaded and most shunned "". But such is the lot of man. i am, dearest Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 745. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Lichfield, Oct. 31, 178 1. It almost enrages me to be suspected of forgetting the discovery of the papers relating to Cummins's claim '*. These papers we must grant the liberty of using, because the law will not suffer us to deny them. We may be summoned to declare what we know, and what we know is in those papers. When the evidence appears, » » * * will be directed by her lawyers to submit in quiet. I suppose it will be proper to give at first only a transcript. Your income, diminished as it is, you may, without any painful frugality, make sufficient. I wish your health were as much in your power, and the effects of abstinence were as certain as those of parsimony. Of your regimen I do not think with much ap- probation ; it is only palliative, and crops the disease, but does not eradicate it. I wish you had at the beginning digested full meals in a warm room, and excited the humour to exhaust its power upon the surface. This, I believe, must be done at last. ' Ante, ii. 159, n. 4. the thoughts of it." ' Life, ii. 93. "^ ' BOSWELL. "Is not the fear ^ Piozzi Letters, \\. 2\o. cf death natural to man?" John- '' Mrs. Cumins is mentioned ante, SON. "So much so, Sir, that the ii. 181, and Mrs. Cumyns further on whole of Hfe is but keeping away in the present letter. Miss Seward 232 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1781. Miss Seward has been enquiring after Susan Thrale, of whom she had heard so much from Mrs, Cumyns, as excites her cu- riosity. If my little dear Perversity continues to be cross, Susy ' may be my girl too ; but I had rather have them both. If Queeney does not write soon she shall have a very reprehensory ^ letter. I have here but a dull scene. Poor Lucy's health is very much broken. She takes very little of either food or exercise, and her hearing is very dull, and her utterance confused ; but she will have Watts s Improvement of the Mind^. Her mental powers are not impaired, and her social virtues seem to increase. She never was so civil to me before. Mrs. Aston is not, that I perceive, worse than when I left her ; but she eats too little, and is somewhat emaciated. She likewise is glad to see me, and I am glad that I have come. There is little of the sunshine of life, and my own health does not gladden me. But to scatter the gloom — I went last night to the balP, where, you know, I can be happy even without you. On the ball which was very gay, I looked awhile, and went away. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 746. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dearest Madam, Lichfield, Nov. 3, 1781. You very kindly remind me of the dear home which I have ^ See ante, ii. 44, where he writes : — ' I was always a Susy when nobody else was a Susy.' " Reprehensory is not in Johnson's Dictionary. ^ No doubt she had been reading in Johnson's Life of Watts the passage where he says : — ' Few books have been perused by me with greater pleasure than his Im- provement of the Mind' Works, viii. 385. ■' Miss Burney recorded the follow- ing year at Brighton : — ' October 28, 17S2. Dr. Johnson accompanied us to a ball, to the universal amazement of all who saw him there ; but he said he had found it so dull being quite alone the preceding evening, that he determined upon going with us ; '' for,"' said he, " it cannot be worse than being alone." ' D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 161. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 219. Mme. left; Aetat. 72.] To Mvs. Tkvale. 233 left ' ; but I need none of your aids to recollection, for I am here gasping for breath, and yet better than those whom I came to visit. Mrs. Aston has been for three years a paralytic crawler ; but, I think, with her mind unimpaired. She seems to me such as I left her ; but she now eats little, and is therefore much ema- ciated. Her sister thinks her, and she thinks herself, passing fast away. Lucy has had since my last visit a dreadful illness, from which her physicians declared themselves hopeless of recovering her, and which has shaken the general fabrick, and weakened the powers of life. She is unable or unwilling to move, and is never likely to have more of either strength or spirit ^. I am so visibly disordered, that a medical man, who only saw me at church, sent me some pills. To those whom I love here I can give no help, and from those that love me none can I re- ceive. Do you think that I need to be reminded of home and you ? The time of the year is not very favourable to excursions. I thought myself above assistance or obstruction from the seasons ^ ; but find the autumnal blast sharp and nipping, and the fading world an uncomfortable prospect. Yet I may say with Milton, that I do not abate much of heart or hope'^. To what I have done I do not despair of adding something, but what it shall be I know not. I am, Madam, Most affectionately yours, Sam : Johnson. 747. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Nov. 10, 1781. Yesterday I came to Ashbourne, and last night I had very ' ' Come home,' she had written, seasons see Life, i. 332, and for his 'for 'tis dull living without you.' discovery that he had himself become Piozsi Letters, W. 216. For his use dependent upon the weather, ib. iv. of the term home see ante, i. 129. 353, 360. ^ She hved till January, 1786. " ' nor bate a jot Miss Seward's Letters, i. 109. Of heart or hope.' ^ For Johnson's belief that a man Milton. Sonnet, No. xxii. could make himself superior to the ^ Piozsi Letters, ii. 221. little 2 34 ^^ ^^•^- ^/^^^^^- [A.D. 1781. little rest. Dr. Taylor lives on milk, and grows every day better, and is not wholly without hope. Every body enquires after you and Oueeney ; but whatever Burney may think of the celerity of fame, the name of Evelina had never been heard at Lichfield till I brought it. I am afraid my dear townsmen will be mentioned in future days as the last part of this nation that was civilised \ But the days of darkness are soon to be at an end ; the reading society ordered it to be procured this week. Since I came into this quarter of the earth I have had a very sorry time, and I hope to be better when I come back. The little paddock and plantations here are very bleak. The Bishop of Chester is here now with his father-in-law^; he sent us a message last night, and I intend to visit him. Most of your Ashbourne friends are well. Mr. Kennedy's daughter has married a shoemaker, and he lives with them, and has left his parsonage. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 748. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Nov. 12, 1 78 1. I have a mind to look on Queeney as my own dear girl ; and if I set her a bad example, I ought to counteract it by good precepts ; and he that knows the consequences of any fault is best qualified to tell them. I have through my whole progress of authorship honestly endeavoured to teach the right, though I have not been sufficiently diligent to practise it, and have offered ' Evelina had been published married the daughter of ' Brian nearly four years. Nevertheless Hodgson, Esq., of Ashbourne.' Johnson had boasted to Boswell that Porteus's lVor/:s,ed. iSii, i. 17. In the inhabitants of Lichfield were a curious correspondence in Notes ' the genteelest in proportion to their and Queries (7th S. v. 241, 294, 330, wealth, and spoke the purestEnglish.' 494) it is shown that Brian Hodg- Life, ii. 463. In their ignorance of son, before he retired to Ashbourne, Evelina they were not behind some had kept the George Inn at Stam- of the great people in London. See ford. By mistake in this corre- Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 121. spondence Ashbourne is stated to be * BeilbyPorteus,aftcrwards Bishop in Kent, of London. Life, iii. 279. He had ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 222. mankind Aetat. 72.] To Mrs. Thrale. 235 mankind my opinion as a rule, but never professed my behaviour as an example '. I shall be very sorry to lose Mr. ; but why should he so certainly die? * * * » needed not have died if he had tried to live. If Mr. will drink a great deal of water, the acrimony that corrodes his bowels will be diluted, if the cause be only acrimony ; but I suspect dysenteries to be produced by animalcula, which I know not how to kill. If the medical man did me good, it was by his benevolence ; by his pills I never mended ^. I am, however, rather better than I was. Dear Mrs. ^, she has the courage becoming an admiral's lady, but courage is no virtue in her cause. I have been at Lichfield persecuted with solicitations to read a poem ; but I sent the authour word, that I would never review the work of an anonymous authour ; for why should I put my name in the power of one who will not trust me with his own. With this answer Lucy was satisfied, and I think it may satisfy all whom it may concern "*. ' Lady Macleod (speaking of Cheyne's book on the gout) ' ob- jected that the author does not practise what he teaches. Johnson. " I cannot help that, madam. That does not make his book the worse. People are influenced more by what a man says, if his practice is suitable to it, — because they are blockheads. The more intellectual people are, the readier will they attend to what a man tells them. If it is just, they will follow it, be his practice what it will. No man practises so well as he writes. I have, all my life long, been lying till noon, yet I tell all young men, and tell them with great sincerity, that nobody who does not rise early will ever do any good." ' Life, V. 210, "" Ante, ii. 233. ^ Mrs. Byron. A7ite, ii. 121, n. 2. Lord Byron in his Epistle to Augusta compares himself to his grandfather, the admiral : — ' He had no rest at sea, nor I on shore.' In a note it is stated that 'Admiral Byron was re- markable for never making a .voyage without a tempest. He was known to the sailors by the facetious name of " Foul-weather Jack." ' Byron's Woj-ks, ed. 1854, iv. 202. * Miss Seward says : — ' I cannot imagine what anonymous poem it could be.' Letters, ii. 44. I think it not unlikely that it was Erasmus Darwin's Loves of the Plants, which was published anonymously in 1789. Darwin states in the Advertisement that ' he has withheld it many years from the press, hoping to have rendered it more worthy the accept- ance of the public' He had lived at Lichfield till some time in this year. C. Darwin's Life of Erasmus Darwin, p. 27. Edgeworth says that parts of If 236 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1781. If C y' did nothing for life but add weight to its burden, and darkness to its gloom, he is kindest to those from whom he is furthest. I hope, when I come, not to advance perhaps your pleasures, though even of that I shall be unwilling to despair ; but at least not to increase your inconveniencies, which would be a very unsuitable return for all the kindness that you have shewn to, Madam, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 749. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dearest Madam, Ashbourne, Nov. 14, 1781. Here is Doctor Taylor, by a resolute adherence to bread and milk, with a better appearance of health than he has had for a long time past^; and here am I. living very temperately, but with very little amendment. But the balance is not perhaps very unequal : he has no pleasure like that which I receive from the kind importunity with which you invite me to return. There is no danger of very long delay. There is nothing in this part of the world that can counteract your attraction. The hurt in my leg has grown well slowly, according to Hector's prognostick "", and seems now to be almost healed : but my nights are very restless, and the days are therefore heavy, and I have not your conversation to cheer them. I am willing however to hear that there is happiness in the the poem were shown from time to time to his intimate acquaint- ance. Me7noirs of Edgeworth, p. 398. Perhaps it was Darwin who sent Johnson the pills. Ante, ii. 233- Johnson does not use to review in the modern sense. He defines it as ' to survey ; to overlook ; to examine.' Neither does he give a definition of the substantive review, in its sense of ' a periodical with critical examinations of books.' ' Crutchley. Ante,\\.'2.\<^.,n.\. Miss Burney, writing in September of this year, describes him as a man of ' a cold and splenetic turn,' and says that ' he has now left Streatham without much intention to frequently revisit it.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 105. Mrs. Thrale, writing on the same day as Johnson, says that Crutchley had left them on Monday (the 6th). //;. p. 109, ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 224. ^ Dr. Taylor lived on a milk diet, which gave him a very disagree- able complexion.' Miss Hawkins's Memoirs, i. 164. " Ante, ii. 228. world, Aetat. 72.] To Mrs. Thrale. ni world, and delight to think on the pleasure diffused among the Burneys. I question if any ship upon the ocean goes out attended with more good wishes than that which carries the fate of Burney '. I love all of that breed whom I can be said to know, and one or two whom I hardly know I love upon credit, and love them be- cause they love each other. Of this consanguineous unanimity I have had never much experience ""; but it appears to me one of the great lenitives of life ; but it has this deficience, that it is never found when distress is mutual — He that has less than enough for himself has nothing to spare, and as every man feels only his own necessities, he is apt to think those of others less ' Mrs. Thrale had written to John- son in a letter she dates November 2 : — ' Captain Burney has got a fifty- gun ship, and we are all so rejoiced.' Piozzi Letters^ ii. 218. Miss Burney had written to her on November 4, in a letter assigned in her Diary to 1780, but evidently written in 1781 : — ' We had just done tea on Friday, and were sitting down to cards, when we were surprised by an express from London, and it brought a " Whereas we think fit," from the Admiralty, to appoint Captain Burney to the command of the Latona, during the absence of the Hon. Captain Conway. This is one of the best frigates in the navy, of thirty-eight guns. Jem was almost frantic with ecstacy of joy; he sang, laughed, drank to his own success, and danced about the room with Miss Kitty till he put her quite out of breath. His hope is to get out im- mediately, and have a brush with some of the Dons, Monsieurs, or Mynheers. [We were at war with Spain, France, Holland, and the United States].' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, i. 431. Mrs. Thrale in a letter dated November 12 in the Diary (ii. 109) quotes, or rather misquotes, Johnson's letter of November 14. Part of what he had written appears as her own reflection. What with the original inaccuracy of Miss Burney and Mrs. Thrale, and the superadded inaccuracy of Mme, D'Arblay's editor and of Mrs. Piozzi as her own editor, it is not easy through their pages to track the truth. For Johnson's love of the Burneys see ante, ii. 145, n. i. In the begin- ning of 1783, talking to Miss Burney of the Captain, he said: — ' I should be glad to see him if he were not your brother ; but were he a dog, a cat, a rat, a frog, and belonged to you, I must needs be glad to see him.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 233. ^ ' I who have no sisters nor brothers look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends.' Life, i. 324. See also post, Letter of May I, 1783. Nevertheless he had not got on well with his only brother, who complained that ' he had scarcely used him with common civility.' Life, i. 90, n. 3. Carlyle on February 3, 1835, wrote to Emerson, who had lately lost a brother :— ' Had one no brother one could hardly understand what it was to have a Friend ; they are the Friends whom Nature chose for us.' Carres, of Carlyle and Etnerson, i. 37. pressing. 238 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1781. pressing, and to accuse them of with-holding what in truth they cannot give. He that has his foot firm upon dry ground may pluck another out of the water ; but of those that are all afloat, none has any care but for himself. We do not hear that the deanery is yet given away, and, though nothing is said, I believe much is still thought about it ^ Hope travels through ^ I am, dearest of all dear ladies. Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 750. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Ashbourne, Nov. 24, 1 78 1. I shall leave this place about the beginning of next week, and shall leave every place as fast as I decently can, till I get back to you, whose kindness is one of my great comforts. I am not well, but have a mind every now and then to think myself better, and I now hope to be better under your care. It was time to send Kam to another master ; but I am glad that before he went he beat Hector, for he has really the appear- ance of a superior species to an animal whose whole power is in his legs, and that against the most defenceless of all the in- habitants of the earth. Dr. Taylor really grows w^elL and directs his complirpents to be sent. I hope Mr. Perkins will be well too ^. But why do you tell me nothing of your own health ? Perhaps since the fatal pinch of snufif I may have no care about it. I am glad that you have returned to your meat, for I never expected that abstinence would do you good. Piozzi, I find, is coming in spite of Miss Harriet's prediction, or second sight, and when he comes and / come, you will have two about you that love you ; and I question if either of us ' Ante, i. 141. ^ ' Hope travels through, nor quits - See ante, ii. 108, for Taylor's us when we die.' longings for another Deanery. The POPE. Essay on Man, ii. 273. Deanery of Lincoln was filled up on * Piozzi Letters, ii. 226. December 22. Ann. Reg., 1781, i. 209. ^ Sec Life, iv. 153. heartily Aetat. 72.] To Edmund Allen. 239 heartily care how i&\N more you have '. But how many soever they may be, I hope you keep your kindness for me, and I have a great mind to have Queeney's kindness too. Frank's wife^ has brought him a wench ; but I cannot yet get intelh'gence of her colour, and therefore have never told him how much depends upon it. The weather here is chill, and the air damp. I have been only once at the waterfall, which I found doing as it used to do, and came away. I had not you nor Queeney with me. Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 751. To Edmund Allen ^ Bolt Court. Dear Sir, Ashbourne, Nov. 26, 1781. I am weary enough of the country to think of Bolt Court, and purpose to leave Ashbourne, where I now am, in a day or two, and to make my way through Lichfield, Birmingham, and Oxford, with what expedition I decently can, and then we will have a row''^ and a dinner, and now and then a dish of tea together. ' Mrs. Thrale had written : — ' In- stead of trying the Sortes Virgiliance [a?tte, ii. 169, n. a] for our absent friends, we agreed after dinner to-day to ask little Harriet what they were doing now who used to be our common guests at Streatham. " Dr. Johnson " (says she) " is very rich and wise. Sir Philip is drown'd in the water — and Mr. Piozzi is very sick and lame, poor man ! " What a curious way of deciding ! all in her little soft voice.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 217. Baretti has the following note on the passage in Johnson's letter: — ' Impudent b ! How could she venture upon forging this paragraph ! Johnson to put himself abreast with such an ignorant dog as Piozzi ! ' ^ The wife of his black servant, Francis Barber. Life, i. 237. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 699. ' Communicated to me by Mr. P. Cunningham,' writes Mr. Croker, ' who found also in a pocket- book of Allen's, memoranda of John- son's departure and return. " October 15, 1 78 1, Dr. Johnso7i set out about 9 A.M. to Oxford, Lichfield, and Ash- bourne.''' ^'■December 11, 1781, Dr. Jolittson returned from Derbyshire.^'' ' Edmund Allen was Johnson's land- lord and next neighbour in Bolt Court. Life, iii. 141. '' I do not understand what this means. Johnson defines the sub- stantive row as ' a rank or file ; a number of things ranged in a line.' He does not recognise the sense of ' an excursion in a rowing-boat.' Neither was it likely that in his weak health he would go on the I doubt 240 To Mrs. Tkrale, [a.d. 17 si. I doubt not but you have been so kind as to send the oysters to Lichfield, and I now beg that you will let Mrs. Desmoulins have a guinea on my account. My health has been but indifferent, much of the time I have been out, and my journey has not supplied much entertainment. I shall be at Lichfield, I suppose, long enough to receive a letter, and I desire Mrs. Desmoulins to write immediately what she knows. I wish to be told about Frank's wife and child. I am. dear Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 752. To Mrs. THRALE^ Dear Madam, Lichfield, Dec. 3, 1781. I am now come back to Lichfield, where I do not intend to stay long enough to receive another letter. I have little to do here but to take leave of Mrs. Aston. I hope not the last leave. But Christians may [say] with more confidence than Sophonisba Avremo tosto lungo lungo spazio Per stare assieme, et sara forse eterno ^. My time past heavily at Ashbourne, yet I could not easily get away, though Taylor, I sincerely think, was glad to see me go. I have now learned the inconveniences of a winter campaign ; but I hope home will make amends for all my foolish sufferings. I do not like poor ' Burney's vicarious captainship ^' Surely the tale of Tantalus was made for him. Surely he will be in time a captain like another captain, of a ship like another ship. You have got Piozzi again, notwithstanding pretty Harriet's dire denunciations'*. The Italian translation which he has brought, river so late in the year. I .suspect Di star insieme, e sari forse an error in the copyist. eterno.' ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 228. Sofinisba, Tragedia di G. "Ma tu pur cerca mantenerti in G. Trissino, ed. 1785, vita ; p. 93. Che tosto aremo un lungo lungo ^ Ante, ii. 237, n. i. spazio '' A)ite, ii. 239, n. i. you Aetat. 72.] 7i? Johl Nukols. 2\\ you will find no great accession to your library, for the writer seems to understand very little English. When we meet we can compare some passages. Pray contrive a multitude of good things for us to do when we meet. Something that may hold all together; though if any thing makes me love you more, it is going from you. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 763. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, Birmingham, Dec. 8, 1781. I am come to this place on my way to London and to Streatham. I hope to be in London on Tuesday or Wednesday, and at Streatham on Thursday, by your kind conveyance. I shall have nothing to relate either wonderful or delightful. But remember that you sent me away, and turned me out into the world, and you must take the chance of finding me better or worse. This you may know at present, that my affection for you is not diminished, and my expectation from you is encreased. Do not neglect me, nor relinquish me ~. Nobody will ever love you better or honour you more than. Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 754. To John Nichols ^. Mr. Johnson being much out of order sent in search of the book, but it is not found. He will, if he is better, look him- self diligently to-morrow He thanks Mr. Nichols for all his favours. To Mr. Nicols. Dr. [December] 26, [1781]. ' Piozsi Letters, ii. 230. afifection for him may lessen. "" Johnson's letters henceforth often ^ First published in the Gentle- contain expressions of fear that her man's Magazine for 1 785, page 1 1. VOL. II. R To 242 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1782. 755. To Mauritius Lowe. t^^j^ j j»g^ In one of Messrs. Sotheby's Auction Catalogues, the reference to which I have mislaid, Lot 156 is a Letter of Johnson to Mr. Lowe dated Jan. i, 1782. 756. To J.\MES BOSWELL. [London], January 5, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 136. 757. To Dr. L.wvRENCE. [London], January 17, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 137. 758. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dearest Lady, January 28, 1782. I was blooded on Saturday ; I think, not copiously enough, but the Doctor would permit no more. I have however his consent to bleed again to-day. Since I left you I have eaten very little, on Friday chiefly broath, on Saturday nothing but some bread in the morning, on Sunday nothing but some bread and three roasted apples. I try to get well and wish to see you ; but if I came, I should only cough and cough. Mr. Steevens% ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 250. which has for some time distressed Mrs. Piozzi dates this letter June me.' Life, iv. 140. On July 8 he 28, 1 781, but inserts it among those wrote to Dr. Taylor : — ' I came back of June 1782. It is clear that y//«i' is from Oxford in ten days, and was a mistake for fanuary, and 178 1 for almost restored to health. . . . My 1782. Johnson mentions the consent cough is gone.' He went to O.xford of his Doctor 'to bleed again ' on the in June. /*^j-/, Letter of June 8. On day on which he wrote. He adds June 28, therefore, he was in tolerable also: — 'We are all three sick, and health. His sick companions were poor Levet is gone.' He wrote to Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Desmoulins. Mrs. Strahan on February 4, 1782 :— = Mr. Steevens was George * Of the four inmates [of my house] Steevens who helped him in a new one has been suddenly snatched edition of his Shakespeare. Life, ii. away; two are oppressed by very 115. 'He passed,' says Boswell, afflictive and dangerous illness ; and ' many a social hour with Dr. John- I tried yesterday to gain some relief son during their long acquaintance.' by a third bleeding from a disorder Jh. iv. 324. who Aetat. 72.] To Rccorder Beatniffe. 24 who is with me, says that my hearing is returned. We are here all three sick, and poor Levet is gone. Do not add to my other distresses any diminution of kindness for, -_ , Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 759. To Mrs. Strahan. [London], February 4, 1782. Published in the Life^ iv. 140. 760. To Recorder Beatniffe'. Sir, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, February 14, 1782. Robert Levett, with whom I have been connected by a friendship of many years, died lately at my house. His death was sudden, and no will has yet been found ; I therefore gave notice of his death in the papers, that an heir, if he has any, may appear. He has left very little ; but of that little his brother is doubtless heir, and your friend may be perhaps his brother. I have had another application from one who calls himself his brother ; and I suppose it is fit that the claimant should give some proofs of his relation. I would gladly know, from the gentleman that thinks himself R. Levett's brother. In what year, and in what parish, R. Levett was born ? Where or how was he educated ? ' First published in Croker's Bos- very low condition.' lb. p. 143. well, page 701. Hawkins says that Johnson learnt, Levett had died suddenly on in reply to his enquiries, that Levett January 17 of this year. 'He was an was born at Kirk Ella about five old and faithful friend,' Johnson miles from Hull. He had acquired recorded in his Dia?y. * I have some knowledge of Latin and had a known him from about '46.' Life, propensity to learning. He had iv. 137. He wrote to Lucy Porter on tried more than one calling, and had March 19 : — ' I have by advertising dabbled in physic. He had been in found poor Mr. Levett's brothers in France and Italy, and had attended Yorkshire, who will take the little he the hospitals in Paris. Hawkins's has left ; it is but little, yet it will be Johnson, p. 396. See Life, i. 243, welcome, for I believe they are of n. 3, for another account. R 2 What 244 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1782. What was his early course of life ? What were the marks of his person ; his stature ; the colour of his eyes ' ? Was he marked by the small-pox ? Had he any impediment in his speech ? What relations had he, and how many are now living? His answer to these questions will show whether he knew him ; and he may then proceed to show that he is his brother. He may be sure, that nothing shall be hastily wasted or re- moved. I have not looked into his boxes, but transferred that business to a gentleman in the neighbourhood, of character above suspicion. Sam: Johnson. To Mr. Beatnifife, Recorder of Hull. 761. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dearest Lady, [Bolt Court], Feb. i6, 1782. I am better, but not yet well ; but hope springs eternal ^. ■As soon as I can think myself not troublesome, you may be sure of seeing me, for such a place to visit nobody ever had. Dearest Madam, do not think me worse than I am ; be sure at least, that whatever happens to me, I am with all the regard that admiration of excellence and gratitude for kindness can excite, ,, , Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' ' His person was middle-sized and thin ; his visage swarthy, adust, and corrugated. When in dishabille he might have been mistaken for an alchemist, whose complexion had been hurt by the fumes of the crucible, and whose clothes had suffered from the sparks of the furnace.' Gctitlc- man's l\fagcisine,\j%^,-p. 102. Haw- kins adds ' a dictum of Johnson re- specting him— that his external ap- pearance and behaviour were such that he disgusted the rich and terrified the poor.' W'^xw'km?,'' s Johnso?i, p. 400. " Piozzi Letters, ii. 231. ^ ' Hope springs eternal in the human breast.' Essay on Man, i. 95. To Aetat. 72.] To Mvs. Tkrale. 245 762. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, Feb. 17, 1782. Sure such letters would make any man well^. I will let them have their full operation upon me ; but while I write I am not without a cough. I can however keep it quiet by diacodium, and am in hope that with all other disturbances it will go away, and permit me to enjoy the happiness of being, Madam, your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 763. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dearest Madam, Bolt-court, Feb. 21, 1782. I certainly grow better. I lay this morning with such success, that I called before I rose for dry linen. I believe I have had a crisis. Last night called Sir Richard Jebb"* ; and many people call or send : I am not neglected nor forgotten. But let me be always sure of your kindness. I hope to try again this week whether your house is yet so cold, for to be away from you, if I did not think our separation likely to be short, how could I endure ? ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 235. complains of a general gravedo" ^ Mrs. Piozzi inserts a letter of hers cries the Doctor; "but he speaks to him dated February 16 in which too good Latin for us." " Do you she says : — ' I told Dr. Lawrence that take care, at least, that it does not the Gravedo [ante, ii. 229, n. 5] of increase long," quoth L (The word which you complain should be kept gravedo makes gravedtnis, and is from mcreasitig lofig in this case, and therefore said to increase long in the as he is as good a grammarian as he genitive case.) I thought this a good, is a physician I hope he will take the stupid, scholarlike pun, and Johnson hint.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 233. She seemed to like that Lawrence was wrote to Miss Burney this same pleased.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, month that she had found Dr. ii. 123. Johnson, it is clear, heard Lawrence with Dr. Johnson : — * I put the pun ; it seems likely therefore my nose into the old man's wig [Dr. that her letter to him was a fabrica- Lawrence's], and shouted; but got tion, for she would not have told him none except melancholy answers — so what he had so lately heard from her. melancholy that I was forced to ^ Piozzi Letters, n. 22,S- crack jokes for fear of crying. " He * The physician. Ante, ii. 148, You 246 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1782. You are a dear dear lady, and your kind attention is a great part of what life affords to, , , , Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 764. To Edmond Malone. [London], February 27, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 141. 765. To Mrs. Porter. London, March 2, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 142. 766. To Edmond Malone. [London], March 7, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 141. In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue of May 10, 1875, the date is given as March 2. The Letter (Lot 98) was sold for ;^6 bs. 767. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dearest of all dear Ladies, March 14, 1782. That Povilleri should write these verses is impossible. I am angry at Sastres ^. Seven ounces ! Why I sent a letter to Dr. Lawrence, who is ten times more timorsome than is your Jebb, and he came and stood by while one vein was opened with too small an orifice, and bled eight ounces and stopped. Then another vein was opened, which ran eight more. And here am I sixteen ounces lighter, for I have had no dinner ^ ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 236. "^ An Italian master. See post. Letter of August 21, 1784. ^ Johnson recorded in his Diary on March 18 :— 'Having been from the middle of January distressed by a cold which made my respiration very laborious, and from which I was but little relieved by being blooded three times ; having tried to ease the oppression of my breast by frequent opiates, which kept me waking in the night and drowsy the next day, and subjected me to the tyranny of vain imaginations ; having to all this added frequent catharticks, sometimes with mercurj', I at last persuaded Dr. Lawrence on Thurs- I think Aetat. 72.] To the Revereud Dr. Taylor. 247 I think the loss of blood has done no harm ; whether it has done good, time will tell. I am glad that I do not sink without resistance '. ^ 1 txx 1 I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 768. To Mrs. Porter. Bolt Court, March 19, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 142. 769. To Mrs. Aston. llondon, March 19, 1782. On March 19, Johnson recorded in his Diary; — 'I wrote to Aston,' Prayers and Meditations, page 206. 770. To Captain Langton. Bolt Court, March 20, 1782. . Published in the Life, iv. 145. 771. To Edmund Hector. London, March 21, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 146. 772. To Edmund Hector. Undated, Published in \}(\q. Life, iv. 147. 773. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. London, March 22, 1782. On March 22 of this year, Johnson recorded in his Diary : — * I wrote to Taylor about the pot.' Prayers and Meditations, page 208, For the silver coffee-pot ^^o. post, p. 262. day, March 14, to let me bleed more word in the Streatham set. Johnson copiously. Sixteen ounces were taken on his death-bed reproached Heber- away, and from that time my breath den with being ' timidorum timidis- has been free, and my breast easy.' simus.' Life, iv. 399, n. 6. Pr. and Med., p. 203. ' See ante, i. 378, n. 3. Ttmorsome was perhaps a catch- To 248 To Mrs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston, [a.d.1782. 774. To William Gerard Hamilton. March 22, 1782. On March 22, 1782, Johnson recorded in his Diary: — 'I wrote to Hamilton about the Foedera.' Prayers and Meditations, page 208. The Fcedera was, no doubt, Rymer"s work. 775. To James Boswell. London, March 28, 1782. PubHshed in the Life, iv. 148. 776. To Mrs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston '. Dearest Ladies, The tenderness expressed in your kind letter makes me think it necessary to tell you that they who are pleased to wish me well, need not be any longer particularly solicitous about me. I prevailed on my Physician to bleed me very copiously, almost against his inclination. However he kept his finger on the pulse of the other hand, and, finding that I bore it well, let the vein run on. From that time I have mended, and hope I am now well. I went yesterday to Church without inconvenience % and hope to go tomorrow. Here are great changes in the great world, but I cannot tell you more than you will find in the papers. The Men are got in. ' First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 706. Corrected by me from the original in Pembroke Col- lege Library. '' In Johnson's Diary there are the following entries at this date : - ' March 28, Thursday. The weather which now begins to be warm gives me great help. I have hardly been at church this year ; certainly not since the 15th of January. My cough and difficulty of breathing would not permit it. This is the day on which in 1752 dear Tetty died. I have now uttered a prayer of repentance and contrition ; perhaps Tetty knows that I prayed for her. Perhaps Tetty is now praying for me. God help me. . . . We were married almost seventeen years, and have now been parted thirty. ... 29, Good Friday. After a night of great disturbance and solicitude, such as I do not re- member, I rose, drank tea, but with- out eating, and went to church. I was very composed. ... A kind letter from Gastrel [Mrs. Gastrell].' During the whole of the day he ate nothing but some buns at tea. The next day he records : — ' I was faint ; dined on herrings and potatoes,' Pr. and Med., p. 209. whom Aetat. 72.] To Miss Reynolds. 249 whom I have endeavoured to keep out, but I hope they will do better than their predecessors ; it will not be easy to do worse '. Spring seems now to approach, and I feel its benefit, which I hope will extend to dear Mrs. Aston. When Dr. Falconer ^ saw me, I was at home only by accident, for I lived much with Mrs. Thrale and had all the care from her that she could take, or that could be taken. But I have never been ill enough to want attendance, my disorder has been rather tedious than violent, rather irksome than painful. He needed not have made such a tragical representation. I am now well enough to flatter myself with some hope of pleasure from the Summer. How happy would it be if we could see one another, and be all tolerably well. Let us pray for one another. _ , t i- I am, dearest Ladies, Your most obliged, and most humble Servant, March 30, 1782. SaM:J0HNS0N. London, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. 777. To Miss Reynolds ^ Dearest Madam, April 8, 1782. Your work'* is full of very penetrating meditation, and very forcible sentiments. I read it with a full perception of the sub- lime, with wonder and terror ; but I cannot think of any profit from it ; it seems not born to be popular. Your system of the mental fabric is exceedingly obscure, and, without more attention than will be willingly bestowed, is unin- telligible. The plans of Burnaby ^ will be more safely^ understood, ' On March 20 Johnson recorded : — 'The Ministry is dissolved. I prayed with Francis and gave thanks.' Pr. and Med., p. 207. On the afternoon of that day Lord North announced in the House of Commons ' that his Majesty's Ministers were no more.' Pari. Hist, xxii 121 5. The Rockingham Ministry took their place. ^ Miss Seward mentions a Dr. Falconer of Bath. Seward's Letters, V. 222. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 706. ^ For other works which Miss Reynolds had submitted to Johnson, see ante, pp. 180, 223. ^ Burnaby, I conjecture, was a character in the book. ' Perhaps Johnson wrote easily. and 250 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1782. and are often charming-. I was delighted with the different bounty of different ages. I would make it produce something if I could, but I have indeed no hope. If a bookseller would buy it at all, as it must be published without a name, he would give nothing for it worth your acceptance. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 778. To Mrs. Thrale'. . ., r o i Madam, Apni [24 or 25, 1782]. I have been very much out of order since you sent me away ; but why should 1 tell you, who do not care, nor desire to know? I dined with Mr. Paradise on Monday, with the Bishop of St. Asaph yesterday, with the Bishop of Chester ^ I dine to-day, and with the Academy on Saturday ^, with Mr. Hoole on Monday, and with Mrs. Garrick on Thursday the 2d of May "*, and then — what care you ? wJiat tJiejt ? ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 237. Mrs. Piozzi gives no other date to this letter than April. The Academy dinner was on Saturday, April 27. Johnson did not write on Friday, or he would have said : — ' I dine with the Academy to-morrow.' Neither did he write on Tuesday, as he was going, he said, on the day he wrote to dine out for the third time that week; the first time was Monday. He wrote therefore either on Wednes- day the 24th or Thursday the 25th. -■ The Bishop of St. Asaph was Dr. .Shipley, and the Bishop of Chester Dr. Porteus. Hannah More was at the Bishop of Chester's din- ner. ' Johnson was there,' she writes, 'and the Bishop was very desirous to draw him out, as he wished to show him off to some of the company who had never seen him. He begged me to sit next him at dinner, and to devote myself to making him talk. To this end I consented to talk more than became me, and our stratagem succeeded. . . . He was very good- humoured and gay. One of the company happened to say a word about poetry. " Hush, hush," said he, " it is dangerous to say a word of poetry before her ; it is talking of the art of war before Hannibal." He continued his jokes, and lamented that I had not married Chatterton, that posterity might have seen a pro- pagation of poets.' Hannah More's Me7noirs, i. 251. ^ In the Exhibition of this year there were fifteen of Sir Joshua's pictures. In the Academy Archives there is the following entry about the dinner this year : — ' That Mr. Fitz-Walter dress the dinner at the Academy for ^42. The wines to be claret, Madeira, port and Caracavalla (Calcavella).' Leslie and Taylor's Reynolds, ii. 361. * ' I have found,' he had written a few weeks earlier, 'the world willing The Aetat. 72.] To Mrs. Tlirale. 251 The news run, that we have taken seventeen French trans- ports 1 — that Langton's lady is lying down with her eighth child, all alive — and Mrs. Carter's Miss Sharpe is going to marry a schoolmaster sixty-two years old -. Do not let Mr. Piozzi nor any body else put me quite out of your head ^ and do not think that any body will love you like Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 779. To Mrs. Thrale*. Dearest Madam, April 30, 1782. I have had a fresh cold and been very poorly \ But I was yesterday at Mr. Hoole's, where were Miss Reynolds and many others. I am going to the club. Since Mrs. Garrick's invitation I have a letter from Miss Moore ^, to engage me for the evening. I have an appointment enough to caress me, if my health had invited me to be in much com- pany.' Life, iv. 147. ' ' April 27. Letters from Admiral Barrington confirm the capture of the Pegasus, and four of the French transports.' Ann. Reg. 1782, i. 206. " Mrs. Carter had two or three times ' made long journeys with Miss Sharpe, a single lady of large fortune, who afterwards married the Rev. Osmund Beauvoir, D.D.' Mrs. Car- ter's Memoirs, i. 457. Mrs. Thrale wrote to Miss Burney on April 24 : — ' Miss Sharp will marry the old schoolmaster too ! Did you ever hear Baretti talk of the Tromba Marino man that the girl in Venice would absolutely marry for the comfort of combing his beard ? ' Mme. D'Ar- blay's Diary, ii. 138. ^ ' These words again are of her own fabrication.' Baretti. * Piozzi Letters, ii. 238. ^ Johnson wrote to Lawrence on the next : — * Novum frigus, nova tussis, 7iova spirandi diffi-cultas, novani sanguinis niissionem snadent, qua/n iame?i tei7tconsulio nolini fieri.^ Life, iv. 143. The cold weather had returned. Horace Walpole wrote on May 5 : — ' It is the depth of winter. Never was there such a spring ! After deluges of rain we have had an east wind that has half-starved London, as a fleet of colliers cannot get in. Coals were sold yesterday at seven guineas a chaldron ; nor is there an entire leaf yet on any tree.' Letters, viii. 216. The chaldron, ac- cording to Johnson's Dictionary, should weigh 2000 pounds — 240 pounds less than a ton. Horace Walpole's numbers, as he would have himself allowed, are always to be received with doubt. * Hannah More, who when she visited London, generally lived at the Garricks'. She has no record of this evening, though very probably it was then that Johnson told her ' he hated to hear people whine to 252 To Mrs. Tkrale. [A.D. 1782. to Miss Monkton ', and another with Lady Sheffield at Mrs. Way's ^ Two days ago Mr. Cumberland had his third night, which, after all expences, put into his own pocket five pounds. He has lost his plume ^ Mrs. S refused to sing, at the Duchess of Devonshire's request, a song to the Prince of Wales "*. They pay for the ^ neither principal nor interest ; and poor Garrick's funeral about metaphysical distresses, when there was so much want and hunger in the world. I told him,' she con- tinues, ' I supposed then he never wept at any tragedy but Jane S/iorc, who had died for want of a loaf. He called me a saucy girl [she was thirty-seven years old], but did not deny the inference.' Hannah More's Memoirs, i. 249. Miss Burney de- scribes Mrs. Garrickas receiving her ' with a politeness and sweetness of manners inseparable from her.' Early Diary of Fanny Barney, i. 168. ' Miss Monckton. Ante, ii. 151, n. 7. ^ Lady Sheffield was the wife of Gibbon's friend, Colonel Holroyd, first Baron Sheffield. Gibbon de- scribed her on her death as ' an amiable and affectionate friend, whom I had known and loved above three and twenty years, and whom I often styled by the endearing name of sister.' Misc. Works, i. 398. Mrs. Way, Johnson describes as her rela- tion. Post, Letter of October 6, 1783. Lady Sheffield was a Miss Way. Burke's Peerage, article Earl of Sheffield. Gibbon wrote to Colonel Holroyd in 1772 : — * As Mr. Way has probably unladen all the politics, and Mrs. Way all the scandal ot the town, I shall for the present only satisfy myself with the needful.' Misc. Works, ii. 79. ^ Cumberland had brought out at Covent Garden on April 20 his comedy of TheWalloons. Ftwasacted six nights. Baker's Biog. Dram. iii. 389. In his Memoirs, ii. 193, he passes over its reception. The author for a long time had had for his pay the profit of the third night. After- wards a second night and later on a third night was added. Johnson's Works, vii. 271. Johnson's Irene, ran, says Boswell, nine nights ; ' so that he had his three nights' profits.' Life, i. 198. Murphy says that ' Gar- rick's play-house (Drury Lane) for some years held no more than ^220, during that period the charge on the author's night was sixty guineas. In 1762 the house was enlarged to a receipt of /335 ; the deduction from the author's benefit was raised to seventy guineas.' Life of Garrick, p. 362. * Mrs. S is Mrs. Sheridan, the wife of R. B. Sheridan. See IJfe, ii. 369, where in 1775 Johnson praised Sheridan's ' determination that she should no longer sing in public' I cannot find in Moore's Life of Sheridan any mention of the refusal to sing before the Prince. ^ Theatre. In 1776 Sheridan with two others bought Garrick's moiety of the patent of Drury Lane Theatre for ^35,000; in 177S he made a further purchase of the property. ' By what spell all these thousands were conjured up,' writes Moore, ' it would be difficult accurately to ascer- tain. That happy art of putting the future in pawn for the supply of the present must have been the chief exigences Aetat.72.] To Mrs. Thrule. 253 expences are yet unpaid, though the undertaker is broken \ Could you have a better purveyor for a Httle scandal ? But I wish I was at Streatham. I beg Miss to come early, and I may perhaps reward you with more mischief. I am, dearest and dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 780. Madam, '^^ ^^s- THRALE^ ^ayS, 1782. Yesterday I was all so bonny, as who but me? At night my cough drove me to diacodium, and this morning I suspect that diacodium will drive me to sleep in the chair. Breath however is better, and I shall try to escape the other bleeding ^, for I am of the chymical sect, which holds phlebotomy in abhor- rence "*. But it is not plenty nor diminution of blood that can make me more or less, ^^^ dearest dear Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. I send my compliments to my dear Queeney. 781. To THE Reverend Mr. , at Bath. [London], May 15, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 150. resource of Mr. Sheridan in all these p. 387, an account is given of the later purchases.' Moore's Life of strife between the practisers of Sheridan, ed. 1S25, i. 180, 191, chymical physic and the Galenists, 263-4. though phlebotomy is not mentioned ' Ajite, ii. 230, n. 3. there. Johnson, in spite of his abhor- = Piozzi Letters, ii. 240. rence, had by March 20 lost ' about ^ He had the first bleeding no fifty ounces of blood' {Life, iv. 146), doubt as the result of his Latin letter and was not even then satisfied. to Lawrence. Atite, ii. 251, n. 5. He should have consulted Dr. San- "■ In Burton's Anatomy, ed. 1660, grado. To 2 54 To James Boswell. [a.d. 1782. 782. To George Kearsley. [London], May 20, 1782. Published in the Life^ i. 214, n. i. 783. To . May 27, 1782. In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue of May 10, 1875, Lot No. 99 is a Letter of Dr. Johnson, two pages quarto^ dated May 27, 1782. 'He mentions the necessity of rectifying the passage about Death ; concludes by saying, " I have been for a long time very ill." ' The Letter was sold for £3 5^-. A clergyman at Bath had drawn Johnson's attention to a passage in a selection from his writings, entitled The Beauties of Johnson^ which was supposed by some readers to recommend suicide. Johnson replied in a letter dated May 15, published in the Life, iv. 150. On May 20 he wrote to George Kearsley the publisher of the book, asking him to call on him with a copy. lb. i. 214, 11. i. On May 29 he had an announcement inserted in the Mornitig Chronicle showing that it was not suicide but exercise which he had recommended. 784. To '. Sir, I have collected the dates of our business. I shall be at home to-morrow morning. I am not well, but hope that you are better. Please to make compliments to all the Company of Wednesday. j ^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^ Your most, &c., May 28, 1782. Sam : Johnson. 785. To James Boswell. London, June 3, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 151. ' From the original in the pes- as one of Mr. Thrale's executors, session of Mr. J. C. Brooks, of 14 often had business, and who two Loraine Place, Newcastle. months later had to take a very long Tills Letter was perhaps written journey in the hope of recovering his to Mr. Perkins, with whom Johnson, health. Life, iv. 153. To Aetat. 72.] To Mvs . Tlirale. 255 786. To Mrs. TrtRALE\ Madam, London, June 4, 1782. Wisely was it said by him who said it first, that this world is all ups and downs. You know, dearest Lady, that when I prest your hand at parting I was rather down. When I came hither, I ate my dinner well, but was so harassed by the cough, that Mr. Strahan said, it was an extremity which he could not have believed without the sensible and true avouch of his own observation -. I was indeed almost sinking under it, when Mrs. Williams happened to cry out that such a cough should be stilled by opium or any means. I took yesterday half an ounce of bark, and knew not whether opium would counteract it, but remembering no prohibition in the medical books, and knowing that to quiet the cough with opium was one of Law- rence's last orders, I took two grains, which gave me not sleep indeed, but rest, and that rest has given me strength and courage. This morning to my bed-side came dear Sir Richard ^. I told him of the opium, and he approved it, and told me, if I went to Oxford, which he rather advised, that I should strengthen the constitution by the bark, tame the cough with opium, keep the body open, and support myself by liberal nutriment. As to the journey I know not that it will be necessary, desine mollunn tandem quertdarum'' . This day I dined upon skate, pudding, goose, and your asparagus, and could have eaten more, but was prudent. Pray for me, dear Madam ; I hope the tide has turned. The change that I feel is more than I durst have hoped, or than I thought possible ; but there has yet not passed a whole day, ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 241. ^ Sir Richard Jebb. "^ ' Before my God, I might not this * querelartan. HORACE, 2 Odes, believe ix. 17. Without the sensible and true ' At length these weak complaints avouch give o'er.' Of mine own eyes.' Francis. Hajnlet, Act i. sc. i. and 256 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1782. and I may rejoice perhaps too soon. Come and see me, and when you think best, upon due consideration, take me away. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 787. Madam, ^'^ ^^^- [Miss] Prowse'. I have thus long omitted the acknowlegement \sic\ of your letter and bill — not by levity or negligence but under the pres- sure of ilness \sic\ long continued and very distresful \sic\. I am now better, but yet so far from health that I have been purposing to seek relief from change of air by a journey to Oxford. Your health, Madam, I hope allows you the full enjoyment of this blooming season ^ I have yet been able to derive little pleasure from verdure or from fragrance. I am, Madam, Your most humble servant, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. Sam : JOHNSON. June 4, 1782. 788. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, Saturday, June 8, 1782. Perhaps some of your people may call to-morrow. I have ' First published in Notes and legement, distresful^ and ilness. It Queries, 4th S. v. 442. Copied by is his receipt to Mrs. Prowse of me from a copy in the possession of Berkeley for Miss Hearne's ^10.' the Rev. Edward B. Edgell, of Brom- ForMissHearneseert«/r^ (1762, p. 3), we read that her credit she dates her letter June 'the soil is dry, being on a fine gravel, 15, 1783, and in it refers to a letter which renders it as healthful and of Johnson's written two days earlier. pleasant a spot as any in the King- In June 1783 Johnson did not visit doni.' Oxford. Having by mistake inserted ' 'Dr. Adams,' writes Hannah Johnson's letter in the text in the More, * had contrived a very pretty wrong year she fabricates her answer piece of gallantry. After dinner, to include it and one written twelve Johnson begged to conduct me to see months and two days later. the College ; he would let no one Wctherel. Aetat. 72.] To Mrs. Tkrak. 259 Wetherel '. Yesterday Dr. Edwards invited some men from Exeter college, whom I liked very well. These variations of company help the mind, though they cannot do much for the body. But the body receives some help from a cheerful mind. Keep up some kindness for me ; when I am with you again, I hope to be less burdensome, by being less sick^. I am, dearest Lady, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 791. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Dear Madam, Oxford, June 13, 1782, Yesterday a little physick drove away a great part of my cough, but I am still very much obstructed in my respiration, and so soon tired with walking, that I have hardly ventured one unnecessary step. Of my long illness much more than this does not remain, but this is very burthensome. I sleep pretty well, and have appetite enough, but I cheat it with fish. Yesterday I dined at Dr. Adams's with Miss More, and other personages of eminence. To-day I am going to Dr. Wetherel ; and thus day goes after day, not wholly without amusement. show it me but himself. "This was to hang in the Hall. ' His answer my room ; this Shenstone's." Then, was that he had no right to be placed after pointing out all the rooms of among the Founders and Benefactors the poets who had been of his college, of the College in the Hall ; that the " In short," said he, " we were a nest most he could aspire to would be a of singing-birds." When we came place in the Lodgings [the Master's into the common-room, we spied a house], if the Master could find room fine large print of Johnson, hung up for his picture there.' Messrs. that very morning, with this motto: — Sotheby and Co.'s Auct. CataL, And is not Johnson ours, himself a November 27, 1889, Lot 90. The host ? Under which stared you in late Mr. Andrew Spottiswoode a few the face — From Miss Morel's " Sensi- years ago gave the College a fine bility." This little incident amused portrait of Johnson by Reynolds, us : but, alas ! Johnson looks very ill ' Dr. Wetherell was Master of indeed— spiritless and wan. How- University College, ever, he made an efifort to be cheer- ^ * Dr. Johnson,' writes Mrs. Piozzi, ful.' H. More's Memoirs, \. 261. 'required less attendance, sick or Dr. Adams, writing about the print, well, than ever I saw any human says that Miss Adams told Johnson creature.' Piozzi's Attecdotes, p. 275. that he ought to give them his picture ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 244. S 2 I think 26o To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1782. I think not to stay here long. Till I am better it is not prudent to sit long in the libraries, for the weather is yet so cold, that in the penury of fuel, for which we think ourselves very unhappy, I have yet met with none so frugal as to sit without I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. Poor Davis ^ complained that he had not received his money for Boyle. 792. To Mrs. Thrale 3. Dear Madam, Oxford, June 17, 1782. I have found no sudden alteration or amendment, but I am grown better by degrees. My cough is not now very trouble- some to myself, nor I hope to others. My breath is still short and encumbered ; I do not sleep well, but I lie easy. By change of place, succession of company, and necessity of talking, much of the terrour that had seized me seems to be dispelled. Oxford has done, I think, what for the present it can do, and I am going slyly to take a place in the coach for Wednesday, and you or my sweet Queeney will fetch me on Thursday, and see what you can make of me. To-day I am going to dine with Dr. Wheeler'*, and to-morrow Dr. Edwards has invited Miss Adams and Miss More. Yester- day I went with Dr. Edwards to his living ^ He has really done ' For 'the penury of fuel' at August 20, 1783, and May 31, 1784. London, see ante, ii. 251, ti. 5. His talk no doubt was full of variety, Horace Walpole writing on the same for he had been Fellow of Magdalen day as Johnson, says :— ' You had College, Professor of Poetry, Pro- better put an erratum at the end of fessor of Natural Philosophy, and your Almanac, for June read Regius Professor of Divinity, as well January.' Letters, viii. 232. as Canon of Christ Church and Pre- * Most likely Tom Davies, the bendary of St. Paul's {Ahonni bankrupt bookseller. Life, iii. 223. Oxotiicnses). Many of these offices ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 249. he held at the same time. He died * Johnson, after Wheeler's death, July 22, 1783. spoke of him as 'the man with whom ^ He was Rector of Besselsleigh, I most delighted to converse ' and as I5erkshire, a small village about five ' my learned friend.' /W/, Letters of miles from Oxford. It was on a all Aetat. 72.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 261 all that he could do for my relief or entertainment, and really drives me away by doing too much '. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. When I come back to retirement, it will be great charity in you to let me come back to something else. 793. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, You are doubtless impatient to know the present state of the court. Dr. Hunter ^, whom I take to have very good intelligence, has just left me, and from him I learn only that all is yet uncer- tainty and confusion. Fox, you know, has resigned, Burke's dismission is expected. I was particularly told that the Cavendishes were expected to be left out in the new settlement \ The Doctor spoke, however, Sunday that he took Johnson to his living. No doubt they returned the same evening. The old manor-house was then standing which had be- longed to Lenthall, the Speaker. Johnson was no doubt gravely told that ' Cromwell, who was a frequent visitor here, usually concealed him- self in a room to which the only access was by a chair let down and drawn up with pulleys.' Lewis's Topog. Diet, of England, article Bessels- leigh. ' By the kindness of my friend the Rev. Llewelyn Thomas, Vice-Prin- cipal of Jesus College, I am able to give further proof of the hospitality of his predecessor. The Battel-book for 1784 shows that the average battels or weekly bills were not much over \os. Johnson was there part of two weeks. In the week beginning June 7 the Vice-Principal's battels rose to ^2 16^-. id., and in the next week to ^4 \s. In the second week many of the Fellows and Scholars had unusually high battels — one over ;^3 — so that there seems to have been some general feasting. Well did Johnson call Edwards ' my convivial friend.' - First published in Notes and Queries, 6th S. v. 461. The Prime-Minister, the Marquis of Rockingham, died on July i ; Lord John Cavendish, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Fox, one of the Secretaries of State, resigned on the 5th ; Burke's resignation as Pay- master-General followed almost im- mediately. The Earl of Shelburne succeeded Rockingham. Ann, Reg., 1782, i. 182, 213. •^ Dr. WiUiam Hunter. Life, iv. 220. See Appendix B. '' Taylor, forty years earlier, had been hoping for preferment through the Duke of Devonshire, the head of the Cavendishes. Afite, i. 12, n. i. His hopes were once more baffled by with 262 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. 1782. with very little confidence, nor do I believe that those who are now busy in the contest can judge of the event. I did not think Rockingham of such importance as that his death should have had such extensive consequences. Have you settle[d] about the silver coffeepot ^ ? is it mine or Mrs. Fletcher's ? I am yet afraid of liking it too well. If there is any thing that I can do for Miss Colliers'', let me know. But now you have so kindly engaged in it, I am willing to set myself at ease. When you went away, I did not expect so long absence. If you are engaged in any political business, I suppose your opera- tions are at present suspended, as is, I believe, the whole political movement. These are not pleasant times ^. I came back from Oxford in ten days and was almost restored to health. My breath is not quite free, but my cough is gone. I am, Sir, Your most, &c., Sam: Johnson. London, July 8, 1782. To the Rev. Dr. Taylor at Ashbourne, Derbyshire. [Redirected, Market Bosworth, Leicestershire \] 794. To Miss Lawrence. [London], July 22, 1782. Published in the Life^ iv. 144, n. 3. 795. T^ c^ To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, I do not hear that the Cavendishes are likely to find their [way] soon into publick offices, but I do not doubt of the Duke's ability to procure the exchange for which he has stipulated, and which is now not so much a favour as a contract. his friends going out of power on says of Enghxnd : — ' We seem to be Rockingham's death. See the next sinking.' letter. ■* Taylor was Rector of Market ' Ante, ii. 247. Bosworth. Ante, i. 13, n. 6. - Miss Collier is mentioned, post, '' First published in Notes and pp. 269, 270. Queries, 6th S. v. 462. ' See post, p. 264, where Johnson Your Aetat. 72.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 263 Your reason for the exchange I do not fully comprehend, but I conceive myself a Gainer by it, because, I think, you must be more in London. Mr. Burke's family is computed to have lost by this revolution twelve thousand a year ', What a rise, and what a fall ! Shel- burne speaks of him in private with great malignity ^. I have heard no more from the Miss Colliers^. Now you have engaged on their side, I am less solicitous about them. Be on their side as much as you can, for you know they are friendless. Sir Robert Chambers slipped this session through the fingers of revocation, but I am in doubt of his continuance. Shelburne seems to be his enemy. Mrs. Thrale says they will do him no harm. She perhaps thinks there is no harm without hanging. The mere act of recall strips him of eight thousand a year*. I am not very well, but much better than when we parted, and I hope that milk and summer together are improving you, and strengthening you against the attack of winter. I am, dear Sir, Your most affectionate Sam: Johnson. London, July 22, 1782. To the Rev. Dr. Taylor at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire. ' Burke, in a letter dated April 24 of Shelburne.' Life, iv. 191. He of this year, says : — ' The ofifice is to knew also his brother, Mr. Fitz- be ^4,000 certain. Young Richard maurice. Ante, ii. 81. Burke spoke [his son] is the deputy, with a salary of Shelburne with great violence. In oi £i)00 Something considerable 1783 he described him in a letter is also to be secured for the life of to a private friend as ' this wicked young Richard, to be a security for man, and no less weak and stupid him and his mother. . . . My brother than false and hypocritical.' Payne's has before hiin the option of the Select Works of Burke, vol. i. p. xvi. Secretaryship of the Treasury, with ^ Their mother as is shown, /cj/, precedence in the office.' Burke's by the Letter of January 16, 1783, Correspofidence, ii. 483. In the short had married a Mr. Flint. She had time in which he was in office, by his brought him, Johnson thought, about reform, ' ^47,000 per annum was ^^200 a year. She was dead, and he saved to the public, of which sum apparently was attempting to keep ;^25,300 were the usual and avowed the property to himself, perquisites of the Paymaster.' Prior's '' Chambers, in 1773, had been ap- Burke, ed. 1872, p. 218. pointed second Judge in the Supreme - ' Johnson was at a certain period Court of Bombay with ;^6,ooo a year, of his life a good deal with the Earl He had been one of Nuncomar's To 264 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. 1782. 796. To Mr. Perkins. [London], July 28, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 153. 797. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor '. Dear Sir. The refusal of Mr. Dixie ^ if it be peremptory and final, puts an end to all projects of exchange. You may, however, if your friends get into power, obtain preferment. But do not be any further solicitous about it ; leave the world a-while to itself. I now direct to Ashbourne, where I suppose you are settled for a-while, and where I beg you to do what you can for the poor Colliers. I have no national news that is not in the papers, and almost all news is bad. Perhaps no nation not absolutely conquered has declined so much in so short a time. We seem to be sinking^. Suppose the Irish having already gotten a free trade and an independent Parliament, should say we will have a King, and ally ourselves with the house of Bourbon, what could be done to hinder or to overthrow them "* } Judges. Lord Shelburne had only been in office two or three days when he transmitted to Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Justice, the message by which that judge was recalled. Chambers, however, was not touched. In 1789 he was made Chief Justice. See Life, ii. 264, and Nuncomar and Jmpey by Sir J. F. Stephen, i. 35 ; ii. 6. ' First published in the Catalogue of Mr. Alfred Morrison's Auto- graphs, ii. 343. - He was probably a relation of Sir Wolfstan Dixey, the patron of Taylor's living of Market Bosworth. Ante, i. 13, n. 6. ' Horace Walpole wrote at the end of the month : — ' This country is absolutely lost. I mean, past re- covery. . . . Ireland has shaken us off — not unfortunately, if ii goes no farther ; for it will flourish,'which our jealousy hindered.' Letters, viii. 271. ^ In the session of 1779-80 Lord North, yielding to Ireland's demand for ' a free and unlimited commerce with the whole world,' carried through Parliament three bills which greatly freed her trade. Ann. Reg., 1780, i. 25, 78. Horace Walpole wrote on December 20, 1779 : — ' Great conces- sions to Ireland have been adopted, are sailing through both Houses with favourable gales, have been notified to Ireland, and have pleased there, and we trust will restore harmony between these islands.' Letters, vii. 293. The independent Parliament was the work of Lord Rockingham's Poor Aetat. 72.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 265 Poor dear Dr. Lawrence is gone to die at Canterbury. He has lost his speech and the action of his right side, with very little hope of recovering them '. We must all go. I was so exhausted by loss of blood, and by successive disorders in the beginning of this year that I am afraid that the remaining part will hardly restore me. I have indeed rather indulged myself too much, and think to begin a stricter regimen. As it is my friends tell me from time to time that I look better, and I am very willing to believe them. Do you likewise take care of your health, we cannot well spare one another. I am, dear Sir, Yours affectionately, London, August 4, 1782. SaM : JOHNSON. 798. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^. Dear Sir, I calculate this letter to meet you at Ashbourne, whither I hope you are well enough to come according to your purpose. And I write to warn you very carefully against useless and unnecessary vexation. To be robbed is very offensive, but you have been robbed of nothing that you can feel the want of. Let not the loss, nor the circumstances of the loss, take any hold upon your mind. This loss will in a short time repair itself, but you have a greater loss, the loss of health which must be repaired by your own prudence and diligence, and of which nothing can more obstruct the reparation than an uneasy mind. But how are you to escape uneasiness? By company and business. Get and keep about you those with whom you are most at ease, and contrive for your mornings something to do, and bustle about it as much as you can. If you think London short Ministry. Walpole wrote on May demand a dissolution of the Union.' 18, 1782 (zA viii. 222): — ' Both Houses ' He died at Canterbury in June of in very few hours signed the absolute the following year. Life, iv. 230, n. 2. independence of Ireland. I shall not - From the original in the posses- be surprised if our whole trinity is sion of Messrs. J. Pearson and Co., dissolved, and if Scotland should 5 Pall Mall Place, S.W. a place 266 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. 1782. a place of more amusements come hither^ or take any other kind of harmless diversion, but diversion of some kind or other you cannot at present be without. To muse and think will do you much harm, and if you are alone and at leisure, troublesome thoughts will force themselves upon you '. Be particularly careful now to drink enough ", and to avoid costiveness ; you will find that vexation has much more power over you, ridiculous as it may seem, if you neglect to evacuate your body. I have now had three quiet nights together, which, I suppose, I have not for more than a year before ^ I hope we shall both grow better, and have a longer enjoyment of each other. I am, dear Sir, Yours affectionately, Sam: Johnson. London, August 12, 1782. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor, in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 799. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor'*. Dear Sir, Though I follow you thus with letters, I have not much to say. I write because I would hear from you the state of your health and of your mind. Upon your mind in my opinion your health will very much depend, and I therefore repeat my injunction of bustle and cheerfulness. Do not muse by yourself; do not suffer yourself to be an hour without something to do. Suffer nothing disagreeable to approach you after dinner. Of the publick I have nothing to say, there seem to be ex- pectations of a violent session when the factions meet. Nor have I much to say of myself but that I think myself freed from all the ' See Life, ii. 440, ill. 415, for to the middle of June I was battered Johnson's art of managing the mind. by one disorder after another.' Life, - See ante, i. 368 ; ii. 87. iv. 153. ^ On August 24 he wrote to Bos- * From the original in the posses- well : ' This year has been very sion of Mr. George Peck, of 25 Ches- heavy. From the middle of January ham Place, Belgrave Square, SAV. supervenient Aetat. 72.] To the Reverend George Strahan. 267 supervenient distempers of this year, and as well as when I was with you. My great complaint now is unquietness in the night. Do not let me write again before I am told how you do. It is reasonable that you and I should be anxious for each other ; our ages are not very different, and we have lived long together. I am, dear Sir, Your affectionate, &c., Sam: Johnson. August 17, 1782. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor, in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Do not fret. 800. To THE Reverend George Strahan '. Sir, I have not yet read your letter through and therefore cannot answer it particularly. Of what you say so far as I have read all is, I think, true but the application. What I told him ^ of your discontent on many occasions was to not provoke him but to pacify him, by representing that discontent of which he complained so much, not as any personal disrespect to him but as a cast of mind which you had always had. Your discontent on many occasions has appeared to me little short of madness, which however I did not tell him ^. Then your uneasiness at Oxford was a weak [?] thing which passed for an instance by which I do not see how he could be inflamed. The whole tendency of what I said was this, ' He is you say discontented, if he is, it is not by any personale \sic\ disesteem to you, he is apt to be dis- contented.' As to the matter of the money I am much of the mind that you have represented. But I did not think nor think now that I said anything that would hinder your father from any act of liberality'*. * From the original in the posses- writing to him when a boy at school sion of Mr. William R. Smith, of was anxious not to be suspected of Greatham Moor, West Liss, Hants. betraying his state of mind. "^ George Strahan's father, William '' William Strahan wrote to David Strahan the printer. Hume on January 25, 1773 : — ' My ^ See ante, i. 95, where Johnson son George is now Vicar of Islington, You 268 To the Reverend George Sh'akan. [a.d. 1782. You may be sure, I am sure, I had no intention to hurt you, and if I have hurt you, nothing that I can do shall be omitted to repair the hurt. You may well be at a loss to conjecture why I should injure you, whom certainly I have no reason to injure, and whom I would suffer much [rather] than injure by design, and shall be very sorry if I have done it by that train of talk which I was drawn into without design and almost without remembrance. If I have really done you harm I shall live in hope of doing you sometime as much good, though good is not so easily done. I am, Sir, Your most, &c., Sam: Johnson. Aug. 19, 1782. [Sent in a cover addressed to the Reverend Mr. Strahan.] 801. To James Boswell. [London], August 24, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 153. 802. To Miss Lawrence. [London], August 26, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 144, n. 2. 803. To James Boswell. London, September 7, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 154. 804. To Mrs. Boswell. London, September 7, 1782. Published in the Life, iv. 156. 805. To James Boswell. London, September or October. One paragraph only of this Letter is published in the Life, iv. 155. with an income of between ^300 and less than these things usually come ^400 a year. The purchase however to.' Hume's Letters to Strahan, p. cost a good deal of money, though 261. To Aetat. 73.] To the Rcverend Dr. Taylor. 269 806. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, Your letter about a week ago told me that your health is mended. Health is the basis of all happiness of \sic\ this world gives. Your loss likewise seems to be less than I had feared. Of the probability of Shelburne's continuance '^ I can make no judgment. Sickness has this year thrown me out of the world ; but I think myself growing better. The proposal of Miss Colliers seems to be wild. If I under- stand it right, they wish that he should lend them money, that they may sue him for the estate ^. I hope to let them know that if they send me their Grand- father's will, I will get some opinion upon it. If they want money to procure it from the registry I will repay you what you advance as far as ten pounds. Take great care of your health. Let nothing disturb you. Particularly avoid costiveness, and open no letter of business but in the morning. If you would have me write to Mr. Hayley "*, about Miss Colliers, let me know. I will do anything for them that is proper. I am, Sir, Yours affectionately, Sam: Johnson. Sept. 21, 1782. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor, in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 807. T^ c. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^. Dear Sir, To help the ignorant commonly requires much patience, for ' From the original in the posses- '' Mr. Chamberlain is not sure of sion of Mr. Mellin Chamberlain, of the name, and thinks it may be the Boston Public Library, United Layley. I believe it is Langley. States. See ante, ii. 34, n. 3, and post, Letter ^ The Shelbume Ministry lasted of January 16, 1783. from July 13, 1782 to April 5, 1783. ^ First published in Notes and ^ *He' is their step-father, Mr. Queries, (i\h S. v. 462. Flint. Ante, ii. 263, n. 3. the 270 To the Reve7'end Dr. Taylor. [a.d. 1782. the ignorant are always trying to be cunning '. To do business by letters is very difficult, for without the opportunity of verbal questions much information is seldom obtained. I received, I suppose, by the coach a copy of Dunn's will, and an abstract of Mr. Flint's (?) ^ marriage settlement. By whom they were sent I know not. The copy of the Will is so worn, that it is troublesome to open it, and has no attestation to evince its authenticity. The extract is, I think, in Mr. Flint's own hand, and has not therefore any legal credibility. What seems to me proper to be done, but you know much better than I, is to take an exemplification ^ of the will from the registry. We are then so far sure. This will I entreat you to send. If it be clear and decisive against the girls, there can be no farther use of it. If you think it doubtful, send it to Mr. Madox, and I will pay the fee. When the will is despatched, the marriage settlement is to be examined, which if Mr. Flint refuses to shew, he gives such ground of suspicion as will justify a legal compulsion to shew it. It may perhaps be better that I should appear busy in this matter than you, and if you think it best, I will write to Lich- field that a copy of the will may be sent to you, for I would have you read it. I should be told the year of Mr. Dunn's death. I think the generosity of Mr. Flint somewhat suspicious. I have however not yet condemned him nor would irritate him too much, for perhaps the girls must at last be content with what he shall give them. My letter, which you shewed to Miss Collier, she did not understand, but supposed that I charged her with asking money of Mr. Flint, in order to sue him. I only meant that her pro- posal was to him eventually the same, and was therefore, as I called it. wild. ' ' Every man wishes to be wise, 1774 visited Mr. Flint at Ashbourne, and they who cannot be wise are Life, v. 430. almost always cunning . . . nor is ^ The only definition Johnson gives caution ever so necessary as with of cxempIificatio7i in his Dictionary associates or opponents of feeble is as it is here used — 'a copy; a minds.' The Idler, No 92. transcript.' See ante, ii. 263. Johnson in I hope Aetat. 73.] To the Reverend James Compton. 271 I hope your health improves. I am told that I look better and better. I am going, idly enough, to Brighthelmston. I try, as I would have you do, to keep my body open, and my mind quiet. I hope my attention grows more fixed. When I was last at your house I began, if I remember right, another perusal of the Bible, which notwithstanding all my disorders I have read through except the Psalms. I concluded the twenty second of last month. I hope, for as many years as God shall grant me, to read it through at least once every year ^ Boswel's Father is dead, and Boswel wrote me word that he would come to London for my advice. [The] advice which I sent him is to stay at home and [busy] himself with his own affairs ^ He has a good es^tate] considerably burthened by settlements; and he is himself in debt. But if his wife lives, I think he will be prudent ^. _ o- I am, bir, Yours affectiona[tely] Sam: Johnson. London, Oct. 4, 1782. To the Rev. Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 808. To THE Reverend James Compton'*. Sir, I have directed Dr. Vyse's letter to be sent to you, that you may know the situation of your business. Delays are incident ' On Easter Eve, 1772, Johnson recorded : — ' I resolved last Easter to read within the year the whole Bible, a very great part of which I had never looked upon. I read the Greek Testament without construing, and this day concluded the Apo- calyse.' Pr. and Med., p. 112. A week later he recorded : — ' It is a comfort to me that at last, in my sixty-third year, I have attained to know even thus hastily, confusedly, and imperfectly, what my Bible con- tains.' lb. p. 118. "" Boswell wrote to Johnson on August 30 to say that his father had died that morning, and received an answer dated September 7. Life, iv. 154. ' In answer to my next letter,' continues Boswell, ' I received one from him dissuading me from hasten- ing to him, as 1 had proposed.' John- son's advice was, no doubt, prudent, but the Life of fohjiso7i is all the poorer for it. He commonly, perhaps always, spelt Boswell Boswel. ^ She died in June, 1789. " First published in Malone's Bos- well, iv. 225. Compton was the Librarian of the to 272 To the Reverend Geoi'ge Strahan. [A.D.1782. to all affairs ; but there appears nothing in your case of either superciliousness or neglect. Dr. Vyse seems to wish you well. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Oct. 6, 1782. Sam: Johnson. To the Reverend Mr. Compton. 809. c To THE Reverend George Strahan '. When I called last week, to do a little business in New Street ^, I found the difference between you and your Father still subsisting, and though I have reason to think you sufficiently prejudiced against my advice, I will, without much anxiety about my reception, suggest some reasons, for which, in my opinion, you ought to make peace as soon as you can. All quarrels grow more complicated by time, and as they grow more complicated, grow harder to be adjusted. When a dispute is made publick by references and appeals, which neither your Father nor you have enough avoided, there mingles with interest or resentment a foolish feint of honour. Perhaps each part will yield, were not each ashamed. Your dispute has already gone so far, that the first concession ought to come from you, since you may without any disgrace yield to your Father, and your Father will hardly yield to you, but with some dishonour to both. Convent of the Benedictines in which p. 530. Malone in a note gives Johnson had a cell appropriated to further information. See ^ii Immortalitate in some of the last of these years.' Life, v. 156. According to Mrs. Piozzi {Anecdotes, p. 173), Johnson spoke of him as ' the most delightful converser with whom he ever was in company.' In Campbell's Br it is li Poets are given specimens of his verses. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 299. I am Aetat. 73.] To Mrs. Thrale. 325 I am g^lad that the ladies find so much novelty at Weymouth. Ovid says, that the sun is undelightfully uniform '. They had some expectation of shells, which both by their form and colours have a claim to human curiosity '^. Of all the wonders, I have had no account, except that Miss Thrale seems pleased with your little voyages. Sophy mentioned a story which her sisters would not suffer her to tell, because they would tell it themselves, but it has never yet been told me. Mrs. Ing is, I think, a baronet's daughter, of an ancient house in Staffordshire. Of her husband's father, mention is made in the life of Ambrose Philips ^ Of this world, in which you represent me as delighting to live, I can say littlfe. Since I came home I have only been to church, once to Burney's, once to Paradise's, and once to Reynolds's. With Burney I saw Dr. Rose"*, his new relation, with whom I have been many years acquainted. If I discovered no reliques of disease I am glad, but Fanny's trade is fiction ^ ' Johnson, I conjecture, wrote not sun but sea. The ladies had just arrived at the sea-side. "" Johnson's ignorance of the im- portance of natural history is shown by the following passage in TJie Ra/nbler, No. 83 : — ' To mean under- standings it is sufficient honour to be numbered amongst the lowest labourers of learning ; but dififerent abilities must find different tasks. To hew stone would have been un- worthy of Palladio ; and to have rambled in search of shells and flowers had but ill-suited with the capacity of Newton.' See Life, ii. 468, for his attack on Brydone for his repeating the observations of a Sicilian geologist. ^ ' PhiHps had great sensibility of censure, if judgment may be made by a single story which I heard long ago from Mr. Ing, a gentleman of great eminence in Staffordshire. "Philips," said he, "was once at table, when I asked him how came the King of Epirus to drive oxen, and to say /';« goaded on by love. After which question he never spoke again." ' Works, viii. 394. Theodore William Inge of Thorpe Constantine, near Tamworth, the son of ' the gentleman of great eminence,' mar- ried Henrietta, daughter of Sir John Wrottesley. Burke's Landed Gentry, ed. 1882, i. 849. * Dr. Rose was a schoolmaster of Chiswick. One of his daughters had married Dr. Burney's son Charles, the Greek scholar, on June 24 of this year. Gentleman'' s Magazine, 1783, p. 540. Another daughter, who mar- ried a Mr. Foss, was the mother of Edward Foss, the author of the Judges of England. Diet, of Nat. Biog. XX. 51. 5 It was Miss Burney, a writer of fiction, who had reported to Mrs. Thrale that Johnson showed no traces of disease. I have 326 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1783. I have since partaken of an epidemical disorder, but common evils produce no dejection '. Paradise's company, I faiacy, disappointed him ; I remember nobody. With Reynolds was the archbishop of Tuam, a man coarse of voice and inelegant of language ^. I am now broken with disease, without the alleviation of familiar friendship or domestick society ; I have no middle state between clamour and silence, between general conversation and self-tor- menting solitude. Levet is dead, and poor Williams is making haste to die : I know not if she will ever more come out of her chamber. I am now quite alone, but let me turn my thoughts another way. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 876. To Mrs. Thrale I Madam, London, August 20, 1783. This has been a day of great emotion ; the office of the Com- munion of the Sick has been performed in poor Mrs. Williams's chamber. She was too weak to rise from her bed, and is there- fore to be supposed unlikely to live much longer. She has, I ' Johnson's position may be illus- trated by the following passage in one of his Adventurers (No. Ill) : — * It is asserted by a tragic poet that est miser nemo nisi comparaius, " no man is miserable but as he is com- pared with others happier than him- self." ' Horace Walpole wrote on September i : — ' The summer has been wonderfully hot, and of late very unhealthy. Our globe really seems to be disordered.' Letters, viii. 404. See ante, ii. 320, n. i. - The following anecdote in the Metnoir of Goldsmith prefixed to his Misc. Works, ed. iSoi, i. no, though dated August 7, 1773, no doubt be- longs to this year : — ' I was dining at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, August 7, 1773, where were the Archbishop of Tuam and Mr. (now Lord) Eliot, when the latter making use of some sarcastical reflections on Goldsmith, Johnson broke out warmly in his defence, and in the course of a spirited eulogium said, " Is there a man, Sir, now who can pen an essay with such ease and elegance as Gold- smith?'" On August 7, 1773, John- son was on his way to Scotland. A7ite, i. 223. In 1784 Reynolds exhibited the portrait of Dr. liourke, Archbishop of Tuam. Taylor's Rey- 7iolds, ii. 435. ■* Piozzi Letters, ii. 301. hope, Aetat. 73.] To Mrs. Thrale. 327 hope, little violent pain, but is wearing out by torpid inappetence ' and wearisome decay; but all the powers of her mind are in their full vigour, and when she has spirits enough for conversation, she possesses all the intellectual excellence that she ever had. Surely this is an instance of mercy much to be desired by a parting soul ''. At home I see almost all my companions dead or dying. At Oxford I have just left ^ Wheeler, the man with whom I most delighted to converse. The sense of my own diseases, and the sight of the world sinking round me, oppress me perhaps too much, I hope that all these admonitions will not be vain, and that I shall learn to die as dear Williams is dying, who was very cheerful before and after this aweful solemnity, and seems to resign herself with calmness and hope upon eternal mercy. I read your last kind letter with great delight ; but when I came to love and honour, what sprung in my mind ? — How loved, how honoured once, avails thee not ^. I sat to Mrs. Reynolds yesterday for my picture, perhaps the tenth time^, and I sat near three hours with the patience of mortal born to bear; at last she declared it quite finished, and seems to think it fine. I told her it was jfohnsoiis grimly ghost. ' Johnson gives in his Dictionary not itiappetcnce but ittappetency, defining it as ' want of stomach or appetite.' ^ When near his end he refused opiates ; ' for,' said he, ' I have prayed that I may render up my soul to God unclouded.' Life, iv. 415. ^ Left is no doubt a misprint for lost. Johnson's s is easily mistaken for/. Dr. Wheeler died on July 22, 1783. Hannah More who was at Oxford at the time writes : — ' Poor Dr. Wheeler ! but don't you pity the excellent Bishop of London ? He sent off an express, as soon as his daughter died, to hasten Dr. Wheeler up to be with and console him ; an express from the doctor's sister to say he was dead met the Bishop's messenger on the road.' H. More's Memoirs, i. 294. Miss Lowth, the Bishop's last surviving child, died suddenly on July 21, and Dr. Wheeler died suddenly the next day. Gentle- man^s Magazine, 1 783, p. 629. '' He is quoting a line in Pope's Elegy to the Memory of an Un- fortunate Lady. ^ He had sat to her three years earlier. Ante, ii. 179. According to Northcote, Reynolds said of his sister's oil-paintings, 'they make other people laugh and me cry.' ' She generally,' Northcote adds, ' did them by stealth.' Life of Reynolds, ii. 160. It 328 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1783. It is to be engraved, and I think in glided, &;c/ will be a good inscription. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 877. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, London, August 26, 1783. Things stand with me much as they have done for some time. Mrs. Williams fancies now and then that she grows better, but her vital powers appear to be slowly burning out. Nobody thinks however that she will very soon be quite wasted, and as she suffers me to be of very little use to her, I have determined to pass some time with Mr. Bowles near Salisbury^, and have taken a place for Thursday. ' ' 'Twas at the silent solemn hour When night and morning meet; In glided Margaret's grimly ghost, And stood at William's feet.' Margaret's Ghost. Percy Ballads^ iii. 3, 16. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 303. ^ For Johnson's visit to Heale, near Salisbury, see Life, iv. 234-9. One of Johnson's fellow-travellers in the stage-coach described the journey in the Monthly Magazine, quoted in Croker's Boswell, ed. 1844, x. 151. I abridge his account. ' Upon enter- ing the coach,' he writes, ' I per- ceived three gentlemen, one of whom strongly attracted my notice. He was a corpulent man, with a book in his hand, placed very near to his eyes. He had a large wig which did not appear to have been combed for an age ; his clothes were threadbare. I was struck with his resemblance to the print of Dr. Johnson, given as a frontispiece to the Lives of the Poets. The gentleman by the side of him remarked, " I wonder, vSir, that you can read in a coach which travels so swiftly [with halts for meals it took nearly fifteen hours to go eighty-two miles] ; it would make my head ache." " Ay, Sir," replied he, " books make some people's head ache." This appeared to me John- sonian. I knew several persons with whom Dr. Johnson was well ac- quainted. '' Do you know Miss Hannah More, Sir?" "Well, Sir; the best of all the female versifiers." We now reached Hounslow, and were served with our breakfast. [Hounslow is 9-J miles from Hyde Park Corner]. " May I take the liberty. Sir, to enquire whether you be not Dr. Johnson?" "The same. Sir." "I am happy," replied I, " to congratulate the learned world that Dr. Johnson, whom the papers lately announced to be dangerously indis- posed, is re-established in his health." " The civiJest young man I ever met with in my life" was the answer. From that moment he became very gracious towards fne. I was then preparing to go abroad. " What book of travels. Sir, would you advise Some Aetat. 73.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 329 Some benefit may be perhaps received from change of air, some from change of company, and some from mere change of place. It is not easy to grow well in a chamber where one has long been sick, and where every thing seen and every person speaking revives and impresses images of pain. Though it be that no man can run away from himself', he may yet escape from many causes of useless uneasiness. That the inind is its own place"", is the boast of a fallen angel that had learned to lie. External locality has great effects, at least upon all embodied beings. I hope this little journey will afford me at least some suspense of melancholy. You give but an unpleasing account of your performance at Portland. Your scrambling days are then over. I remember when no Miss and few Masters could have left you behind, or thrown you out in the pursuit of Jionour" or of curiosity. But tempus edax reruvi'', and no way has been yet found to draw his teeth. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. me to read, previously to my setting off upon a tour to France and Italy?" " Why, Sir, as to France, I know no book worth a groat ; and as to Italy, Baretti .paints the fair side, and Sharp the foul ; the truth perhaps lies between the two." [See Life, ii. 57 ; iii. 55.] I observed that at dinner he drank only water. I asked him, whether he had ever tasted bj(}nbo, a West Indian potation, which is neither more nor less than very strong punch. " No, Sir," said he. I made some. He tasted ; and declared that if ever he drank any- thing else than water it should be bumbo. When the sad moment of separation at Salisburyarrived, "Sir," said he, " let me see you in London, upon your return to your native country. I am sorry that we must part. I have always looked upon it as the worst condition of man's destiny that persons are so often torn asunder, just as they become happy in each other's society." ' ' ' Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt : ' 'For they who through the ven- turous ocean range Not their own passions, but the climate change.' Francis. Horace, i Epistles, xi. 27. ^ ' The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.' Paradise Lost, i. 254. ^ ' Whene'er did Juba, or did For- tius show A virtue that has cast me at a distance, And thrown me out in the pur- suits of honour.' Addison. Cato, Act i. scene i. * ' Tempus edax rerum, tuque invi- diosa vetustas To 330 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. i783. 878. To Dr. Brocklesby. Heale near Salisbury, August 29, 1783. Published in the Life, iv. 234- 879. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, I sat to Opey as long as he desired, and I think the head is finished, but it [is] not much admired. The rest he is to add when he comes again to town ^ I did not understand that you expected me at Ashbourne, and have been for a few days with a Gentleman in Wiltshire. If you write to me at London, my letters will be sent, if they should happen to come before I return. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam : Johnson. Heale near Salisbury, Sept. 3, 1783. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor at Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Omnia destruitis.' Ovid. Metamorphoses, xv. 234. 'Thy teeth, devouring time, thine, envious age. On things below still exercise your rage.' Dryden. ' First published in Notes and Queries, 6th S. v. 481, - Opie who was only twenty-two years old, had been brought up to London in 1781 by Dr. Wolcot. He is described by a brother Cornish- man as ' that unlicked cub of a car- penter.' His father was glad to part with him. He said, ' the boy was good for nothing — could never make a wheel-barrow — was always gazing upon cats, and staring volks in the face' R. Polwhcle's Traditions, &^c., ed. 1826, i. 'JT. In London at first he was all the rage. 'The street where he lived was so crowded with coaches of the nobility as to become a real nuisance to the neighbourhood ; so that, as he jestingly observed to me,' writes Northcote, ' he thought he must place cannon at his door to keep the multitude ofif. He was only the embryo of a painter ; when he had proved himself to be a real artist the capricious public left him with disgust because he was a novelty no longer.' Northcote's Reyttolds, ii. 126. Hawkins believes that the por- trait of Johnson was never finished. HAwVAn^'s Johnson, p. 569. In 1889 it was given to the Athenaeum Club, London, by Mr. T. Humphry Ward. Athenccum, August 10, 1889. To Aetat. 73.] To Miss Susanna Tkrale. 331 880. To Miss Susanna Thrale ^ Dear Miss, [Heale], September 9, 1783. I am glad that you and your sisters have been at Portland. You now can tell what is a quarry and what is a clifif. Take all opportunities of filling your mind with genuine scenes of nature : description is always fallacious, at least till you have seen realities you cannot know it to be true. This observation might be extended to life, but life cannot be surveyed with the same safety as nature, and it is better to know vice and folly by report than by experience. A painter, says Sydney, mingled in the battle that he might know how to paint it ; but his knowledge was useless, for some mischievous sword took away his head ^ They whose speculation upon characters leads them too far into the world, may lose that nice sense of good and evil by which characters are to be tried. Acquaint yourself therefore both with the pleasing and the terrible parts of nature, but in life wish to know only the good. Pray shew Mamma this passage of a letter from Dr. Brocklesby : ' Mrs. Williams, from mere inanition, has at length paid the great debt to nature ^, about three o'clock this morning, (Sept. 6). She died without a struggle, retaining her faculties entire to the very last, and as she expressed it, having set her house in order'*, was prepared to leave it at the last summons of nature.' I do not now say any thing more than that I am. My dearest, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 881. To Francis Barber ^ Dear Francis, Heaie, Sept. i6, 1783. I rather wonder that you have never written ; but that is ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 308. Essays: Of Death. ^ It was the painter's hands that ' Your son, my Lord, has paid a were struck off. ' So he returned, soldier's debt.' well skilled in wounds, but with never Macbeth, Act v. sc. 8. ahand to perform his skill,' Arcadia, * 1 Kings -xy.. i. ed. 1725, i. 359. 5 First published in Croker's Bos- ^ ' The fear of death, as a tribute well, page 739. due unto nature, is weak.' Bacon's now '>'>'} ^3^ To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1783. now not necessary, for I purpose to be with [you] on Thursday before dinner. As Thursday is my birth-day ', I would have a little dinner got, and would have you invite Mrs. Desmoulins, Mrs. Davis ^ that was about Mrs. Williams, and Mr. Allen and Mrs. Gardiner. I am, Yours, &c., Sam: Johnson. 882. To Dr. Burney. [London], September 20, 1783. Published in the Life^ iv. 239. 883. To Mrs. Thrale 3. Dear Madam, London, Sept. 22, 1783. Happy are you that have ease and leisure to want intelli- ' See ante, i. 250, for Johnson's unwillingness to have his birthday recalled to h's thoughts. In 1781 he viewed the day with calmness, if not with cheerfulness. He writes: — ' 1 rose, breakfasted, and gave thanks at church for my creation, preserva- tion, and redemption. As I came home, I thought I had never begun any period of life so placidly. I have always been accustomed to let this day pass unnoticed, but it came this time into my mind that some little festivity was not improper. I had a dinner ; and invited Allen and Levet.' Pr. and Med., p. 198. On his return to London he wrote to Dr. Burney : — ' I came home on the 1 8th at noon, to a very disconsolate house.' Life, iv. 239. The following day at the Old Bailey, a few minutes' walk from Johnson's house, fifty-eight convicts received sentence of death. Gentleman^ s Magazine, 1783, p. 802. " Not the wife of Tom Davies, of whom Churchill wrote: — ' That Davies hath a very pretty wife.' Churchill's Poems, ed. 1766, i. 16. This Mrs. Davis was most likely the woman whom Miss Burney found at Bolt Court the day before Johnson's death. She writes : — ' All the rest went away but a Mrs. Davis, a good sort of woman, whom this truly charitable soul had sent for to take a dinner at his house. I then went and waited with her by the fire. Mr. Langton then came. He could not look at me, and I turned away from him. Mrs. Davis asked how the Doctor was. " Going on to death very fast," was his mournful answer. *' Has he taken," said she, "any- thing ? " " Nothing at all. We carried him some bread and milk — he re- fused it, and said : — ' The less the better."" Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii- 337- For Mr. Allen see ante, ii. 61, and for Mrs. Gardiner, ante, ii. 174. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 310. gence Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. Thrale. '» 1 ■? gence of air-ballons'. Their existence is I believe indubitable ; but I l^now not that they can possibly be of any use. The con- struction is this. The chymical philosophers have discovered a body (which I have forgotten, but will enquire), which, dissolved by an acid, emits a vapour lighter than the atmospherical air^. This vapour is caught, among other means, by tying a bladder, compressed upon the bottle in which the dissolution is performed ; the vapour rising swells the bladder, and fills it. The bladder is then tied and removed, and another applied, till as much of this light air is collected as is wanted. Then a large spherical case is made, and very large it must be, of the lightest matter that can be found, secured by some method, like that of oiling silk, against all passage of air. Into this are emptied all the bladders of light air, and if there is light air enough it mounts into the clouds, upon the same principle as a bottle filled with water will sink in water, but a bottle filled with aether would float. It rises till it comes to air of equal tenuity with its own^, if wind or water does not spoil it on the way. Such, Madam, is an air ballon. ' In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1783, p. 795, under date of ' Paris, September 2,' it is reported that ' a discovery has been made, of which the Government hath thought proper to give notice, in order to prevent the terrors which it might excite among the people.' The balloon is then described. No person went up till a few weeks later. Post, Letter of December 13, 1783, Cowper wrote the day after Johnson : — ' French philosophers amuse them- selves, and, according to their own phrase, cover themselves with glory by inventing air-balls, which by their own buoyancy ascend above the clouds, and are lost in regions which no human contrivance could ever penetrate before. An English tailor, an inhabitant of the dung- hills of Silver End, prays, and his prayer ascends into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. — He indeed covers himself with glory, fights battles, and gains victories ; but makes no noise. Europe is not astonished at his feats, foreign Academies do not seek him for a member ; he will never discover the art of flying, or send a globe of taffeta up to heaven. But he will go thither himself.' Cowper's Works, iv. 305. Johnson in his Dictionary has ballon, or balloon, but not, of course, in the sense which it was henceforth to bear. In the Ann, Reg. for 1783, i. 215, the word is spelt ballon. - The ' body ' was iron-filings, the acid sulphuric acid, and the vapour nitrogen. ^ ' It has been found that a ball filled with inflammable air could mount of itself towards the sky, with- out stopping till both the airs were in equilibrium, which must be at a very great height.' Gentleman^s Magazine, 1 783, p. 795. Meteors '» '^ /I oo4 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1783. Meteors have been this autumn very often seen% but I have never been in their way. Poor WiUiams has I hope seen the end of her afflictions. She acted with prudence and she bore with fortitude. She has left me. Thou thy weary task hast done, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages ^. Had she had good humour and prompt elocution, her universal curiosity and comprehensive knowledge would have made her the delight of all that knew her. She left her little to your charity school ^. ' On August 1 8 a great meteor was seen at such distant places as Ostend, London, Edinburgh, and the North of Ireland. Gentleman^ s Maga- zine, 1783, pp. 711, 712, 795, 885. The poet Crabbe and his wife saw this ' glorious phenomenon, as it burst forth as large as the moon, but infinitely more brilliant. My mother,' writes their son, ' who hap- pened to be riding behind, said that even at that awful moment (for she concluded that the end of all things was at hand) she was irresistibly struck with my father's attitude. He had raised himself from his horse, lifted his arm, and spread his hand towards the object of admiration and terror, and appeared transfixed with astonishment.' Crabbe's Works, \. 124. Cowper, in the Second Book of the Task, alluding, as he says in a note, to this meteor and also 'to the fog that covered both Eu- rope and Asia during the whole of this summer' {ante, ii. 320, n. i), writes : — ' Fires from beneath, and meteors from above Portentous, unexampled, unexplained. Have kindled beacons in the skies, and th' old And crazy earth has had her shaking fits More frequent, and foregone her usual rest. Is it a time to wrangle, when the props And pillars of our planet seem to fail, And Nature with a dim and sickly eye To wait the close of all ? ' Cowper's Poems, ed. 1786, ii. 48. ^ ' Thou thy worldly task, &c.' Cymbeline, Act iv. sc. 2. ^ The Charity School was The Ladies' Charity School in the Parish of St. Sepulchre, mentioned in the Life, iv. 246. It was founded in 1702, with the object of training young girls for domestic servants. Mrs. Thrale was one of the Managers, and Johnson was a subscriber from 1777 till his death. It is recorded in the Minutes on March 12, 1783 : — ' Dr. Johnson, having turn, presents Mary Ann Austin, daughter of Charles and Amey Austin, living at the top of Goswell Street, at one Mr. Mason's, near the prison bar.' Mrs. Williams, a few weeks before her death, had given the School ^200 ; the re- mainder of her substance, amounting to ^157, she left to it in her will. Probably the money which she had made by the benefit that Garrick had given her at Drury Lane, amounting to ;{^2oo, had been invested. lb. i. The Aetat. 74.] To Mj^s. Th'ale, '> 1 r Jo5 The complaint about which you enquire is a sarcocele : I thought it a hydrocele', and heeded it but little. Puncture has detected the mistake : it can be safely suffered no longer. Upon inspection three days ago it was determined extrema ve7itura. If excision should be delayed there is danger of a gangrene. You would not have me for fear of pain^ perish in putrescence. I shall I hope, with trust in eternal mercy, lay hold of the possi- bility of life which yet remains. My health is not bad ; the gout is now trying at-' my feet. My appetite and digestion are good, and my sleep better than formerly : I am not dejected, and I am not feeble. There is however danger enough in such operations at seventy-four. Let me have your prayers and those of the young dear people. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. Write soon and often. 393, n. I. In the possession of the Charity are her four silver tea-spoons, and sugar-tongs, and her portrait. It shows a woman of a strong but not very amiable character. It is perhaps the work of Miss Reynolds. The same Charity possesses six tea- spoons which by tradition belonged to Johnson. They were made, as the hall-mark shows, in the year of Mrs. Williams' death. He had always taken tea with her. When her spoons were given to the Charity he had to supply their place. With them he had stirred countless cups of tea. Goldsmith and Boswell had used them with pride when ' they went to Miss Williams ' {Life, i. 421). Rey- nolds doubtless had often handled them, and Burke and many a famous mrn besides. The School was first established in King Street, Snow Hill. In 1S47 it was moved to John Street, Bed- ford Row ; thence to Queen's Square, Bloomsbury, and lastly to Powis Gardens, Notting Hill, where it is carried on with efficiency. Since its foundation more than 1500 girls have been started in life.* ^ John Wesley suffered from the same complaint. 'After two years he submitted to an operation, and obtained a cure. A little before this he notices in his Journal the first night that he had passed in wakeful- ness ; " I beheve," he adds, "few can say this ; in seventy years I never lost one night's sleep.'" Southey's Life of Wesley, ed. 1846, ii. 384. - See Life, iv. 399, 418, for his eagerness to endure pain if thereby life could be prolonged. ^ Johnson in his Dictionary gives no instance of this use oi try. * For most of this information I am indebted to Miss A. M. Moore, of Oakfield, Eltiiam, the Hon. Secretary of the School. To ^ 336 To Mrs. Montao-u. [a.d. i783. 884. To Mrs. Montagu '. September 22, 1783. Madam, That respect which is always due to beneficence makes it fit that you should be informed, otherwise than by the papers, that, on the 6th of this month, died your pensioner, Anna Williams, of whom it may be truly said, that she received your bounty with gratitude, and enjoyed it with propriety^. You perhaps have still her prayers. You have. Madam, the satisfaction of having alleviated the sufferings of a woman of great merit, both intellectual and moral. Her curiosity was universal, her knowledge was very extensive, and she sustained forty years of misery with steady fortitude. Thirty years and more she had been my companion, and her death has left me very desolate. That I have not written sooner, you may impute to absence, to ill-health, to any thing rather than want of regard to the benefactress of my departed friend. I am, Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. " First published in Crokers Bos- ' " And I had a very kind answer well, page 739. from her." ^ For Mrs. Montagu's kindness to " Well then, Sir," cried I, " I hope Mrs. Williams, see ante, i. 371, «. i. peace now will be again proclaimed." Mr. Croker, with a grossness and "Why, I am now," said he, "come confusion of thought which were not to that time when I wish all bitterness uncommon in him, says in a note and animosity to be at an end. I have that ' Mrs. Montagu's pension to never done her any serious harm — Mrs. Williams was in truth an in- nor would I ; though I could give direct benefaction to Johnson him- her a bite ! but she must provoke self, and was probably so meant by me much first. In volatile talk, in- the delicate and courteous charity of deed, I may have spoken of her not that excellent lady.' much to her mind ; for in the tumult This letter brought to a close of conversation malice is apt to grow Johnson's quarrel w ith Mrs. Mon- sprightly ; and there, I hope, I am tagu. Ante, ii. 139, n. i, and/^j/, p. not yetdecrepid." ' Mme. D'Arblay's 340. He told Miss Burney of his Diary, ii. 292. letter and added : — To Aetat. 74.] To Miss Reynolds. 337 885. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor '. Dear Sir, My case is what you think it, of the worst kind, a Sarcocele^. There is I suppose nothing to be done but by the knife — I have within these four days been violently attacked by the gout, which if [I] should continue in its grip^ would retard the other business; but I hope it will abate. I am, dear Sir, Your humble servant, Sept. 24, 1783. Sam: Johnson. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 886. To Bennet Langton. London, September 29, 1783. Published in the Life, iv. 240, 887. To Bennet Langton. [London, September or October, 1783]. Two letters quoted in part in the Life, iv. 241. 888. To James Boswell. [London], September 30, 1783. Published in the Life, iv. 241. 889. To Miss Reynolds ^. Dear Madam, October i, 1783. I am very ill indeed, and to my former illness is superadded the gout. I am now without shoes, and I have been lately almost motionless. To my other afflictions is added solitude. Mrs. Williams, ' This copy of the original I owe ^ Johnson perhaps wrote gripe, in to the kindness of Mr. John S. H. accordance with the spelHng in his Fogg, of 481 Broadway, Boston, Dictionary. United States. "" First published in Croker's Bos- ^ See ante, ii. 335, and Life, iv. 239. weli, page 740. VOL. II. z a companion '•> 2,S To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. ivss. a companion of thirty years, is gone. It is a comfort to me to have you near me. I am, Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 890. To Mr. Tomkeson ^ Sir, I St October, 1783. I have known Mr. Lowe very familiarly a great while. I consider him as a man of very clear and vigorous understand- ing, and conceive his principles to be such that whatever you transact with him you have nothing to expect from him unbe- coming a gentleman, I am, Sir, Your humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 891. To Mrs. Thrale^ Madam, London, Oct, 6, 17S3. When I shall give a good and settled account of my health I cannot venture to say; some account I am ready to give, because I am pleased to find that you desire it. I yet sit without shoes, with my foot upon a pillow, but my pain and weakness are much abated, and I am no longer crawling upon two sticks. To the gout my mind is reconciled by another letter from Mr. Mudge, in which he vehemently urges the excision, and tells me that the gout will secure me from every thing paralytick^: if this be true, I am ready to say to the arthritick pains, Deh ! venite ogni di, diirate un anno "*. ' First published in Croker's Bos- ^ See «;//£-, ii. 108,//. 5. Mr. Mudge, well, page 823, Bosvvell describes as ' the celebrated For Mauritius Lowe see a7ite, surgeon, and now physician, of ii. 203. The name Tomkeson is not Plymouth.' Life, i. 378. For John- in the indexes of the Gentleviati's son's letters to him about his health Magazine. Perhaps the copyist has see ib. iv. 240. been at fault. ■» Mrs. Piozzi in her Anecdotes, =" Piozzi Letters, ii. 313. p. 69, quotes 'the famous distich of My Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. T/irale. 339 My physician in ordinary is Dr. Brocklesby, who comes almost every day ; my surgeon in Mr. Pott's absence is Mr. Cruikshank, the present reader in Dr. Hunter's school ^ Neither of them however do much more than look and talk. The general health of my body is as good as you have ever known it. almost as good as I can remember. The carriage which you supposed made rough by my weakness was the common Salisbury stage, high hung, and driven to Salisbury in a day. I was not fatigued^. Mr. Pott has been out of town, but I expect to see him soon, and will then tell you something of the main affair, of which there seems now to be a better prospect. This afternoon 1 have given to Mrs. Cholmondely, Mrs. Way, an Italian improvisatore, when the Duke of Modena ran away from the comet in the year 1742 or 1743 : — Se al venir vostro i principi sen' vanno Deh venga ogni di — durate un anno, "which," said Dr. Johnson, "would do just as well in our language thus : — If at your coming princes disappear, Comets ! come every day — and stay a year." ' Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 69. Mm 784 Reynolds exhibited Pott's portrait in the Academy. Taylor's Reynolds^ ii. 435. Dr. William Hunter in 1770 opened at his own expense an Anatomical School in Great Windmill Street, with a Museum attached. Cruikshank was successively his pupil, anatomical- assistant, and partner. On Hunter's death he and Dr. Baillie carried on the School. ' He occasionally in- dulged himself too freely with the bottle although never to intoxication or insensibility.' He died of apoplexy at the age of 55 on June 27, 1800. His Christian names, William Cum- berland, were given by his parents — Z 2 he was a Scotchman — * out of com- pliment to the hero of Culloden.' If he was born, as is stated, in 1745, that battle had not yet been fought, and the Duke was neither hero nor butcher. ' Cruikshank attended Dr. Johnson in his last illness, and was termed by him, in allusion to his benevolent disposition, "a sweet- blooded man." When he was lancing the dying man's legs to reduce the dropsy, Johnson called out to him, " I want life and you are afraid of giving me pain — deeper, deeper." ' Gentleman! s Magazine, 1800, ii. 694, 792 ; Chalmers' Biog. Diet, xviii. 325, and Diet, of Nat. Biog. xiii. 260. See also Life, iv. 219, for Johnson's letter to Reynolds recommending Cruikshank as Hunter's successor as Professor of Anatomy to the Royal Academy. See Appendix B for Dr. Brock- lesby's Report of a conversation with Johnson and Boswell on March 30, 1783, the day of Hunter's death. ^ He had written to Dr. Brocklesby : — ' I was no more wearied with the journey, though it was a high-hung rough coach, than I should have been forty years ago.' lb. iv. 234. Lady 540 To Mrs. Th'ale. [A.D. 1783. Lady Sheffield's relation, Mr. Kindersley the describer of Indian manners', and another anonymous lady. As Mrs. Williams received a pension from Mrs. Montagu, it was fit to notify her death. The account has brought me a letter not only civil but tender ; so I hope peace is proclaimed ^ The state of the Stocks I take to be this : When in the late exigencies the ministry gave so high a price for money, all the money that could be disengaged from trade was lent to the publick. The stocks sunk because nobody bought them l They have not risen since, because the money being already lent out, nobody has money to lay out upon them till commerce shall by the help of peace bring a new supply. If they cannot rise, they will sometimes fall ; for their essence seems to be fluctuation ; but the present sudden fall is occasioned by the report of some, new disturbances and demands which the Irish are machinating"^. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 892. To Mrs. Thrale 5. London, October 9, 1783. Two nights ago Mr. Burke sat with me a long time; he seems much pleased with his journey. We had both seen Stone- henge this summer for the first time. I told him that the view ' For Mrs. Cholmondeley see antc^ ii. 186, and for Mrs. Way, ante, ii. 252. Mr. Kinsdersley is a mis- take for Mrs. Kinsderley, who in 1777 published Letters f 7-07/1 the Isla7id of Te7ierijjfe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope, and the East hidies. ' A7ite, ii. 336, 71. 2. ^ On September 9 the three per cent, consols were at 64 ; by October 6 they had fallen to 59. Ge7itle- I7ia7i's Magazi7!C, 1 7S3, j)p. SoS, 896. 'Thursday, September 25. This day Nathan Solomon, the great Jew broker, sent a letter to the Stock Exchange, declaring his intention never more to return to that house. The stocks fell considerably. At one period the three per cent, consols were done at 58.^. Such a peace price was never before known in this country.' lb. p. 803. '' Horace Walpole wrote five days later: — 'The aspect of Ireland is very tempestuous. I doubt they will hurt us materially without benefitting themselves. If they obtain very short parliaments, they will hurt themselves more than us, by introducing a con- fusion that will prevent their im- provements.' Letters, viii. 417. ^ Piozzi LMters, ii. 315. had Aetat. 74.] To Mts. T/irale, 341 had enabled me to confute two opinions which have been advanced about it. One, that the materials are not natural stones, but an artificial composition hardened by time. This notion is as old as Camden's time ; and has this strong argument to support it, that stone of that species is no where to be found. The other opinion, advanced by Dr. Charlton, is, that it was erected by the Danes '. Mr. Bowles- made me observe, that the transverse stones were fixed on the perpendicular supporters by a knob formed on the top of the upright stone, which entered into a hollow cut in the crossing stone. This is a proof that the enormous edifice was raised by a people who had not yet the knowledge of mortar ; which cannot be supposed of the Danes who came hither in ships, and were not ignorant certainly of the arts of life. This proves likewise the stones not to be factitious ; for they that could mould such durable masses could do much more than make mortar, and could have continued the transverse from the upright part with the same paste. You have doubtless seen Stonehenge, and if you have not, I should think it a hard task to make an adequate de- scription. It is, in my opinion, to be referred to the earliest habitation of the Island, as a Druidical monument of at least two thousand years ; probably the most ancient work of man upon the Island. ' ' It is the opinion of some,' writes to him some lines in which he says : — Camden, ' that these stones are not ' Through you, the Danes (their short natural, or such as are dug out of the dominion lost) quarries, but artificial, of fine sand A longer conquest than the Saxons cemented together by a glewy sort of boast. matter.' Camden's Brifattm'a, ed. Stone-Heng,once thought a Temple, 1722,1.121. Walter Charleton pub- you have found lished in 1663 Chorea Gigantum j or A Throne, where Kings, our Earthly the most fatnotes Antiquity of Great Gods, were crowned.' Britain,vulgarly called Stone-He7ig, Pepys records on July 28, 1666, stajtding ofi Salisbury Plain, restoj'ed some 'very pretty discourse of Dr. to the Danes. He maintained that Charleton's, concerning Nature's it was ' principally, if not wholly, de- fashioning every creature's teeth signed to be a Court Royal, or Place according to the food she intends for the Election and Inauguration of them.' Diary, ed. 185 1, iii. 245. their Kings.' Ed. 1725. The Epistle - Johnson's host at Heale. Ante, Dedicatory, p. 3. Dryden addressed ii. 328. Salisbury 342 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. itss. Salisbury cathedral, and its neighbour Stonehenge, are two eminent monuments of art and rudeness, and may show the first essay, and the last perfection, in architecture. I have not yet settled my thoughts about the generation of light air', which I indeed once saw produced, but I was at the height of my great complaint. I have made enquiry, and shall soon be able to tell you how to fill a ballon. I am. Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 893. Cjp To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor^. Your prohibition to write till the operation is performed is likely, if T observed it, to interrupt our correspondence for a long time. When Mr. Pot^ and Mr. Cruikshank examined the tumid vessicle, they thought it a Sarcocele^ or flesh swelling, I had flattered myself that it was only an hydrocele, or Water swelling. This could be determined with certainty only by puncture, which at my request was made by Mr. Pot, and which confirmed their opinion. They advised some palliative, and I went to a Friend in Wiltshire ^, from whom the bulk and pain of the encreasing tumour drove me home for help. Mr. Pot seemed to think that there was no help but from the knife, and only postponed the operation to his return from a journey of a week. In that week the puncture burst open, and by its discharge, abated the inflammation, relaxed the tension, and lessened the tumor by at least half. Mr. Pot at his return found so much amendment, that he has left the disease for a time to nature. Mr. Cruikshank would cut another orifice, but Mr. ' Ante, ii. 333. Johnson had 'at- ^ Johnson lops off superfluous con- tended some experiments that were sonants. As he always writes Bos- made by a physician at Salisbury on wel, Gas/rel, instead of Boswell, the new kinds of air.' Li/e,\v.2T,y. Gastrcll, in like manner he cuts down "^ From the original in the posses- Pott. sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font- ■* Mr. Bowles of Heale. Ante, hill House. ii. 338. Pot Aetat. 74.] To Mvs. Tkralc. 343 Pot is not yet willing. In the mean time I have no pain, and little inconvenience. When all was at the worst, I consulted Mudge^ of Plimouth, a very skilful man, and Dr. Heberden, who both vehemently pressed the excision, which perhaps would at last be the safer way, but Mr. Cruikshank is afraid of it. We must at present sit still. I have for some weeks past had a sharp fit of the gout, to which I am reconciled by Mr. Mudge, who thinks it a security against the palsy ; and indeed I recollect none that ever had both''. I have now nothing of the gout, but feet a little tender, and ankles somewhat weak. I am in my general health better than for some years past. I am. Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. London, Oct. 20, 1783. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 894. To Mrs. Thrale I Dear Madam, London, October 21, 1783. I have formerly heard, what you perhaps have heard too, that— The wheel of life is daily turning round, And nothing in this world of certainty is found. When in your letter of the eleventh, you told me that my two letters had obliged, consoled, and delighted you, I was much elevated, and longed for a larger answer ; but when the answer of the nineteenth came, I found that the obliging, consolatory, and delightful paragraphs had made so little impression, that you want again to be told what those papers were written to tell you, and of what 1 can now tell you nothing new. I am as I was ; with no pain and little inconvenience from the great com- plaint, and feeling nothing from the gout but a little tenderness and weakness. Physiognomy, as it is a Greek word, ought to sound the G : ' Anie, ii. 338, n. 3. ^ Afiie, ii. 338. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 318. but 344 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. i783. but the French and Itah"ans, I think, spell it without the G ; and from them perhaps we learned to pronounce it. G, I think, is sounded in formal, and sunk in familiar language. Mr. Pott was with me this morning, and still continues his disinclination to fire and szvord. The operation is therefore still suspended ; not without hopes of relief from some easier and more natural way. Mrs. Porter the tragedian, with whom spent part of his earlier life, was so much the favourite of her time, that she was welcomed on the stage when she trod it by the help of a stick '. She taught her pupils no violent graces ; for she was a woman of very gentle and ladylike manners, though without much extent of knowledge, or activity of understanding. You are now retired, and have nothing to impede self-examina- tion or self-improvement. Endeavour to reform that instability of attention which your last letter has happened to betray. Per- haps it is natural for those that have much within to think little on things without ; but whoever lives heedlessly lives but in a mist, perpetually deceived by false appearances of the past, without any certain reliance on recollection. Perhaps this begins to be my state ; but I have not done my part very sluggishly, if it now begins. The hour of solitude is now come, and Williams is gone. But I am not, I hope, improperly dejected. A little I read, and a little I think. I a^^ ^^^^ Sam: Johnson. 895. To Mrs. Thrale ^. Madam, London, October 27, 1783. You may be very reasonably weary of sickness ; it is neither pleasant to talk nor to hear of it. I hope soon to lose the dis- ' ' She died about the year 1762. iii. 500. He said that he had never When Johnson, some years before seen her equalled ' in the vehemence her death, paid her a visit she ap- of rage.' Life, iv. 243. According peared to him so wrinkled that, he to Horace Walpole ' she surpassed said, a picture of old age in the Garrick in passionate tragedy.' abstract might be taken from her Letters, iv. 336. countenance.' Davies's Drain. Misc. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 320. gusting Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. Tlirale. 345 gusting topick ; for I have now neither pain nor sickness. My ancles are weak, and my feet tender. I have not tried to walk much above a hundred yards, and was glad to come back upon wheels. The Doctor and Mr. Metcalf ' have taken me out. I sleep uncertainly and unseasonably. This is the sum of my complaint. I have not been so well for two years past. The great malady is neither heard, seen, felt, nor — understood. But I am very solitary. Semperque relinqui Sola sibi, semper longam incomitata videtur Ire viam ^. But I have begun to look among my books, and hope that I am all, whatever that was, which I have ever been. Mrs. Siddons in her visit to me behaved with great modesty and propriety, and left nothing behind her to be censured or despised. Neither praise nor money, the two powerful corrupters of mankind, seem to have depraved her. I shall be glad to see her again. Her brother Kemble calls on me, and pleases me very well. Mrs. Siddons and I talked of plays ; and she told me her intention of exhibiting this winter the characters of Constance, Catherine, and Isabella in Shakespeare^. ' In the autumn of the previous modest and sensible. She declines year Mr. Philip Metcalfe had taken great dinners, and says her business Johnson out in his carriage, at and the cares of her family take up Brighton. Life, iv. 159. ' Mr. Met- her whole time.' Letters, viii. 320. calfe seems,' writes Miss Burney, ' to Kemble, who gave Boswell a minute have taken an unaccountable dislike of what passed at the interview with to Mrs. Thrale, to whom he never Johnson, says that the Doctor ' asked speaks.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, her which of Shakspeare's characters ii. 172. she was most pleased with. Upon '^ Virgil. ALneid, iv. 466. her answering that she thought the ' She seems alone character of Queen Catharine, in To wander in her sleep through ways Henry the Eighth, the most unknown, natural : — " I think so too, Madam, Guideless and dark.' (said he;) and whenever you perform Dryden. it, I will once more hobble out to the ^ This passage is quoted by Bos- theatre myself." ' Life, iv. 242. well in the Life, iv. 242. To Mrs. Eighteen years earlier in his Siddons'smodesty testimony is borne edition oi Shakespeare (ed. 1765, v. by Horace Walpole, who wrote at 491) he had written: — 'The meek Christmas, 1782: — 'Mrs. Siddons sorrows and virtuous distress of continues to be the mode, and to be Catharinehave furnished some scenes I have 546 To Miss Reynolds. [A.D. 1783. I have had this day a letter from Mr. Mudge ; who, with all his earnestness for operation, thinks it better to wait the effects of time, and, as he says, to let well alone. To this the patient naturally inclines, though I am afraid of having the knife yet to endure when I can bear it less. Cruickshank was even now in doubt of the event ; but Pott, though never eager, had, or dis- covered, less fear. If I was a little cross, would it not have made patient Grisel cross, to find that you had forgotten the letter that you was answering? But what did I care, if I did not love you? You need not fear that another should get my kindness from you ; that kindness which you could not throw away if you tried, you surely cannot lose while you desire to keep it. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. I have a letter signed S. A. Thrale ; I take S. A. to be Miss Sophy: but who is bound to recollect initials? A name should be written, if not fully, yet so that it cannot be mistaken. 896. To Miss Reynolds ^ My dearest Dear, London, October 27, 1783. I am able enough to write, for I have now neither sick- ness nor pain ; only the gout has left my ancles somewhat weak. While the weather favours you, and the air does you good, stay in the country : when you come home, I hope we shall often which may be justly numbered among the greatest efforts of tragedy. But the genius of Shakespeare comes in and goes out with Catharine. Every other part may be easily conceived and easily written.' Horace Walpole wrote on January 15, 1788 : — ' I asked Mrs. Siddons in which part she would most wish me to see her. She named I'ortia in the Merchant of Venice ; but I begged to be excused. With all my enthusiasm for Shakespeare, it is one of his plays that I like the least. The story of the caskets is silly, and except the character of Shylock, I see nothing beyond the attainment of a mortal. Euripides, or Racine, or Voltaire might have written all the rest.' Letters, ix. 124. ' First published in Croker's Bos- 10 ell, page 741. see Aetat. 74.] To Mts. Tkrale. 347 see one another, and enjoy that friendship to which no time is likely to put an end on the part of, Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 897. To Mrs. Thrale '. Madam, London, Nov. i, 1783. You will naturally wish to know what was done by the robbers at the brewhouse ^ They climbed by the help of the lamp iron to the covering of the door, and there opening the window, which was never fastened, entered and went down to the parlour, and took the plate off the sideboard ; but being in haste, and probably without light, they did not take it all. They then unlocked the street-door, and locking it again, carried away the key. The whole loss, as Mr. Perkins told me, amounts to near fifty pounds. Mr. Pott bade me this day take no more care about the tumour. The gout too is almost well in spite of all the luxury to which my friends have tempted me by a succession of pheasants, partridges, and other delicacies. But Nature has got the better. I hope to walk to church to-morrow. An air ballon has been lately procured by our virtuosi, but it performed very little to their expectation ^. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 323. near Union Stairs, Wapping, about ^ The following entries in the two this morning and stole thereout Gentletnan's Magazine at this time two bales of woollens.' Jb. show the dreadful state of the com- 'November 4. The Sessions for the munity : — City of London ended, when six con- ' October 28. Eleven malefactors victs received sentence of death, were executed at Tyburn. Notwith- which with twelve condemned on standing these numerous sacrifices to Saturday for Middlesex, make the justice of the country, no less eighteen in all capitally convicted than 160 criminals were to be tried this Sessions. Villains increase so at the Sessions at the Old Bailey fast, that a bare recital of their names that were to begin the very next day.' and atrocious crimes would more P. 973. than fill our Magazine.^ P. 974. ' November i. To such a pitch * On, November 26 one made of of audacious villainy are the robbers yellow tafifety was launched in the about London arrived that ten of Artillery Ground, in the sight of an them armed with cutlasses and almost incredible number of people, pistols, in two boats, boarded a vessel No one ascended. lb. p. 977. The 348 To Mrs. Porter. [a.d. i783. The air with which these balls are filled, is procured by dis- solving filings in the vitriolick (or I suppose sulphureous) acid ' ; but the smoke of burnt straw may be used, though its levity is not so great. If a case could be found at once light and strong, a man might mount with his will, and go whither the winds would carry him. The case of the ball which came hither was of goldbeaters' skin. The cases which have hitherto been used are apparently defective, for the ball came to the ground ; which they could never do, unless there were some breach made. How old is the boy that likes Rambler better than apples and pears ? I shall be glad of Miss Sophy's letter, and will soon write to S. A. ; who, since she is not Sophy, must be Susy. Methinks it is long since I heard from Queeney. I am, &c., Sam: Johnson. 898. To Mrs. Porter '. . Dear Madam, The death of poor Mr. Porter ^, of which your maid has sent me an account, must have very much surprised you. The death of a friend is almost always unexpected : we do not love to think of if*, and therefore are not prepared for its coming. He was, I think, a religious man, and therefore that \_sic\ his end was happy. Death has likewise visited my mournful habitation. Last month died Mrs. Williams^, who had been to me for thirty years in the place of a sister : her knowledge was great, and her conversation pleasing. I now live in cheerless solitude. My two last years have passed under the pressure of successive diseases. I have lately had the gout with some severity. But I wonderfully escaped the operation which I mentioned, and am upon the whole restored to health beyond my own expectation. • y^w/t', ii. 333, «. 2. '• He probably wrote 'think on * First published in Malone's Bos- it.' 'well. ^ She had died on September 6 — ^ Hersecond brother. Z//^',i. 94,//. 3. more tlian two months before. As Aetat. 74.] To Richa7'd Jackson. H9 As we daily see our friends die round us, we that are left must cling closer, and, if we can do nothing more, at least pray for one another ; and remember, that as others die we must die too, and prepare ourselves diligently for the last great trial. I am, Madam, Yours affectionately, &c., Bolt-court, Fleet-street, Nov. lo, 1783. SaM : JOHNSON. 899. T^ o To Richard Jackson \ Dear Sir, ^ The Readership of the Temple "^ being vacant, I take the ' From the original in the posses- sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41, Gunterstone Road, West Kensington, London. The letter is not addressed, but at the foot is written in another hand, ' Richard Jackson, Esq.' Johnson spoke of Jackson as 'the all-know- ing ' ; on which Boswell has the following note : — 'A gentleman, who from his extraordinary stores of knowledge, has been stiled oiiims- cient. Johnson, I think very properly, altered it to all-knowing, as it is a verbum solenne^ appropriated to the Supreme Being.' Life, iii. 19. Wraxall, who speaks of him as ' Omniscient Jackson,' says that he was an intimate friend of Lord Shel- burne and a member of his Ministry. Wraxall's Memoirs, ed. 181 5, ii. 61, 235. ' There was a silk gownsman,' said Bentham, ' who had never any business, but who went by the name of Omniscient Jackson. I gave the name to Macculloch (Dr) who was all omniscience, and prcetcf-ea niJiil.^ Bentham's Works, x. 2S5, Charles Lamb thus describes Jack- son in The Old Benchers of the Inner Temple : — ' Jackson— the omniscient Jackson he was called— was of this period. He had the reputation of possessing more multifarious know- lege than any man of his time. He was the Friar Bacon of the less literate portion of the Temple. I remember a pleasant passage of the cook applying to him, with much formality of apology, for instructions how to write down edge bone of beef in his bill of commons. He was sup- posed to know, if any man in the world did. He decided the ortho- graphy to be— as I have given it — fortifying his authority with such anatomical reasons as dismissed the manciple (for the time) learned and happy.' - ' Since the reign of Henry VI IL there has been a divine belonging to this church, named a master or custos. Besides the master there is a reader, who reads divine service twice a day, at eight o'clock in the morning and at four in the afternoon.' Dodsley's Londo?i and its Etiviroiis, vi. 113. The Reader at this time would have but little help from the Master, Thomas Thurlow, who was also Dean of St. Paul's and Bishop of Lincoln. Letters of Radcliffe and James, p. 232, n. i. Mr. Hoole read the church- service to Johnson on his death-bed. Life, iv. 409. liberty c>50 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1783. o liberty of entreating your Countenance and vote for Mr. Hoole, a young clergyman, whom I have known for a great part of his life, and whom I can confidently offer to your notice, as a Man of uncommon parts, and blameless character. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Bolt-cour \sic\ Fleet Street, Nov. 11, 1783. 900. T~. ,;r To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, Since you have written to me with the attention and tender- ness of ancient time, your letters give me a great part of the pleasure which a life of solitude admits. You will never bestow any share of your good will on one who deserves better. Those that have loved longest love best. A sudden blaze of kindness may by a single blast of coldness be extinguished, but that fondness which length of time has connected with with \sic\ many circum- stances and occasions, though it may for a while [be] suppressed by disgust or resentment, with or without a cause, is hourly revived by accidental recollection. To those that have lived long together, every thing heard and every thing seen recals some pleasure communicated, or some benefit conferred, some petty quarrel, or some slight endearment. Esteem of great powers, or amiable qualities newly discovered, may embroider a day or a week, but a friendship of twenty years is interwoven with the texture of life. A friend may be often found and lost, but an old friend nevei; can be found, and Nature has provided that he cannot easily be lost. I have not forgotten the Davenants ^ though they seem to have forgotten me. I began very early to tell them what they have commonly found to be true. I am sorry to hear of their building. I have always warned those whom I loved, against that mode of ostentatious waste ■'. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 325. Corrected 47, Great Russell Street, London, by me from the original in the pos- "* Ante, i. 333, n. i. session of the late Mr. S.J. Davey, of ^ Atiie, i. 99. You Aetat. 74.] To Miss S. A. Tkrcile. 351 You seem to mention Lord Kilmurrey ' as a stranger. We were at his house in Cheshire ; and he one day dined with Sir Lynch. What he tells of the epigram is not true, but perhaps he does not know it to be false. Do not you remember how he rejoiced in having no park? He could not disoblige his neigh- bours by sending them no venison. The frequency of death, to those who look upon it in the leisure of Arcadia ^ is very dreadful. We all know what it should teach us ; let us all be diligent to learn. Lucy Porter has lost her brother. But whom I have lost — let me not now remember ^ Let not your loss be added to the mournful catalogue. Write soon again to Madam, Your most humble seivant^ Sam: Johnson. London, Nov. 13, 1783. To Mrs. Thrale at Bath. 901. To Miss S. A. Thrale 1 Dear Miss, Here is a whole week, and nothing heard from your house. Baretti said what a wicked house it would be ^, and a wicked house it is. Of you however I have no complaint to make, for ' When Johnson was at Comber- letter that came early by the Bath mere, he visited Lord Kilmorey's Diligence and another by the post.' house — Shavington Hall, in Shrop- Her friend was Mrs. Thrale, whose shire. ' He shewed the place with too unhappiness was caused by her much exultation,' he recorded. ' He struggles to overcome her love for has no park, and little water.' Life, Piozzi, to whom she had engaged V. 433. herself in the spring of this year. "" He had quoted Sidney^ s Arcadia Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 285, and a few weeks earlier. Ante, ii. 331. Hayward's Piozzi, i. 105. ^ He was thinking of that friend '* Piozzi Letters, ii. 327. ' whose face for fifteen years had Miss S. A. Thrale was Susanna never been turned upon him but with Thrale, as is shown, ante, ii. 348. respect and benignity — whose favour Of her alone of all Mrs. Thrale's he enjoyed for almost a fourth part of children I have not been able to ob- his life.' Life, iv. 84-5. The ninth tain a certificate of birth or baptism, day after the date of Johnson's letter ^ 'A hint I gave to Johnson, but Miss Burney ' passed in nothing but he would not take it, because he sorrow — exquisite sorrow for my dear never thought or would think of unhappy friend, who sent me one Piozzi.'— Baretti. I owe 352 To Miss S. A. Thrale. [a.d. i783. o I owe you a letter. Still I live here by my own self, and have had of late very bad nights ; but then I have had a pig to dinner, which Mr. Perkins gave me. Thus life is chequered. I cannot tell you much news, because I see nobody that you know. Do you read the Tatlers ? They are part of the books which every body should read, because they are the sources of conversation', therefore make them part of your library. Bicker- staff, in the Tatler, gives as a specimen of familiar letters, an account of his cat ". I could tell you as good things of Lily the white kitling, who is now at full growth, and very well behaved ; but I do not see why we should descend below human beings, and of one human being I can tell something that you will like to hear. A friend^ whose name I will tell when your Mamma has tried to guess it, sent to my physician to enquire whether this long train of illness ^ had brought me into any difficulties for want of money, with an invitation to send to him for what occasion re- quired. I shall write this night to thank him ^ having no need to borrow. I have seen Mr. Seward since his return only once ; he gave no florid account of my mistress's health ^ Tell her that I ' ' It is said by Addison, in a sub- company, they have learned each sequent work, that the Tatler and other's manners, so that the dog often Spectator had a perceptible influence gives himself the airs of a cat, and upon the conversation of that time, the cat, in ■ veral of her motions and and taught the frolic and the gay to gestures, affects the behaviour of the unite merriment with decency; an little dog.' The Tatler, No. 112. effect which they can never wholly ^ Johnson had perhaps in mind lose, while they continue to be among ' the train of ills ' in Addison's Cato, the first books by which both sexes Act iii. sc. 2. are initiated in the elegancies of "" See Life, iv. 245, for his letter to knowledge.' Johnson's Works, vii. W. G. Hamilton, dated the next 430. The ' subsequent work ' is The day. Freeholder, No. 45. ^ Mrs. Thrale wrote to Miss - Writing of his little dog and cat Burney three months later :— ' Mr. he says : — 'They both of 'em sit by Seward's disapprobation [of her affec- my fire every night, expecting my tion for Piozzi] is merely external, and coming home with impatience ; and by no means, like yours, the growth at my entrance never fail of running of his heart ; but the coarseness of up to me, and bidding me welcome, his expressions he has to himself, and each of 'em in his proper language. I cannot guess how I have deserved As they have been bred up together them.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, from their infancy and seen no other ii. 306. hearken Aetat. 74.] To Miss Burney. 1 r 1 ozo hearken every day after a letter from her ', and do not be long before you write yourself to, My dear, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 902. To Miss Burney ^ Madam, You have been at home a long time, and I have never seen you nor heard from you. Have we quarreled ? I have sent a book which I have found lately, and im- agine to be Dr. Burney's. Miss Charlotte^ will please to examine. Pray write me a direction of Mrs. Chapone\ and pray ' Johnson gives as one definition of hearken, 'to listen by way of curiosity ' ; and quotes from Richard III, Act i. sc. I, ' He hearkens after prophecies and dreams,' and from Rogers [.? Dr. John Rogers] ' he hearkens after any expedient that offers to shorten his way to it.' ^ From the original in the posses- sion of Mrs. Haly, 25 Mount Sion, Tunbridge Wells, to whom it was given by a daughter of Admiral Burney — Miss Burney's brother. In Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 283, and in her Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 356, an incorrect copy is given, which Miss Burney, not having the letter by her, wrote down from memory. She gives also her reply as follows : — ' Dear Sir, May I not say dear 1 for quarrelled I am sure we have not. The bad weather alone has kept me from waiting upon you ; but now you have condescended to give me a summons, no lion shall stand in the way of my making your tea this after- noon, unless I receive a prohibition from yourself, and then I must submit ; for what, as you said of a certain great lady, signifies the bark- ing of a lap-dog, if once the lion puts out his paw ? The book was very right. Mrs. Chapone lives at either No. 7 or 8 in Dean Street, Soho. I beg you. Sir, to forgive a delay for which I can only " tax the elements with unkindness *," and to receive with your usual goodness and indul- gence, your ever most obliged and most faithful humble servant, F. Burney. St. Martin's Street, Nov. 19, 1783.' The ' great lady ' was Mrs. Montagu. Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 357 note. ^ Charlotte Burney, afterwards Mrs. Broome. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, vi. 193. "" Johnson wrote to Mrs. Chapone on the 28th. Life, iv. 247. VOL. II. * King Lear, Act iii. sc. 2. A a let 354 To Miss Bitrney [A.D. 1783. let me sometimes have the honour of telling you, how much I am, Madam, Your most humble servant, Bolt-court, Nov. 19, 1783. SaM : JOHNSON \ At the foot of this letter is written in Miss Burney's hand : — ' F. B. flew to him instantly and most gratefully.' 903. To Miss Burney^. Mr. Johnson begs of Miss Burney that she will favour him with a copy of Cecilia to lend a friend. Saturday. ' Miss Burney with an overstrained delicacy refused to allow Boswell to print Johnson's letters to her. ' One I have from him,' she writes, ' that is a masterpiece of elegance and kind- ness united. 'Twas his last.' Boswell, she says, called upon her when she was at Windsor, and begged for her help : — '"My help?" " Yes, Madam ; you must give me some of your choice little notes of the Doctors ; we have seen him long enough upon stilts ; I want to show him in a new light. Grave Sam, and great Sam, and solemn Sam, and learned Sam, — all these he has ap- peared over and over. Now I want to entwine a wreath of the graces across his brow ; I want to show him as gay Sam, agreeable Sam, pleasant Sam ; so you must help me with some of his beautiful billets to your- self" ' She was too shy by nature to yield, and moreover at this time she was oppressed by the propriety of a Court. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, V. 167. See also Memoirs of Dr. Burney, iii. 114. '^ From the original in the pos- session of Mrs. E. V. Chappel, of East Orchard, Shaftesbury. Cecilia was published in the sum- mer of 1782, more than four years after Miss Burney's, first novel Evelitia. Boswell wrote to Mrs. Thrale from Edinburgh on December 20, 1782 :— ' Everybody here is running after Cecilia, and I am vain of telling that I have had the pleasure of being frequently in Miss Burney's company at Mrs. Thrale's.' From an Auto- graph Letter in the possession of the late Mr. S.J. Davey. He had met her six months earlier in Johnson's house. ' I mentioned Cecilia. JOHN- SON (with an air of animated satis- faction). " Sir, if you talk of Cecilia, talk on." ' Life, iv. 223. Mrs. Bar- bauld wrote to her brother on January 2, 1784 :— 'Next to the balloon. Miss B. is the object of public curiosity. She is a very unaffected, modest, sweet, and pleasing young lady ; — ■ but you, now I think of it, are a Goth, and have not read Cecilia^ Barbauld's Works, ii. 23. Horace Walpole wrote on September 17, 1785 : — 'Dr. Burney and his daughter Evelina-Cecilia, have passed a day and a half with me. He is lively and agreeable, she half-and-half sense and modesty, which possess her so entirely that not a cranny is left for To Aetat. 74.J To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 355 904. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor '. Dear Sir, You desire me to write often, and I write the same day, and should be sorry to miss any thing that might give you ease or pleasure ^ From the fatigue of your journey no harm, I hope, will ensue. Exercise short of great fatigue must be your great medicine, but painful weariness I would wish you to avoid ^. You will do well, if you have recourse again to milk, which once restored you be- yond expectation, and will now perhaps help you again ''. It does not appear from your Doctor's prescription that he sees to the bottom of your distemper. What he gives you strikes at no cause, and is only intended for an occasional exciter of the stomach. Exercise yourself every morning, and when you can catch a momentary appetite, have always something ready. Toast and hot wine will be good, or a jelly^ or potted meats, or anything that can be eaten without trouble, and dissolves of itself by warmth and moisture. Let nothing fret you ; Care is all [? al- ways] a slow, and may now be to you a quick poison. No worldly thing but your health is now worth your thought, if any thing troublesome occurs, drive it away without a parley. If I were with you, perhaps I might help to keep you easy, but we are at a great distance. I do not think that you have so much to hope from physick as from regimen. Keep a constant attention to petty conveniencies. Suffer neither heat nor cold in a disagreeable degree. Beware of costiveness. Take the air every morning, and very often let me know how you do, and what you eat or drink and how you rest. afiFectation or pretension.' Letters, feelings.' Lockhart's Scott, ed. 1839, ix. 13. More than forty years later, ix. 50. on November 18, 1826, Sir Walter ' From the original in the posses- Scott describes her as ' an elderly sion of Messrs. J. Pearson & Co., of lady, with no remains of personal 5 Pall Mall East, beauty, but with a simple and gentle - Dr. Taylor was ill. Post, p. 357. manner, a pleasing expression of ^ Ante, ii. 99, 102. countenance, and apparently quick * Ante, ii. 234, 236. A a 2 My 356 To Mrs. T/irale. [a.d. i783. My nights are restless, but my sarcocele ' gives me no trouble, and the gout is gone, and my respiration when I am up not uneasy. Let us pray for one another. I am, dear Sir, Yours affectionately, Sam: Johnson. London, Nov. 19, 1783. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 905. To THE Right Hon. William Gerard Hamilton. [London], November 19, 1783. Published in the Life, iv. 245. 906. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, London, Nov. 20, 1783. I began to grieve and wonder that I had no letter, but not being much accustomed to fetch in evil by circumspection or anticipation, did not suspect that the omission had so dreadful a cause as the sickness of one of my dears. As her physician thought so well of her when you wrote, I hope she is now out of danger. You do not tell me her disease ; and perhaps have not been able yourself fully to understand it. I hope it is not of the cephalick race^. That frigid stillness with which my pretty Sophy melts away, exhibits a temper very incommodious in sickness, and by no means amiable in the tenour of life'*. Incommunicative taciturnity neither imparts nor invites friendship ^, but reposes on a stubbed! n sufficiency self-centered, and neglects the interchange of that ' Ante, ii. 335. * Johnson in The Idler, No. 103, "" Piozzi Letters, ii. 329. has ' an even and unvaried tenour ^ Johnson defines cephalick as of life.' When he wrote this he ' that which is medicinal to the head.' perhaps had in his mind ' the He does not give a definition which noiseless tenour of their way ' of includes ' that which pertains to the Gray's Elegy. head.' What he dreaded was an ^ ' This is the present case of illness of the same kind as that Hetty [Miss Thrale—Queeney] rather which had carried off many of Mrs. than Sophy.' Baretti. Thrale's children. social Aetat. 74.] To the Reverend Dv. Taylor. 357 social officiousness ' by which we are habitually endeared to one another. They that mean to make no use of friends, will be at little trouble to gain them ; and to be without friendship, is to be without one of the first comforts of our present state. To have no assistance from other minds, in resolving doubts, in appeasing scruples, in balancing deliberations, is a very wretched destitution. If therefore my loves have this silence by temper, do not let them have it by principle ; show them that it is a perverse and inordinate disposition, which must be counteracted and reformed. Have I said enough ? Poor Dr. Taylor represents himself as ill ; and I am afraid is worse than in the summer. My nights are very bad ; but of the sarcocele I have now little but the memory. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 807. .^ ^ To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, You desired me to write often, and I now write though I have nothing new to tell you, for I know that in the tediousness of ill health a letter always gives some diversion to the mind, and I am afraid that you live too much in solitude. [I] feel the weight of solitude very pressing ; after a night of broken and uncomfortable slumber I rise to a solitary breakfast, and sit down in the evening with no companion ^. Sometimes however I try to read more and more. ' Johnson defines officiousness as sense of ' kind ; doing good offices,' ' forwardness of civility, or respect, and not in the sense of ' importunely or endeavour. Commonly in an ill forward.' sense.^ Mrs. Piozzi, criticising the ^ First published in Notes and line in which he praises Levett as Queries, 6th S. v. 482. ' Officious, innocent, sincere,' ^ Levett had ' always waited upon says: — 'Johnson, always thinking him every morning, through the neglect the worst misfortune that whole course of his late and tedious could befall a man, looked on a breakfast,' and with Mrs. Williams character of this description with he had always taken tea, however less aversion than I do.' British late he might be in coming home. Synonomy, ii. 79. She did not under- Life, i. 243, 421. stand that he used officious in the You 58 To Sir John Hawkins. [A.D. 1783. You must likewise write to me and tell me how you live, and with what diet. Your milk kept you so well that I know not why you forsook it, and think it very reasonable to try it again \ Do not omit air and gentle exercise. The ministry talk of laying violent hands on the East India company, even to the abolition or at least suspension of their charter-. I believe corruption and oppression are in India at an enormous height, but it has never appeared that they were promoted by the Directors, who, I believe, see themselves de- frauded, while the country is plundred ; but the distance puts their officers out of reach ^, and I doubt whether the government, in its present state of diminished credit, will do more than give another evidence of its own imbecillity \sic\ ''. You and I however have more urgent cares, than for the East Indian company. We are old and unhealthy. Let us do what we can to comfort one another. I am, dear Sir, &c., London, Nov. 22, 1783- SaM : JOHNSON. To the Rev. Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 808. Dear Sir To Sir John Hawkins ^. As Mr. Ryland was talking with mc of old friends and past ' Aiite, ii. 355. - On November 20, Fox had brought in his East India Bill, 'a singularly bold and original plan for the government of the British terri- tories in India. What was proposed was that the whole authority, which till that time had been exercised over those territories by the East India Company, should be transferred to seven Commissioners who were to be named by Parliament, and were not to be removable at the pleasure of the Crown.' Macaulay's Miscel- laneous Wri/ings, ed. 1871, p. 406. ^ ' All distant power,' said Johnson, ' is bad. I am clear that the best plan for the government of India is a despotick governour ; for if he be a good man, it is evidently the best government ; and supposing him to be a bad man, it is better to have one plunderer than many.' Life, iv. 213. "* Johnson showed more foresight than Horace Walpole, who wrote early in December : — ' Mr. Eox's competitor, Mr. Pitt, appears by no means an adequate rival, . . . The opponents of the Bill have no hopes but in the House of Lords, where however I do not believe they expect to succeed. Mr. Pitt's reputation is much sunk.' Letters, viii. 437-9. On December 19 Pitt became First Lord of the Treasuiy, and formed that Ministry which lasted seventeen years. ^ First published in Hawkins's Life of JoJinson. page 562. Hawkins records that Johnson said times, Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. T Inhale. 359 times, we warmed ourselves into a wish, that all who remained of the Club should meet and dine at the house which once was Horseman's, in Ivy-lane. I have undertaken to solicit you, and therefore desire you to tell on what day next week you can con- veniently meet your old friends. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant. Bolt-court, Nov. 22, 1783. SAM: JoHNSON. 909. To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, London, Nov. 24, 1783. The post came in late to-day, and I had lost hopes. If the distress of my dear little girl keep me anxious, I have much consolation from the maternal and domestick character of your dear letters. I do not much fear her pretty life, because scarcely any body dies of her disorder ; but it is an unpromising entry upon a new period of life : and there is, I suspect, danger lest she should have to struggle for some years with a tender, irritable, and as it is not very properly called, a nervous constitution ^. But we will hope better ; and please ourselves with thinking that nature, or to him this month: — 'What a man am I, who have got the better of three diseases, the palsy, the gout, and the asthma, and can now enjoy the conversation of my friends with- out the interruptions of weakness or pain ! ' It was, in what Hawkins calls ' this seeming spring-tide of his health and spirits' that Johnson wrote this Letter. The old Club * had been formed in the winter of 1749, and had met weekly at the King's Head, a famous beef-steak house in Ivy-lane, near St. Paul's, every Tuesday evening.' lb. p. 219, and Life, i. 190 ; iv. 253, 435. ' Ivy- lane runs from Paternoster Row into Newgate Street. This lane took its name from the Ivy which grew on the walls of the prebends' houses. formerly situated here. Stow.' Dods- ley's London and its Environs, iii. 265. Goldsmith in his Essay on Clubs says : — ' If a man be phleg- matic he may sit in silence at the hum-drum club in Ivy-lane.' Gold- smith's Works, ed. 1801, iv. 302. According to a writer in the Builder (December, 1884), ' The King's Head was burnt down twenty-five years ago, but the cellarage remains be- neath No. 4, Alldis's dining-rooms, on the eastern side.' ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 331. ^ Johnson in his Dictionary gives as the second meaning of nervous, ' relating to the nerves ; having the seat in the nerves. [In medical cant] Having weak or diseased nerves.' physick, 360 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1783. physick, will gain a complete victory ; that dear Sophy will quite recover, and that she and her sister will love one another one degree more for having felt and excited pity^ for having wanted and given help. I received yesterday from your physicians a note, from which I received no information ; they put their heads together to tell me nothing. Be pleased to write punctually yourself, and leave them to their trade. Let me have something every post till my dear Sophy is better. My nights are often very troublesome, so that I try to sleep in the day. The old convulsions of the chest have a mind to fasten their fangs again upon me. I am afraid that winter will pinch me. But I will struggle with it, and hope to hold out yet against heat and cold. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 910. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, London, Nov. 27, 1783. I had to-day another trifling letter from the physicians. Do not let them fill your mind with terrours which perhaps they have not in their own ; neither suffer yourself to sit forming comparisons between Sophy and her dear father ; between whom there can be no other resemblance, than that of sickness to sick- ness. Hystericks and apoplexies have no relation. Hystericks commonly cease at the times when apoplexies attack ; and very rarely can be said to shorten life. They are the bugbears of disease, of great tcrrour but little danger. Mrs. Byron "" has been with mc to-day to enquire after Sophy ; I sent her away free from the anxiety which she brought with her. Do however what the Doctors order ; they know well enough what is to be done. My pretty Sophy will be well, and Bath will ring with the great cure. ^ „ ^ ^ I am, &c., Sam : Johnson. " Piozzi Letters, ii. 332. 2 /inte, ii. 79. To Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. Thrale. a 6i 911. To Mrs. Chapone. [London], November 28, 1783. Published in the Life, iv. 247. 912. To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, London, Nov. 29, 1783. The life of my dear, sweet, pretty, lovely, delicious Miss Sophy is safe ; let us return thanks to the great Giver of exist- ence, and pray that her continuance amongst us may be a blessing to herself and to those that love her. Midtosetfelices^ mydear girl^. Now she is recovered, she must write me a little history of her sufferings, and impart her schemes of study and improvement ^. Life, to be worthy of a rational being, must be always in progression ; we must always purpose to do more or better than in time past. The mind is enlarged and elevated by mere purposes, though they end as they begin by airy contemplation. We compare and judge, though we do not practise*. She will go back to her arithmetick again ; a science which will always delight her more, as by advancing further she discerns more of its use, and a science devoted to Sophy's ease of mind ; for you told in the last winter that she loved metaphysicks more than romances. Her choice is certainly as laudable as it is uncommon ; but I would have her like what is good in both. God bless you and your children ; so says. Dear Madam, Your old Friend, Sam : Johnson. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 334. - ' And so say L' Baretti. Their prayer that many happy years might fall to her lot was only granted in part. ' She died on November 8, 1824, at Sandgate, the wife of Henry Merrick Hoare. She never had any children.' MS. note in the copy of the Piozzi Letters which had be- longed to Baretti. ^ For Johnson's ' schemes of life ' see ante, ii. 300, n. 3. * Boswell quotes this passage. Life, iv. 396, 71. 4. With ' airy contempla- tion ' compare line 10 in The Vanity of Human WisJies, where the poet describes how man — ' Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good.' In Rasselas, ch. 44, he says : — ' No man will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes tyran- nise, and force him to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober proba- bility.' To 2>(i2 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. i783. 913. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor '. Dear Sir. Your Doctor's fixed air recommends him but little to my esteem-; I like Doxy's^ prescription better, and your own regimen better than either. By persevering in the use of milk, I doubt not but you will gain health enough to keep your residence '', and that we can consult at leisure what may be best for both. This is but at two months distance. If your health or safety could be much promoted by any attention of mine, I would come dowui, but my own sickliness makes me unwilling to be far from my Physicians, and unless I were sure of some considerable good, such a journey is not to be undertaken. If I come to you, I must go to Lichfield. While milk agrees with you, do not be persuaded to forsake it. Go to bed, and rise, as Nature dictates, not by rule but according to convenience. Make your mind easy, and trust God. My time passes uncomfortably, my nights have been of late spasmodick without opium and sleepless with it. I hope that when we meet we shall both be better ^ I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. London, Nov. 29, 1783. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. ' From the original. I have care- explained in the same review, where lessly failed to record the name of mention is made of ' the effects of the correspondent to whose kindness fixed air applied by way of clyster in I owe a copy of this Letter. the case of a putrid fever.' See also ^ ' Carbonic acid was long known ib. p. 553. before its nature was understood. ^ See rm/^, ii. 129, ;/. i, for mention Black gave it the name of fixed air.' of Garrick's niece, Miss Doxy. Penny Cyclo., ed. 1836, vi. 282. In '' He had to keep his residence as a review in the Gentleman's Maga- Prebendary of Westminster. Life, 2ine for 1773, p. 447, of Dr. Priest- ii. 473. ley's Observations on different Kinds ^ In 1783, probably about this time, of Air it is stated that 'the three for it was when Johnson was very terms in common use for distinguish- poorly, he dined with the Duke of ing the different kinds of air are Chaulnes at the Adelphi, as the fol- Fixed air, Mephitic and Inflammable.' lowing letter shows : — The use which Taylor's doctor would ' The Duke of Chaulnes' best com- have made of ' fixed air ' is perhaps pliments to Doctor Burney : he To Aetat. 74.] To Sir John Hawkins. 36 914. To Mrs. PoRTf:R. London, November 29, 1783. Published in the Life, iv. 256. 915. To Sir John Hawkins '. Dear Sir, In perambulating Ivy-lane, Mr. Ryland found neither our landlord Horseman nor his successor. The old house is shut up, and he liked not the appearance of any near it; he therefore bespoke our dinner at the Queen's Arms, in St. Paul's Church- yard^, where, at half an hour after three, your company will be desired to-day by those who remain of our former society. Your humble servant, Dec. 3 [1783.] Sam: Johnson. desires the favour of his company to dinner with Doctor Johnson on Sunday next, between about three and four o'clock, which is the hour convenient to the excellent old Doctor, the best piece of man, indeed, that the Duke ever saw.' Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii. 338. ' First published in Hawkins's Life of fohnson, page 563. ' With this invitation,' writes Haw- kins, ' I cheerfully complied, and met all who could be mustered of our society, namely Johnson, Mr. Ry- land, and Mr. Payne of the Bank. In the evening we regaled with coffee. At ten we broke up, much to the regret of Johnson, who proposed staying ; but finding us inclined to separate, he left us with a sigh that seemed to come from his heart, lamenting that he was retiring to solitude and cheerless meditation.' John Payne had been a bookseller, but was now Chief Accountant of the Bank. Life, i. 317, ^-z. i. ' He was,' says Isaac Reed, ' of a very diminu- tive appearance. Once Johnson in a gaiety of humour proposed to run a race with him. Before they had run half the distance Johnson caught his little adversary up in his arms, and without any ceremony placed him upon the arm of a tree which was near, and then continued running as if he had met with a hard match.' Croker's Bosiuell, ed. 1835, x- 145- 'It was at the Queen's Arms that Johnson's City Club met, which was composed of men who were not patriots, collected for him by Mr. Hoole. Life, iv. 87. Jeremy Bentham was a member. ' Tasso Hoole,' he writes, 'was one of Dr. Johnson's lickspittles. He had, I think, a place at the East India House ; and got money by plays and translations, which he got people to subscribe for. He even asked me for subscriptions, though he lived in style — asked me who lived in beg- gary ! He got me to subscribe, and Chamberlain Clarke forced him to give back the money.' Bentham's Works,y.. 184. For Hoole's generous conduct about one of his plays which had not succeeded, see Life, ii. 289, n. 3. To 364 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. i783. 916. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. [London], December 4, 1783. Published in the Life, iv. 253. 917. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, London, Dec. 13, 1783. I think it long since I wrote, and sometimes venture to hope that you think it long too. The intermission has been filled with spasms, opiates, sleepless nights, and heavy days. These vellica- tions^ of my breast shorten my breath ; whether they will much shorten my life I know not, but I have been for some time past very comfortless. My friends here ever continue kind, and much notice is taken of me. I had two pretty letters from Susy and Sophy, to which I will send answers, for they are two dear girls. You must all guess again at my friend ^ I dined about a fortnight ago with three old friends ; we had not met together for thirty years, and one of us thought the other'* grown very old. In the thirty years two of our set have died -^ ; our meeting may be supposed to be somewhat ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 339. members were alive but Hawkes- From the day after that on which worth and Dyer. The Club which he wrote this letter he was confined Hawkins describes had ten mem- to the house for 129 days. Post, bers, — Johnson, Hawkins, Ryland, Letters of March 10 and April 21, Payne, Barker, Salter, Dyer, M'Ghie, 1784. Bathurst and Hawkesworth. Of these - ' Vellication. Twitching; stimu- the last six were dead. Hawkins lation.' Johnson's Dictionary . adds that it was formed in the winter ^ A}ite,\\. 352. of 1749, and broke up about the * Johnson, I conjecture, wrote 'the year 1756. Hawkins's _/6>//«.v6';/, pp. others.' It was Hawkins perhaps 219, 361. The difference between who thought his friends grown old. his account and Johnson's is irre- * I could not but compare our meet- concilable. I conjecture that the Old ing,' he writes, ' to that of the four Club was dissolved earlier than he old men in the Senile Colloquium of states, and that a second was formed Erasmus.' Hawkins's Johnson, p. composed only of six members. Ac- 563. cording to Nichols {Lit. Ancc. ix. ^ Johnson, post, p. 390, says that 502) the Club was known as The it was three and thirty years ago Rambler Club. Perhaps this was that the Club met. and that all the a second Club. tender. Aetat. 74.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. ;65 tender. I boasted that I had passed the day with three friends, and that no mention had been made among any of us of the air ballon, which has taken full possession, with a very good claim, of every philosophical mind and mouth '. Do you not wish for the flying coach * ? Take care of your own health, compose your mind, and you have yet strength of body to be well. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 918. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, Perhaps you wonder that I do not write. I am very severely crushed [? harassed] by my old spasm which suffers [? suffering] me to get no sleep in the night, necessarily condemns the day to sluggishness and restlessness. I am indeed exceedingly distressed. I think you have chosen well, in taking a later month for yourself^, but I was sorry to miss you so long a time. I am ' Horace Walpole wrote a few- days earlier : — ' Balloons occupy senators, philosophers, ladies, every- body. . . . All this may be very im- portant ; to me it looks somewhat foolish.' Letters, viii. 438. Ben- jamin Franklin wrote to Sir J. Banks from Passy near Paris on November 21: — 'A few months since the Idea of Witches riding through the Air upon a Broomstick and that of Philosophers upon a bag of Smoke would have appeared equally im- possible and ridiculous.' Messrs. Sotheby & Co.'s Auction Catalogue, March 11, 1886, Lot 1281. 'Beaucoup de gens qui se piquent de rester froids au milieu de I'enthousiasme public n'ont pas manque de rep^ter : — " Mais quelle utilite retirera-t-on de ces experiences ? A quoi bon cette decouverte dont on fait tant de bruit." Le venerable Franklin leur repond avec sa simplicity accou- tumee : — " Eh ! k quoi bon I'enfant qui vient de naitre ? " ' Memoires Historiques, &c. Par Grimm et Diderot, ed. 18 14, iii. 66. ^ Eight years later Darwin wrote in his Economy of Vegetation, i. 289:— ' Soon shall thy arm, unconquer'd Steam I afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car ; Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear The flying-chariot through the fields of air.' ^ From the original in the Dreer Autograph Collection belonging to the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania. I owe the copy to the kind- ness of Mr. John W. Jordan the Assistant Librarian. * The month, no doubt, in which he should reside as a Prebendary of Westminster. indeed 366 7^0 Miss Reynolds. [a.d. i783. indeed heavily loaded with distempers. Sometimes I fancy that exercise would help me, but exercise I know not how to get. Sometimes I think that a warmer climate would relieve me^ but the removal requires a great deal of money. At present I subsist by opiates, and with them shall try to fight through the winter, and try something efficacious, if life be granted me, in the Spring. The [? sarcocele] continues well. Write to what comfort you can. We are almost left alone, I am, Sir, Your affectionate, &c., Sam: Johnson. London, Dec. 20, 1783. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 919. To Miss Reynolds ^ T-. HT December 23, 1783. Dearest Madam, •" ' ^ You shall doubtless be very welcome to me on Christmas day. I .shall not dine alone, but the company will all be people whom we can stay with or leave. I will expect you at three, if I hear no more. I am this day a little better". I am, dear Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam Johnson. I mean, do not be later than three ; for as I am afraid I shall not be at church, you cannot come too soon. 920. To James Boswell. London, December 24, 1783. Published in the Life., iv. 248. ' Urst published in Croker's Bos- better since, though still in a most well, page 744. alarming way. Indeed, I am very - Miss Burney recorded on De- much afraid for him. He was very, cember 16 : — ' I spent the afternoon very kind. Oh ! what a cruel, heavy with Dr. Johnson, who indeed is loss will he be ! ' Mme. D'Arblay's very ill, and whom I could hardly Diary, ii. 293. ^ tell how to leave. But he is rather To Aetat. 74.] To Mts. Tkrak. 367 921. To Mrs. Thrale '. Dear Madam, London, Dec. 27, 1783. The wearisome solitude of the long evenings did indeed suggest to me the convenience of a club in my neighbourhood, but I have been hindered from attending it by want of breath. If I can complete the scheme, you shall have the names and the regulations ^. The time of the year, for I hope the fault is rather in the weather than in me, has been very hard upon me. The muscles of my breast are much convulsed. Dr. Heberden recommends opiates, of which I have such horrour that I do not think of them but iji extremis^. I was however driven to them last night for refuge, and having taken the usual quantity durst not go to bed, for fear of that uneasiness to which a supine posture exposes me, but rested all night in a chair with much relief, and have been to-day more warm, active, and cheerful. You have more than once wondered at my complaint of solitude, when you hear that I am crowded with visits. Inopeni me copia fecit'' . Visitors are no proper companions in the chamber of sickness. They come when I could sleep or read, they stay till I am weary, they force me to attend when my mind calls for relaxation, and to speak when my powers will hardly actuate my tongue. The amusements and consolations of languor and depression are conferred by familiar and domestick companions, which can be visited or called at will, and can occasionally be quitted or dismissed, who do not obstruct accommodation ^ by ceremony, or destroy indolence by awakening effort. ' Pioszi Letters, ii. 340. to Boswell three days earlier : — ' I - For ' the little evening club in am now a little better. But sickness Essex Street, in the Strand,' see Life, and solitude press me very heavily. iv. 253, 436. I could bear sickness better if I were ^ Boswell records that having called relieved from solitude.' lb. iv. 249. on Johnson on March 23 in this year The quotation is from Ovid's Meta- he found him relieved by opium. morphoses, iii. 466. ' He however protested against it ^ Acco/juiwdation is a favourite as a remedy that should be given word with Johnson. He defines it : — with the utmost reluctance, and only ' i. Provision of conveniences. 2. In in extreme necessity.' Life, iv. 171. the plural, conveniences, things re- ■* Ante, ii. 326. He had written quisite to ease or refreshment.' In Such 68 To Mi's. Tlirale. [A.D. 1783. Such society I had with Levet and Williams ; such I had where — I am never likely to have it more '. I wish, dear Lady, to you and my dear girls many a cheerful and pious Christmas. I am, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 922. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, London, Dec. 31, 1783. Since you cannot guess, I will tell you that the generous man was Gerard Hamilton. I returned him a very thankful and respectful letter I Your enquiry about Lady Carlisle'' I cannot answer, for I T/ie Rambler, No. 145, he says : — 'The meanest artizan or manufacturer con- tributes more to the accommodation of life than the profound scholar and argumentative theorist.' The Duke in Measure for JMeasiire, Act iii. sc. i, 1. 13, reasoning with life says : — 'Thou art not noble ; For all the accommodations that thou bear'st Are nursed by baseness.' See Life^ v. 310, n. 3 for accotnnwdate. ' Mme. D'Arblay records that some day in the autumn of this year she called on him. Hitherto he had never mentioned to her his fears about Mrs. Thrale. As she sat with him, ' a sudden change from kind tranquillity to strong austerity took place in his countenance ; startled and affrighted she held her peace. A silence almost awful succeeded. Then see-sawing violently in his chair, as usual when he was big with any powerful emotion whether of pleasure or of pain, he seemed deeply moved; but without looking at her, or speaking, he intently fixed his eyes upon the fire. Then suddenly turning to her with an air of mingled wrath and woe he hoarsely ejacu- lated :—" Piozzi ! " He evidently meant to say more ; but the effort with which he articulated that name robbed him of any voice for amplifi- cation, and his whole frame grew tremulously convulsed. At length, and with great agitation, he broke forth with : — " She cares for no one. You, only — you, she loves still. But no one — anc" nothing else. You she still loves—." A half smile now, though of no very gay character, softened a little the severity of his features, while he tried to resume some cheerfulness in adding : — " as — she loves her little finger." He saw how distressing was the theme to a hearer whom he ever wished to please, not distress ; and he named Mrs. Thrale no more.' Memoirs of Dr. Biinuy, ii. 358-63. (I have abridged the account.) " Piozzi Letters, ii. 342. ^ Life, iv. 24s, and ante, ii. 352, 364. " The wife of the fifth Earl of Carlisle and daughter of the first Marquis of Stafford. never Aetat. 74.] To Mvs. Tlirale. 369 never saw her, unless perhaps without knowing her at a con- versation '. Sir Joshua has just been here, and knows nothing of Miss Bingham ; if one of Lord Lucan's daughters be meant, the eldest is now Lady Spencer ; she is languishing in France with a diseased leg, and the third is a child ^. Pray send the letter which you think will divert me, for I have much need of entertainment ; spiritless, infirm, sleepless and solitary, looking back with sorrow and forward with terrour : — but I will stop. Barry of Ireland had a notion that a man's pulse wore him out ^ ; my beating breast wears out me. The physicians yester- day covered it with a blister, of which the effect cannot yet be known ^ Good God prosper their endeavours ! Heberden is of opinion that while the weather is oppressive we must palliate. In the mean time I am well fed ; I have now in the house pheasant, venison, turkey and ham, all unbought. Attention and respect give pleasure, however late or however useless. But they are not useless when they are late ; it is reasonable to rejoice, as the day declines, to find that it has been spent with the appro- bation of mankind ^. ' Ante, ii. 105, n. 4. mosthenes that offended King Philip ^ For Johnson's acquaintance with and the whole Court of Macedon ! ' Lord Lucan's family see atite, ii. 65, Letters, viii. 74. nn. 4, 9. Gibbon, writing from Lau- ^ < j^jg notion was that pulsation sanne on September 5, 1 785 about his occasions death by attrition ; and that English visitors says :— ' Those who therefore the way to preserve life is have repaid me for the rest were Lord to retard pulsation.' Life, iii. 34. and Lady Spencer. He is a valuable " Miss Burney records:— 'Tuesday, man, and where he is familiar a December 30. I spent the evening pleasant companion ; she a charming with Dr. Johnson. There were some woman, who with sense and spirit very disagreeable people with him ; has the simplicity and playfulness of and he once affected me very much a child.' Gibbon's Misc. IVor/cs, ii. by turning suddenly to me, and 384. Jones composed an Ode on grasping my hand, and saying : — their marriage, of which Horace ' The blister I have tried for my Walpole wrote : — ' If it is not perfect, breath has betrayed some very bad still the eighth, ninth and tenth tokens ; but I will not terrify myself stanzas have merit enough to shock by talking of them ; ah, prz'ez Dieu Dr. Johnson, and such sycophant pour 7noi.^ Mme. D'Arblay's Z>/«rK, old nurses, and that is enough for ii. 295. me. How precious is any line of De- ^ ' Our uncertainty concerning our VOL. II. B b The 3 JO To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. i784. The ministry is again broken, and to any man who extends his thoughts to national consideration the times are dismal and gloomy \ But to a sick man what is the publick ? The new year is at hand ; may God make it happy to me, to you, to us all, for Jesus Christ's sake ! Amen '■'■. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson, 923. DfaR Sip '^° "^^^ Reverend Dr. Taylor ^. I was intending to write to you, to quarrel with your silence, when waking after a short sleep in my chair, I found your kind letter lying on the table. Since your Milk has restored you, let it preserve you, do not forsake it again for any length of time. As for me I know not on which side to turn me, I am irregular in nothing. My breast is now covered with a blister, which is, I believe, to be kept open ; it gives no pain, and perhaps has hitherto produced no benefit, for though I have not since its application, suffered anything from Spasms, I have never been without opium, and therefore own merit, and our anxiety to think Life, iv. 249. Earl Temple, who on favourably of it, should together the 19th entered Pitt's Ministry as naturally enough make us desirous Secretary of State, had resigned on to know the opinion of other people the 22nd. Pm'l. Hist. xxiv. 227. concerning it ; to be more than * The heart of the young minister, ordinarily elevated when that opinion stout as it was, almost died within is favourable.' Adam Smith's Theory him. He could not once close his of Moral Sentiments, ed. 1801, i. eyes on the night which followed 250. Temple's resignation.' Macaulay's ' To Boswell he had written a Misc. ^K^^r/'i-, ed. 1871, p. 407. week earlier:— 'The present dreadful ^ I" Messrs. Sotheby & Co.'s confusion of the publick ought to Auction Catalogue of May 10, 1875, make you wrap yourself up in your Lot 119 is 'a beautiful and most hereditary possessions, which, though pious prayer in the autograph of Dr. less than you may wish, are more Johnson, dated January i, p.m. 11, than you can want; and in an hour 1784-' It was sold for eight guineas, of religious retirement return thanks ^ From the original in the posses- to God, who has exempted you from sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font- any strong temptation to faction, hill House, treachery, plunder, and disloyalty.' know Aetat. 74.] To Mts. Tkrak. 371 know not, which has helped me ; nor am I helped much, for in bed I scarce get any sleep ; what I have is in a chair. Dr. Heberden tells me that I must be content to support myself by opiates in the winter, and try to get better help in hotter weather. In spring I have a desire of trying milk somewhere in the country. My lower parts begin to swell. May we all be received to mercy. There is likely to be a vacancy soon in Wicher's Alms- houses in Chappel street ', which it will [be] your Dean's turn to fill up. A poor relation of mine wants a habitation. His name is Heely. I intend to ask Dr. Bell's interest, and if you [think] it proper, wish you would write to the Dean in Heely's favour ^ I wish us both a happy year. I am, Sir, Affectionately yours, London, Jan. 3, 1784. SaM : JOHNSON. Write soon and often. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 924. To Charles Dilly. [London], January 6, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 257. 925. Dear Madam, '^° ^^^- Thrale^. London, Jan. 12, 1784. If, as you observe, my former letter was written with trepi- dation, there is little reason, except the habit of enduring, why ' Chapel Street, Broad Way, West- against Johnson by Hawkins of minster. Dodsley's London, ii. 90. neglecting this man, says : — * Sir ' Your Dean ' was the Dean of West- John chooses to call him a relatw?t minster. For Dr. Bell see ,r/«/^ i. 118. of Dr. Johnson's.' Life, iv. 370, - For Heely see ante, i. 306. He Johnson however here speaks of him was elected to the Almshouse. Haw- as ' a poor relation of mine.' Relation kins visited him there, and was in- he dt^nts a.s a perso?t related by birth formed by him that ' the endowment or marriage. Heely's second mar- yielded him an allowance of half-a- riage, especially as he had no children crown a week, and half a chaldron by his first wife, Johnson's cousin, of coals at Christmas.' Hawkins's did, as Boswell says, dissolve the Johnson, p. 602. Boswell, properly connection, censuring the unjust charge brought ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 344. B b 2 this 372 To Mrs. Tlirale. [a.d. 1784. this should shew more steadiness. I am confined to the house ; I do not know that any things grow better ; my physicians direct me to combat the hard weather with opium ; I cannot well support its turbulence, and yet cannot forbear it, for its immediate effect is ease ; having kept me waking all the night it forces sleep upon me in the day, and recompenses a night of tediousness with a day of uselessness. My legs and my thighs grow very tumid ' : in the mean time my appetite is good, and if my physicians do not flatter me death is [not] rushing upon me^. But this is in the hand of God. The first talk of the sick is commonly of themselves ; but if they talk of nothing else, they cannot complain if they are soon left without an audience. You observe, Madam, that the ballon engages all mankind, and it is indeed a wonderful and unexpected addition to human knowledge^ ; but we have a daring projector, who, disdaining the help of fumes and vapours, is making better than Daedalean wings, with which he will master the ballon and its companions as an eagle masters a goose. It is very seriously true that a sub- scription of eight hundred pounds has been raised for the wire and workmanship of iron wings'*; one pair of which, and I think a tail;, are now shown in the Haymarket, and they are making another pair at Birmingham. The whole is said to weigh two hundred pounds — no specious preparation for flying, but there are those who expect to see him in the sky. When I can leave the house I will tell you more. ' TiMud is one of ' the three un- day which went to Bristol in an hour common or learned words' which from hence. I dare say Sir John Boswell discovers in the Lives of Lade's phaeton would have beaten the Poets. Johnson describes Wal- our Icarus out of sight.' Mme. D'Ar- ler's legs as growing tui/iid. Life, iv. blay's Diarv, ii. 300. 39- ■* Johnson, in Rdsselas, ch. vi, in " I have inserted not -which, clearly ' A Dissertation on the Art of Flying,' seems omitted. See the next letter had ridiculed the invention of wings. for Dr. Heberden's favourable re- ' In a year,' he writes, ' they were port of his state. finished, and on a morning appointed ^ Mrs. Thrale wrote to Miss Bur- the maker appeared, furnished for ney from Bath on January 15: — flight, on a little promontory: he ' Air balloons go no faster than post- waved his pinions awhile to gather horses at last. I caught my death air, then leaped from his stand, and almost by looking at one the other in an instant dropped into the lake.' I had Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. Thrale. 373 I had the same old friends to dine with me on Wednesday ', and may say that since I lost sight of you I have had one pleasant ^' I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. Pray send me a direction to Sir Musgrave in Ireland^. 926. To Mrs. Thrale 3. Dear Madam, London, Jan. 21, 1784. Dr. Heberden this day favoured me with a visit ; and after hearing what I had to tell him of miseries and pains, and com- paring my present with my past state, declared me well. That his opinion is erroneous, I know with too much certainty; and yet was glad to hear it, as it set extremities at a greater distance : he who is by his physician thought well, is at least not thought in immediate danger. They therefore whose attention to me makes them talk of my health, will, I hope, soon not drop, but lose their subject. But, alas ! I had no sleep last night, and sit now panting over my paper. Dabit Dejis his qiwqiie ji^ieni ■*, I have really hope from spring ; and am ready, like Almanzor, to bid the 's,\xx\fiy swiftly, and leave weeks ajid months behind him ^. The sun has looked for six thousand years upon the world to little purpose, if he does not know that a sick man is almost as impatient as a lover. Mr. Cator gives such an account of Miss Cecy*^, as you and all Musgrave. Ante, ' A)itc, ii. 364. * Sir Richard ii. 295, n. I. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 346. ■' ' This too the gods shall end.' j£neid\. 199. Windham, who called on him this day, found him too ill to admit him ; as was the case also on the 24th and 25th. Windham's Diary, p. 2. ^ Almanzor's speech is at the end of Dryden's Conquest of Granada : — ' Move swiftly. Sun, and fly a lover's pace ; Leave weeks and months behind thee in thy race.' Johnson no longer says, as he had said twenty-five years earlier in the strength of his manhood, that ' the distinction of seasons is produced only by imagination operating on luxury. To temperance every day is bright.' The Idler, No. xi. * For Mr. Cator, one of Mr. of -"J 4 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. i784. o of us must delight to hear ; Cator has a rough, manly, inde- pendent understanding, and does not spoil it by complaisance ; he never speaks merely to please, and seldom is mistaken in things which he has any right to know. I think well of her for pleasing him, and of him for being pleased ; and at the close ', am delighted to find him delighted with her excellence. Let your children, dear Madam, be Jiis care, and yoitr pleasure ; close your thoughts upon them, and when sad fancies are excluded, health and peace will return together. I am, dear Madam, Your old Friend, Sam : Johnson. 927. To Mr. Perkins. [London], January 21, 1784. Published in the Life^ iv. 257. 928. -^ ^ To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, I am still confined to the house, and one of my amusements is to write letters to my friends, though they, being busy in the common scenes of life, are not equally diligent in writing to me. Dr. Heberden was with me two or three days ago, and told me that nothing ailed me, which I am glad to hear, though I knew it not to be true. My nights are restless, my breath is difficult, and my lower parts continue tumid. The struggle, you see, still continues between the two sets of ministers : those that are out and in one can scarce call them, for who is 07it or in is perhaps four times a day a new question ^. Thrale's executors, see ante, i. 355, the Life, vol. iv, page 260, from the n.'j. Cecyis Mrs. Thrale's daughter, original in the possession of Mr. M. Caecilia. She did not die till seventy- M. Holloway of Hillbrow, Streatham. three years after this good account ^ p^^ j^^^ com& into office on was given of her. December 19 of the previous year, ' ' At the close'' \%, I think, a very not by a vote of the House of uncommon expression for in short or Commons, but by the favour of the mjinc. King. Ante,\\. ^jo.n. \. 'Hiscon- " First published in my edition of test against the House of Commons The Aetat. 74.] To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. ;75 The tumult in government is, I believe, excessive, and the efforts of each party outrageously violent, with very little thought on any national interest, at a time when we have all the world for our enemies, when the King and parliament have lost even the titular dominion of America ^, and the real power of Government every where else. Thus Empires are broken down when the profits of administration are so great, that ambition is satisfied with obtaining them, and he that aspires to greatness needs do nothing more than talk himself into importance. He has then all the power which danger and conquest used formerly to give ; he can raise a family and reward his followers. Mr. Burke has just sent me his Speech upon the affairs of India, a volume of above a hundred pages closely printed ^. I will look into it; but my thoughts seldom now travel to great distances. I would gladly know when you think to come hither, and whether this year you will come or no. If my life be continued, I know not well how I shall bestow myself. I am^, Sir, Your affectionate &c., Sam: Johnson. ' London, Jan. 24, 1784.' ' To the Rev. Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. lasted from the 17th of Decem- ber, 1783, to the end of March, 1784. In sixteen divisions the op- position triumphed. Again and again the King was requested to dismiss his ministers. But he was determined to go to Germany rather than yield.' Macaulay's Misc. Works, ed. 1871, p. 407. Horace Walpole wrote on February 2 : — ' Once or twice a week there is a day which it is said will be decisive. To-day is in that number ; yet I expect it so little, that I am writing to you at ten at night, with- out inquiring whether the House of Commons, where action was expected, is up, without knowing what was to be there.' Letters, viii. 453. ' By the first article of the Treaty of Peace signed at Paris on September 3, 1783. George III, 'for himself. his heirs and successors relinquished all claims to the government, pro- priety and territorial rights of the United States of America and every part thereof.' '^ Burke's Speech in the House of Commons on December i, 1783, on Fox's India Bill. Pari. Hist., xxiii. 13 12. It was published by Dodsley. In this speech describing the English rule in India he said : — ' England has erected no churches, no hospitals, no palaces, no schools ; England has built no bridges, made no high roads, cut no navigations, dug out no reservoirs. Every other conqueror of every other description has left some monument, either of state or beneficence, behind him. Were we to be driven out of India this day, nothing would remain to tell that it To 376 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. i784. 929. To Richard Clark. [London], January 27, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 258. 930. Dear Sir, '^^ ^^- Heberden '. When you favoured me with your last visit, you left me full of cheerfulness and hope. But my Distemper prevails, and my hopes sink, and dejection oppresses me. I entreat you to come again to me and tell me if any hope of amendment remains and by what medicines or methods it may be promoted. Let mc see you, dear Sir, as soon as you can. I am, Sir, Your most obliged and most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Bolt-court, Fleet Street, Feb. 6, 1784. 931. Dear Madam, To Mrs. Thrale ^ London, Feb. 9, 1784. The remission of the cold did not continue long enough to afford me much relief You are, as I perceive, afraid of the opium ; I had the same terrour, and admitted its assistance only under the pressure of insupportable distress, as of an auxiliary too powerful and too dangerous. But in this pinching season I cannot live without it ; and the quantity which I take is less than it once was. My physicians flatter me, that the season is a great part of my disease ; and that when warm weather restores perspiration, this watery disease will evaporate. I am at least willing to flatter myself. I have been forced to sit up many nights by an obstinate had been possessed during the in- sion of the Rev. C. G. Andrews, of glorious period of our dominion, by Wouldhain Rectory, Rochester, a anything better than the ouran- great-grandson of Dr. Heberden. outang or the tiger.' lb. p. 1333. = Piozzi Letters, ii. 34S. ' P>om the original in the posses- sleeplesness, Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. Tlirale^ Z17 sleeplesness, which makes the time in bed intolerably tedious, and which continues my drowsiness the following day. Besides, I can sometimes sleep erect, when I cannot close my eyes in a recumbent posture. I have just bespoke a flannel dress, which I can easily slip off and on, as I go into bed, or get out of it. Thus pass my days and nights in morbid wakefulness, in unseasonable sleepiness, in gloomy solitude, with unwelcome visitors, or un- grateful exclusions, in variety of wretchedness. But I snatch every lucid interval ', and animate myself with such amusements as the time offers. One thing which I have just heard, you will think to surpass expectation. The Chaplain of the factory at Petersburg relates, that the Rambler is now, by the command of the Empress, trans- lating into Russian ' ; and has promised when it is printed to send me a copy. ' Johnson gives in his Dictio7iary ex- amples of lucid interval from Bacon, Dryden, The Taller, and Bentley. He defines it 'bright with the radiance of intellect ; not darkened with madness.^ Gibbon tells how he was sent to school ' in a lucid interval of comparative health.' Misc. Works, i. 31. ^ The Chaplain was the Rev. William Tooke, author of A viezv of the Russian Empire during the Reign of Catherine II. Nichols introduced him to Johnson, and heard him tell him that ' translations of the Rambler and of Blackstone's Commentaries had been made into the Russian language by the especial command of the Empress.' Nichols's Lit. Anec, ii. 553. Three months later, at the Essex-Head Club, ' Johnson called to us,' writes Boswell, 'with a sudden air of exultation, as the thought started into his mind, " O ! Gentle- men, I must tell you a very great thing. The Empress of Russia has ordered the Rambler \.o be translated into the Russian language, so I shall be read on the banks of the \^^ol^a. Horace boasts that his fame would extend as far as the banks of the Rhone ; now the Wolga is farther from me than the Rhone was from Horace." Boswell. " You must certainly be pleased with this, Sir." Johnson. " I am pleased, Sir, to be sure. A man is pleased to find he has succeeded in that which he has endeavoured to do." ' Life, iv. 276. In this he was mistaken. Rasselas was translated into Russian in 1795, but the Rambler remains untrans- lated, lb. vi. p. Ixiv. Among the subscribers to Mickle's Lusiad published in 1776 I find ' Basilius Nitikin, Esq., Gent, of Russia, St. Mary Hall, Oxford, and Mr. Prochore Suvoroff, Gent, of Russia, Queen's College, Oxford.' Johnson defines Factory as ' i. A house or district inhabited by traders in a distant country. 2. The traders embodied in one place.' Its modern sense of a manufactory is not given. Manufactory is not in his Dictionary. In the Gentle}iian''s Magazine for 1766, p. 385, where mention is made of the British Factory, the town is Grant, 378 To the Reverend Dr. Ha7iiilton. [a.d. i784. Grant, O Lord, that all who shall read my pages, may become more obedient to thy laws ' ; and when the wretched writer shall appear before thee, extend thy mercy to him, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen. j ^^^ Madam, Your, &c., ■Sam: Johnson. 932. To James Boswell. [London], February ii, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 259. 933. To THE Reverend Dr. Hamilton ^ Sir, Bolt Court, Feb. 11, 1784. My physicians endeavour to make me believe that I shall sometime be better qualified to receive visits from men of ele- gance and civility like yours. Mrs. Pelle shall wait upon you, and you will judge what will be proper for you to do. I once more return you my thanks, ^"^ ^"^' Sir, &c., Sam: Johnson. 934. Madam, To Mrs. Rogers 3. A very dangerous and enervaiting \sic\ distemper admonishes me to make my will. One of my cares is for poor Phebe Heme, called, as Johnson calls it, Peters- burg and not St. Petersburg. See also ib., p. 337. ' In his last Rambler he says : — ' It has been my principal design to inculcate wisdom or piety. ... I shall never envy the honours which wit and learning obtain in any other cause, if I can be numbered among the writers who have given ardour to virtue and confidence to truth.' ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 758. For Dr. Hamilton see ante, ii. 296. ^ First published in Notes and Queries, 4th S. v. 442. Compared by me with the original in the posses- sion of the Rev. Edward B. Edgell, of Bromham Rectory, Chippenham. See afite, ii. 194, 206, for Johnson's Letters to Mrs. [Miss] Prowse, who had subsequently married the Rev. J. M. Rogers, about Phebe or Eliza- beth Heme, a lunatic. to Aetat. 74. J To MtS, RogCTS. 379 to whom your worthy Mother left so kind a legacy. When I am gone who shall pay the rest of her maintenance ? I have not much to leave, but if you, Madam, will be pleased to undertake it, I can leave you an hundred pounds. But I am afraid that is hardly an equivalent, for my part has commonly amounted to twelve pounds or more. The payment to the house is eight shilling \sic\ a week, and some cloaths \sic\ must be had how- ever few or coarse. Be pleased. Madam, to let me know your resolution on my proposal, and write soon, for the time may be very short '. I am, Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Bolt Court, Fleet Street, Feb. 17, 1784. 935. To Mrs. Porter. [London], February 23, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 261. 936. To James Boswell. London, February 27, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 261. ' This letter shows by the hand- \sic\ of ^23, instead of that we now writing how ill Johnson was. He did pay her which will make a certain not complete his will till December provision to her in case of accident 8, five days before his death. Mrs. to us. I name him instead of myself Rogers sent the following answer : — as all I am entitled to of course is ^a 'Sir, — I received your Letter his, and every business more easily yesterday with the most sincere con- settled by him \sic\. In case you cam, I hope it will please God yet to should approve of this to save time prolong a Life so valuable to the and trouble, the necessary descrip- publick as well as to your private tion will be the Revd. John Methuen Friends ; in the mean time your kind Rogers of Berkley, Somerset. I beg and generous desire to provide for leave to add our good wishes and to those that mustexperience such a loss, subscribe myself Sir, ought I am sure to be complyed \sic\ ' Your faithful and with and Mr. Rogers desires me to * Obedient Servant, inform you that he will accept of the ' Mary Rogers.' hundred pounds, and will so far be Endorsed : — answerable for Mrs. Hearne's main- ' Dr. Johnson's Letter and my tenance as to secure to her an annuitty answer. February 1 784. ' To 380 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. i784. 837. To James Boswell. [London], March 2, 1784. Published in the Life^ iv. 262. 938. To Mrs. Thrale'. Madam, London, March 10, 1784. You know I never thought confidence with respect to futurity any part of the character of a brave, a wise, or a good man. Bravery has no place where it can avail nothing ; wisdom impresses strongly the consciousness of those faults, of which it is itself perhaps an aggravation ; and goodness, always wishing to be better, and imputing every deficience to criminal negligence, and every fault to voluntary corruption, never dares to suppose the condition of forgiveness fulfilled, nor what is wanting in the crime supplied by penitence. This is the state of the best, but what must be the condition of him whose heart will not suffer him to rank himself among the best, or among the good ? Such must be his dread of the approaching trial, as will leave him little attention to the opinion of those whom he is leaving for ever ; and the serenity that is not felt, it can be no virtue to feign ^. The sarcocele ran off long ago, at an orifice made for mere experiment. The water passed naturally, by God's mercy, in a manner of which Dr. Heberden has seen but few examples-^. The ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 350. Life, iv. 395. Hawkins says that Mrs. Thrale wrote to Miss Burney calling on Johnson about this time on February 18 : — 'Johnson is in a he 'found him labouring under great sad way doubtless ; yet he may still dejection of mind. With a look that with care last another twelvemonth, cut me to the heart he told me that and every week's existence is gain to he had the prospect of death before him who, like good Hezekiah, wearies him, and that he dreaded to meet Heaven with entreaties for life. I his Saviour He uttered this wrote him a very serious letter the passionate exclamation : — " Shall I other day.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, who have been a teacher of others ii. 305. She had much better have myself be a castaway ?" ' Hawkins's gone and ' exchanged confidence by Johnson, p. 564. the fireside ' with him. ^ Boswell, who came up to London ^ Boswell quotes this passage. early in May, writes: — ' One morning chirurgeon Aetat. 74.] To MrS. PortCT. 38 1 chirurgeon ' has been employed to heal some excoriations ; and four out of five are no longer under his cure. The physician laid on a blister, and I ordered, by their consent, a salve ; but neither succeeded, and neither was very easily healed. I have been confined from the fourteenth of December, and know not when I shall get out ; but I have this day dressed me, as I was dressed in health. Your kind expressions gave me great pleasure ; do not reject me from your thoughts. Shall we ever exchange confidence by the fireside again ^ ? I hope dear Sophy is better ; and intend quickly to pay my debt to Susy. -, -^^ a ^ 1 am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 939. To Mrs. Porter ^. My dearest Love, Bolt-coun, loth March, 1784. I will not suppose that it is for want of kindness that you did not answer my last letter ; and I therefore write again to tell you that I have, by God's great mercy, still continued to grow better. My asthma is seldom troublesome, and my dropsy when I found him alone, he com- that on that day ' he had ordered municated to me, with solemn Frank not to admit any one to him, earnestness, a very remarkable cir- and, the better to enforce the charge, cumstance which had happened in had added these awful words : — "For the course of his illness, when he was your master is preparing himself to much distressed by the dropsy. He die.'" Y{^.^V\x^€ ?, Johnson, p. 565. had shut himself up, and employed ' Ante, ii. i, n. 4. a day in particular exercises of re- ^ A few days later Mrs. Thrale ligion, — fasting, humiliation, and wrote from Bath to Miss Burney : — prayer. On a sudden he obtained ' My going to London would be a extraordinary relief, for which he dreadful expense, and bring on a looked up to Heaven with grateful thousand inquiries and inconveni- devotion. He made no direct in- ences — visits to Johnson and from ference from this fact ; but from his Cator [one of Mr. Thrale's executors]; manner of telling it, I could perceive and where must I live for the time that it appeared to him as something too?' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 307. more than an incident in the common ^ First published in Croker's Bos- course of events.' Life, iv. 271. well, page 749. Hawkins says that Johnson told him has 382 To Mrs. Gastrell and Miss Aston, [a.d. i784. has ran itself almost away, in a manner which my physician says is very uncommon. I have been confined from the 14th of December, and shall not soon venture abroad ; but I have this day dressed myself as I was before my sickness. If it be inconvenient to you to write, desire Mr. Pearson to let me know how you do, and how you have passed this long winter. I am now not without hopes that we shall once more see one another. Make my compliments to Mrs. Cobb and Miss Adey, and to all my friends, particularly to Mr. Pearson. I am, my dear. Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 840. To Mrs. Gastrell and Miss Aston \ Dear Ladies, The kind and speedy answer with which you favoured me to my last letter, encourages me to hope, that you will be glad to hear again that my recovery advances. My Disorders are an Asthma and Dropsy. The Asthma gives me no great trouble when I am not in motion, and the water of the dropsy has passed away in so happy a manner, by the Goodness of God, as Dr. Heberden declares himself not to have known more than four times in all his practice. I have been confined to the house from December the fourteenth, and shall not venture out till the weather is settled, but I have this day dressed myself as before I became ill. Join with me in returning thanks, and pray for me that the time now granted me may not be ill spent. Let me now, dear Ladies, have some account of you. Tell me how the \sic\ You, have endured this long and sharp winter^, and ' First published in Croker's Bos- many places even into the farm-yards, well^ page 750. Corrected by me where they have done much mischief, from the original in Pembroke The northern seas too, if the reports College Library. from Brest be true, have felt the ^ In the GentletnatCs Magazme for unusual rigour of the season. Be- 1784, p. 306, under date of March 16 tween Quimperley and Lauvau 33 it is stated that in France 'the whales have been taken.' weather has driven the wolves in gives Aetat. 74.] To Mts. Thvale. 383 gives [jzV] me hopes that we may all meet again with kindness and cheerfulness. I am, Dear Ladies, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. March 11, 1784. 941. To Mrs. Thrale^ Dear Madam, London, March 16, 1784. I am so near to health, as a month ago I despaired of being. The dropsy is almost wholly run away, and the asthma, unless irritated by cold, seldom attacks me. How I shall bear motion I do not yet know. But though I have little of pain, I am wonderfully weak. My muscles have almost lost all their spring ; but I hope that warm weather, when it comes, will re- store me. More than three months have I now been confined. But my deliverance has been very extraordinary. Of one thing very remarkable I will tell you. For the asthma, and perhaps other disorders, my physicians have advised the frequent use of opiates. I resisted them as much as I could ; and complained that it made me almost delirious. This Dr. Heberden seemed not much to heed ; but I was so weary of it, that I tried, when I could not wholly omit it, to diminish the dose, in which, contrarily to the known custom of the takers of opium, and beyond what it seemed reasonable to expect, I have so far succeeded, that having begun with three grains, a large quantity, I now appease the paroxysm with a quarter of an ounce of dia- codium ^, estimated an equivalent only to half a grain ; and this quantity it is now eight days since I took. That I may send to Mrs. Lewis ^, for when I shall venture out I do not know, you must let me know where she may be found, which you omitted to tell me. I hope my dear Sophy will go on recovering. But methinks ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 352. Dean of Ossory, who married one of ^ 'The syrup of poppies.' John- Johnson's friends. Miss Cotterel. ^«/£ son's Dictionary. ii. 310, n. i, and/^J-/", p. 393. ^ The wife or widow of John Lewis, Miss 384 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1784. Miss Thrale rather neglects me ; suppose she should try to write me a little Latin letter. Do you however write to me often, and write kindly ; perhaps we may sometime see each other. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 942. To James Boswell. London, March 18, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 264. 943. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Madam London, March 20, 1784. Your last letter had something of tenderness. The accounts which you have had of my danger and distress were I suppose not aggravated. I have been confined ten weeks with an asthma and dropsy. But I am now better. God has in his mercy granted me a reprieve ; for how much time his mercy must determine. On the 1 9th of last month I evacuated twenty pints of water, and I think I reckon exactly; from that time the tumour has subsided, and I now begin to move with some freedom. You will easily believe that I am still at a great distance from health ; but I am, as my chirurgeon expressed it, amazingly better. Heberden seems to have great hopes. Write to me no more about dying with a grace ; when you feel what I have felt in approaching eternity — in fear of soon hearing the sentence of which there is no revocation, you will know the folly - ; my wish is, that you may know it sooner. The distance between the grave and the remotest point of human longevity, is but a very little ; and of that little no path is certain. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 354. every minute may divide, can cast his - ' If he who considers himself as eyes round him without shuddering suspended over the abyss of eternal with horror, or panting for security ; perdition only by the thread of life, what can he judge of himself, but that which must soon part by its own he is not yet awakened to sufficient weakness, and which the wing of conviction ?&c.' The Ra7nblc}-,'^o.\\o. You Aetat. 74.] To Miss Susy Thrale. 85 You knew all this, and I thought that I knew it too ; but I know it now with a new conviction '. May that new con- viction not be vain ! I am now cheerful ; I hope this approach to recovery is a token of the Divine mercy. My friends continue their kindness. I give a dinner to-morrow. Pray let me know how my dear Sophy goes on. I still hope that there is in her fits^ more terrour than danger. But I hope, however it be, that she will speedily recover. I will take care to pay Miss Susy her letter. God bless you all. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 944. To Miss Susy Thrale ^. My dearest Miss Susy, London, Mar. 25, 1784. Since you are resolved to stand it out, and keep nmm till you have heard from me, I must at last comply; and indeed compliance costs me now no trouble, but as it irritates a cough, which I got, as you might have done, by standing at an open window * ; and which has now harassed me many days, and is too strong for diacodium, nor has yet given much way to opium itself. However, having been so long used to so many worse things, I mind it but little. I have not bad nights ; and my stomach has never failed me. But when I shall go abroad again, I know not. With Mr. Herschel it will certainly be very right to cultivate ' Cowper, whose mind took a deeper gloom from religion than even Johnson's, wrote on May 10 to the Rev. John Newton : — ' We rejoice in the account you give us of Dr. Johnson. His conversion will indeed be a singularproofof theomnipotence of Grace ; and the more singular, the more decided.' Southey's Cowper, XV. 150. - She was hysterical. Aiite, ii. 360-1. VOL. IL C C ^ Piozzi Letfet's, ii. 356. " Boswell, writing of Johnson's ' particularities ' eleven years earlier, says : — ' He sets open a window in the coldest day or night, and stands be- fore it. It may do with his consti- tution ; but most people, amongst whom I am one, would say, with the frogs in the fable, " This may be sport to you ; but it is death to us." ' Lz/e, v. 306. an 386 To Miss Susy Thrale. [A.D. 1784, an acquaintance ; for he can show you in the sky what no man before him has ever seen, by some wonderful improvements which he has made in the telescope '. What he has to show is indeed a long way off, and perhaps concerns us but little ; but all truth is valuable, and all knowledge is pleasing in its first effects, and may be subsequently useful. Of whatever we see we always wish to know ; always congratulate ourselves when we know that of which we perceive another to be ignorant. Take therefore all opportunities of learning that offer themselves, however remote the matter may be from common life or common conversation''. Look in Herschel's telescope; go into a chy- mist's laboratory; if you see a manufacturer at work, remark his operations. By this activity of attention, you will find in every place diversion and improvement ■^. Now dear Sophy is got well, what is it that ails my mistress ? She complains, and complains, I am afraid, with too much cause ; but I know not distinctly what is her disorder *. I hope that time and a quiet mind will restore her. I am, my dearest, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' Horace Walpole wrote on July 4, 1785 : — ' Mr. Herschel has discovered that the Milky Way is not only a mob of stars, but that there is another dairy of them still farther off, whence I conclude comets are nothing but pails returning from milking, instead of balloons filled with inflammable air, which must by this time have made terrible havoc in such thickets of worlds, if at all dangerous.' Letters, viii. 569. Miss Burney, who met Herschel in 1786, says: — 'He has not more fame to awaken curiosity than sense and modesty to gratify it. . . . He has discovered 1,500 uni- verses.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, iii. 129, 262. * * It is evident that the earliest searchers after knowledge must have proposed knowledge only as their reward, and that science, though perhaps the nursling of interest, was the daughter of curiosity.' The Ra?nb/er, No. 103. ' Sir,' (said Dr. Johnson) 'a desire of knowledge is the natural feeling of mankind ; and every human being, whose mind is not debauched, will be willing to give all that he has to get knowledge.' Life, i. 458. ■^ ' I have enlarged my notions,' he recorded, after seeing some iron and copper-works. Life, v. 442. In look- ing over the silk-mill at Derby he taught Boswell ' not to think with a dejected indifference of the works of art.' LO. iii. 164. "* Miss Burney wrote in the previous November : — ' Dr. Pepys had a long private conference with me concern- ing Mrs. Thrale, with whose real state To Aetat. 74.] To John Nichols. 87 945. To Bennet Langton. [London], March 27, 1784. Published in X\\q. Life, iv. 267. 946. To James Boswell. London, March 30, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 265. 947. To OziAS Humphry. [London], April 5, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 268. 948. To Bennet Langton. April 8, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 267. 949. To OziAS Humphry. [London], April 10, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 269. 950. To ToHN Nichols '. . ., ^r, Sir, ^ April 12, 1784. I have sent you inclosed a very curious proposal from Mr. Hawkins, the son of Sir John Hawkins, who, I believe, will take of health he is better acquainted than any body, and sad indeed was all that he said. ... I am sorry not to be more explicit. I can only now tell you that I love Mrs. Thrale with a never-to- cease afifection, and pity her more than ever I pitied any human being ; and, if I did not blame her, I could, 1 should, I believe, almost die for her.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 284. Mrs. Piozzi, writing of this time, says :— ' Insults at home, and spiteful expressions in every letter from the guardians broke my spirits quite C down ; and letters from my grieving lover, when they did come, helped to render my life miserable.' Hayward's Piossi, i. 276. Those who were 'at home ' were her daughters, and among her guardians was Johnson, in whose letters not a single ' spiteful expression ' has been seen. ^ First published in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, ix. 35. The work which John Sidney Hawkins proposed to edit was George Ruggle's Ignoramus. ' He has been fortunate enough,' writes c 2 care o 88 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. 1784. care that whatever his son promises shall be performed. If you are inclined to publish this compilation, the editor will agree for an edition on the following terms, which I think liberal enough. That you shall print the book at your own charge. That the sale shall be wholly for your benefit till your expenses are repaid ; except that at the time of publication you shall put into the hands of the editor, without price, . . . copies for his friends. That, when you have been repaid, the profits arising from the sale of the remaining copies shall be divided equally between you and the editor. That the edition shall not comprise fewer than five hundred. I am. Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 951. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor. London, April 12, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 270. 952. To Bennet Langton. [London], April 13, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 268. 953. To Mrs. Thrale\ Dear Madam, London, April 15, 1784. Yesterday I had the pleasure of giving another dinner to the remainder of the old club ^. We used to meet weekly about the year fifty, and we were as cheerful as in former times ; only I could not make quite so much noise ; for since the paralytick affliction, my voice is sometimes weak. Metcalf and Crutchley, without knowing each other, are both Dr. Lort, 'to be in possession of the Hist., vii. 473. His edition was Italian play of liaptista Porta, whence published in 1787. Ruggle is said to have borrowed his ' Piozzi Letters, ii, 361. design, and which was Ruggle's own - Ante, ii. 364. ' We were,' says copy. Farmer hunted this out among Hawkins, 'very cheerfully enter- some literary lumber thrown aside in tained by him.' \{2:^\ivn.€% Johnson, Clare Hall Library.' Nichols's Lit. p. 563. members Aetat. 74.] To Ah's. Tlirale. 89 members of parliament for Horsham in Sussex. Mr. Cator is chosen for Ipswich '. But a sick man's thoughts soon turn back upon himself. I am still very weak, though my appetite is keen, and my digestion potent ; and I gratify myself more at table than ever I did at my own cost before. I have now an inclination to luxury which even your table did not excite ; for till now my talk was more about the dishes than my thoughts. I remember you com- mended me for seeming pleased with my dinners when you had reduced your table ; I am able to tell you with great veracity, that I never knew when the reduction began, nor should have known that it was made, had not you told me. I now think and consult to-day what I shall eat to-morrow. This disease likewise will I hope be cured ^. For there are other things, how different ! which ought to predominate in the mind of such a man as I : but in this world the body will have its part ; and my hope is, that it shall have no more. My hope but not my con- fidence ; I have only the timidity of a Christian to determine, not the wisdom of a Stoick to secure me. I hope all my dears are well. They should not be too nice in requiring letters. If my sweet Oueeney writes more letters like her last, when franks come in again I will correct them and return them ^ I am. Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. ' For Metcalfe see rt;«/^, ii. 345, and for Crutchley, ii. 12S, 11. 4. Cator was declared 'not duly elected.' Pari. Hist., xxiv. 789. = Boswell dined with Johnson a few weeks later at General Paoli's. ' There was a variety of dishes much to his taste, of all which he seemed to me to eat so much, that I was afraid he might be hurt by it ; and I whispered to the General my fear, and begged he might not press him. " Alas ! (said the General), see how very ill he looks ; he can live but a very short time. Would you refuse any slight gratifications to a man under sentence of death ? There is a humane custom in Italy, by which persons in that melancholy situation are indulged with having whatever they like best to eat and drink, evxn with expensive delicacies." ' Life, iv. 330. Beattie, who dined with him about the same time, said : — ' I verily believe that on Sunday last he ate as much to dinner as I have done in all for these ten days past.' Life of Beattie, ed. 1824, p. 316. ^ There were no franks for there was no Parliament. The old one had To 390 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1784. 954. To Mrs. Thrale \ Dear Madam, London, April 19, 1784. I received in the morning your magnificent fish, and in the afternoon your apology for not sending it. I have invited the Hooles and Miss Burney to dine upon it to-morrow. The club which has been lately instituted is at Sam's ^ ; and there was I when I was last out of the house. But the people whom I mentioned in my letter are the remnant of a little club that used to meet in Ivy Lane about three-and-thirty years ago, out of which we have lost Hawkesworth and Dyer, the rest are yet on this side the grave ^. Our meetings now are serious, and I think on all parts tender. Miss Moore has written a poem called Le Bas Bleu ; which is in my opinion a very great performance ^ It wanders about in manuscript, and surely will soon find its way to Bath. I shall be glad of another letter from my dear Queeney; the former was not much to be censured. The reckoning between me and Miss Sophy is out of my head. She must write to tell me how it stands. been dissolved on March 25 ; the new one met on May 18. Pari. Hist., xxiv. 775. Queeney probably had written in Latin as he had suggested, ante, ii. 384. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 363. ^ The Club met at the Essex Head, ' kept by Samuel Greaves, an old servant of Mr. Thrale's.' Life, iv. 253, and ante, ii. 367. 'Your friend Sam,' Susan Burney called him, writing to Miss Burney. Early Diary of Frances Burney, ii. 267. ^ A7ite, ii. 364, n. 5. * Hannah More, writing in this month, said : — ' I cannot spare time to write another word, as I am very busy copying the Bas Bleu for the king who desires to have it. Did I tell you I went to see Dr. Johnson ? He said there was no name in poetry that might not be glad to own it. You cannot imagine how I stared ; all this from Johnson, that parsi- monious praiser. I told him I was delighted at his approbation ; he answered quite characteristically: — " And so you may, for I give you the opinion of a man who does not rate his judgment in these things very low, I can tell you.'" H. More's Memoirs, i. 319. Horace Walpole wrote to thank her for ' her charming and very genteel poem.' I^etters, viii. 475. See also Life, iv. 108. The poem is so little known that I will quote a few lines as specimens : — ' Or how Aspasia's parties shone The first Bas-bleu at Athens known. 'Hail, conversation, heav'nly fair, Thou bliss of life, and balm of care ! I am Aetat. 74.] To Airs. Thrale. 391 if *- ■* * * I am sensible of the ease that your repayment of Mr. has given ' ; you felt yourself gaiee by that debt ; is there an English word for it ? As you do not now use your books, be pleased to let Mr. Cator know that I may borrow what I want. I think at present to take only Calmet -, and the Greek Anthology. When I lay sleepless, I used to drive the night along by turning Greek epigrams into Latin. I know not if I have not turned a hundred ^. It is time to return you thanks for your present. Since I was sick, I know not if I have not had more delicacies sent me than I had ever seen till I saw your table. It was always Dr. Heberden's enquiry, whether my appetite for food continued. It indeed never failed me ; for he con- sidered the cessation of appetite as the despair of nature yielding up her power to the force of the disease. I am. Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. Call forth the long-forgotten know- ledge Of school, of travel, and of college. For thee, best solace of his toil, The sage consumes his midnight oil ; And keeps late vigils to produce Materials for thy future use.' 1. 232. * * * * Then speaking of the traveller she continues : — 'For this he bids his home farewell, The joy of seeing is to tell. Trust me, he never would have stirred Were he forbid to speak a word ; And Curiosity would sleep. If her own secrets she must keep.' 1. 256. ' ' My uncle's widow, Lady Salus- bury,' writes Mrs. Piozzi, ' had threatened to seize upon my Welsh estate if I did not repay her money, lent by Sir Thomas Salusbury to my father This debt not having been cancelled stood against me as heiress. I had been forced to borrow from the ladies ; and Mr. Crutchley, when I signed my mortgage to them for ^7,000, said : — " Now, Madam, call your daughters in and thank them ; make them your best curtsey (with a sneer) for keeping you out of a gaol." He added ^500 or i^8oo more, and I paid that off as alluded to ; but Dr. Johnson knew how I was distressed, and you see how even he had been writing ! ! ' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 276. - Probably Augustin Cahiiet's Dic- tionary of the Bible. ^ ' During his sleepless nights he amused himself by translating into Latin verse, from the Greek, many of the epigrams in the Anthologia. These translations, with some other poems by him in Latin, he gave to his friend Mr. Langton, who, having To )92 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1784. 955. To Mrs. Thrale'. London, April 21, 1784. Dear Madam, I make haste to send you intelligence, which, if I do not still flatter myself, you will not receive without some degree of pleasure. After a confinement of one hundred twenty-nine days, more than the third part of a year, and no inconsiderable part of human life, I this day returned thanks to God in St. Clement's church, for my recovery ; a recovery, in my seventy-fifth year, from a distemper which few in the vigour of youth are known to surmount ; a recovery, of which neither myself, my friends, nor my physicians, had any hope ; for though they flattered me with some continuance of life, they never supposed that I could cease to be dropsical. The dropsy however is quite vanished, and the asthma so much mitigated, that I walked to-day with a more easy respiration than I have known, I think, for perhaps two years past. I hope the mercy that lengthens my days, will assist me to use them well. The Hooles, Miss Burney, and Mrs. Hall (Wesley's sister), feasted yesterday with me very cheerfully on your noble salmon^. Mr. Allen could not come, and I sent him a piece, and a great tail is still left. Dr. Brocklesby forbids the club at present, not caring to ven- ture the chillness of the evening ; but I purpose to shew myself on Saturday at the Academy's feast. I cannot publish my return to the world more effectually ; for, as the Frenchman says, tout le moiide sy trouvera. For this occasion I ordered some cloaths ; and was told by the taylor, that when he brought me a sick dress, he never added a few notes, sold them to the ^ 'The day,' writes Miss Burney, booksellers for a small sum, to be ' was tolerable ; but Dr. Johnson is given to some of Johnson's relations, never his best when there is nobody which was accordingly done ; and to draw him out ; but he was much they are printed in the collection of pleased with my coming, and very his works.' Life, iv. 384, and Works, kind indeed.' Mme. D'Arblay's i. 175. Diary, ii. 310. ' Fiozzi Letters, ii. 365. expected Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. Tlirale. 393 expected to make me any thing of any other kind. My re- covery is indeed wonderful. I am, dear Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 956. To Mrs. Thrale '. Madam, London, April 26, 1784. On Saturday I shewed myself again to the living world at the Exhibition; much and splendid was the company: but like the Doge of Genoa at Paris ^, I admired nothing but myself. I went up all the stairs to the pictures without stopping to rest or to breathC;, ' In all the madness of superfluous health ^.' The Prince of Wales had promised to be there ; but when we had waited an hour and half, sent us word that he could not come 1 My cough still torments me ; but it is only a cough, and much less oppressive than some of former times, but it disturbs my nights. Mrs. Davenant called to pay me a guinea, but I gave two for you. Whatever reasons you have for frugality, it is not worth while to save a guinea a-year by withdrawing it from a public charity. I know not whether I told you that my old friend Mrs. Cot- terel, now no longer Miss, has called to see me. Mrs. Lewis is not well ^ Mrs. Davenant says, that you regain your health. That you regain your health is more than a common recovery; because I ' Pioszi Letters, ii. 367. ^ At Versailles. Ante, i. 270, «, 2. ^ Pope. Essay on Man, iii. 3. ** He who was slowly to ripen into the First Gentleman in Europe was but twenty-one when he treated men like Johnson and Reynolds with this insolence. Reynolds exhibited six- teen pictures, among them the portraits of Fox, and Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse. Leslie and Taylor's Reynolds, ii. 436. ^ Miss Cotterel, like Miss Carter, Miss Porter, Miss Aston, and Miss Reynolds, having reached a certain age had taken the title of Mrs. Mrs. Lewis was her sister. Ante, ii. 383, ;/. 3. infer, 394 To Mrs. TJirale. [A.D. 17P4. infer, that you regain your peace of mind. Settle your thoughts and controul your imagination, and think no more of Hesperian felicity. Gather yourself and your children into a little system, in which each may promote the ease, the safety, and the pleasure of the rest '. Mr. Howard called on me a few days ago, and gave [me] the new edition, much enlarged, of his Account of Prisons ^. He has been to survey the prisons on the continent ; and in Spain he tried to penetrate the dungeons of the Inquisition, but his curiosity was very imperfectly gratified. At Madrid they shut him quite out ; at Villadolid they shewed him some publick rooms. While I am writing, the post has brought your kind letter. Do not think with dejection of your own condition ; a little patience will probably give you health, it will certainly give you riches, and all the accommodations that riches can procure ^. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. ' Mrs. Piozzi has on this the follow- ing marginal note : — ' Mrs. Davenant neither knew nor cared, as she wanted her brother, Harry Cotton, to marry Lady Keith [Queeney, married in 1808 to Admiral Lord Keith], and I offered my estate with her. Miss Thrale said she wished to have nothing to do either with my family or my fortune. They were all cruel and all insulting.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 321. Mme. D'Arblay, to whom the secret of Mrs. Thrale's at- tachment had been confided, says that ' Miss Thrale's conduct, through scenes of dreadful difficulty, notwith- standing her extreme youth, was even exemplary.' Memoirs of Dr. Burfiey, ii. 246 . "" In the Sale Catalogue of John- son's Library, Lot 286 is Howard's State of the Prisons in England and Wales, 1784. The first edition was published in 1777. Erasmus Darwin, addressing Be- nevolence, tells how — 'From reahn to realm, with cross or crescent crown'd, Where'er Mankind and Misery are found. O'er burning sands, deep waves, or wilds of snow. Thy Howard journeying seeks the house of woe.' The Botanic Garden, vol. ii, canto 2, 1. 439. Horace Walpole speaks of Howard as ' the apostle of humanity.' Letters, ix. 177. ^ For accommodation see ante, ii. 367, n. 5. Boswell records that when they were looking at Lord Scarsdale's seat at Keddlestone he remarked : — ' " One should think that the proprietor of all this niitst be happy." " Nay, Sir," said Johnson ; " all this excludes but one evil — poverty."' Life, iii. 160. In The Rambler, No. 53, Johnson says that To Aetat. 74.] To Miss Reynolds. 195 957. To Mrs. Porter '. Mv Dear, London, April 26, 1784. I write to you now, to tell 3^ou that I am so far recovered that on the 21st I went to church to return thanks, after a con- finement of more than four long months. My recovery is such as neither myself nor the physicians at all expected, and is such as that very few examples have been known of the like. Join with me, my dear love, in returning thanks to God. Dr. Vyse ^ has been with (me) this evening ; he tells me that you likewise have been much disordered, but that you are now better. I hope that we shall some time have a cheerful inter- view. In the mean time let us pray for one another- I am, Madam, Your humble servant, Sam : Johnson. 958. To Miss Reynolds^. Dear Madam, Bolt-court, 30th April, 1784. Mr. Allen ** has looked over the papers, and thinks that one hundred copies will come to five pounds. Fifty will cost 4/. \os., and five and twenty will cost 4/. ^s. It seems therefore scarcely worth while to print fewer than a hundred. Suppose you printed two hundred and fifty at 6/. icj-., and, without my name ^ tried the sale, which may be secretly done. You would then see the opinion of the public without hazard, if ' wealth is chiefly to be valued as it secures us from poverty ; for it is more useful for defence than acquisi- tion, and is not so much able to procure good as to exclude evil.' ' First published in Malone's Bos- well. ^ Ante^ ii. 14. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 753. For Miss Reynolds's writings see mtte, ii. 180, 223, 249. "* Mr. Allen, Johnson's landlord, was a printer. ^ I conjecture that Johnson wrote * without any name.' His Letter of May 28, fast, p. 398, shows that she laid aside the thought of printing. nobody 96 To Mrs. TIiT-ale. [A.D. 1784. nobody knows but I. If anybody else is in the secret, you shall not have my consent to venture. I am, dear Madam, Your most affectionate and most humble servant, Sam: Johnson. 959. To Miss Jane Langton. [London], May lo, 1784. Published in the Life^ iv. 271. 960. To Mrs. Thrale\ Now I am broken loose, my friends seem willing enough to see me. On Monday I dined with Paradise ; Tuesday, Hoole ; Wednesday, Dr. Taylor ; to-day, with Jodrel ; Friday, Mrs. Garrick ; Saturday, Dr. Brocklesby; next Monday, Dilly^. But I do not now drive the world about ; the world drives or ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 369. Johnson does not seem to have known that Mrs. Thrale had spent some days in London early in this month. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 314. ^ Boswell dined with Johnson at Paradise's and at Joddrel's, but was too indolent to record the talk. At Joddrel's was Lord Monboddo, ' who avoided any communication with Dr. Johnson.' Life, iv. 272. At Mrs. Garrick's Johnson met Fanny Burney and Hannah More (ib. p. 275) ; but neither of them gives any account of the evening, though Miss Burney just mentions it. Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 315. Of the dinner at Dr. Brocklesby's Boswell gives some record. Life, iv. 273. Windham also was there, who records in his Diaty, p. 9 : — ' After dinner took Johnson an airing over Blackfriars Bridge, thence to the Club.' The Club was the Essex-Head Club, where, says Windham, 'there were present Boswell, Murphy,Brocklesby, Berry, Mr. Bowles, Hoole and his son, and a son of Dr. Burney, he that was expelled from Cambridge.' This must have been Charles Burney the Greek scholar, who left Cambridge without taking his degree, though the degree of M.A. was conferred on him about thirty years later. Porson told how he had once called on Burney to borrow a book, and not finding him at home carried it off. Burney soon returning, 'pursued him in a chaise, and recovered it. Porson talked of this affair with some bitterness. " Did Burney suppose," he said, " that I meant to play his old tricks ? " (alluding to a well-known circum- stance in the earlier part of Burney's history).' Table Talk of Rogers, P-3I5- Of the talk which Johnson had that evening at the Essex-Head Club Boswell gives some account {Life, iv. 275), and also of the dinner at Dilly's on Monday. Ib. p. 278. draws Aetat. 74.] To Miss Reynolds. 397 draws me \ I am very weak ; the old distress of sleeplessness comes again upon me. I have however one very strong basis of health, an eager appetite and strong digestion. Queeney's letter I expected before now : Susy is likewise in debt. I believe I am in debt to Sophy, but the dear Loves ought not to be too rigorous. Dr. Taylor has taken St. Margaret's, in Westminster, vacant by Dr. Wilson's death ^ : how long he will keep it I cannot guess : it is of no'^reat value, and its income consists much of voluntary contributions. I am, Madam, , Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. London, Thursday, May 13, 1784. You never date fully. 961. Madam, To Miss Reynolds 3. May 28, 1784. You do me wrong by imputing my omission to any captious punctiliousness. I have not yet seen Sir Joshua, and, when ' Johnson perhaps had in mind a line in Dryden's CJiaracter of a Good Parson : — ' And forced himself to drive, but loved to draw.' In speak- ing of Warburton he said : — ' When I read Warburton first and observed his force, and his contempt of man- kind, I thought he had driven the world before him.' Life, v. 93. "" Ante, ii. 158. Dr. Wilson was also Rector of St. Stephen's, Wal- brook. In this church ' he erected a statue to the celebrated female historian [Mrs. Macaulay] while living, which was boarded up till her death by authority of the Spiritual Court.' Gentle)na7i's Magazine, 1784, i. 317. In a small party at the Bishop's Palace in Lichfield Dr. Johnson was asked for * his opinion with respect to the propriety of Dr. Wilson's conduct in putting up this statue. He did not at first hear the question ; on its being repeated by Miss Seward he replied: — "Aye, aye ; poor foolish Wilson ! why, Madam, he was a fool for doing it, and she was a fool for per[mitting it to be done]*." ' British Museum, Add. MSS.i\i^\<^. Horace Walpole speaks of Wilson as ' Mrs. Macaulay's idolater — that dirty disappointed hunter of a mitre, Dr. Wilson.' Letters, vii. 42. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- ivell, page 757. For Johnson as a negotiator with Sir Joshua Reynolds on behalf of Miss Reynolds see a}ite^ ii. 84, n. 2. The MS. is imperfect. I do 398 To Mrs. Thrale. [a.d. 1784. I do see him, I know not how to serve you. When I spoke upon your affairs to him, at Christmas, I received no encourage- ment to speak again. But we shall never do business by letters. We must see one another. I have returned your papers, and am glad that you laid aside the thought of printing them '. I am, Madam, Your most humble servant, Sam : Johnson. 962. To OziAS Humphry. [London], May 31, 1784. Published in the Life^ iv. 269. 963. To Mrs. Thrale ^ Dear Madam, London, May 31, 1784. Why you expected me to be better than I am I cannot imagine : I am better than any that saw me in my illness ever expected to have seen me again. I am however at a great distance from health, very weak and very asthmatick, and troubled with my old nocturnal distresses ; so that I am little asleep in the night, and in the day too little awake. I have one way or other been disappointed hitherto of that change of air, from which I think some relief may possibly be obtained ; but Boswel and I have settled our resolution to go to Oxford on Thursday '. But since I was at Oxford, my convivial friend Dr. Edwards and my learned friend Dr. Wheeler are both dead ■*, and my probabilities of pleasure arc very much diminished. Why, when so many arc taken away, have I been yet spared ! I hope that I may be fitter to die- How long we shall stay at Oxford, or what we shall do when we leave it, neither Bozzy nor I have yet settled ; he is for his ' ^«/^, ii. 395. Li/e,\\. 283—311. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 370. * For Edwards and Wheeler see ^ For the Journey to Oxford see ante, ii. 257, 260, 327. part Aetat. 74.] To the Reverend Dr. Haviilton. 399 part resolved to remove his family to London and try his fortune at the English bar ' : let us all wish him success. Think of me, if you can, with tenderness. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 964. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. [London], June [? i], 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 283. 965. To THE Reverend Dr. Hamilton ^ Sir, [London], June 2, 1784. You do every thing that is liberal and kind. Mrs. Pelle is a bad manager for herself, but I will employ a more skilful agent, one Mrs. Gardiner ^, who will wait on you and employ Pelle's money to the best advantage. Mrs. Gardiner will wait on you. I return you. Sir, sincere thanks for your attention to me. I am ill, but hope to come back better, and to be made better still by your conversation. I am. Sir, &c., Sam: Johnson ^ 966. To Mrs. Thrale^. Dear Madam, London, June 17, 1784. I returned last night from Oxford after a fortnight's abode ' Boswell records a conversation which passed between him and John- son at Oxford on this subject. Life, iv. 309. See also mite, i. 316. To Bishop Percy he wrote from Carlisle on July 8 : — 'I have at length re- solved, with Dr. Johnson's approba- tion, to try my fortune at the English bar, a scheme of which your Lord- ship talked to me in an animating strain when I was hospitably enter- tained by you at this place.' Nichols's Lit. Hist-, vii. 303. - First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 758. For Dr. Hamilton see ante, ii. 296, 2>1^. ^ Ante, i. 156, n. 3. "" In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue of May 10, 1875, Lot 116 is: — 'Brief Autographic Memoranda in Latin and English of Dr.Johnson'sfeeIings,&c.,on theSth, 9th, loth June, 1784. " Very breath- less and dejected," on the first date.' 5 Piozzi Letters, ii, 372. with 400 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1784. with Dr. Adams, who treated me as well as I could expect or wish ; and he that contents a sick man, a man whom it is impossible to please, has surely done his part well ' : I went in the common vehicle with very little fatigue, and came back I think with less '^. My stomach continues good, and according to your advice I spare neither asparagus nor peas -^ and hope to do good execution upon all the summer fruits'*. But my nights are bad, very bad ; ' Boswell quotes this passage, Life, iv. 311. Mr. John Coke Fowler, Resident Magistrate at Swansea, who matriculated at Pembroke College in 1837, tells the following anecdote : — ' The old porter who lived for more than fifty years after Dr. Johnson's last visit to Oxford told me that the Doctor desired to mount the narrow stairs which led to his old rooms. He was then very unwell and infirm. Consequently the porter went behind him up the stairs, and in a manner hardly consistent with dignity applied his strength to that ponderous part of Dr. Johnson's frame which might otherwise have brought him back- wards.' Recollections of Public Men. Published in The Red Dragoti, p. 239- ^ It was on the way down that Johnson scolded the waiter for the roast mutton which was set before the passengers at dinner. Ante, ii. 257, ?t. 3. His conversation in the coach charmed his fellow-travellers, 'two very agreeable ladies from America. "How he does talk!" one of them said to me aside (writes Boswell) ; " Every sentence is an essay." ' Life, iv. 284. ^ Johnson dined one day at the house of \V. J. Mickle, the translator of the Lusiad, who lived at Wheatley, 'a very pretty country place, a few miles from Oxford.' Life, iv. 308. I am informed that ' it is handed down as a tradition among Mickle's descendants that at this dinner Johnson said that his host was the first Scotchman at whose house he had had enough of green pease.' In the Sporting Magazine for October, 1S06, p. 10, the following anecdote is told of this same dinner : — ' A gentle- man of the company said that what- ever genuine patriotism remained in the country was to be found only amongst the Whigs. Johnson asked him if he knew who was the first Whig. The gentleman replied in the negative. " Well then, Sir," said the Doctor, "I'll tell you who he was; his name was Lucifer, and for his patriotism he was kicked out of heaven."' Johnson is described as being ' rather a man of taciturnity,' and as 'putting on his spectacles.' The spectacles throw doubt on the whole story ; perhaps it is nothing but a modification of Johnson's saying ' that the first Whig was the Devil.' Life, iii. 326. '' Johnson wrote on July 20 : — ' My appetite still continues keen enough ; and what I consider as a symptom of radical health, I have a voracious delight in raw summer fruit, of which I was less eager a few years ago.' lb. iv. 353. Sir William Temple, with whose writings he was familiar, says : — ' No part of diet in any season is so healthful, so natural, and so agreeable to the stomach as good and well-ripened fruits. I can say it for myself at least and all my friends that the season of summer fruits is ever the season of health with us.' Temple's fFi9r/'.y, ed. 1757, iii. 236. the Aetat. 74.] To the Revej'eud Dr. Taylor. 401 the asthma attacks me often, and the dropsy is watching an opportunity to return. I hope I have checked it, but great caution must be used, and indeed great caution is not a high price for health or ease. What I shall do next I know not ; all my schemes of rural pleasure have been some way or other disappointed. I have now some thought of Lichfield and Ashbourne. Let me know, dear Madam, your destination '. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 967. e^^^ To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^. When we parted last night, I thought worse of your case, than I think since I have thought longer upon it. Your general distemper is, I think, a hectic fever, for which the bark is proper, and which quietness of mind, and gentle exercise, and fresh air may cure. Your present weakness is the effect of such waste of blood as would weaken a young man in his highest vigour. It might be necessary, but it must sink both your courage and strength. Dr. Nichols ^ hurt himself extremely in his old age by lavish ' It was probably on the very day of his countrymen, a man very low Johnson wrote this letter that Piozzi in his profession.' Life, ii. 354. See in Milan received the letter from Mrs. also Zi^. iii. 163. In the Getitlemati's Thrale's doctor at Bath which brought Magazine, 1785, i. 13, is a Memoir of him back post haste to England. Nicholls where it is stated that on Hayward's Piozzi, i. 277. the death of George II, 'this most ^ I owe the copy of this Letter to skilful physician was superseded to the kindness of Mr. F. Locker-Lamp- make way for one (Sir W. D.) who, son, of Rowfant, Crawley, in whose not long before, had been an army possession is the original. surgeon of the lowest class. By this ^ Frank Nicholls. Johnson speak- exchange the upstart rose to dignity ing of the Earl of Bute's ' undue and riches.' Nicholls a few years partiality for Scotchmen ' said :^ earlier had satirised the Scots in an ' He turned out Dr. Nichols, a very anonymous pamphlet. To ' lavish eminent man, from being physician phlebotomy' he had no doubt re- to the King, to make room for one sorted as a remedy against ' an in- VOL. II. D d phlebotomy. 402 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. [a.d. 1784. phlebotomy. Do not bleed again very soon, and when you can delay no longer be more moderate. I think you do right in going home, and hope you will have an easy and pleasant journey. I am, dear Sir, Yours aiTectionately, Sam : Johnson. Bolt Court, June 19, 1784. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 968. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, It is now Wednesday Evening ", I hope you are lodged easily and safely in Ashbourne. Since we parted I have not been well. I dined on Saturday with Dr. Brocklesby, and was taken ill at his house, but went to the club '. On Monday I was so uneasy that I staid at home. On Tuesday I dined at the club ■*, but was not wxll at night, nor am well to day but hope veterate asthmatic cough ' which carried him ofif in his eightieth year, just as Johnson, under a similar distress, had had taken from him about fifty ounces of blood {ante, ii. 253). W. D. was William Duncan, who in 1764 was made a baronet. He married a sister of the Earl of Thanet. Walpole's Letters, vi. 130, and Gen- tlemarCs Magazine, 1764, p. 399. For Taylor's phlebotomy see atite, ii. 160. ' From the original in the posses- sion of Mr. Alfred H. Huth, of Bolncy House, Ennismore Gardens, London. ^ Boswell had visited Johnson in the morning of this day, after first seeing fifteen men in a batch hanged before Newgate. From the scene of this 'legal massacre '(to use John- son's own words) Bolt Court was distant but a few minutes' walk. Life, iv. 328. ^ The Essex Head Club which met on a Saturday and two evenings be- sides, lb. iv. 254, 275. A7iie, ii. 396, n. 2. •* The Literary Club. ' On Tues- day, June 22,' writes Boswell, ' I dined with him at the Literary Club, the last time of his being in that respectable society. He looked ill ; but had such a manly fortitude, that he did not trouble the company with melancholy complaints. They all shewed evident marks of kind concern about him, with which he was much pleased, and he exerted himself to be as entertaining as his indisposition allowed him.' lb. iv. 326. the Aetat. 74.] To Mvs. Tkrale. 403 the fit is abating. Boswel has a great mind to draw me to Lichfield, and as I love to travel with him, I have a mind to be drawn if I could hope in any short time to come to your house, for Lichfield will, I am afraid, not be a place for long continuance, and, to tell the truth, I am afraid of seeing my self so far from home, as I must return alone '. Sir John Hawkins has just told me that you preached on Sunday with great vigour. You have therefore a great fund of strength left, which I entreat you not to bleed away -. I am, Sir, Yours affectionately, Sam: Johnson. June 23, 1784. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 969 To Mrs. ThraleI Dear Madam, London, June 26, 1784. This morning I saw Mr. Lysons ■* : he is an agreeable young man, and likely enough to do all that he designs. I received him as one sent by you has a right to be received, and I hope he will tell you that he was satisfied ; but the initiatory ^ ' Boswell, who was returning to ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 373. Scotland, no doubt wanted Johnson "* Samuel Lysons, afterwards to accompany him as far as Lichfield. Keeper of the Records in the Tower, Johnson told Mrs. Knowles that 'he then a law-student. 'He made,' was the best travelling companion in writes Mrs. Piozzi, ' my bargain with the world.' Life, iii. 294. At the the bookseller [for the Anecdotes of beginning of the Journey to the Dr. Johnson\, from whom on my Hebrides he praises ' his gaiety of return I received ^300, a sum un- conversation and civility of manners.' exampled in those days for so small Life, v. 52, and ante, i. 291. Had a volume.' Hayward's/*/(?22'z, ii. 126. they gone together a most interesting Lysons, ' though a great friend addition would have been made to of Mrs. Piozzi's, said that Johnson the Life. As it was, Johnson started not only revised throughout her poem less than a fortnight after Boswell. of The Three Warnings, but supplied ^ For Taylor's habit of ' periodical several new lines.' Prior's Malone, bleeding' see Z//^, iii. 152. Perhaps p. 413. Boswell did not know of this. Johnson thought that he himself had Life, ii. 26. bled his strength away by the fifty ^ Itiitiatory is not in Johnson's ounces which he had had taken from Dictionary. him in the spring of 1782. lb. iv. 146. D d 2 conversation 404 To Mrs. Th7'ale. [A.D. 1784, conversation of two strangers is seldom pleasing or instructive to any great degree, and ours was such as other occasions of the same kind produce. A message came to me yesterday to tell me that Macbean, after three days of illness, is dead of a suppression of urine. He was one of those who, as Swift says, stood as a screen between me and deaih\ He has I hope made a good exchange. He was very pious ; he was very innocent ; he did no ill ; and of doing good a continual tenour of distress allowed him few oppor- tunities : he was very highly esteemed in the house ^ Write to me if you can some words of comfort. My dear girls seem all to forget me. I am, Madam, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson ^ ' 'The fools, my juniors by a year. Are tortured with suspense and fear, Who wisely thought my age a screen. When death approached, to stand between.' Oft the Death of Dr. Swift: Swift's Works, ed. 1803, xi. 246. ^ The Charterhouse, of which he was ' a poor brother.' Ante, ii. 213. ^ Insteadof the words of comfort' which he asked for he received in a few days the following letters un- signed. That they were unsigned was clearly intentional. Mrs. Thrale was not yet married to Piozzi, but she wished Johnson to believe, as his answer shows he inclined to believe, that she was married. In publishing the first of the letters — the second she left unpublished— she heads it * Mrs. Piozzi to Dr. Johnson,' as in like manner she heads his letter of July 8, ' Dr. Johnson to Mrs. Piozzi.' ' We were married,' she says, ' in London by the Spanish ambassador's chaplain, and returned hither [to Bath] to be married by Mr. Morgan, of Bath, at St. James's Church, July 25, 1784.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 277. In Jackson's Oxford Journal, for July 31, is the following curious announcement : ' Bath, July 28. Sunday (and not before) was married at St. James's Church in this city, Gabriele Piozzi, Esq., of that Parish to Mrs. Thrale, Widow of Henry Thrale, Esq., of St. Saviour's, South- wark.' The Rev. H. R. Laughton, the Chaplain of the Spanish Chapel, in- forms me that he has examined the records which go back to 1734, but has not discovered any trace of the marriage. 'MRS. PIOZZI TO DR. JOHNSON. * My dear Sir, Bath, June 30. ' The enclosed is a circular letter which I have sent to all the guardians, but our friendship demands somewhat more ; it requires that I should beg To Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. Tkrale. 405 970. Madam, 'To Mrs. Thrale ^ If I interpret your letter right, you are ignominiously your pardon for concealing from you a connexion which you must have heard of by many, but I suppose never believed ^. Indeed, my dear Sir, it was con- cealed only to save us both needless pain ; I could not have borne to reject that counsel it would have killed me to take, and I only tell it you now be- cause all is irrevocably settled, and out of your power to prevent. I will say, however, that the dread of your disapprobation has given me some anxious moments, and though, perhaps, I am become by many privations the most independent woman in the world, I feel as if acting without a parent's consent till you write kindly to Your faithful servant.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 374. 'Sir, Circular. ' As one of the executors of Mr. Thrale's will and guardian to his daughters, I think it my duty to acquaint you that the three eldest left Bath last Friday for their own house at Brighthelmstone in company with an amiable friend. Miss Nicholson, who has sometimes resided with us here, and in whose society they may, I think, find some advantages and certainly no disgrace. I waited on them to Salisbury, Wilton, &c., and offered to attend them to the seaside myself, but they preferred this lady's company to mine, having heard that Mr. Piozzi is coming back from Italy, and judging perhaps by our past friendship and continued correspondence that his return would be succeeded by our marriage. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant. Bath, June 30, 1784.' Miss Nicholson, ' who,' Mrs. Piozzi says, ' has sometimes resided with us here,' was 'directed to her door by Providence' early in the very month in which she wrote this letter. lb. ii. 334. In anotherpassage she writes: — 'Miss Thrale was of age by now, and I left Miss Nicholson, the Bishop's grand- daughter, whom they appeared to like exceedingly, with them, but she soon quitted her post on observing that they gave people to understand she was a cast mistress of dear Piozzi, who never saw her face out of their company, except once at a dinner visit.' lb. i. 275. Miss Thrale was not of age. She was born on Hayward's Piozzi, \. 110. September 17, 1764, and so was only nineteen. Baretti has the following note on Mrs. Thrale's first letter : — ■ ' She was not yet married when she wrote her last letter but one to John- son. This letter of hers is falsified for the purpose of this edition, and the answer to it [Letter 972] is a mere forgery of hers. But this I shall prove in another place.' Johnson's letter was not forged, as Mr. Hay ward saw the original. It was not, however, as it is made to appear by Mrs. Piozzi, an answer to her first letter. ' First published in Hayward's Piozzi, i. III. In the Gentlemaiis Magazine for This line is quoted by Boswell, Life, iv. 339. married 4o6 To Mrs. Tkrale. [a.d. i784. married ; if it is yet undone, let us once ' more talk together. If you have abandoned your children and your religion, God forgive your wickedness ; if you have forfeited your fame and your country, may your folly do no further mischief. If the last act is yet to do, I who have loved you, esteemed you, reverenced you. and served yoti, I who long thought you the first of woman- kind, entreat that, before your fate is irrevocable, I may once more see you. I was, I once was. Madam, most truly yours, July 2, 1784. Sam: Johnson. I will come down if you will permit it^. December, 1784, ii. 893, a spurious printed in Croker's Boswell, p. JJJ. copy of this letter is given — ' an ' ' The four words which I have adumbration ' of it as Johnson, ac- printed in itahcs are indistinctly cording to Hawkins, called it. written, and cannot be satisfactorily Hawkins's y£>/z«j(9«, p. 569. It is re- made out.' Note by Mr. Hay ward. ^ To this letter Mrs. Thrale sent the following answer : — 'Sir, 'July 4, 1784. ' I have this morning received from you so rough a letter in reply to one which was both tenderly and respectfully written, that I am forced to desire the conclusion of a correspondence which I can bear to continue no longer. The birth of my second husband is not meaner than that of my first ; his sentiments are not meaner ; his profession is not mpaner, and his superiority in what he professes acknowledged by all mankind. It is want of fortune then that is ignominious ; the character of the man I have chosen has no other claim to such an epithet. The religion to which he has been always a zealous adherent will, I hope, teach him to forgive insults he has not deserved ; mine will, I hope, enable me to bear them at once with dignity and patience. To hear that I have forfeited my fame is indeed the greatest insult I ever yet received. My fame is as unsullied as snow, or I should think it unworthy of him who must henceforth protect it. I write by the coach the more speedily and effectually to prevent your coming hither. Perhaps by my fame (and I hope it is so) you mean only that celebrity which is a consideration of a much lower kind. I care for that only as it may give pleasure to my husband and his friends. Farewell, dear Sir, and accept my best wishes. You have always com- manded my esteem, and long enjoyed the fruits of a friendship never infringed by one harsh expression on my part during twenty years of familiar talk. Never did I oppose your will, or control your wish ; nor can your unmerited severity itself lessen my regard ; but till you have changed your opinion of Mr. Piozzi let us converse no more. God bless you.' Hay ward's Piozzi, i. iii. In this letter by the use of the word Johnson to believe that she is already husband she evidently wishes to lead married. To Aetat. 74.] To Mrs. TJn-ale. 407 971. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. [London], July 6, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 348. 972. To Mrs. Thrale'. Dear Madam, London, July 8, 1784. What you have done, however I may lament it, I have no pretence to resent, as it has not been injurious to me : I there- fore breathe out one sigh more of tenderness, perhaps useless, but at least sincere "". I wish that God may grant you every blessing, that you may be happy in this world for its short continuance, and eternally happy in a better state ; and whatever I can contribute to your happiness I am very ready to repay, for that kindness which soothed twenty years of a life radically wretched. Do not think slightly of the advice which I now presume to offer. Prevail upon Mr. Piozzi to settle in England ^ : you may Johnson, speaking of her to Miss Burney in the following November, said : — ' If I meet with one of her letters I burn it instantly. I have burnt all I can find.' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. 328. The one just quoted escaped the fire, and being found among his papers was returned by Hawkins, one of his executors, to the writer. Memoirs of Miss Hawkins, i. 66. The other two executors. Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir William Scott, seven years later, talking in Malone's presence, ' concerning that despicable woman, Mrs. Piozzi,' told him of these two letters ' which she had suppressed. She said in hers, as both Sir W. Scott and Sir Joshua agreed, that however she might have disgraced Miss Salusbiiry by marrying the brewer she could not disgrace Mrs. Thrale by marrying Piozzi.' Prior's Malone, p. 412. Johnson praised Reynolds for the truthfulness of his stories (Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 1 16) ; in Scott who became a great Judge we should have looked for accuracy. Yet how wide was their report from the truth ! ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 375. According to the heading there given this letter was addressed ' To Mrs. Piozzi.' Mr. Hayward however says that both this letter and that of the 2nd were addressed, ' To Mrs. Thrale.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 109. Nevertheless with strange careless- ness in printing it he heads it ' To Mrs. Piozzi.' ^ ' How could Johnson have ever written such stuff.?' — Baretti. ^ On this Mrs. Piozzi has the following note : — ' Dr. Johnson's advice corresponded exactly with Mr. Piozzi's intentions. He was im- patient to show Italy to me and vie live 4o8 To Mrs. Thrale. [A.D. 1784. live here with more dignity than in Italy, and with more security : your rank will be higher, and your fortune more under your own eye. I desire not to detail all my reasons, but every argument of prudence and interest is for England, and only some phantoms of imagination ' seduce you to Italy. I am afraid however that my counsel is vain, yet I have eased my heart by giving it. When Queen Mary took the resolution of sheltering herself in England, the Archbishop of St. Andrew's, attempting to dis- suade her, attended on her journey; and when they came to the irremeable^ stream that separated the two kingdoms, walked by her side into the water, in the middle of which he seized her bridle, and with earnestness proportioned to her danger and his own affection pressed her to return. The Queen went forward^. to the Italians, but never meant to forbear bringing his wife home again, and showing he had brought her. Well aware of the bustle his marriage made, it was his most earnest wish that every doubt of his honour and of my happiness should be dispelled ; so that whilst our ladies [her daughters] and Madame D'Arblay, that was Miss Bumey, and Baretti, and all the low Italians of the Hay- market who hated my husband, were hatching stories how he had sold my jointure, had shut me up in a con- vent, &c., we made our journey to our residence in Italy as showy as we possibly could. All the English at every town partook of our hospitality ; the inhabitants came flocking, nothing loth, and we sent presents to our beautiful daughters by every hand that would carry them.' Hayward's Piozzi, i, 275. ' In the opening lines of Rasselas Johnson addresses those ' who pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope.' '^ ' Occupat yEneas aditum custode sepulto, Evaditque celer ripam irreme- abilis unda:.' ' The keeper charm'd, the chief without delay Pass'd on and took the irreme- able way.' Dryden. JE^neid, vi, 424. See ante, i. 130. ^ Mary did not cross the Solway on horseback, but the arm of the sea in a fishing-boat, from Dundrennan in Galloway to Workington. John- son's story, which I did not find in Robertson, Hume,Keith or Anderson, I traced to Adam Blackwood, who gives the following account : — ' Messire Jean Hamilton, Ascheues- que de sainct Andr^, et primat de I'Eglise d'Escosse, home fort aag^, et de longue experience, ne peust jamais trouuer ceste opinion bonne, cognoissant de tout temps I'infidelitd du conseil d'Angleterre. * * * Mais tout cela ne peut oster de la teste de ceste Princesse I'asseurance qu'elle auoit pris aux promesses de sa cousine. Quoy voyant ce venerable Prelat, et qu'clle se precipitoit en un peril tout euident, ainsi qu'cUe se mettoit sur Teau pour dcscendre en cette terra fatalc, il se mit h, genoux, la saisit au corps auec les deux bras, et auec If Aetat. 74.] To the Reverend Dr. Ada?ns. 409 If the parallel reaches thus far, may it go no further. — The tears stand in my eyes. I am going into Derbyshire, and hope to be followed by your good wishes, for I am, with great affection, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. Any letters that come for me hither will be sent me '. [London], July 11, where it is misdated June 11. 973. To James Boswell. 1784. Published in part in the Life, iv. 351, 974. ^ ^ To the Reverend Dr. Adams ^. Dear Sir, I am going into Staffordshire and Derbyshire in quest of some relief^, of which my need is not less than when I was treated at your house with so much tenderness. I have now received the collations for Xenophon, which I have sent you with the letters that relate to them. I cannot at present take any part in the work, but I would rather pay for a larmes luy dist, qu' elle auroit la peine de le trainer, si elle passoit plus outre. Mais en fin la voyant obstinee en son malheur, et ne pouuant resistor a sa volontd, apres luy avoir encores une fois remonstre que sa Majesty s'alloit perdre, son estat, son Royaume, ses bons seruiteurs, et la foy Catholique, il lui demanda cong^ de se retirer,' &c. Adami Blacvodsei [Adam Blackwood] Opera Omnia, 1644, p. 589. Blackwood, or his French printer, makes a strange hash of the names of places. We find Dundreuen, Vvirkinton, Cokirmouth and Courberlande. The ' venerable prelate,' who was a man of the loosest life and a cruel persecutor, was hanged three years later. Froude's Hist, of England, ed. 1870, vi. 221, 3; i.x. 419. ' ' In a memorandum on this letter Mrs. Piozzi says : — " I wrote him a very kind and affectionate letter." ' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 1 14. ^ First published in Croker's Bos- well, page 782. Corrected by me from the original in the possession of Messrs. J. Pearson & Co., 5 Pall Mall Place, S.W. The Letter bears no address and is misdated June 1 1. It was evidently written in July. On June 11 Johnson was with Boswell at Dr. Adams's house. It is curious that a Letter written to L'oswell was also misdated June II. Life, iv. 351. The original was sold by Messrs. Christie & Co. on June 5, 1888 (Lot 49)> for /5 5J. ^ He set out on July 13. Zz/k,iv.353. collation 4IO To the Reverend Dr. Adams. [a.d. i784. collation of Oppian, than see it neglected ; for the Frenchmen act with great liberality. Let us not fall below them '. I know not in what state Dr. Edwards left his book '^. Some of his emendations seemed to me to (be) irrefragably certain, and such therefore as ought not to be lost. His rule was not (to) change the text, and, therefore, I suppose he has left notes to be subjoined. As the book is posthumous some account of the Editor ought to be given. You have now the whole process of the correspondence before you. When the Prior is answered, let some apology be made for me ^. I was forced to devide \sic\ the collation, but as it is paged, you will easily put every part in its proper place. Be pleased to convey my respects to Mrs. and Miss Adams'*. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, London, June [July ii], 1784. SaM : JOHNSON. 975. To THE Reverend Mr. Bagshaw. [London], July 12, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 351. ' The collation was probably who had the use of his manuscripts, wanted for an edition of Oppian by ' The Frenchmen ' had collated the Belin de Ballu of which one volume three manuscripts in the King's was pubhshed at Strasbourg in 1786. Library at Paris. The book was The editor was ' conseiller a la published in 1785. cour des monnaies ' at Paris. He ^ The Prior was, no doubt, the does not seem to have received the Prior of the English Benedictines in collation from Oxford ^ whose convent Johnson had a cell =" For Dr. Edwards see mtte, appropriated to him. Life, ii. 402, ii. 257. Johnson wrote to him on See ante, i. 402, for Johnson's Letter November 2, 1778: — 'What comes to Dr. Adams in which he introduces of Xenophon } If you do not like the ' a learned Benedictine.' trouble of publishing the book, do " ' Miss Adams happened to tell not let your commentaries be lost.' him that a little coffee-pot, in which Life, iii. 367. He lived long enough she had made his coffee, was the to complete the Greek text and the only thing she could call her own. Latin version of the Me})iorabiIia,\\\G He turned to her with a complacent work on which he was engaged. The gallantry, "Don't say so, my dear; notes and the various readings were I hope you don't reckon my heart as supplied by his friend, Henry Owen, nothing." ' Life, iv. 292. " I am indebted for this information to Mr. H. Omont of the Bibliolheque Nationale, Paris. To Aetat. 74.] To John Rylattd. 411 976. To Bennet Langton. [London], July 12, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 352. 977. Dear Sir, ^o John Ryland \ Mr. Payne "^ will pay you fifteen pounds towards the stone of which you have kindly undertaken the care. The Inscrip- tion is in the hands of Mr. Bagshaw, who has a right to inspect it before he admits it into his Church. Be pleased to let the whole be done with privacy, that I may elude the vigilance of the papers. I am going for a while into Derbyshire in hope of help from the air of the country. I hope your journey has benefited you. The Club ^ prospers ; we meet by ten at a time. God send that you and I may enjoy and improve each other. I am, dear Sir, Your most humble servant, July 12, 1784. Sam: Johnson. To Mr. Ryland in Muscovy Court Tower hill. ' First published in Notes and Queries, 5th S. vii. 381. Corrected by me from the original in the possession of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Fonthill House. For Mr. Ryland see ante, i. 56. On the same day Johnson wrote the following letter : — ' To the Reverend Mr. Bagshaw, at Bromley. 'Sir, Perhaps you may remember, that in the year 1753 [1752], you committed to the ground my dear wife. I now entreat your permission to lay a stone upon her ; and have sent the inscription, that, if you find it proper, you may signify your allowance. You will do me a great favour by showing the place where she lies, that the stone may protect her re- mains. Mr. Ryland will wait on you for the inscription, and procure it to be engraved. You will easily believe that I shrink from this mournful office. When it is done, if I have strength remaining, I will visit Bromley once again, and pay you part of the respect to which you have a right from, Reverend Sir, Your most humble servant, Sam: Johnson.' Life, iv. 351. - Ante, ii. 363, 11. I. ' The Essex Head Club. To 412 To Sir Jo hi Hawkins. [a.d. 1784. 978. To Sir John Hawkins. Ashbourne, [?July, 1784]. In Hawkins's Life of Johnson, page 571, the following extract is given from a letter written by Johnson to Hawkins from Ashbourne : — ' Poor Thrale ! I thought that either her virtue or her vice would have restrained her from such a marriage. She is now become a subject for her enemies to exult over, and for her friends, if she has any left, to forget or pity.' By ' her virtue ' Hawkins understood he meant the love of her children, and by her vice, her pride. ' He looked upon the desertion of children by their parents, and the withdrawing from them that pro- tection, that mental nutriment which in their youth they are capable of receiving, the exposing them to the snares and temptations of the world, and the solicitations and deceits of the artful and designing, as most unnatural.' 979. To Dr. Brocklesby. Ashbourne, July 20, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 353. 980. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. Ashbourne, July 21, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 366, 981. To James Boswell. Ashbourne, July 26, 1784. Published in part in the Z//f, iv. 348, 378-9- 982. To James Boswell. [Ashbourne], July 28, 1784. Published in part in the Life, iv. 379. 983. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], July 31, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 354. 984. To Dr. Burney. [Ashbourne], August 2, 1 784. Published in part in the Life, iv. 360. To Aetat. 74.] To Dr. BrockUsby. 4 1 3 985. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], August 5, 1784. Published in part in the Life, iv. 354. 986. To John Hoole. [Ashbourne], August 7, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 359. 987. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], August 12, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 354. 988. To Heely. Ashbourne, August 12, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 371. 989. To John Hoole. [Ashbourne], August 13, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 359. 990. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], August 14, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 354. 991. To Thomas Davies. [Ashbourne], August 14, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 365. 992. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], August 16, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 354. 993. To Dr. Brocklesby, [Ashbourne], August 19, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 355. 994. To George Nicol. Ashbourne, August 19, 1784. Pubhshed in the Life, iv. 365 '. ' See Appendix C. To 414 To Francesco Sastres. [A.D. 1784. 995. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. [Ashbourne], August 19, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 366. 996. To THE Right Hon. William Windham. [Ashbourne, about August 21, 1784.] PubHshed in the Life, iv. 362. 997. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], August 21, 1784. PubHshed in the Life, iv. 355. 998. To Francesco Sastres '. Dear Sir, Ashbonme, August 21, 1784. I am glad that a letter has at last reached you ; what became of the two former, which were directed to Mortimer instead of Margaret Street -, I have no means of knowing, nor is it worth the while to enquire ; they neither enclosed bills, nor contained secrets. ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 405. Boswell, perhaps to punish Mr. Sastres for not letting him pub- lish Johnson's letters to him, thus contemptuously mentions him :^'Dr. Johnson associated with persons the most widely different in manners, abilities, rank, and accomplishments. He was at once the companion of the brilliant Colonel Forrester of the Guards, who wrote The Polite Plii- losflpJier, and of the aukward and uncouth Robert Levet ; of Lord Thurlow, and Mr. Sastres, the Italian master ; and has dined one day with the beautiful, gay, and fascinating Lady Craven, and the next with good Mrs. Gardiner, the tallow- chandler, on Snow-hill.' Life, iii. 21. Mr. Sastres was present when John- son, a few days before his death, burnt his mother's letters. * They drew from him a flood of tears. When the paper they were written on was all consumed he saw him cast a melancholy look upon their ashes, which he took up and ex- amined to see if a word was still legible.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 383. ' The good Mr. Hoole,' writes Miss Burney,' and equally good Mr. Sastres attend Dr. Johnson rather as nurses than friends, for they sit whole hours by him without even speaking to him. He will not, it seems, be talked to — at least very rarely. At times, indeed he re-animates ; but it is soon over, and he says of himself, " I am now like Macbeth — question enrages me." ' Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ii. '^I'h'h- ^ Mortimer Street is close to Mar- garet Street. My Aetat. 74.] To Frmicesco Sastres. 415 My health was for some time quite at a stand, if it did not rather go backwards ; but for a week past it flatters me with appearances of amendment, which I dare yet hardly credit. My breath has been certainly less obstructed for eight days ; and yesterday the water seemed to be disposed to a fuller flow. But I get very little sleep ; and my legs do not like to carry me. You were kind in paying my forfeits at the club ' ; it cannot be expected that many should meet in the summer, however they that continue in town should keep up appearances as well as they can. I hope to be again among you. I wish you had told me distinctly the mistakes in the French words. The French is but a secondary and subordinate part of your design ; exactness, however, in all parts is necessary, though complete exactness cannot be attained ; and the French are so well stocked with dictionaries, that a little attention may easily keep you safe from gross faults ; and as you work on, your vigilance will be quickened, and your observation regulated; you will better know your own wants, and learn better whence they may be supplied. Let me know minutely the whole state of your negotiations. Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true "". The weather here is very strange summer weather ; and we are here two degrees nearer the north than you. I was I think loath to think a fire necessary in July, till I found one in the ' The Essex-Head Club. ' The out ten." ' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 324. terms are lax,' wrote Johnson, ' and ^ This and Johnson's three next the expenses Hght. We meet thrice letters to Sastres show that his friend a week, and he who misses forfeits was hoping to publish a Dictionary twopence.' Lift\ iv. 254. Mrs. Piozzi in which the French was to be given, has the following note on this pas- Perhaps it was to be a rival to sage: — 'There is a story of poor Bottarelli's Dictionary ' of the three dear Garrick, whose attention to his most fashionable languages in Europe' money-stuff never forsook him— re- — English, French and Italian — pub- lating that when his last day was lished in 1777. The design seems drawing to an end, he begged a to have come to nothing. In 1789 gentleman present to pay his club- Sastres published // Mercurio forfeits, "and don't let them cheat Italico, a monthly magazine, with you," added he, " for there cannot the Italian and English in parallel be above nine, and they will make columns. servants' 41 6 To Fra7icesco Sastres. [A.D. 1784. servants' hall, and thought myself entitled to ls much warmth as them '. I wish you would make it a task to yourself to write to me twice a week ; a letter is a great relief to, Dear Sir, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 999. To Bennet Langton. [London], August 25, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 361. 1000. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], August 26, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 356. 1001. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], September 2, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 356. 1002. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. [Ashbourne], September 2, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 366. 1003. To Francesco Sastres^. Dear Sir, Asnboume, Sept. 2, 1784. Your critick seems to me to be an exquisite Frenchman ; his remarks are nice ; they would at least have escaped me. I wish you better luck with your next specimen ; though if such ' On August 2 he wrote to Dr. Burney : — ' I am now reduced to think, and am at last content to talk of the weather. Pride must have a fall.' Life, iv. 360. On September 7 Horace Walpole wrote : — ' The sum- mer is come at last, My Lord, dressed as fine as a birthday, though not with so many flowers on its head. In truth, the sun is an old fool, who apes the modern people of fashion by arriving too late : the day is going to bed before he makes his appear- ance.' Letters, viii. 502. ' It is ill with me,' wrote Charles Lamb, ' when I begin to look which way the wind sets. Ten years ago, I literally did not know the point from the broad end of the vane, which it was that indicated thequarter.' Lamb's Letters, ed. by Ainger, ii. 147. ^ Piozzi Letters, ii. 407. slips Aetat. 74.] To Fraticesco Sastres. 4 1 7 slips as these are to condemn a dictionary, I know not when a dictionary will be made. I cannot yet think that gourmander is wrong ; but I have here no means of verifying my opinion. My health, by the mercy of God, still improves ; and I have hope of standing the English winter, and of seeing you, and reading Petrarch ' at Bolt-court ; but let me not flatter myself too much. I am yet weak, but stronger than I was. I suppose the club is now almost forsaken ; but we shall I hope meet again. We have lost poor Allen ; a very worthy man, and to me a very kind and officious neighbour ^. Of the pieces ascribed by Bembo to Virgil, the Dirce (ascribed I think to Valerius Cato), the Copa and the Moretmn are, together with the Cidcx and CciJ'is, in Scaliger's Appendix ad Virgilinin. The rest I never heard the name of before. I am highly pleased with your account of the gentleman and lady with whom you lodge ; such characters have sufficient attractions to draw me towards them ; you are lucky to light upon them in the casual commerce of life. Continue, dear Sir, to write to me ; and let me hear any thing or nothing, as the chance of the day may be. I am, Sir, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 1004. To Dr. Burney. [Ashbourne], September 4, 1784. Published in part in the Life, iv. 360 1005. To William Cumberland Cruikshank, Ashbourne, September, 4, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 365, ' For Johnson's knowledge of Ita- - Writing about Allen's death to lian see Life, i. 1 1 5. In 1776 ' he pro- Dr. Brocklesby on July 31 he says : — posed to apply vigorously to the study ' I thought your letter long in coming, of it.' If), ill. 90. At 3 p.m. on August But, you know, nociiiira pehm/ur, 9, 1 78 1, he recorded, 'in the summer- the letter which I so much desired, house at Streatham: — Having prayed, tells me that I have lost one of my I purpose to employ the next six best and tenderest friends.' Jb. iv. weeks upon the Italian language, for 354. For officious see ante, ii. 357, my settled study.' Jb. iv. 134. 71. I. VOL. II. E e To 41 8 To Francesco Sasires. [a.d. 1784. 1006. To John Hoole. [Ashbourne], September 4, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 360. 1007. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. Ashbourne, September 9, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 348, 367. 1008. To THE Lord High Chancellor Thurlow. [Ashbourne], September [9J, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 349. 1009. To Dr. Brocklesbv. [Ashbourne], September 9, 1784. Pul)lished in the Life, iv. 357. 1010. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], September 11, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 357. 1011. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Ashbourne], September 16, 1784. Published in the LJfe, iv. 357. 1012. To Francesco Sastres '. Dear Sir, Ashbourne, Sept. i6, 1784. What you have told me of your landlord and his lady at Brompton, has made them such favourites, that I am not sorry to hear how you are turned out of your lodgings, because the good is greater to them than the evil is to you. The death of dear Mr. Allen gave me pain. When after some time of absence I visit a town, I find my friends dead ; when I leave a place, I am followed with intelligence, that the friend whom I hope to meet at my return is swallowed in the grave. This is a gloomy scene ; but let us learn from it to prepare for ' Piozzi Letters, ii. 409. oiu- Aetat. 75.] To Jokfi Rylatid. 419 our own removal. Allen is gone ; Sastres and Johnson are hasting after him ; may we be both as well prepared ! I again wish your next specimen success. Paymistrcss can hardly be said without a preface, (it may be expressed by a word perhaps not in use, Pay mistress '). The club is, it seems, totally deserted ; but as the forfeits go on, the house does not suffer; and all clubs I suppose are un- attended in the summer. We shall I hope meet in winter, and be cheerful. After this week, do not write to me till you hear again from me, for I know not well where I shall be ; I have grown weary of the solitude of this place, and think of removal ^ I am, Sir, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 1013. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. [Ashbourne], September 18, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 368. 1014. Dear Sir, '^^ J°"^ RvlandI You are not long without an answer. I had this day in three letters three histories of the Flying Man in the great Ballon. I am glad that we do as well as our neighbours. Lunardi, I find, forgot his barometer and therefore can \sic\ to what height he ascended ''. Direct, if you please, your next letter to Lichfield, I am ' The passage within brackets is, Queries, 5th S. vii. 381. Compared I suppose, the preface which Sastres by me with the original in the posses- is to use. ' Johnson disapproved of sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 parentheses,' writes Boswell, ' and I Gunterstone Road, West Kensington, believe in all his voluminous writin^js London. o- not half-a-dozen of them will be '' The balloon started from the found.' Life, iv. 190. Artillery Ground, Finsbury. There - Five days earlier he had written was a delay in providing enough ' in- to Dr. Brocklesby : — 'I have no com- flammable air,' and Lunardi, fearful pany here, and shall naturally come lest the mob should break in, went home hungry for conversation.' lb. up alone. In the pocket of his iv. 357. companion, Mr. Biggins, was the ^ First published in Notes and barometer. 'We saw eveiything so E e 2 desirous 420 To John Ryland. [A.D. 1784. desirous of going thither; I live in dismal solitude, and being now a little better and therefore more at leisure for external amuse- ments, I find the hours sometimes heavy, at least for some reason or other I wish for change. Mr. Wyndham ' was with me, a day here, and tried to wheedle me to Oxford, and I perhaps may take Oxford in my way home. I am, Sir, Your most affectionate Sept. i8, 1784 ^ Sam: Johnson. To Mr. Ryland, Merchant in London. distinctly,' wrote a spectator, ' and were so much satisfied with the safety of the attempt that it was by no means that awful or solemn scene that I expected— everybody greatly interested, but cheerful and gay.' Lunardi landed three miles beyond Ware [Ware is twenty-one miles from London]. The balloon was brought back that night, ' and was lodged, amidst the acclamations of a great mob, at Biggins' house in Essex Street.' Bentham's Works, x. 136. Windham, calling at Burke's country-house on the 13th, had ' found them all going to London the next day on the same errand as my- self, viz., to see Lunardi ascend.' Windham's Diajy, p. 22. Horace Walpole wrote on September 30 : — ' I cannot fill my paper, as the newspapers do, with air-balloons ; which, though ranked with the in- vention of navigation, appear to me as childish as the flying kites of schoolboys. ... I was even disap- pointed after Lunardi's expedition had been prosperous ; you must know I have no ideas of space : when I heard how wonderfully he had soared, I concluded he had arrived within a stone's throw of the moon — alas ! he had not ascended above a mile and a half.' Letters, viii. 505. See Life, iv. 356, 358. ' For Windham's visit see Life, iv. 356, and for his record of Johnson's talk see Appendix D. ^ On this day which was his birth- day he composed the following prayer. The original is in the posses- sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font- hill House : — ' Ashbourne, September 18, 1784. Almighty God, merciful Father, who art the giver of all good, enable me to return Thee due thanks for the continuance of my life and for the great mercies of the last year, for relief from the diseases that afflicted me, and all the comforts and allevia- tions by which they were mitigated ; and O my gracious God make me truly thankful for the call by which thou hast awakened my conscience, and summoned me to Repentance. Let not thy call, O Lord, be forgotten or thy summons neglected, but let the residue of my life, whatever it shall be, be passed in true contrition, and diligent obedience. Let me repent of the sins of my past years and so keep thy laws for the time to come, that when it shall be thy good pleasure to call me to another state, I may find mercy in thy sight. Let thy Holy Spirit support me in the hour of death, and O Lord grant me pardon in the day of Judgement, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.' To Aetat. 75.] To John Ryland. 421 1015. To Dr. Brocklesby. Lichfield, September 29, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 357. Dear Sir, 1016. To John Ryland'. At my return hither I had the gratification of finding two of my friends, whom I left as I thought, about two months ago, quite broken with years and disease, very much recovered. It is great pleasure to a sick man to discover that sickness is not always mortal, so for age yet living to greater age. This is how- ever, whatever Rochefoucault or Swift may say, though certainly part of the pleasure, yet not all of it^ I rejoice in the welfare of those whom I love and who love me, and surely should have the same joy if I were no longer subject to mortality. As a being subject to so many wants, Man has inevitably a strong tendency to , so I hope as a Being capable of comparing good and evil he finds something to be preferred in good, and is therefore capable of benevolence, and supposing the volution of a good and bad man as to his own interest the same, would rejoice more in the prosperity of the good. I have for a little while past felt or imagined some declension in my health. I am still much better than I lately was, but I am a little afraid of the cold weather. You have not lately told me of Payne, in whom I take a great ' First published in Notes and Qttertes, 5th S. vii. 381. The copyist seems in places to have been at fault, for the meaning is not always to be discovered. ^ Swift's lines On the Death of Dr. Swift 'were occasioned,' he says, 'by reading the following maxim in Rochefoucault — " Dans I'adversite de nos meilleurs amis nous trou- vons toujours quekjue chose qui ne nous deplait pas."' The following verses were perhaps in Johnson's thoughts : — 'In all distresses of our friends We first consult our private ends ; While Nature kindly bent to ease us Points out some circumstance to please us. * * * * Yet should some neighbour feel a pain Just in the parts where I complain ; How many a message would he send! What hearty prayers that I should mend ! ' Swjft's Works, ed. 1803, xi. 241, 4. interest 42 2 To John Ryland. [a.d. i784. interest. I think he may by indulgence recover, and that in- dulgence, since his employers allow it him ', he will be very culpable if he denies himself. I am, dear Sir, Your affectionate humble servant, Sam: Johnson. Lichfield, Sept. 2g, 1784. To Mr. Ryland, Merchant in London. 1017. « To THE Right Hon. William Windham. Lichfield, October 2, 1784, Published in the Life, iv. 362. 1018. To Sir Joshua Reynolds. [Lichfield], October 2, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 368. 1019. To Mr. Perkins. Lichfield, October 4, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 363. 1020. To Dr. Brocklesbv. [Lichfield], October 6, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 358. 1021. Dear Sir, '^^ J°«^ Ryland ^ I am glad so many could yet meet at the club, where I do not yet despair of some cheerful hours. Your account of poor dear Payne makes me uneasy ; if his distemper were only the true Sea Scurvey, it is incurred easily, and I believe infallibly curable. But I am afraid it is worse, not a vitiation of particular humours, but a debilitation of the whole frame, an effect not of ' Payne was Chief Accountant of original is in the possession of the the Bank of England. Life, i. 317, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, n. I. as I learn from Mr. John W. Jordan "^ First published in the Litefary the Assistant- Librarian. Gazette of December 8, 1849. The casualty Aetat. 75.] To Dr. Hcberdcn. 423 casualty but of time. I wish his recovery, and hope that he wishes and prays for mine. I have for some days, to speak in the lightest and softest language, made no advances towards health. My breath is much obstructed, and my limbs are wells of water. However I have little cause to complain. My mind, however, is calmer than in the beginning of the year, and I comfort myself with hopes of every kind, neither despairing of ease in this world, nor of happiness in another. I shall, I think, not return to town worse than I left it, and unless I gain ground again, not much better. But God, I humbly hope, will have mercy on me. I am, dear Sir, Your most humble servant, Lichfield, Oct. 6, 1784. Sam : JOHNSON. To Mr. Ryland, Merchant in London. 1022. To Dr. Heberden \ Though I doubt not but Dr. Brocklesby would communicate to you any incident in the variation of my health which appeared either curious or important, yet I think it time to give you some account of myself. Not long after the first great efflux of the water, I attained as much vigour of limbs and freedom of breath, that without rest or intermission, I went with Dr. Brocklesby to the top of the painters' Academy ^. This was the greatest degree of health that I have obtained, and this, if it could continue, were perhaps sufficient ; but my breath soon failed, and my body grew weak. At Oxford (in June) I was much distressed by shortness of breath, so much that I never attempted to scale the library^: the water gained upon me, but by the use of squills was in a great measure driven away. In July I went to Lichfield, and performed the journey with ^ I owe the copy of this Letter to Croker's Bosivell, page 7S9. the kindness of Mr. Godfrey Locker- "^ A7ite, ii. 393. Lampson,of Rovvfant, Crawley, where -^ The Bodleian Library, the ascent the original is preserved. The greater to which is one of sixty-five steps, part of it had been published in 424 To Dr. Hebei^den. [a.d. i784. very little fatigue in the common vehicle, but found no help from my native air. I then removed to Ashbourn, in Derbyshire, where for some time I was oppressed very heavily by the asthma ; and the dropsy had advanced so far, that I could not without great difficulty button me at my knees. Something was now to be done ; I took opium as little as I could, for quiet [?] and squills, as much as I could, for help ; but in my medical journal ', August lo, I find these words, nee opio, nee squillis quidquam sensi [?] efifectum. Animus jacet. But I plied the vinegar of squills to an hundred drops a day, and the powder to 4 grains. From the vinegar I am not sure that I ever perceived any con- sequence. [Here follow statements of the effect produced by these and other medicines.] I rose in the morning with my asthma perceptibly mitigated, and walked to Church that day with less struggle than on any day before. The water about this time ran again away, so that no hydro- pical humour has been lately visible. The relaxation of my breath has not continued as it was jat first. But neither do I breathe with the same angiisticB and distress as before the re- mission. The summary of my state is this : I am deprived by weakness and the asthma of the power of walking beyond a very short space. I draw my breath with difficulty upon the least effort, but not with suffocation or pain. The dropsy still threatens, but gives way to medicine. The Summer has passed without giving me any strength. My appetite is, I think, less keen than it was, but not so abated as that its decline can be observed by any one but myself ^ Be pleased to think on me sometimes. I am, Sir, Your most obliged and most humble servant, Lichfield, Oct. 13, 1784. SaM : JOHNSON. ' ' Dr. Johnson had for some time than the 8th of November ; finding, kept a journal in Latin of the state of I suppose, that it was a mournful and his illness, and the remedies which unavailing register.' Life, iv. 381. he used, under the title of jEgri ^ Dr. Taylor thought he ate too Ephcmcris, which he began on the much. Post, p. 425, n. 3. 6th of J uly, but continued it no longer To Aetat. 75.] To Fvancesco Sastres. 425 1023. To THE Reverend George Strahan '. In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's Auction Catalogue of August 20, 1861, Lot 625 is a Letter of Johnson to the Rev. Mr. Strahan at Ishngton, one page and a half quarto, from which the following extract is given : — 'Lichfield, Oct. 19', 1784. I have hitherto omitted to give you that account of myself which the kindness with which you have treated me gives you a right to expect, I went away feeble, asthmatical, and dropsical. The asthma had submitted [? remitted] for a time, but is now very troublesome, the weakness still continues, but the dropsy has disappeared, and has since, in the summer, yielded to medicine. I hope to return with a body somewhat, however little, relieved, and with a mind less dejected.' 1024. To THE Right Hon. William Gerard Hamilton. Lichfield, October 20, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 363. 1025. To John Paradise. Lichfield, October 20, 17S4. Published in the Life, iv. 364. 1026. To John Nichols. Lichfield, October 20, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 369. 1027. To Francesco Sastres ^ Sir, Lichfield, October 20, 1784, You have abundance of naughty tricks ; is this your way of writing to a poor sick friend twice a week ? Post comes after post, and brings no letter from Mr. Sastres. If you know any thing, write and tell it ; if you know nothing, write and say that you know nothing. What comes of the specimen ^ ? If the booksellers want a speci- men, in which a keen critick can spy no faults, they must wait for ' In their Auction Catalogue of 420), the date is given as Oct. 16. March 22, 1869, when the same - Piozzi Letters, \\. /^\o. Letter was a second time sold (Lot ^ Ante, ii. 415, n. 2. another 426 To the Reverend Dr. Taylor [A.D. 1784. another generation. Had not the Crusca ' faults ? Did not the Academicians of France commit many faults ? It is enough that a dictionary is better than others of the same kind. A perfect performance of any kind is not to be expected, and certainly not a perfect dictionary ^. Mrs. Desmoulines never writes, and I know not how things go on at home ; tell me, dear Sir, what you can. If Mr. Seward be in town tell me his direction, for I ought to write to him. I am very weak, and have bad nights. I am, dear Sir, Your, &c., Sam: Johnson. 1028. To THE Reverend Dr. Taylor ^ Dear Sir, Coming down from a very restless night I found your letter which made me a little angry. You tell me that recovery is in ' The Academia della Crusca at Florence, which had sent Johnson their Vocabiilario, just as the French Academy sent him their Dictionnaire. Life, i. 298. ^ In the Plan of an English Dic- tionary, Johnson, writing of ' the •word perfection' says: — 'Though in its philosophical and exact sense it can be of little use among human beings, it is often so much degraded from its original signification, that the academicians have inserted in their work, the perfection of a language, and, with a little more licentiousness, might have prevailed on themselves to have added the perfection of a Dictionary! In the Preface to the fourth edition he writes : — ' He that undertakes to compile a Dictionary undertakes that, which if it compre- hends the full extent of his design, he knows himself unable to perform.' Works, v. 16, 52. ' First published in the Catalogue of Mr. Alfred Morrison's Autographs, volume ii, page 343. This letter is endorsed by Dr. Taylor : — ' This is the last letter. My answer, which were the words of advice he gave to Mr. Thrale the day he dyed, he resented extremely from me.' The substance of the advice which John- son gave I found in the original MS. of his Diary in Pembroke College Library. It is as follows : — ' On Sunday ist, the physician warned him against full meals, on Monday I pressed him to observance of his rules, but without effect, and Tuesday I was absent, but his wife pressed forbearance upon him again unsuc- cessfully. At night I was called to him, and found him senseless in strong convulsions.' Mrs. Piozzi had heard of Taylor's letter, for she writes : — ' Dr. Johnson quarrelled with his truest friend, Dr. Taylor, for recommending to him a degree of temperance by which alone his life my Aetat. 75.] To Fvancesco Sastres. 427 my power. This indeed I should be glad to hear, if I could once believe it. But you mean to charge me with neglecting or opposing my own health. Tell me therefore what I do that hurts me, and what I neglect that would help me. Tell it as soon as you can [Here a piece of the letter is torn off.] I would do it the sooner for your desires, and I hope to do it now in no long time, but shall hardly do it here. I hope soon to be at London. Answer the first part of this letter immediately. I am, dear Sir, Your most humble sei"vant, Lichfield, Oct. 23, 1784. SaM : JOHXSON. To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 1029. To Dr. Brocklesby. [Lichfield], October 25, 1784. Published in part in the Life., iv. 358. 1030. To Dr. Burney. [Lichfield], November 1, 1784. Published in part in the Life., iv. 361. 1031. To Francesco Sastres ^ Dear Sir, Lichfield, Nov. I, 1784. I beg you to continue the frequency of your letters ; every letter is a cordial ; but you must not wonder that I do not answer with exact punctuality. You may always have something to tell : you live among the various orders of mankind, and may make a letter from the exploits, sometimes of the philosopher, and sometimes of the pickpocket "". You see some ballons succeed and some miscarry, and a thousand strange and a thousand foolish things. But I see nothing ; I must make my letter from what I feel, and what I feel with so little delight, that I cannot love to talk of it. could have been saved, and recom- ing of a balloon in St. George's Fields mending it in his own unaltered ' a more ample harvest for the pick- phrase too.' Piozzi Letters, n. -^^i. pockets never was presented. Some ' Piozsi Letters, \\. i[\7.. noblemen and gentlemen lost their ^ The two orders sometimes met. watches and many their purses.' For instance, this year at the launch- Centlettiati s Magazine, 1784, p. 228. I am 428 To John Ryland. [A.D. 1784. I am certainly not ' to come to town, but do not omit to write ; for I know not when I shall come, and the loss of a letter is not much. I am, dear Sir, Your, &c., Sam : Johnson. 1032. To John Ryland^. Dear Sir, I have just received a letter in which you tell me that you love to hear from me, and I value such a declaration too much to neglect it. To have a friend, and a friend like you, may be numbered amongst the first felicities of life ; at a time when weakness either of body or mind loses the pride and the con- fidence of self-sufficiency, and looks round for that help which perhaps human kindness cannot give, and which we yet are willing to expect from one another. I am at this time very much dejected. The water gains fast upon me, but it has invaded me twice in this last half year, and has been twice expelled : it will, I hope, give way to the same remedies. My Breath is tolerably easy, and since the remission of asthma about two months ago, have \sic\ never been so strait and so much obstructed as it once was. I took this day a very uncommon dose of squills, but hitherto without effect, but I will continue their use very diligently. Let me have your prayers. I am now preparing myself for my return, and do not despair of some more monthly meetings ^ To hear that dear Payne is better gives me great delight. ' Not is either a misprint or was inserted by mistake. - First published in the Catalogue of Mr, Alfred Morrison's Autographs, volume ii, page 344. The handwriting shows great feebleness in the writer. ^ Of the old Ivy Lane Club. Ante, ii. 358. On October 25 he wrote : — ' The town is my element ; there are my friends, there are my books, to which I have not yet bid farewell, and there are my amusements.' Life, iv. 358. ' The town is my element ' is perhaps an adaptation of ' his shop is his element ' in South's Sermons, ed. 1823, i. 20. I saw Aetat. 75.] To Siv Jo/lU HcUukiltS. 429 I saw the draught of the stone. I am afraid the date is wrong. I think it should be 52 '. We will have it rectified. You say nothing of the cash but that you have paid it. My intention was the \sic\ Mr. Payne should have put into your hands fifteen pounds which he received for me at Midsummer^. If he has not done it, I will order you the money which is in his hands. Shall I ever be able to bear the sight of this stone ? In your company I hope I shall. You will not wonder that I write no more. God bless you for Christ's sake. I am, dear Sir, Your most humble servant, Lichfield, Nov. 4, 1784. Sa.M : JOHNSON. 1033. To James Boswell. Lichfield, November 5, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 380. 1034. To Sir John Hawkins ^. Lichfield, November 7, 1784. I am relapsing into the dropsy very fast, and shall make such haste to town that it will be useless to write to me ; but when I come, let me have the benefit of your advice, and the consolation of your company. 1035. To Mrs. Aston and Mrs. Gastrell'*. [Lichfield, .''November, 17S4.] Mr. Johnson sends his compliments to the Ladies at Stowhill, ' The gravestone on his wife. He says that Johnson wrote to him had given the wrong date in his several letters from Lichfield. Of Letter to Mr. Bagshav/. Ante, the last of these the above is the con- ii. 410, n. I, eluding paragraph. "" No doubt the half-year's dividend ■* From the original in Pembroke on ' the one thousand pounds, three College Library, per cent, annuities in the public funds' On the back of the Letter is the mentioned in Johnson's will. Life, following note : — ' Probably written iv, 402, 7t. 2. Mr. Payne was the in 1784 on his departure from Lich- Chief Accountant of the Bank of field.' England. Johnson on his way to London ^ First published in Hawkins's passed through Birmingham and Life ofjolmson, page 576. Hawkins Oxford, making a brief stay at both of 430 To the Reverend Dr. Vyse. [a.d. i784. of whom he would have taken a more formal leave, but that he was willing to spare a ceremony, which he hopes would have been no pleasure to them, and would have been painful to him- self. 1036. To Dr. Burney. London, November i6, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 377. 1037. To Edmund Hector. London, November 17, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 378. 1038. To ~ [? November, 1784.] In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's Auction Catalogue of March 14, 1866, Lot 181 is a Letter of Johnson ' ordering a parcel of books to be sent to Dr. Adams, written after his return from a visit to the doctor (the last he paid), 1784.' The last visit paid by Dr. Johnson to Dr. Adams was towards the middle of November, 1784. It is not unlikely however that this letter was written after his previous visit, and should follow the Letter of July 11, ante, p. 410. 1039. Sir ^'^ '^"^ Reverend Dr. Vyse \ in Lambeth. I am desirous to know whether Charles Scrimshaw, of places. William Hutton, the book- seller and antiquary, not three weeks later took the same road from Bir- mingham to London. He started at seven o'clock on the night of the first of December, and reached his journey's end at two in the afternoon of the following day. He was drawn, he says, by thirty-six horses, so that there must have been nine changes in the 120 miles. He was the only passenger, and as the cold was very severe the guard asked permission to ride inside. ' He was armed with a brace of pistols and a blunderbuss, and he dwelt largely on his own courage ; said that he could protect a coach when others could not ; had saved his own when another was robbed ; had often driven the rogues to a distance, now and then sent one to the shades.' Button's fotir?Ziy to London, ed. 181 8, p. 6. If Johnson went by the same coach to London all this talk was no doubt poured into the ears of black Frank as he sat outside. ' First published in Malone's Bos- well. Malone states :— ' In conformity to the wish expressed in the preceding letter, an inquiry was made ; but no Woodsease Aetat. 75.] To J olin Nichols. 431 Woodsease (I think), in your father's neighbourhood, be now living ; what is his condition and where he may be found. If you can conveniently make any inquiry about him, and can do it without delay, it will be an act of great kindness to me, he being very nearly related to me. I beg [you] to pardon this trouble. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, Nov. 29, 1784. SaM : JOHNSON. 1040. To Richard Green. [London], December 2, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 393. 1041. To Mrs. Porter. [London], December 2, 1784. Published in the Life, iv. 394. 1042. To John Nichols '. The late learned Mr. Swinton ^ having one day remarked descendants of Charles Scrimshaw or of his sisters were discovered to be living. Dr. Vyse informs me, that Dr. Johnson told him, " he was dis- appointed in the inquiries he had made after his relations." There is therefore no ground whatsoever for supposing that he was unmindful of them, or neglected them.' Hawkins says that Johnson had executed a will so far as to secure an annuity for his servant, Frank Barber. ' 1 found,' writes Hawkins, ' that the residue of his estate would be some- thing considerable, and I told him that he would do well to bequeath it to his relations. His answer was, *' I care not what becomes of the residue." ' Hawkins's Johnson, p. 576. See also ib., p. 599. ' First published in Malone's Bos- well. In the Register of Books in the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1 740, p. 360, is ' An Universal History from the earlier Account of Time to the present. In five volumes in folio. Price ;^io los. 6d.' In the Register of Books for March, 1749, p. 144, is ' Universal History in 8vo., vol. 20, and last. Price ^s. in boards.' Gibbon, writing of his youth, says : — ' My indiscriminate appetite [in reading] subsided by degrees in the historic line ; and since philo- sophy has exploded all innate ideas and natural propensities, I must ascribe this choice to the assiduous perusal of the Universal History as the octavo volumes successively appeared. This unequal work, and a treatise of Hearne, the Dtcctor historicus, referred and introduced me to the Greek and Roman histo- rians, to as many at least as were accessible to an English reader.' Gib- bon's Misc. Works, i. 41. - Thomas Warton in his account that 432 To John Nichols. [A.D. 1784. that one man, meaning, I suppose, no man but himself, could assign all the parts of the Ancient Universal History to their proper authors, at the request of Sir Robert Chambers, or of myself, gave the account which I now transmit to you in his own hand ; being willing that of so great a work the history should be known, and that each writer should receive his due proportion of praise from posterity. I recommend to you to preserve this scrap of literary intelli- gence in Mr. Swinton^s own hand, or to deposit it in the Museum, that the veracity of this account may never be doubted. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, Dec. 6, 1784. Sam : JOHNSON. Mr. S N. The History of the Carthaginians. Numidians. Mauritanians. Gsetulians. Garamanthes. Melano Gstulians. Nigritae. Cyrenaica. Marmarica. Regio Syrtica. Turks, Tartars, and Moguls. Indians. Chinese. Dissertation on the peopling of America. independency of the Arabs \ The Cosmogony, and a small part of the History immediately fol- lowing ; by Mr. Sale ^. To the birth of Abraham ; chiefly by Mr. Shelvock. of Johnson's visit to Oxford in 1754 says : — ' About this time there had been an execution of two or three criminals at Oxford on a Monday. Soon afterwards, one day at dinner, I was saying that Mr. Swinton the chaplain of the gaol, and also a fre- quent preacher before the University, a learned man, but often thoughtless and absent, preached the condemna- tion-sermon on repentance, before the convicts, on the preceding day, Sunday ; and that in the close he told his audience, that he should give them the remainder of what he had to say on the subject, the next Lord's Day. Upon which, one of our com- pany, a Doctor of Divinity, and a offering an apology for Mr. Swinton, gravely remarked, that he had prob- ably preached the same sermon before the University : " Yes, Sir, (says Johnson) but the University were not to be hanged the next morn- ing.'" Life^ i. 273. John Swinton died in 1777, and is buried in the chapel of Wadham College. Chalmers's Biog. Diet., xxix. 70. ' ' A nameless doctor ( Universal History, vol. xx, octavo edition) has formally dononstrated the truth of Christianity by the independence of the Arabs.' Dccli?ie afid Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. 1807, ix. 202, n. 21. - George Sale, the translator of the plain matter-of-fact man, by way of Koran. History Aetat. 75.] To M7's. SU'akau. 43 oo History of the Jews, Gauls, and Spaniards; by Mr. Psalmanazar '. Xenophon's Retreat ; by the same. History of the Persians and the Constantinopohtan Empire ; by Dr. Campbell. History of the Romans ; by Mr. Bower. 1043. ( TVw undated Letters^ To Mrs. Strahan. In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue of August 21, 1872, Lot 113 is a Letter of Johnson to Mrs. Strahan. 'Sept. 20. Postponing an invitation, " I had forgotten that I had myself invited a friend to dine with." &c.' To . In the Catalogue of the same firm of May 10, 1875, Lot 104 is a Letter of Johnson, 'one page quarto, dated Nov. 29, respecting a proof sheet in which he wished to alter one word only.' It was sold for ^28.. Bolt Court, December 13, 1784. In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's Auction Catalogue of July 8, 1859, Lot 225 is 'an autograph of Johnson to a receipt for £75, being one quarter's pension, Dec. 13, 1784.' If the date is correctly given we have here in all likelihood the last words written by Johnson, for about seven o'clock in the evening of that day he died. 'He died,' writes J. T. Smith, 'in the back-room of the first floor of his house in Bolt Court, of which room I made a drawing, just before Mr. Bensley the printer pulled that part of the house down, to make way for a staircase. There is not a vestige of the original house now remaining.' JVol/ekens and his Titfies, ed. 1828, i. 132. In M.uxr3.y''s Johnsoniana, ed. 1836, p. 82, is a print from a sketch by Smith of ' Dr. Johnson's sitting-room in Bolt Court.' It is possible that in his last illness his bed was moved into this room. William Hutton, who left London for Birmingham on the night of December 12, describes how 'our bill of lading being completed we began to roll over one-hundred-and-twenty miles of snow without any noise but that of the wheels^.' As the coach went silently on through a wintry world Johnson's spirit passed away. Among the manuscripts of the British Museum are the following documents relating to the funeral : — ' See Life, iii. 443. * W. WMlioTLS Joitrney to London, ed. 1818, p. 133. VOL. II. F f Sir 434 Documefits relating- [A.D. 1784. ' Sir, — The Executors of the late Dr. Samuel Johnson request the favor of your attendance on Monday next, the 20th of December inst., at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, at the Doctor's late Dwelling-house in Bolt Court, Fleet Street, to accompany the corpse from thence to West- minster Abbey. 1 8th December, i784\' II. List of those present at the Funeral'^ : — Dr. Burney. Sastres. vi. Sir J. Hawkins. Dr. Wright. Sir J. Reynolds. Ryland. Dr. Scott. i. Malone. Sir J. Banks. Dr. Farmer. vii. Colman. Gen. Paoli. Dr. Broklesbury [Brocklesby.' Horsley. Hoole. ii. Count Zenobia. Nicholls. [Nichols." Sir Charles Bunbury. viii. Seward. Cruickshank [CruikshankJ. Frank [Francis Barber. Medcalf [Metcalfe.' Lowe. iii. Dr. Butter. ix. Du Moulins [Desmoulins.' Mr. Nicol. Burke. Rev. S. Hoole. Burke, j^. Mr. Mickle. Wyndham. iv. [Windham.' C. B. [? Charles Burney.] xi. Holder. Mr. Henderson. Cooke. Rev. Mr. East. G. Strahan. Rev. Mr. Shanvelle. [?^ Rev. Mr. Butt. v. Mr. Sharp. xii. Paradise. Fifteen Gentlemen. Langton. Coaches [? Fifteen Gentlemen's Steevens. coaches." Pall Bearers : — Sir J. Banks. W. Wyndham [Windham.' Sir C. Bunbury. Langton. E. Burke. G. Colman. • Nichols MSS. The card no Nichols, the editor of the Ge7itleman's doubt was the one sent to John Magazine. = Add. MSS. 33,498. Extract Aetat. 75.] to Dv, Jolifisoii s Funeral. 435 ' Extract from St. James' Chronicle the day after Johnson's funeral ' : — " The Procession consisted of a Hearse and six, with the corpse and twelve mourning coaches and four. It set out from Bolt Court a few minutes after twelve o'clock, followed by several gentlemen's carriages. At one o'clock the corpse arrived at the Abbey.'" Among all the mourners there was only one man of hereditary title — Sir Charles Bunbury. ' The great lords and great ladies who did not love to have their mouths stopped ^ ' neglected him to the last. Far different had been the scene at Garrick's funeral. ' Through weeping London's crowded streets, As Garrick's funeral passed, Contending wits and nobles strove, Who should forsake him last \' But he who was followed to his last resting-place by Reynolds and Burke did not go unhonoured to his grave. 3 Add. MSS. 33,498. = Life, iv. 116. Bishop George Home's Essays and Thoughts, ed. 1808, p. 283. F f 2 APPENDIX A. {Page 179.) To the kindness of Sir E. H. Bunbury, of Barton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds, I owe the following copy of a document in his possession endorsed by Sir H. E. Bunbury who died in i860 : — ' Autograph of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Draft of a Petition sketched at the desire of my Grandmother for a poor woman at Plymouth.' To THE Kings most Excellent Majesty the Humble Petition of Hunt. Your Majestys Petitioner begs leave with all humility to inform you that she is the Widow of Edward Hunt of your Majestys yard Plymouth who died nineteen years ago, and left her with eight young children whom she has maintained and educated. That being now advanced in years, she has been for some time supported by her son Joseph Hunt late Captain of your ]\Iajestys ship Unicorn. That her son was killed January the eighth in an Engagement with the Vestal a noted Frigate of superior force, which he live \_sic\ to take and then expired, leaving his Mother without any provision for her declining years. She therefore humbly applies herself to the known goodness of your Majesty, hoping for such relief of her distress as to your Majesty shall seem proper. APPENDIX B. {Page 261.) Dr. William Hunter died on March 30 of the following year. Bos- well writing of that day says : — ' I found him at home in the evening, and had the pleasure to meet with Dr. Brocklesby, whose reading, and knowledge of life, and good spirits, supply him with a never-failing source of conversation. He mentioned a respectable gentleman, who became extremely penurious near the close of his life. Johnson said there must have been a degree of madness about him, " Not at all, Sir, (said Dr. Brocklesby,) his judgement was entire." Unluckily, however, Appendix B. 437 however, he mentioned that although he had a fortune of twenty-seven thousand pounds, he denied himself many comforts, from an apprehension that he could not afford them. " Nay, Sir, (cried Johnson,) when the judge- ment is so disturbed that a man cannot count, that is pretty well.'" Life, iv, 176. The following curious manuscript note in my possession, which is, no doubt, Dr. Brocklesby's record of the conversation of this evening, shows that the respectable but penurious gentleman was the famous physician, William Hunter. 'At Dr. Johnson's, with J. Boswell, Esq., 30th March, 1783, when Dr. Hunter dyed. * S. J. bom in 1709, his mother in 1665 the daughter of a little Warwick- shire Gent. [?J the oldest people in her childhood had seldom learnt to read*. • — Dr. Hunter fell a sacrifice to his last Lecture — spent _;^ioo,ooo on his Collection, nothing on Himself — advised by S. J. to leave it to Glasgow where he was born and bred — proposed to have built his Anatomy of an Elephant in the Centre of his Museum which would have fixed the place unalterably. — Opiate never destructive of S. J's. Readiness in Conversation this very circumstance I have observed — ought to beware from Hunter's Death of trifling with his Gout as that Author's [?] ended by pertinaciously giving his last Lecture in a paroxysm of that Disease. 'S.J. maintained against Boswell that knowledge should be universally taught, because no man was sorry that he had acquired knowledge, or wished to unbare [?] the Genius given Him and the Ground must be always tilled, and the Conveniencies of Life be manufactured, but it was not fair to restrict any Sett of Men to tilling the Ground and making Clothes &c. — Genius should have a fair Chance whenever it was born— it was not born Every Day — yet Solomon says " he that encreaseth Knowledge encreaseth Sorrow," and Johnson has put many Syllables of Sadness together in a like strain formerly. * 'Only 3 or 4 public Schools before Ed. 6 and Eliz. — no free Schools royally endowed or chartered afterwards — Only i Bp. of Westminster and he spent the Revenues — Fakenham, Abbot of Westm"' appointed afterwards by Q. Mary preached her funeral Sermon and sat in the first parls. of Elizabeth — another preacher of Mary's funeral Sermon comforted his audience on the virtues of her Successor by observing that " a living dog was better than a dead Lion." ' Dr. Brocklesby met Lord Mansfield one night at supper. ' They inter- changed some stories a little trenching on decorum. It so happened that the Doctor had to appear next morning before Lord Mansfield in the witness box ; when, on the strength of last night's doings, the witness nodded with offensive familiarity to the Chief Justice as to a boon companion. His Lord- ship, taking no notice of his salutation, but writing down his evidence, when he came to summing it up to the jury, thus proceeded : — "The next witness is one Rocklesby or Brocklesby, Brocklesby or Rocklesby, — I am not sure which,— and first, he swears that he is a Physician.'" Campbell's Lives of the Chief Justices^ ed. 1849, ii- 57°- APPENDIX 438 Appendix C. APPENDIX C. {Page 413.) The following anecdotes I owe to the kindness of Mr. Falconer Madan, Fellow of Brasenose College and Sub-Librarian of the Bodleian, who found them in Dr. Philip Bliss's manuscript note book preserved in that Library ; Vol. X, MS. Eng. Misc. e. 8. p. 4. ' Anecdotes of Samuel Johnson never published. L 'When engaged on some literary research the Dr. was very anxious to procure some information relative to one of the fathers, and failing himself, commissioned his friend Nicol, the King's bookseller, to continue the enquiry, and if possible provide him with the account of which he stood in need. Meeting George Nicol shortly after in a party at dinner, where was some man of Pembroke (his own college) no great favourite with Johnson, the Dr. cried out, " Well, Sir," to Nicol, " and what success have you had in your searches after Petrus de Maximis?" "None, Dr.," said Nicol, "I have hunted high and low, looked in every book I can find, and can make nothing of it." " Petrus Maximus ! " said the Pembroke divine, " I never heard of him before." " I dare say not, Sir," said Johnson with his accustomed rough- ness ; " his name is not on your college buttery book." ' Mr. G. K. Fortescue, the Superintendent of the Reading Room of the British Museum, in reply to my inquiry about Petrus de Maximis has sent me the following note : — ' The only person I can find in the whole range of literature named Peter de Maximis (I suppose the name really is Pietro dei Massimi; a great Roman family) is one of two brothers De Maximis, who gave a home to the printers Sweynheym and Pannartz in Rome in 1467.' Mr. Fortescue sends me an extract from Panzer's Annales Typog., Norimb., 1794, ii. 413, in which are given the following verses in an edition of Strabo printed in 1469 : — ' Aspicis illustris lector quicunque libellos Si cupis artificum nomina nosse : lege &c. Conrardus suueynheym : Arnoldus pannartzque magistrl Rome impresserunt talia multa simul. Petrus cum fratre Francisco maximus ambo Huic operi aptatam contribuere domum.' Johnson Appendix D. 439 II. ' Johnson was famous for an assertion that no man ever laboured for labour's sake, but that all, whatever were their pursuits, followed them from motives of interest, however they might disguise the real end from themselves or others. Sir Joshua Reynolds knowing that this was a favourite subject, and much wishing to draw the Dr. out before a large party of ladies, com- menced his address to him with : — " Well, Dr., I have been the whole day engaged on a picture which has delighted me ; I never laboured so long with so great and unmingled pleasure." " I beg your pardon. Sir," retorted Johnson ; " your pleasure was not derived from your labour, but from the reward you expect to derive from it. It was your interest made you pleased with your occupation," — and a great deal more to the same effect, completely falling into Sir Joshua's scheme, and amusing the whole company with his declamation. At last turning to the ladies he expressed himself fearful they must have been tired by so long a discourse on so dry a subject, but added he, " Ladies, I can at once illustrate all I have been saying to Sir Joshua, and render my meaning perfectly intelligible to you, by remarking that when Leander swam the Hellespont he did not do so from a love of swimming." ' For labouring for labour's sake, see the Life, ii. 98 ; iii. 19 ; iv. 219. South had said : — ' Men do not use to run, only that they may run, but that they may obtain ; labour itself being certainly one of the worst rewards of a man's pains.' — South's Sermons, &6.. 1823, iii. 137. Burke, in his Essay on the Stiblitne and Beaictiful, part iv. sect. 6, maintains that 'Providence has so ordered it that a state of rest and inaction, however it may flatter our indolence, should be productive of many inconveniencies ; that it should generate such disorders as may force us to have recourse to some labour, as a thing absolutely requisite to make us pass our lives with tolerable satisfac- tion.' In the next section he describes 'common labour' as 'a mode of pain.' APPENDIX D. {Page 420.) From the Diary of the Right Hon. William Windhain (p. 17) I have selected the following notes among those which he made of Dr. Johnson's conversation at Ashbourne at the end of August 1784. The principle of all amusements is to beguile time and fill the interval between active thought and perfect vacuity. The 440 Appendix D. The source of every thing, in or out of nature, that can serve the pur- pose of poetry, is to be found in Homer ; — every species of distress, every modification of heroic character, battles, storms, ghosts, incantations, &c. Dr. Johnson said he had never read through the Odyssey completely in the original. Anecdote of his first declamation at College ; that having neglected to write it till the morning of his being to repeat it, and having only one copy, he got part of it by heart, while he was walking into the Hall, and the rest he supplied as well as he could extempore. Description of himself as very idle and neglectful of his studies. His opinion, that I could not name above five of my college acquaintances who read Latin with sufficient ease to make it pleasurable ; the difficulty of the language overpowers the desire to read the author ; that he read Latin with as much ease when he went to college as at present. Attention to the language overpowers the regard to the matter ; rather not know the contents than dig them out of Latin. That a year or two elapsed between his quitting school and going to College. Commended Ovid's description of the death of Hercules — doubted whether Virgil would not have loaded the description with too many fine words ; that Virgil would sometimes dare verba. Opinion that there were three ways in which writing may be unnatural ; by being bombastic and above nature, affected and beside it, fringing every event with ornaments which nature did not afford, or weak and below nature. That neither of the first would please long. That the third might indeed please a good while, or at least many ; because imbecility, and consequently a love of imbecility, might be found in many. Baretti had told him of some Italian author, who said that a good work must be that with which the vulgar were pleased, and of which the learned could tell why it pleased — that it must be able to employ the learned, and detain the idle. Chevy Chase pleased the vulgar, but did not satisfy the learned ; it did not fill a mind capable of thinking strongly. The merit of Shakspeare was such as the ignorant could take in, and the learned add nothing to. TepTro/Mefd? re voov 6 nXeiova eldoos ' — the offer of the Syren to Ulysses. Any man will preserve his respect who can promise this to another ; applied to a college tutor. Vast change of the Latin language from the time of Lucretius to Virgil ; greater than known in any other, even the French. Suspicion that the old grammarians have given us from an analogy more modifications of tenses than were ever used. Remember but one instance of second future, viz. evpib in Josephus ; and three of the optative, if I recollect, of the preterite and middle, one of them in Hesiod. Great advantage of a University, that a person lives in a place where his reputation depends on his learning. Argument about that feel which persons on great heights suppose them- selves to have of a wish to throw themselves down. ' 'AAA.' ofe Ttpipafnuos vtiTai Kol wKtiova (iSuis. — Odyssey, XIL iS8. The Appendix D. 441 The idea of delitescence one of those that please the mind in a hilly country. Torpescence, much of the faculties of the mind lost in them. Qui stiipet in statuis ', appHed to Joseph Warton's admiration of fine passages. His taste is amazement". The pretensions of the English to the reputation of writing Latin founded not so much on the specimens in that way which they have produced, as on the quantity of talent diffused through the country, Erasmus appears to be totally ignorant of science and natural knowledge. But one Italian writer is mentioned in Erasmus. Opinion about the effect of turnpike roads. Every place communicating with every other. Before, there were cheap places and dear places. Now all refuges destroyed for elegant or genteel poverty. Want of such a last hope to support men in their struggle through life, however seldom it might be resorted to. Disunion of families by furnishing a market to each man's abilities, and destroying the dependence of one man on another. September \st. — Left Ashbourne at half-past one, having gone with Dr. Johnson, in the morning, to prayers. Regretted, upon reflection, that I had not staid another day. ' ' Qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus.' Mr. Croker prints ' Qui sltipet, in ' And rapt, with awe-struck admira- Statius.'' tion gaze, '^ In the text aiitusemost. I have fol- When the long race its images dis- lowed Mr. Croker's reading, plays.' Francis. HoR.i'aAvi. 17. INDEX. Abbess, Mrs., ii. 158. Aberbrothick, i. 232. Aberdeen, i. 233, 301 n. Abershaw, Louis Jeremiah, ii. 30 n. Abington, Mrs., i. 316. Accommodation, i. 264 «. ; ii. 367 «., 394- Adair, James, i. 321. Adam, the brothers, i. 8 n. Adams, Rev. William, D.D., ii. 39, 227, 258-9, 400, 430 ; Johnson's letters, i. 402 ; ii. 409. Adams, Miss, ii. 259 «., 260, 410. Addenbroke, Dean, i. 185, 301 «. Addison, Joseph, Life, ii. 132, 13S ; in- fluence of the Spectator, ii. 352 «. ; quoted, i. 175, 207 n., 273 «., 277 «., 403 n. ; ii. 149, 321 n., 329, 352 n. Adey, Mrs., i. 139 ; ii. 17, 87. Adey, Miss, i. 331 ; ii. 382. Adventure?-, i. 36. Advice, ii. 162. Agnes, playing, ii. 51. Air, new kinds of, ii. 333, 342, 362. Airy, ii. 116 n., 361 «. Akenside, Mark, M.D., ii. 21, 19S. Akerman, — , ii. 173 n. Albemarle, Lady, ii. 173 n. Ale, price of, i. 194. Allen, Edmund, i. 73 «., 75 «,, 121 ; ii. 61, 226, 301, 332, 392, 395, 417-9; Johnson's letter, ii. 239. Allen, Mrs., ii. 295, 309. Almanacs, ii. 76 n. Alnwick, i. 228. Althorpe, Viscount, ii. 1 11 n. America, Conciliatory Propositions, i. 311 M. ; fierceness, i. 318; Johnson's violence, i. 360 ; lost to England, ii. 375; 'shining talents' on the side of the Colonies, i. 390 n.; war — Cop's Hill, i. 161 «. ; Bunker's Hill, i. 318 «.; 332 «., 360 n. ; Lexington, i. 325 n. ; country to be wasted, i. 360 ; expenses, i. 386 n. ; effects of war, see under England; Wesley's Calm Address, i- 37.^- Amusements, ii. 25 «., 439. Amusing, i. 283 «. Andrews, Dr. Francis, i. 123. Anoch, i. 243, 246. Anspach, Margrave of, ii. 143 n. Apperley, — , Johnson's letter, i. 135. Appetite, ii. 391. Approbation, ii. 369. Archaological Dictionary, ii. 224. Archbishop of St. Andrews, ii. 408. Archbishop of York, i. 138 n., 313, 327. See also under Markham, Dr. William. Argyle, John, fifth Duke of, i. 284-5 J ii. 40, 176. Aristotle, quoted, ii. 67. Arithmetic, ii. 321, 361. Arkwright, Sir Richard, i. 6 n. AscHAM, Roger, i. 225. Ashe, Miss, i. 211 n. ASPASIA, ii. 390 n. Aston, Elizabeth, house, i. 160 «. ; Lives of the Poets partly \vritten in it, ii. 46 «.; ill, ii. 20, 26, 49, 54, 60, 97, 229, 231-3; Johnson's letters, i. 131, 155, 368; ii. 2, 3, 30, 58, 82, 85, 90, 114, 119, 247-8, 382,429; — regard for her, ii. 17, 227; mentioned, i. 173, 201, 310, 329> 335> 381 ; ii. 93, 185, 240, 314. Aston, Sir Thomas, Bart., i. 16 w. Aston, — , i. 16, 29. At the close, ii. 374. Atlantic, i. 146 n. Attend, i. 404 n. Auchinleck, Lord, i. 244 «., 292 «., 320 n. ; ii. 271. Auchinleck Place, i. 287, 292. 444 Index to Austin, Mary Ann Beauclerk, Topham. Austin, Mary Ann, ii. 334 n. Authors, attacks on them, i. 315 ; ii. 148 ; earl)' pieces, ii. 7 ; schemes, i. 74 ; sought Johnson's aid, ii. 313 n. ; third nights, ii. 252. Aylesbury, Lady, ii. 166 n. B. Bacon, Francis, quoted, i. 252 n. ; ii. "5 '^-j 331 «• Bagot, Sir Walter, i. 137. Bagshaw, Rev. Mr., ii. 411. Baillet, Adrian, i. 146. Baillie, Dr., ii. 339 n. Baines, Edward, i. 6 n. Baker, Thomas, ii. 13. Ballard, — , i. 40. Balloons, ii. 333, 342, 347-8, 354 n., 365-372, 419. 427- Banks, Sir Joseph, i. 233, 293 ; ii. 36,- n., 434- Bantling, i. 178 «. Barbauld, Mrs., ii. 109 «., 354 n. Barber, Francis, service with Johnson, i. 66 n. ; wants to read Evelina, ii. 77 ; child born to him, 239 ; Johnson's letter, 331 ; — funeral, 434; mentioned, i- 99, 173; ii- I. 28, 50, 227, 249 «., 381 n. Barber, Mrs., ii. 239. Barclays, Quakers and brewers, ii. 216 «., 222. Bardsey Island, i. 290. Baretti, Joseph, blessings of being rich, ii. 164 n. ; Boswell described, i. 317 «. ; ii. 39 n. ; Bruce the traveller, i. 313 w. ; Carmen Seculare, ii. So, 87 ; described, i. 351 «. ; Footeana, ii. 55 w. ; Gordon riots, ii. 169 w. ; Introduction to Laii- guages, i. 324 n. ; Italian local histories, i. 145 n.', Italian author quoted, ii. 440 ; Johnson's bigotry, ii. 167 ;/. ; — dinner-table, ii. 125 n. ; — French, i. 324 n. ; ii. 179^. ; — as an Inquisitor, i. 319 n.; — introduced to the Cot- terells, i. 44 n. ; — mention of him in the Letters, i. 350, 354-5 ; — musings, J- 359 «•> 388 n. ; ii. 32 n. ; — pay- ments, i. 79 n.; — ' true-bom English- man, i. 238 n. ; Journey, i. 165 ; ii. 329 ti. ; Piozzi attacked, ii. 34 «., 239 n. ; 'plague and darling,' i. 326 ; quits Streatham, i. 403 «. ; Rasselas, i. 324 H.; reviewed, i. 403; Smollett described, i. 286 n. ; teacher of Italian, i. 294 n. ; Thrale's sons, death of, i. 381 n., 383 n., 3S4 «., 386 n., 3S8 n. ; Thrale, Mrs., treatment of her children, i. 205, 294 «., 33S n., 350 n. ; — ac- cused of poisoning them, i. 381 ^^. ; — of forging a letter, ii. 405 n. ; — she accuses him, ii. 40S //. ; — her jealousy, i. 344 n. ; — Jewish notions, ii. 57 n.; — wicked house, ii. 351 ; Tromba Marino man, ii. 251 ;;. ; mentioned, i. 163 n., 347, 393 ; ii. 183 n., 318 ;z. Barker, Dr. Edmund, ii. 364 «. Barker, — , i. 70. Barnard, Sir Frederick Augusta, John- son's letter, i. 142. Barnard, Rev. Dr. (Dean of Derry), i. 362 n. Barnard, Rev. Dr. (Provost of Eton), ii. 136-7, 164 ;/. Barret, William, i. 400, 404. Barrington, Admiral, ii. 251 n. Barry, Dr. (Sir Edward Barry, Bart.), ii. 369. Barry, James, ii. 293, 305. Barwell, — , i. 410 n. Baskerville, John, i. 42. Baskett, Mark, i. 115 n. Bate, James, i. 84 n. Bates, — , i. 206 n. Bath, i. 391 ; ii. 146, 175-6, 404 ;/. B.\TH, Earl of, i. 93 n. Bathurst, Dr. Richard, i. 32 ; ii. 209 «., 364 "• Beatniffe, Richard, Johnson's letter ii. 243- Beatoun, Cardinal, i. 231. Beattie, Dr. James, Highland scenery, i. 251 M. ; pension, 287 ; lodged at Lambeth, 321 n.; Goldsmith's epitaph, 407 n.; Scott ids ws, ii. 120 ;/. ; John- son hated by Monboddo, 150 n. ; — appetite, 3S9 n. Beauclerk, Lady Diana, i. 49 ;/. Beauclerk, Topham, Johnson and the orange-peel, i. 49 n. ; story about Johnson, ii. 44 n. ; ill, 54 ; death, 209 u. Lcttei's of Dr. Johnson. 445 ' Beauties of Johnson.' Boawell, James. Beauties of Johnson, ii. 254. Beauvoir, Rev. Dr. Osmund, ii. 251 ;/. Beddoes, Dr., ii. 77 n. Bedford, fourth Duke of, i. 7 n., 417. Bedrider, ii. 48. Beighton, — , i. 117 ;;. Belcher, William, i. 137 n. Belin be Ballu, ii. 410 «. Bell, Rev. Dr., i. 118; ii. 63 ;;., 146, 371. Bembo, ii. 417. Bembridge, — , ii. 298 n. Benedictines, i. 401-2 ; ii. 410. Bexsley, Thomas, ii. 433. Bentham, Jeremy, balloons, ii. 420 ;/. ; Elphinston's house, i. 1 7 n. ; Johnson's City Club, ii. 363 «. ; Mansfield's MSS., ii. 169 n.; Markham, Arch- bishop, ii. 150 n. ; 'Omniscient Jack- son,' ii. 349 71. ; Oxford University elec- tion, i. 138 n.; Queen's College, i. 114 n. ; — Dr. Fothergill, i. 3J4 n. ; — monotonous life, i. 330 n. Bentley, Rev. Richard, D.D., ii. 276 n. Bentley, Rev. Richard, D.D. (the nephew), i. 190. Berkeley, fourth Earl of, ii. 143 n. Berkeley of Stratton, Lord, ii. 169 «. Berry, — , ii. 396 n. Besselsleigh, ii. 260 n. Bewly, William, ii. 222 n. Bible, early editions, i. 147. Biggins, — , ii. 419 n. Bingham, Hon. Miss. See Spencer, Countess. Biografkia Britannica, ii. 40. Birch, Rev. Thomas, D.D., account of him, i. 53 n. ; Johnson's letters, i. 30, 32, 3.S. 44. 5.^- 62, 64. Birmingham, Johnson's residence there, i. 69 ; ii. 289 n. ; seat of the mechanic arts, ii. 53; boobies, ib. n. See also under Johnson. Bishops, ii. 149 n. Black, Joseph, ii. 362 n. Black dog, ii. 73. Blacklock, Dr. Thomas, i. 229. Blackmore, Sir Richard, ii. 159, 185, 19S, 275 n. Blackstone, Sir William, Lectures on Law, i. 114 n. ; Principal of New Inn Hall, 132 n. ; University election of 1768, 1 38 n. ; Old Bailey Sessions, ii. 65 n. ; law about married women, 218 w. ; law of settlement, 297 n. Blackwood, Adam, ii. 408 n. Blair, Rev. Dr. Hugh, i. 404 n. Blantire, Lord, ii. 169 w. Bleeding, ii. 198, 253, 401. Bliss, Dr. Philip, ii. 438. Blount, Sir Thomas Pope, i. 32. Blue-Stocking Club, ii. 136 n., 151 «. BoDENS, George, ii. 164 n. Boothby, Sir Brooke, Bart., i. 45 n. BoOTHBY, Hill, Johnson's letters, i. 45- 52, 64. BOSVILLE, Godfrey, ii. 16 m. BoswELL, James, Ashbourne, visits, ii. 15 «•. 31, 36, 38-9. 43; Baltic expe- dition, ii. 30; 'bends a keen eye on vacancy,' i. 279 n. ; bet with Lady D. Beauclerk, i. 49 n. ; bodily activity, i. 233 ; ' Bos,' i. 276 ; ' Branghton, a,' ii. 137 n. ; Brocklesby and Hunter, ii. 436 ; brother David, ii. 182 «.; Cator's guest, ii. 312 n. ; Cecilia, ii. 354 n ; chambers in the Temple, i. 90 w. ; Chester, visits, ii. it6 n. ; City Club, ii. 212 ;/. ; clan, his, ii. 16; debts, ii. 271; described by Baretti, i. 317 «. ; ii. 39 «. ; Doxy, Miss, ii. 129 n. ; equitation, ii. 178 n. ; Essex Head Club, ii. 396 w. ; exe- cution, present at an, ii. 402 «. ; father, i. 292, 320 n. ; ii. 271 ; fees, i. 317 n., 320 ; gentlemen by birth, ii. 160 11. ; hereditary possessions, ii. 370 n.; house, i. 229; Johnson allots him a room, i. 317 w. ; ii. 42 n. ; ■ — appetite, ii. 3^9 ''• \ — associates, ii. 414 n. ; — attacks him, ii. 65 n. ; — , caricature of, ii. 295 n. ; — describes him, i. 223 ; — and Gar- rick, i. 54 n. ; — and Hawkins, ii. 371 n. ; — letter, i. 299 ; — letters to Miss Burney, ii. 354 n. ; — love of cold air, ii. 385 n. ; — monument, ii. 33 n. ; — , pamphlet sent to, ii. 2 78 «. ; — pleasure in his company, i. 291 ; ii. 33, 39, 403 ; — relief from dropsy, ii. 3S0 n. ; — society, i. 316 ; — , ' spy' on, i. 330; —.visits (1779). "• 103-5; — and Wilkes, ii. 295 n. ; Journal, i. 271, 3^0, 330, 355. 392 «•; »• 43, 103 "•. 104 n., 396 n. ; 'led by a bear,' ii. 43 446 Index to Eoswell, James Burnet, Gilbert. «. ; Lichfield, visits, i. 380; ii. 119; — theatre, i. 385 n. ; Literary Club, i. 215; ii. 65 n., 402 n.; Lives of the Poets, ii. 197 n., 208 ; married, i. 331 ; Mickle, letter to, i. 422; omissions in the Life, i. 56 n.; ii. 40 n., 137 n., 296 n. ; ' Omniscient Jackson,' ii. 349 n. ; Oxford, visits, ii. 398, 400 n. ; Paoli, lives with, i. 316 ; place-hnnter, i. 396 ; Rudd, Mrs., i. 395 n., 399 «. ; Scotland his native place, i. 130 n. ; Seward, liked, ii. 35 ; step-mother, i. 320, 396; superstitious, i. 231, 268, 281 ; takes tea with Miss Williams, ii. 335 n.; Temple, enters at the, i. 316; ii. 399; Thrale, visits, i. 313, 318; — health, ii. 103 ; — death, ii. 209 ; Thrale, Mrs., letter to, i. 383 n. ; — studied letters, ii. 147 n.; tour to the Hebrides, i. 230-292, 337 n.; trouble- some kindness, i. 249 ; Wart on, letter to, ii. 155. BoswELL, Mrs., i. 229 w., 252, 2S7; ii. 16,43, 208. BoswELL, Thomas David, i. 317 ; ii. 181. BoswELL, Veronica, i. 287. BoTTARELLi, F., ii. 415 n. Bottom, ii. 30. BowEN, J., ii. 106 ;;., 11 1-2. Bower, Archibald, ii. 433. Bowles, William, ii. 146, 328, 341, 342 n., 396 71. Box-clubs, i. 331. Boyd, Hon. Charles, i. 236. Branghton, a, ii. 137. Brewer, Father, i. 401. Brewers, ii. 160 n. Brewood School, ii. 161. Bright, Rev. Henry, Johnson's letter, i. 157; mentioned, i. 95, 108, 326. Brighthelmstone (Brighton), descrip- tion of it, i. 120 ; remoteness, i. 395 n.; ii. 41 n., 45, 56 ; journey to it, ii. 91 «. ; the Rooms, ii. 46, 105 n. ; the Steync, ii. 79; Thomas's shop, ii. 79 «., 106; Bowen's shop, ii. 106 «. Bristol, second Earl of, i. 133 n. BROCKLESiiY, Dr., house, ii. 302; quotes Juvenal, 304 ; Johnson, attends, 308-9, 313. 315. 339, 392, 423; —.letters to, 331, 417 M.; — dines with him, 396, 402 ; — funeral, 434 ; — conversation, 436; met Lord Mansfield, 437, Brodhurst, — , ii. 92. Broglio, Marshal, i. 12. Bromfield, Robert, M.D., i. 178 ; ii. 94. Brooke, Francis, ii. 23. Broome, William, ii. 156, 180. Broome, — , ii. 315 n. Brothers and sisters, ii. 237. Brown, Dr. John, i. 11 n. Browne, Isaac Hawkins, ii. 324 n. Browne, Sir Thomas, Life, i. 62. Browne, Mrs., ii. 137. Bruce, James, i. 313. Brydone, Patrick, ii. 325 n. Brylston, George, i. 125. Budget, ii. 320. Bttgle, ii. 112 n. Building, i. 99 ; ii. 350. Buller, Mrs., ii. 149. Bullers of Buchan, i. 237. Bumbo, ii. 329 71. BuNBURY, Sir Charles, ii. 434-5. BuNBURY, Sir H. E., ii. 436. BuNBURY, Henry William, i. 344 «., ii. 179 n. BuNBURY, Mrs., ii. 179. BuRKARTi, i. 17 n. Burke, Edmund, American war, i. 390 n. ; Eeaconsfield, i. 266 n. ; Bishop Shipley's house, ii. 157 ; companions of our softer hours, ii. 20 n. ; Crabbe's patron, ii. 287 n., 2S8 ; Croft's Life of Yottttg, ii. 189 n.; Fowke's pension, i. 409 n.\ games, i. 330 n. ; Gordon riots, ii. 166 n.; influence, i. 107 n. ; Jenkinson, attacks, ii. 1^ n.; Johnson's funeral, ii. 434-5 ; labour needful, ii. 439 ; ' live pleasant,' ii. 99 «. ; ' Ned,' i. 123 n. ; Paymaster-general, ii. 261 n., 263; portrait, ii. 108; reform of Parliament, ii. 286 n. ; Shelbume, Earl of, ii. 263 n. ; Speech on Lndia, ii. 375; Stonehenge,ii. 340 ; mentioned, i. 167 ; ii, 5 71., 335 n. Burke, Richard, ii. 5 n. Burke, Richard (junior), ii. 227, 263 n., 434- Burke, William, i. 123 n. ; ii. 5 «. Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury, ii. 321 n. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 447 Burney family Caen Wood. BuRNEY FAMILY, Johnson's love for it, ii. 237. Burney, Captain (afterwards Admiral), ii. 237, 240, 353 n. Burney, Dr. Charles, Bp.retti's scheme, ii. 80 ; Chaulnes, Duke of, ii. 362 n. ; Gordon riots, ii. 172 «.; Histojy of Music, ii. 77, 112 n., 118; Johnson at his house, ii. 183, 281 w. ; — , to bring, ii. 78 ; — funeral, ii. 434 ; — hearth-broom, ii. 223 n. ; — ill- ness, ii. 310 — letter, ii. 144; Latin for misses, ii. 98 n. ; music-lessons, ii. 140 7t. ; Musical Journey, i. 206 ; robbed, ii. 70 ; Sunday evening con- certs, ii. 146 n. ; mentioned, ii. 5, 72, 146, 32.5= 332 n. Burney, Dr. Charles (junior), ii. 325 n., 396 «., 434. Burney, Charlotte, ii. 154 n., 353. Burney, Frances (Mme. D'Arblay), Baretti described, i. 351 n. ; Bath, visits, ii. 132 ; Boswell's application to her, ii. 354 w.; Brighton, ii. 46 «., 91 ??., 106 «.; brother's ship, ii. 237 «.; Bruce the traveller, i. 313 «. ; Buller, Mrs., ii. 149 n. ; Carter, Mrs., ii. 163 n. ; Cecilia, ii. 279 «., 280, 354; compli- ments paid to her, ii. 318 n.\ Con- tractors' Bill, ii. 142 n. ; Crutchley, ii. 236 n. ; Cumberland, hated by, ii. 112, 122 w. ; description of her, ii. 133 n., 354 n. ; diary and letters altered, ii. 6 n. ; Dobson, Mrs., ii. 299 n.; Evelina, ii- 77) I37j 234; 'Fanny's trade is fiction,' ii. 325 ; Garrick, Mrs., ii. 252 n.; George III at Weymouth, ii. 318 n.; Gordon riots, ii. 164 n., 169 n., 171 n., 173 71.; Herschel's discoveries, ii. 386 n. ; inaccuracy, ii. 237 w. ; Jebb, Sir R., ii. 148 n.; Johnson's admiration of her, i. 55 n.\ — at a ball, ii. 232 n.; — at Dr. Bumey's, ii. 183 n., 281 n. ; — at Mrs. Garrick's, ii. 396 «.; — death, ii. 332 «., 414 n. ; — described, ii. 6 w. ; — diet, ii. loi n. ; — to be drav?n out, ii. 392 n. ; — ill in 1783, ii. 366 n., 369 n. ; — Latin lessons, ii. 98 n., 182 ; — let- ters, ii. 222, 353-4; — , letters to, ii. 118, 136, 353 «. ; — Letters to Mrs. Thrale, ii. 5 w. ; — bums Mrs. Thrale's letters, ii. 407 n. ; — Lives, ii. 186 «., 197 71. ; — and Mrs. Montagu, ii. 139 «•) 336 «. ; — palsy, ii. 310 n., 312 w. ; — strange discipline, ii. 165 n. ; — , Mrs. Thrale and Piozzi, ii. 368 n. ; Langton's children, ii. 317 m. ; Mus- grave. Sir R., ii. 295 «. ; Pcnnick, Mr., i. 133 «. ; praised by Hutton, ii. 175; salary at Court, i. 159 «. ; sea-bathing, ii. 277 n.; Southwark election, ii. 157 n.; Thrale's illness, ii. 94 »., loi n. ; — death, ii. 209 «., 211 n.\ Thrale, Mrs., described, ii. 5 71. ; — slanders Miss Burney, ii. 40S 71. ; — and Metcalfe, ii. 345 n. ; — and Piozzi, ii. 6 71., 351 71., 386 «., 394 w, ; — sale of the brewery, ii. 217 «., 222 M. ; Thrale, Miss, ii. 5 w., 394 m. ; Young, Professor, ii. 315 ;/. ; men- tioned, ii. 129, 152, 229. Burney, Richard, ii. 310. Burney, Susan, i. 350 71. ; ii. 109 n., 310 w., 390 n. Burning glass, ii. 311. Burns, Robert, Elphinston's Martial, i. 17 71.; Bullers of Buchan, 237 «. Burton, Robert, A7tatomy of Mela7tcholy quoted, i. 257 «., 293, 3S3 ; ii. 22 w., 202 71., 253 71. Bustle, i. 196 n. Bute, third Earl of, i. 92, 137 «.; ii. 401 7t. Butler, Mr. A. J., i. 61 n. Butler, Rev. — , i. 157 w. Butler, Samuel, i. 218 n. Butt, Rev. Mr., ii. 434. Butter, Dr., i. 189 w. ; ii. 434. Byron, Admiral, ii. 79 «., 121 w., 235 «. Byron, Augusta, ii. 79. Byron, Lord, ii. 79 w., 235 7i. Byron, Mrs., ii. 79, 117, 121 «., 140 «., 142 71., 235 n., 360. -, Sir James, ii. 164 «. Cadell, Thomas, i. 25 w. ; ii. 275 «.; Johnson's letters, i. 188 ; ii, 61, 71,89, 208. Caen Wood, ii. 168. 448 Index to Calder, Rev. Dr. John Chesterfield, Earl of. Cai.der, Rev. Dr. John, i. 374 ; John- son's letter, 376. Calling in the country, ii. 24 w. Calmet, Augustin, i. 147 ; ii. 391. Calvert, Felix, ii. 23 n. Calvert, Mrs., i. 122. Calvert and Seward, i. 346. Cambridge, Richard Owen, ii. 317 n. Camden, Lord Chancellor, i. 421. Camden, William, ii. 341. Campbell, Dr. John, ii. 433. Campbell, — , i. 292. Camps, ii. 71. Canal, ii. 78 n. Canals, i. 175. Car, — , i. 11. Careless, Mrs., i. 41 «., 164, 202, 378 ; ii. 17, 2 28. Carlisle, fifth Earl of, ii. 38 ;/., 109 n. Carlisle, Countess of, ii. 368. Carlyle, Rev. Alexander, D.D., i. 272 n. Carlyle, Thomas, Battle of Chotusitz, i. 13 «. ; like Johnson, 20;;. ; Watson's Philip II, \^ I '^- ; brothers and friends, ii. 237 «. Carmichael, Miss, ii. 42 n., 75, 77. Carte, Rev. Samuel, ii. 281. Carte, Thomas, i. 17 «., 170 n. Carter, Elizabeth, Johnson's letter, i. 55 ; described by Miss Burney, ii.163 n. ; mentioned, ii. 24, 251. Carter, — , a riding-school master,i. 309, 312, 321, 327. 329' 338,361, 377- Carteret, John, Lord (Earl Granville), i. 12. Carwithen, Miss, i. 94. Castiglione, Prince Gonzaga di, ii. 6. Castles, the, ii. 183 «. Catalogus Bibliothecm Thuance, i. 30 w. Catamaran, ii. 122. Catch, ii. 108. Catcot, George, i. 404. Catherine the Second, ii. 377. Cator, John, i. 355 ; ii. 128 «., 210 «., 212-3, 216 «., 217, 222, 312, 373-4, 381 «., 389, 391- Cave, Edward, Johnson impransus, i. 3 ; — Irene, 5 w. ; — and Lewis Paul, 7 ; — Rambler, 29 «. ; death, 55; sister, 67 n. ; Collins's lidele, 37 n. ; ii. 131 n. Cave, Richard, or William, i. 58, 60, 66, 69 ; Johnson's letter, i. 57. Cavendish, the Lords, ii. 10. Cavendish, Lord Frederick, ii. 167 n. Cavendish, Lord John, ii. 261 n. Cawdor, i. 240. Celsus, i. 220. Cephalick, ii. 356 n. Chambers, Catherine, i. 76, 82-6, 91, 93, 99, I"' 125, 131. Chambers, Ephraim, i. 374 n. Chambers, Sir Robert, at University College, i. 113 n.; Principal of New Inn Hall, 132 n., 141 «., 152 n. ; John- son's companion to Newcastle, 222, 224; Judge in Bengal, 341 ; ii. 65 n. 263, 28S ; Universal History, ii. 432. Chambers, Mrs. (Lady Chambers\, i. 341, 347- Chamier, Andrew, ii. 109 n , 121 n. Chandler, Dr. Richard, i. 321. Change of place, ii. 329. Chaplin, — , ii. 49. Chapone, Mrs. (Miss Mulso), ii. 141, 353- Charles II, i. 59 «., 302 n. Charles of Sweden, i. 11. Charleton, Dr. Walter, ii. 341. Charlotte, Queen, i. 184 n., 258 n. ; ii. 5 n., 318 ;/. Charter-house, ii. 14 «., 207, 213. Chatham, William Pitt, first Earl of, influence, i. 107 «. ; Duke of Northum- berland, 228 n. ; Highland regiments, 274 71. ; Jacobite song at Oxford, ii. 227 «.; son,//'.; reform of Parliament, 286 71. Chatsworth, i. 201 ; ii. 43. Chatterton, Thomas, i. 398, 400, 404 ; ii. 250 71. Chaulnes, Duke of, ii. 362 «. Chemical sect, ii. 253. Chenevix, Rev. Dr. R. (Bishop of Waterford), i. 11 «. Chesterfield, fourth Earl of. Courts and Camps, ii. 71 «. ; effects of old age, ii. 212 71. ; hoc age, i. 337 «. ; Johnson's I)ictio7ia>y, i. 409 w. ; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, i. 10; men's weaknesses, ii. 314 «. ; Ranelagh, i. 306 «. ; mentioned, i- 13 "; 352 «■; ii- 38 n. Letter's of Dr. Johnso7i. 449 Chesterfield, Earl of. Cottenham, Earl of. Chesterfield, fifth Earl of, ii. ii «. Chetwood, William Rufus, i. 5. Chevy Chase, ii. 440. Cheyne, George, M.D., i. 293, 358 ; ii. 198 «., 235 71. Children, treatment of, ii. no, 1S3. China-ware, ii. 35. Chirtirgeon, ii. i. Cholmondeley, G. J., ii. 50. Cholmondeley, Hon. and Rev. Robert, ii. 186 11. Cholmondeley, Hon. Mrs., ii. \i6 it., 186 71., 324 «., 339. Christ's Hospital, i. 303-4. Chronology, ii. 27. Churchill, Charles, ii. 332 n. Cicero, quoted, i. 374 n. ; ii. 201. Civilization, i. 264 n. Clarendon, first Earl of, i. 309 n. Clarendon Press, see imder Oxford. Clarke, John, i. 95, 20S. Clarke, Alderman Richard, ii. 65 n., 363 n. Claude Lorain e, ii. 299. Clergyman, letter of one at Bath, ii. 254 ; petition of a poor curate, 278 n. Clerk, Sir Philip Jennings, ii. 6 n., 94, III, 119, 142, 153, 171 «., 239 n., 310, 313- Climate, ii. 182 «. Clink, The, ii. 178. Clothes, cost of, ii. 278. Clubs: City, ii. 212 n., 363 «. ; Essex Head, ii. 367, 377 w., 390, 396 ;?., 402, 411, 415, 417, 419, 422 ; Hum-drnm, ii. 359 n.; Ivy Lane, ii. 359, 363-4, 388, 390; Literary, i. 121, 215 ; ii. 65, 88 n., 312-4, 336 n., 441 ;/. 134; condition of one's nature, 138, Crompton, Samuel, i. 6 n. 212 «.; mors omnibus com intmis, 180. Cromwell, Oliver, i. 235; ii. 261 n., Delap, Rev. Dr., i. 332 n.; ii. 112, 118 «. 321 n. Delitescence, i. 401 ; ii. 441. Crosse, John, i. 135 n. Denmark, Queen of, i. 319, 340 ;/. Crow, Mrs., i. 6. Derby, ii. 35. Crown-birds, ii. 187. Derby, Rev. John, ii. 73. Cruiksh.a.nk, William Cumberland, ii. Dereliction, ii. 307. 339. .342-3, 34^> 434- Descartes, i. 48. Crutchley, Jeremiah, ii. 128, 210 n.. Descriptions, ii. 331. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 451 Desmoulins, John Elgin. Desmoulins, John,ii. 73, 75-6, 79, 291, 297, 434- Desmoulins, Mrs., i. 4 «., 6 «., 54 n. ; ii. 42, 74, 107, 122, 152, 1S7, 191, 193, 207, 240, 242 «., 295, 297, 309 «., 332, 426 ; Johnson's letter, i. 365. Devizes, ii. 132 w. Devon, Earl of, i. 224 n. Devonshire, third Duke of, i. 12. Devonshire, fourth Duke of, i. 117 n. Devonshire, fifth Duke of, ii. 10, 262. Devonshire, Duchess of, ii. 252. Dicey, — , i. 66. Dickens, Charles, i. 392 71. Dictionaries, ii. 415, 417, 426. Dictionary, Johnson's, i. 25-8, 34, 42, 324 n. ; fourth edition, 190-1 ; abridg- ment, ii. 35 n. ; plan, 38 n Diderot, ii. 80 n. DiLLY, Messieurs, i. 314, 320 n., 360 n., 384 n., 397 ji. ; ii. 208 n., 396. DiOT, Mr. and Mrs., i. 342, 348 ; ii. 30. Dirty Lane, i. 196 n. Discoveries, i. 210. Distance, effect of, i. 386 n. Dixey (Dixie), Beaumont, i. 14 n. Dixey, Sir VVolstan, i. 2 ; ii. 264 ;/. Dixey (Dixie), — , ii. 264. DOBSON, Dr. Matthew, ii. 299 n. Dobson, Susanna, ii. 299. DoDD, Rev. William, D.D., trial and execution, ii. 1 1 ; Johnson "s petitions, &c., 17, 18; 'prattling on paper,' 71; Chapel, 291 71. DoDSLEV, James and Robert, i. 5 n., 25 }i., 28, 62 «., 79 w., 89 n. DoGE OF Genoa, i. 270 ; ii. 393. DOLBEN, Sir William, i. 137 ;;. ; ii. 15.=; «• Doncaster, i. 224. Doughty, William, i. 399 n. Douglas, Duchess of, i. 229. Douglas, John, D.D., Bishop of Carlisle and afterwards of Salisbury, Johnson's letter, i. 377 ; — Letters to Mrs. Thrale, ii. 5. Douthwaite, Mr. W. R., i. 88 n. Down, to, ii. 73. Doxy, Miss, ii. 129 n. Doxy, — , a medical man, ii. 362. Dozeners, i. 162 ; ii. 92 n. Drake, Sir Francis, i. 166. Drinking, i. 223, 368, 408 ; ii. 87, 266. Drummond of Blair, i. 277 n. Drummond, William, i. 227. Dryden, John, poetry in Oxford, ii. 22 n. ; Life, 68-9; writing with a hat, 128; Miscellany, 195 n. ; lines to Charleton, 341 n. ; quoted : Absalom and Achito- phel, ii. 43 ; Alexander s Feast, i. 337 n.] ii. 53 ; Character of a Good Parson, ii. 397 n. ; Conquest of Granada, ii. 373; Lines to John Dridcn, ii. 117; from other poems, i. 182 n. ; ii. 45. Du Fresnoy, ii. 286 n. Dunbar, Dr., ii. 183. Dunbar, Sir James, ii. 183 n. DuNBUYS, i. 236. Duncan, Sir William, ii. 401 71. Dundee, i. 232. Dunn, — , ii. 270. Dunning, John (first Lord Ashburton), ii. 145 n. DUNTON, John, ii. 141 «. Dunvegan Castle, i. 245, 267. Durham, i. 226. Dutch Service, regiments in the. i. 268. Duties of life, i. loi. Dyer, John, ii. 108 «. Dyer, Samuel, ii. 108, 364, 390. E. East, Rev. Mr., ii. 434. East India Company, i. 170; ii. 358, 37.^- Ecclesiastical History of England, i. 74. Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, i. 346 ;/. ; ii. 235 n. Edinburgh, i, 228, 292. Edinburgh Dispensatory, ii. 303. Education, i. 334, 394 ; ii. 124, 437. Edward the Confessor, i. 74. Edwards, Rev. Dr. Edward, ii. 257, 260, 398, 410. Edwards, Oliver, ii. 296 «. Eglinton, Earl of, i. 277 «. ; Countess, 292. Eld, — , i. 11. Eldon, first Earl of. See Scott, John. Elgin, i. 239, 240 w., 301 n. 2 452 hidex to Eliot, Edward Prance. Eliot, Edward (first Lord Eliot), ii. 113, 326 n. Elizabeth, Queen, ii. 437. Elliot, Sir Gilbert, i. 420. Elphinston, James, i. 17 n., 214; ii. 212 11. ; Johnson's letters, i. 17; ii. 67. Emerson, R. W., ii. 237 n. Empires, how broken down, ii. 375. Engineer, ii. 164 «. England, (1779) all trade dead, ii. 120; (i 780) poverty and degradation, 150??.; (1782) sinking, 264; (1783) fear of a civil war, 286 ; (1784) times dismal and gloomy, 370 ; a broken down empire, 375. See also Invasions. English, writing verses, i. 97. Engraving, i. 145. Enthusiasm , ii. 306 «. Epistolick, ii. 52 n. Erasmus, ii. 45, 441. Errol, Earl and Countess of, i. 236. Erse, i. 255, 260. Erskine, Hon. Thomas (afterwards Lord Chancellor Erskine), ii. 76 n. Erttption of Krakatoa, ii. 320 n. Ettgh, i. 286 n. Evans, Rev. Mr., i. 393 ; ii. 145 n., 154. Evelyn, John, i. 154. Evil, apprehensions of, i. 262, 327. Executions, ii. 332 n., 347, 402 n. Exetnplijication, ii. 270. Exercise, ii. 99, 102, 254, 355. Exeter Exchange, i. 396. Exhibition. See Royal Academy. Extenuation, ii. 159. Eyre, Baron, ii. 65 n. Eyre, George, i. 25 n., 115 n.\ ii. 272 n. F. Factory, ii. 377 n. Fakenham [Fcckenham], Abbot, ii.437. Falconer, Dr., ii. 249. Falkland's Islands, i. 167 n. Fame, ii. 116. Farmer, Rev. Richard, D.D., Johnson's letters, i. 169 ; ii. 13, 180 n. ; — funeral, ii. 434 ; Ruggle's Ignoramus, ii. 388 n. ; mentioned, i. 204. Faulkner, George, i. 13, 316. Feelers, ii. 124, 126. Feeling, i. 187. Fenton, Elijah, ii. 156, 195-6. Feudal Constitution, i. 144. Feudist, i. 145 n. Fielding, Henry, James's powder, i. 23 n. ; anonymous writings, 80 n. ; Dr. Cheney, 359 n. ; his successor, 396 n. ; brother, ii. 168 n. Fielding, Sir John, ii. 168, 170 n. Fitzherbert, Elizabeth, i. 45 n. Fitzherbert, William, i. 17 n., 46 «., 48. FiTZMAURlCE, Hon. Thomas, Johnson's letter, ii. 81 ; — dines with him, 151. Fitzoshorne' s Letters, ii. 148. Fitzroy, Lord Charles, i. 10 n. Fixed air, ii. 362. Flattery, i. 221 ; ii. 308. Fleetwood, Charles, i. 5. Fletcher, Mrs., ii. 262. Fleury, Cardinal, i. 12. Flint, Miss, Johnson's letter, i. 150. Flint, — , i. 349 ; ii. 263 n., 269 n., 270, 278, 282. Flying Man, ii. 419. FoOTE, Samuel, i. 4 n., 258 n. ; ii. 55. Ford, Rev. Cornelius, i. 177. Fordyce, Miss, i. 226. Fordyce's Bank, i. 192 «., 226. Formxilary, i. 330 n. Forrester, Colonel, ii. 414 n. Fort Augustus, i. 242. Fort George, i. 240. Fortescue, Mr. G. K., ii. 438. Foss, Edward, ii. 325 ;/. FOTHERGILL, Rev. Thomas, D.D., i. 323 «., 324 n. Foundling Hospital, i. 417. FowKE, Francis, Johnson's letter, i. 409. FowKE, Joseph, i. 409 ; Johnson's letter, ii. 288. Fowler, Mr. J. Coke, i. 342 n. ; ii. 400 n. Fox, Charles James, Westminster election, ii. 172 ;?.; superior to his father, 227^. ; Rockingham ministry, 261 ; reform of Parliament, 286 n. ; East India Bill, 358 n. ; Reynolds's portrait, 393 n. FOX-HUNTING, ii. 96. France, rebellion imminent, i. 12 «. ; Johnson's visit, 369, 378 ; transports, ii. 251 ; wolves, 382 n. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 453 Franklin, Benjamin Gordon, Sir Alexander. FRANKLlN.Benjamin, journeyman printer, i. 67 n. ; advice about parsons, ii. 2S3 n. ; balloons, 365 n. Franks. See Post. Fraser of Strichen, i. 239 n. Frederick II, King of Prussia, i. 12. Free, to, i. 309 n. Freeth, S. and S., i. 156 n. French, Gilbert, i. 6 n. Friendship : its form varies, i. 68 ; friends of one's youth, 71, 73; its duties, loo-i ; born friends, ii. 237 n., 292 ; old friends, 350 ; comforts of friendship, 357, 428. Frizz, ii. 57 «. Frome, ii. 194. Fust, John, i. 144. Future life, ii. 380. G , Mrs., ii. 73. Galenists, ii. 253 n. Gallicisms, i. 61. Galway, Lady, ii. 151 «. Games, i. 330 n. Gardiner, Mrs., i. 15O ii.\ ii. 2, 174, 332, 399. 414 «• Garlick, — , i. 70. Garnett, Dr. T., i. 249 n. Garrick, David, benefit to Miss Wil- liams, i. 53 ; ii. 334 n. ; club forfeits, ii. 415 n. ; compared with Mrs. Porter, ii. 344 n. ; Cumberland's plays, ii. iii n.; death, ii. 55 n., 84, 86, 220 n.; funeral, ii. 252, 435 ; Drury Lane Theatre, ii. 252 n.; generosity, ii. 66; Goldsmith and Hawkesworth, i. 365 n. ; Johnson attacks him, i. 75 n., ii8 n. ; — Irene, i. 4 n., 5 ; — letters, i, 1 16-8, 127, 150, 1 86; London Cuckolds, i. 185 n. ; Mickle quarrels with him, i. 214, 422 ; niece, ii. 129 n.; verses, i. 421 ; will, ii. 230; wine-merchant, ii. 20 n. ; mentioned, i. 49 n., 211 71. Garrick, Mrs., ii. 62, 150 n., 230 n., 250-1, 294 «., 396; Johnson's letter, ii. 84. Garrick, Peter, i. 4 n.\ ii. 20, 93, 230. Gastrell, Mrs., i. 160 n. ; ii. 3, 25, 46 w., 58, 82-3, 85, 90, 114, 120, 229,248; Johnson's letters,ii. 60, 248,368,382,429. Gawler, Mrs., ii. 186 n. Gay, John, ii. 195 «., 198, 275. Gell, Philip, i. 348. Cell, Sir William, i. 348 n. Genius, ii. 55, 437. Genoa, i. 270 ; ii. 35 «., 393. George III, Bas Bleu, ii. 390 n. ; Coronation, i. 91 ; Gordon riots, ii. 170;/., 177; Johnson, interview with, i. 115 n.; ii. 289 n.; — sends him his Lives, ii. 87 ; — a Papist and a Jacobite, ib. n. ; Library, i. 143 n. ; London Cuckolds, i. 185 n. ; Pitt's ministry in 1783-4, ii. 374 n.; visits Weymouth, ii. 318 n. German Language, i. 324 n. Gibbon, Edward, American war, i. 3S6 n., 390 71. ; epitaph on Earl of Devon, i. 224 w. ; Gordon riots, ii. 166 n. lucid interval, ii. 377 n. ; Oxford in the Long Vacation, i. 361 n. ; reform of Parliament, ii. 286 n.; remedy for sorrow, ii. 2 lo n. ; Saint Martin, ii. 192 n.; Sheffield, Lady, ii. 252 n.\ Spencer, Countess, ii. iii «., 369 «.j Universal History, ii. 431 n., 432 n. Gill, Alderman, i. 116 n. GiSBORNE, a banker, i. 14 n. Glasgow, i. 291. Glenelg, i. 251. Gloucester, Duke of, ii. 167 «. Gluttony, ii. 323. Goethe, i. 355 n. Goldsmith, Oliver : Beattie, i. 287 «. ; Collins, i. 37 «. ; Cumberland the dramatist, ii. iii n. ; death, ii. 191 n., 209 n.; Douglas, i. 377 «. ; Garrick, i- 365 n. ; Good-Naturcd Man, i. 1 1 n. ; Hornecks, Miss, i. 221 «., 344 «. ; ii. 318 71.; Hum-drum Club, ii. 359 n.; Johnson defends him, ii. 326 «. ; — letter, i. 215 ; Lennox, Mrs., ii. 115 w. ; letter-writing, i. 65 «., 215 n. ; Literary Club, ii. 50 M. ; Newbery, i. 23 «. ; posterity, ii. 51 «. ; print of him, ii. 108 ; Scotch scenery, i. 251 «. ; She Stoops to Conquer, i. 214; sufferings of authors, ii. 149 w. ; suit of clothes, ii. 279 M. ; takes tea with Miss Wil- liams, ii. 335 n. Gordon, Sir Alexander, i. 235 n. 454 Index to Gordon, Duke of. Hawkins, Sir John. Gordon, Duke of, ii. 176. Gordon, Lord George, ii. 166 n., 167, 172, 174 n. Gordon Riots, i. 402 «. ; ii. 164 «., 166-178- Gothick, i. 246 n. GouGH, Richard, i. 301 ti. Gout, i. 367, 403 ; ii. 108, 338. Graevius, i. 144. Grafton, first Duke of, i. 59 n. Grainger, Dr. James, i. 215 «. ; ii. 70 n. Grammarians, ii. 440. Granger, Rev. James, Johnson's letter, i. 203. Grant, Colonel, i. 240 n. Grant, Rev. Mr., i. 240 w., 241 n. Granville, George vLord Lansdowne), ii. 130 «., 131, 190. Gravedo, ii. 229, 245 7t. Gravesend, ii. 319 «., 322. Gray, John, bookseller, i. 5 n. Gray, Thomas, Letters, i. 317 ; Life, ii. 180 «., 189 n., 315; quoted, i. 250 n. ; ii. 356 n. Greaves, Samuel, ii. 390 n. Green, Richard, account of him, i. 161 n.; his Aluseum, 186, 208, 331; ii. 91 ; Johnson's letter, i. 340; mentioned, ii- I7> 55- Greens, ii. 22 n. Greeves, — , ii. 90. Grenville, Right Hon. George, John- son's letter, i. 98. Grevil, Dr., i. 178. Greville, Richard Fulke, i. 60 n. ; ii. 7 «., 146. Grief, i. 171 n., 212, 382-5; ii. 4 «., 67, 71, 209-12, 214-5. Grimm, Baron, i. 79 n. ; ii. 365 n. Grotius, ii. 14. Gunnings, the Miss, ii. 122 n. Gwatkin, Mrs., ii. 85 «. GwYNN, Colonel, i. 344 n. ; ii. 318 «. GWYNN, John, ii. 15, 61. GwYNNE, Nell, ii. 302 7i. H. H , Miss, ii. 298-9, 317. Hacket, Bishop, ii. 99 n. Hackney-coaches, ii. 322. Hadley, John, ii. 117 n. Hagley, i. 177. Hailes, Lord (Sir David Dalrymplej, ii. 150 ;;. Hall, Mrs., i. 372 ; ii. 57 «., 392. Hamilton, Archibald, i. 30, 376 ; John- son's letter, i. 374. Hamilton, William Gerard, Johnson's letter, ii. 248 ; kindness to Johnson, 352, 368 ; mentioned, i. 314 ; ii. 124 n., 127 «., 146. Hamilton, Rev. Dr., Johnson's letters, ii. 296, 37S, 399. Hammond, Rev. Henr}', D.D., i. 357; ii. 225. Hammond, James, ii. 159. Hampstead, ii. 311. Hanmer, Sir Thomas, ii. 131 n. Harborough, Earl of, ii. 284 n. Harcourt, Earl of, ii. 37. Harding, Caleb, i. 375. Hardy, Rev. Dr. Samuel, Johnson's letter, ii. 204. Harington, Sir John, ii. 138 n. Harington, Dr., i. 401 n. ; ii. 138 n. Harley, Alderman, i. 304. Harris, James, ii. 4. Harris, Mrs., ii. 5 n. Harris, Thomas, ii. 17 n. Harrison, Rev. Cornelius, i. 225. Harrison, — (Johnson's uncle), i. 225 n. Hartley, H. W., i. 3S6 n. Harvests, (1772) i. 192, 201 w., (1775) 342, (1777) ii. 38. Haslang, Count, ii. 167 n. Hastings, Warren, i. 298 «., 410. Hatherton, Baron, ii. 161 71. Hawes, L., i. 25 n. Hawkesworth, John, LL.D., Adven- turer, i. 36 ; effrontery, 56 n. ; John- son's letter, 60 ; — , correspondence with, 365 ; Collected Works, 412 n. ; ii. 7-8; Life of Sivift, ii. 196; Ivy Lane Club, 364 n., 390. Hawkesworth, Mrs., i. 61 ; ii. 7. Haw'KINS, Sir John, Ivy Lane Club, ii. 359, 363-4 ; Johnson's dread of death, ii. 380 n. ; — preparing himself to die, ii. 381 n. ; — executor, ii. 407 n. ; — funeral, ii. 434 ; — letters, ii. 358, 363, Letters of Dr. Johnson. 455 Hawkins, John Sidney Humm. 412, 429; — letter on Mrs. Piozzi's marriage, ii. 406 n. ; — relations, i. 306 n.; ii. 371 w , 431 n. \ Taylor's preaching, ii. 403. Hawkins, John Sidney, ii. 3S7 n. Hay, Sir George, i. 137. Hay-making, i. 352. Hayward, Abraham, ii. 27 //., 292 n., 407 n. Head-dress, i. 258; ii. 25, 57. Heale, ii. 328. Health, duty to jjreserve it, i. 171. Hearken after, ii. 353 n. Hearne, Thomas, i. 132 n. ; ii. 431 n. Heartwell, — , i. 164. Heberden, William, M.D., account of him, ii. 95 «. ; quoted, 229; timidis- siniJis, 247 n. ; house, 302 n. ; John- son's physician, 302, 304, 307-8, 315, 343, 367, 369, 371, 373-4. 380, 382-4, 391; — letters, 376, 423; mentioned, ii. 97-8, 101-3. Hector, Edmund, Johnson's letters, i. 41, 67, 72, 124, 202-3, 369, 377 ; — early friendship with him, i. 71 n., 73; ii. 227 71.; — health, ii. 228; name, i. 164, 370 n. ; niece ill, ii. 78; mentioned, i. 305, 32S ; ii. 17. Hector, George, i. 41 n. HfiELY, Humphrey, i. 306; ii. 371. Heights, desire to cast oneself down, ii. 440. IIelsham, Richard, i. 31. Henderson, John, ii. 434. Henry, David, i. 67, 69. Henry, Patrick, i. 67 «. PIerne, Elizabeth (Phoebe), ii. 194, 206, ^56 «•, 378- Herrings, take of, ii. 277. Herschel, William, ii. 385. Hertford, Earl (afterwards Marquis) of, Johnson's letter, i. 389. Hervey, Hon. Henry, i. 182 n. Hervey, Mrs., i. 182 ; ii. 49, 91. Hesiod, i. 152. Hickman, Gregorys, Johnson's letter, i. I. Highwaymen, i. 316 n. ; ii. 70, 312 n., 347- Hill, Professor, i. 232 n. Hill, Mr. Joseph, i. 15 n. Hinchliffe, John, D.D., Bishop of l^eterborough, ii. 148 «., 157 «., 163. Hinckley, Mrs., i. 132. Hitch, C, i. 25 n., 58-9. Hoadley, Rev. Dr. John, i. 1S6 n. HoARE, Henry Merrick, ii. 361 n. Hoc age, i. 337. Hock, i. 52 71. HOCKLEY-IN-THE-HOLE, ii. 30. Hodgson, Brian, ii. 234 «. Hogarth, William, i. 1S6 «. Holder, — , ii. 434. HoLDERNESSE, fourth Earl of, i. 40S. Holland, first Lord, ii. 227 «. HoLLOWAY, Mr. M. M., i. 10 it. HoLLYER, — , Johnsou's letter, i. 302. Home, John, i. 422. Homer, ii. 440. Hoole, John, i. 314; ii. 65, 85 «., 1S3, 250-1, 363 «., 390, 392, 396, 434. Hoole, Rev. Samuel, ii. 349 «., 350, 3I>6 71., 414 71., 434. Hooper, — , i. 80 71. Hopkins, Benjamin, i. 408. PIorace, quoted. Odes, i. 186, 277; ii. 78, 79> 255, 377 «• ; ^af-y ii- 44^ ; Jipis., i. 246; ii. 17, 116, 329 «. ; Ars, i. 176. Horneck, Mrs., ii. 5, 178-9, 221. Hornecks, the, i. 221 «., 344; ii. 318;/. Horseman, — , ii. 359, 363. HoRSLEY, Dr. (Bishop of Rochester), ii. 434- Hoth.\m, Sir Richard, ii. 154, 178. House of Commons, election of 1768, i. 132-4, 137; purchase of seats, ii. 161, 203-4; reform, 285. Howard, Charles, i. 82, 104, 107. Howard, John, Lichfield Gaol, i. 162 «. ; York Gaol, 225 w. ; calls on Johnson, ii. 394. Howard, Mary, i. 82 71. Howell, James, quoted,!. 257 «. ; ii. 37, 52 71. Hume, 'Dz.y\A, prime ininister, i. 92 «.; prices of corn, 193 «. ; at Northaller- ton, 225 M. ; house, 229 «. ; Scottish poets, 230 71.; Strahan an M.P., 300 «. ; at Bath, 393 «. ; letter from A. Mac- donald, 41 8; China-ware, ii. 35 n. Htinun, ii. 75. 456 Index to Hunt, Edward and Joseph Johnson, Samuel. Hunt, Edward and Joseph, ii. 436. Hunter, Dr. William, ii. 261, 339, 436. Hunter, Mrs., i. 87, 138 n. HuTTON, James, ii. 175. Hutton, William, Baskerville's life, i. 42 n.; London pavement, 234 n.\ coaches, 324 n.; workhouses, ii. 21 «. ; silk-mills, 35 n. ; Journey to London, 430 «., 433. Hyde, Justice, ii. 170 ■«. Hyder Ali, i. 241 n. Hymers, William, i. 39 n. Hypochondria, i. 358 n. I. Iceland, ii. 320 n. Idea, i. 297. Idleness, i. 71. Idler, i. 24 «. Ignoramus, ii. 387. Ilam, ii. 38. Illness, i. 141 n. Illwiller, ii. 182 n. Impey, Sir Elijah, ii. 264 n. Improvement, in the mind, i. 362-5. Inappetence, ii. 327 n. Inchkeith, i. 230. Inch Kenneth, i. 279. India. See East India Company. Influence, i. 107 n.; ii. 145 «. Inge, Mrs., ii. 325. Inge, William, ii. 325 w. Inimical, ii. 314. Initiatory, ii. 403 n. Invasion, fears of, ii. 71 «., 103, 109, 114, 120. Inverness, i. 241. Iona (Icolmkill), i. 282. Ireland, i. 399 n. ; ii. 264, 340. Irene, i. 4, 11, 19 n.; ii. 252 n. ISA, i. 246 n., 290. Island, a prison, i. 256. Islington, ii. 88. Italy, i. 145; ii. 192 n., 389 n. Jackson, Cyril (Dean of Christ Church), i. 408. Jackson, Henry, i. 376, 378 ; ii. 20. Jackson, Humphrey, i. 192 «., 213. Jackson, Richardjohnson's letter, ii. 349. Jacobites, English, i. 259 n. Jamaica, ii. 113, 125. James V, i. 265. James, John, i. 114 n., 323 «., 361 n.; ii. 227 n. James, Robert, M.D., Paul's spinning machine, i. 6, 7 n., 58 n.; pills and powder, 8 «., 23 n., 52 n.\ Johnson's instructor, 49 n. ; ' strange fellow,' 58 ; deep in wine, 210; anecdotes of him, 211 n.; Medical Dictionary, 338 n. Jebb, Sir Richard, M.D., ii. 148, 245-6, 2.'i5. 315 «• Jenkinson, Charles (first Earl of Liver- pool), i. 137 ; ii. 18 n. Jennens, Charles, i. 214. Jennings, Colonel, ii. 174 n. Jews, i. 331 n. Jodrell, Richard Paul, ii. 133, 294, 396. Johnson, D., i. 83 n. Johnson, Elizabeth (Dr. Johnson's wife), Johnson's letter, i. 3; property, 14; lodgings, 20 n. ; grave, 61 n. ; ii. 411, 429; death, i. 81 n.; ii. 209, 248 n.; Johnson's regret for her, i. 369 w. Johnson, Mr. G. H., i. 19 n. Johnson, Michael (Dr. Johnson's father), i. 83 n. ; ii. 49 n. Johnson, Nathanael (Dr. Johnson's brother), i. 83 n. ; ii. 237 «. Johnson, Samuel, absence of mind, i. 342 n. ; actors, i. 44 ti. ; ^gri Ephe- meris, ii. 424 n. ; air, love of fresh, ii. 385 n. ; ancestors, i. 268 ; anonymous publications, i. 63 «., 80 n. ; appear- ance, i. 295 n. ; ii. 6 «., 328 n. ; appe- tite, ii. 3S9 ; Ashbourne, visits, i. 164, 175. i95> 340> 382 «.; ii. 26, 93, 233, 41 2 ; associates of all ranks, ii. 414 n. ; attendance required, i. 142 n. ; ii. 259 n. ; attention shown him, ii. 369 ; autograph letters, prices paid for them, i. 2, 3, 6, 8, 26, 40, 52, 54, 66, 69, 70, 91, 118, 148, 168, 207, 215, 222, 284, 307, 322, 387, 412, 413; ii. 7, 71, 208, 246, 254, 287, 370, 409, 433 ; autographic memoranda, ii. 399 n.; ball, goes to a, ii. 232; Baltic expedition, ii. 30 ; Baretti's Journey to Spain, i. 165 n.', Bath, visits, i. 391 ; Letterz of Dr. Johnson. 457 Johnson, Samuel. belabours his confessor, ii. 314 n.\ Bible, reads through the, ii. 271 ; biogra- phers, i. 410 «.; ii. 6 «. ; Birmingham, visits, i. 125, 164, 202, 225 n., 328; "• I?) 55) 228, 241; birth, i. 41 «. ; birthday, i. 250; ii. 33, 202, 332,420 n. ; bitter speeches, i. 72 ; bleeding, see below, health ; books bound by him, ii. 89 n. ; Boswell attacked by him, ii. 65 «. ; — security at the Temple, i. 316 ; bow to an archbishop, ii. 150 71. ; breakfasting in splendour, ii. 103 n. ; bred a bookseller, ii. 89 ; Brighthelmstone, visits, i. 120, 155; ii. 58, 206, 273; brothers and sisters, no, i. 71, 3785 ii. 237; bust, ii. 59, 62-3 ; calculation, love of, i. 243 n. ; ii. 45, 321 ; Cambridge, visits, i. 1S3 n.; ii. 13 w. ; candidate for a master- ship, i. 1-3 ; ii. 161 n. ; carelessness, i. 204 n. ; ii. 284 n. ; character drawn by himself, ii. 314; chemistry, i. 179, 183 ; children, indulgent to, ii. 183 n.\ church attendance, ii. 227 n. ; clothes, i. 321, 322 ; ii. 39, 145 «., 220; college life, anecdotes of his, ii. 440 ; collo- quial barbarisms, ii. 36 ; composition, facility of, ii. 197 n. ; confesses his rudeness, i. 351 ; contraction of names, i. 276 n. ; conversation, hungry for, ii. 419 w. ; 'conversion,' ii. 385 n.; Cordelia's death, i. 11 n.; corrects Robertson, i. 412; dates to letters, ii. 139 n.; death-bed, ii. 327 «., 332 «., 339 «., 414 11., 433 ; death, dread of, ii. 231, 327, 351, 369, 380, 384, 404; — mind calmer, ii. 423; debts, i. 19, 20, 22-4, 28, 61, 75 n.; delicacies sent him, ii. 391 ; dictionary-making, i. 42 n., 191 «., 374 n.; diet, i. 52; ii. 101 n., 104, 113, 128, 135, 143, 146-7, 164, 181, 184, 189, 242, 24S n., 255, 314, 389, 424 n. ; dinner-table, ii. 125 n.; drawn out, needs to be, ii. 392 n.\ dreams felicities, ii. 32 n. ; driving the world about, ii. 397 n. ; Dublin degree, i. 123; etymology, i. 178 n.; eye-sight, i. 57 ; first love, i. 202 n. ; fox-hunting, i. 349 n.; ii. 25, 127 n.\ France, trip to, i. 147 «., 368-9, 37S, 401 w., 402 ; ii. 272 n. ; freeman of Aberdeen, i. 235 ; French phrases and letters, i. 50 w., 150, 324, 355 «. ; ii. 179; friends, judging them, i. 21S n.\ — of his youth, i. 41, 369, 376, 388 n. ; ii. 227 71.; fruit, ii. 34, no, 400; funeral, ii- 433-5; 'gang,' i. 163; garden, ii. 193, 307, 310 ; Garrick's funeral, ii. 84 M. ; genius, his, ii. 1S4; gloomy lessons, i. 339 n. ; godfather to Lucy Thrale, i. 140 n., 153; 'good and clubable,' ii. 148 n.; good-breeding, ii. 136 n.\ good-humour, ii. 183 «. ; Gordon riots not mentioned, ii. 164 11. ; great coat, i. 208 ; great chair, ii. 78; green pease, ii. 400 n.\ habita- tions, Edial Hall, i. 139 n.; Castle Street, 6; Strand, 8; Holbom, 16; Gough Square, 18, 41 n. ; Staple Inn, 86, 83 n. ; Gray's Inn, 88 ; Inner Temple Lane, 90; Johnson's Court, 124 ; Bolt Court, 390 ; Hampton Court, i. 389 7i. ; handAvriting, i. 61 ;/.; HEALTH, ill, (1755), i. 45 ; (1768), 140; (1769), 152; (1770), 158; (1771), 171, 182; (1773), 205, 208, 219; (1774). 298; (1775), faintness, 322, 351; (1776), 403; (1778), ii- 76, 82; (1779), loi ; remission of convulsions, 143 n.; (1780), better than for twenty years past, 162 ; (1781), ill, 229, 233 ; (1782), 279, 281; {\'i'&z), genua labaiit, 289 ; paralytic stroke, 300 ; sarcocele, 335; gout, 338; (1784), ill, 365; relief from dropsy, 384; 129 days confined, 392; ill, 423, 429; death, 433; — bled, i. 45, 91, 298; ii. 1-2, 88, 135, 177, 242, 246, 251 n., 265, 403 n. ; — strong physic taken, ii. 22, 76, 89, 93, loi, 116, 255, 294,300; — dread of opiates, ii- 367, 376, 383 ; effect of them, ii. 437 ; — did not yield to illness, i. 378 ; hearth-broom, ii. 223 n.; home, i. 129, 141 n. ; hundred pounds made, ii. 99 ; ignorance of character, i. 383 n. ; — of natural history, ii. 325 n. ; illiberal, ii. 167 «. ; Inipraiisus, i. 3; inmates of his house, ii. 42 n. ; their quarrels, ii. 70, 74-5, 77, 107, 122, 12S; Italian, studies, ii. 417; Italy, proposed tour, i- 330 w-> 379, 384 n., 38S; ii. 192. 199; Jack the Giant-killer, i. 135; 458 Index to Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Sarah. Johnsonese, i. 251 «. ; judge of poetry, ii. 390 n. ; kangaroo imitated, i. 241 n. ; Latin lessons, ii. 98 n. ; ' leans to some- body,' i. 51 n., 82 ; letter of reproof, ii. 306 n. ; letter written for Miss Rey- nolds, ii. 84 n. ; letter-writing, i. 64 ; ii. 52, 374; Lichfield, visits, (1739), i. 3«. ; (1767), 128; (1769), 154; (1770), 160; (1771), 173, 183; (1772), 191, 201 ; (1775), 328; (1776), 380; (1777), ii. 17, 48; (1779), 92; (1781% 228, 240; (1784), 421; — house, i. 19 n., 85, 99, 126, 162 71.; — theatre, i. 385 n.\ life, unhappy, i. 250; — clings lo it, ii. 335, 339 n.; — radically wretched, ii. 407 ; light and airy, ii. 116; Lives of him to be suppressed, ii. 6 w. ; ' Master of the Sentences,' ii. 224 n.; melancholy, i. 39, 69, 332 n. ; ii. 309; memory, ii. 132 n.; mind, command over his, i. 190; — not travelled over, ii. 50 n. ; mother, love for his, i. 20 ; — her death, 75-86 ; — bums her letters, ii. 414 n. ; ' Mr. Vagabond,' ii. 7 n. ; musing, i. 359 «., 388 n. ; ii. 97 ;/. ; neighbours, ii. 295, 309; night-cap, i. 245 n.; nurse, i. 129 n., 154 n.; 'Oddity,' ii. 43 n.; Odyssey never read through, ii. 440 ; old age vigorous, i. 305 ; ' old love,' i. 164; opiates, see above, under health ; orange-peel, i. 49 n. ; Othello, i. II n. ; Oxford degrees, i. 138 n., 313 ; Oxford, visits, U754)> i- 37; (i755% 38 n.; (1763), no; (1764), 113; (1766), 127; ',1767), 131; (1768), 132; (1769), 152; (1770), 158; (1775), 3", 323; Ci777)> ii- 15; (i750> 226; (1782), 257; ^1784), 398-400, 430; parentheses, disapproved of, ii. 419 n. ; Passion Week, i. 188 ; ii. 214 11. ; pay- ments as an author, i. 79 W- ; pension, i. 93, 98 ; ii. 433 ; physic, dabbles in, i- 49 «•' 75. 219 71. ; ii. 103, 165, 187, 198, 201, 235, 303; piety slumbering, ii. 102 n. ; Political Ti'acts, i. 390 w., 392 ; portrait, at Southwark, i. 399 «, ; — by Reynolds, ii. 62 «., 70, 74, 259 «. ; — by Miss Reynolds, ii. 179, 300, 327; — by Opie, ii. 330; prayers, ii. 370 71., 420 n. ; prints of his friends, ii. 70 71., 108 ; proud to have his com- pany desired, i. 316; Punic War, i. 343 ; read hard in his youth, i. 364 it. ; — like a Turk, 375 ft.; — in his old age, ii. 289 ; reading books through, i. 61 71. ; relations, i. 225, 302 ; ii. 430 ; religion not to be received from another, i. 48, 49 «. ; resolutions, i. 47 k., 250; Rochester, \isits, ii. 319; rumour of his death, i. 48 ; ii. 63 n. ; schemes of life, ii. 300, 361 ; school-fellows, i. 180; Scotch professors afraid of him, i. 236, 291 71.; Scotland, visits, i. 222- 96; setting sun, ii. 294 w. ; silver coffee-pot, ii. 262 ; sleepless nights, ii. 391; solitary, ii. 281, 289, 295, 297, 300, 309, 326-7, 336-7, 344, 348, 357, 363 n-, 367-8, 377 ; Southwark elec- tion, ii. 153 «., 157 «., 160; style, i. 251 71., 258 71.; swimming, i. 357 «.; talk, ii. 157, 400 «. ; tea-spoons, i. 156 n.; ii. 335 ;;. ; Thrales, friendship for the, see under Tiirale, Henry, and Thrale, Hester Lynch; tolera- tion, against, i. 319 ; touchy, ii. 78 «. ; town his element, ii. 428 «. ; travelling, love of, i. 347, 369; 'true-bom English- man,' i. 238 w. ; tutor at Hey wood, i. 301 It. ; ums and monuments, ii. 33 «. ; useful knowledge, ii. 321 7t.; Vattity of HuviatiWishes, ii. 51 «. ; Verses, on Mrs. Carter, i. 55 71. ; — Stow Brook, 161 «. ; — Taylor's house, 165 «. ; — Mrs. Thrale, 284; ii. 192 w. ; — Miss Thrale, ii. 46 «. ; — Miss Reynolds, 113 71. ; — on being paralysed, 301 71. ; — translations from the Atithologia, 391 «. ; walking-stick, i. 278 «. ; watch, i. 401 7t.; weather, i. 208; ii. 233, 373 71., 416 71. ; wife's property, i. 14 ; — death, ii. 67 ; will, ii. 115 7t., 378 ; Winchester, visits, ii. 156; wine, use of, i. 114 n., 223 71., 408; writing easily, i. 230 71. ; youthful years, i. 129 ; ii. 185. Johnson, Sarah (Dr. Johnson's mother), threat of ejectment, i. 19 7i. ; Johnson's dread of her death, i. 20 ; ii. 209 71 ; — letters to her, i. 75, 77-9 ; — infancy, i. 154 7t.\ book-trade, i. 68, 83 «. ; death, i. 75-S7 ; birth, ii. 437. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 459 Johnson, Thomas Lee, Arthui\ Johnson, Thomas (Dr. Johnson's cousin), i- 154^ 15S-9. 302; ii- 92. Johnson, Rev. \Villiana Samuel, LL.D., Johnson's letter, i. 209. Johnson, Mrs. (of Torrington), i. 94. Johnson, — (Dr. Johnson's cousin;, ii. 194, 206. Johnson, — (Reynolds's brother-in-law), i. 94 n. Johnston, W., i. 79 «., So n. Jones, Sir William, at University College, i. 113 «., 118 «. ; election of 1780, ii. 155, 164; Ode, 369 71. JORTIN, Rev. John, D.D., ii. 275. Journals, i. 362 ; ii. 27. Journey to the Western Islands of Scot- land, i. 248 «., 300 ; ii. 207. JowETT, Rev. Professor, ii. 257 n. Junius, ii. 108 n. Juvenal, quoted, ii. no «., 226 «., 304 n. K. Kangaroo, i. 241 n. Kearsley, George, ii. 226, 254. Keddlestone, ii. 35. Keith, Admiral Lord, ii. 394 n. Kelly, Hugh, ii. 17. Kemble, John, ii. 345. Kennedy, Mrs., ii. 96. Kennedy, — , ii. 234. Kennicott, Rev. Benjamin, D.D., ii. 77 n. Kent, Edward, Duke of, i. 414 n. Keppel, Mrs., ii. 173 n. KiLBY, — , ii. 276 n. Kilmorey, Lord, ii. 351. King, William, D.C.L., i. 265 n. King, Hon. Mrs., i. 289 n. * King's Friends,' i. 137 n. Kingsburgh, i. 265. Kingston, Duchess of (Elizabeth Chud- leigh), i. 390 n. Kinsderley, Mrs., ii. 340. KiRWANS, the Miss, ii. 173 n. Knapton, J. and P., i. 25 n. Knowledge, ii. 386. Knowles, Mrs., i. 397 ; ii. 403 n, Knox, John, i. 231. La Bruyere, i. 184. Labour, ii. 439. Lacerate, i. 212 «. Lade, Lady, i. 219 «., 348 n. ; ii. 28-9. Lade, Sir John, i. 275 n. ; ii. 28-9, 34, 38, 191 M.,321 ;/., 372 n. Ladies' Charity School, i. 156; ii. 334 «• Lady, i. 244 n. Lamb, Charles, Inner Temple Lane, i. 91 71. ; Christ's Hospital, 303 «. ; Isling- ton, ii. 88 M. ; ' Omniscient Jackson,' 349 71. ; the wind, 416 )i. Landor, Waller Savage, Needwood Forest, i. 165; co7ttemplate, ii. 21 «. ; 7i7ider the circuinsta7ices, 37 «. Langdon, — , ii. 45. Langley, Rev. W., i. 189, 336, 347, 352 ; ii. 34, 269 71., 280 «., 282. Langton, Bennet, Captain of Militia, ii. 71 n., 164; children, i. 393; ii. 32, 251, 317 ; domestic economy, i. 393-4; Drawing-room, at the, ii. 6 w. ; John- son, attends, ii. 305 ; — confessor, ii. 314 71. ; — death, ii. 332 n. ; — visits him, ii. 315, 317, 319-20,322 ; —Latin verses, ii. 391 w. ; — funeral, ii. 434 ; mentioned, i. 319 «., 320, 414; ii. 2, 146, 156 71. Langton, old Mr., i. 171 71. Langton, Mrs., ii. 40. Langton, Miss, Johnson's letter, i. 171. Last, the, ii. 48. Latin, study of, i. 96-7, 108 ; few read it with ease, ii. 440 ; change in it, ib. ; English writers of it, 441. Laurence, — , i. 396. Law, Wilham, i. 31, 52 «. Lawrence, Mr. H. W., i. 91 «., 316 n. Lawrence, Miss, ii. 141. Lawrence, Thomas, M.D., ancestry, i. 48 n. ; djang, ii. 265 ; death, ii. 299, 301 ; Johnson's instructor, i. 49 «. ; — physician, i. 52, 298, 367; ii. x, 70, 73, 76, 245 «•> 246, 251 «.; 255 ; — com- panion, ii. 1 35 «•, 295. 309 ; medical trea- tises, ii. 304; Thrale's illness, ii. 159; mentioned, i. 51, 208, 219, 318; ii. 22, 67 «., 102, 134, 137, 186, 189. Lawrence, Sir Thomas, ii. 132 n. Leander, ii. 439. Lee, Arthur, i. 397. 460 Index to Lee, Nathanael Lyttelton, Williaro. Henry. Lee, Nathanael, i. 207. Lee, Robert E., i. 397 n. Lee, Thomas, i. 397 n. Lee, Alderman William, i. 397. Leek, ii. 49. Leland, Rev. Thomas, D.D., Johnson's letters, i. 123, 316. Lennox, Charlotte, i. 26, 55 n. ; ii. 115. Lenthall, William, ii. 261 n. Letter-writing, ii. 52, 138, 193, 197, 316, 427. Levett, John, Johnson's letters, i. 14, 15, 16, 20 n., 28 ; — debt, 19. Levett, Robert, accoimt of him, ii. 243- 4 ; death, ii. 33 n., 290, 326 ; heirs, ii. 243 ; Johnson's doctor, ii. i ; — com- panion, ii. 295, 309, 357 n., 368, 414 n.\ old age, ii. 187, 193; prudential intoxication, i. 406 n. ; quarrels, ii. 70, 75, 77, 107, 122 ; register of birth, ii. 39; mentioned, i. 276, 284. Levy, — , ii. 151. Lewis XIV, i. 270 n. Lewis, Dean John, ii. 310 n., 383 n. Lewis, Dr., ii. 33, 107. Lewis, Mrs., ii. 310, 3i7 «•> 383, 393- Lewis, W., M.B., ii. 303 71. Lewis, — , ii. 196. Libraries, i. 142-7. Lichfield, Amicable Society, i. 331, 336; bills, i. 162 n.; Borowcop Hill, i. 161 ; cathedral, i. 301 n. ; changes, i. 154, 162 ; city of philosophers, ii. 53 n. ; conversation, i. 335 ; curfew, i. 358 ; Evelina not heard of, ii. 234 ; gaol, i. 162 n. ; Green Hill, i. 363 ; Green Hill Bower, ii. 92 ; Jacobite, i. 259 11. ; Johnson's house, i. 19 n. \ Palace, i. 100; races, ii. 24, 25 ; rates, i. 162 ; Stow Hill, i. 160, 363 ; ii. 46 )i. ; Three Crowns, i. 99. Life, its tediousness, i. 271; consists of little things, ii. 19 ; schemes, 361. Lilly lolly, ii. 44. LisGOW, Tom, i. 206. Literature in 1773, i. 210. Littleton, Sir Edward, ii. i6r. Lives of the Poets, undertaken, ii. 13 ; ma- terials, ii. 13, 15, 156; progress of the work, ii. 68, 130, 132, 154, 175, 185-6, 1S8-9, 191; assistance sought, ii. 18S-9 ; ! finished, ii. 207; copies sold, ii. iii; — given away, ii. 89, 220, 222, 2S7 ; — sent to the king, ii. 87 ; copy and proof-sheets, ii.197 ; dirty silver scoured, ii. 46 n. ; index, ii. 80-1 ; Johnson not editor of the Poets, ii. 158, 275 11.; — kept in town, ii. 163; — payment, ii. 99 «., 208, 275 n.\ — writes part at Lichfield, ii. 46 n. ; new edition, ii. 275; octavo edition, ii. 218; parodied, ii- 315- Lleweney Hall, ii. 81 n. Loch Lomond, i. 286. Loch Ness, i. 241. Locke, John, i. 131 ; ii. 306 n. London, extent, i. 53 n. ; pavement, 234 ; London Bridge, ii. 117 ; ii. 319 n. London Cuckolds, i. 185 n. London shopkeeper, i. 233. Longman, T. and T., i. 25 n. Lord Mayors, ii. 57 n. LoRT, Rev. Dr., i. 397 n.; ii. 388 n. Loudoun, Earl of, i. 291 ; Countess, ib. Lovelace, i. 22 n. Lowe, Mauritius, Johnson's letters, ii. 66, 226, 242, 274, 305 ; mentioned, ii. 203, 293, 338, 434. LowTH, Miss, ii. 327 n. Lowth, Robert, D.D,, Bishop of Lon- don, i. 226 n. ; ii. 187, 327 n. Lucan, Countess of, ii. 65, 105,111, 113, 121, 141, 146, 155, 160. Lucan, first Earl of, ii. 65, 105, 151, 153, 369- Lucas, Charles, M.D., ii. 10 «. Lucas, Henry, ii. 9. Lucid interval, ii. 377. Lucy, Thomas, i. 24. LuMLEY, James, i. 205 n. LuNARDi, ii. 419. Lye, Rev. Edward, Johnson's letter, i. 121. Lysons, Samuel, ii. 403. Lyttelton, George, first Lord, Miss Boothby and Johnson, i. 46 n. ; death, 288; Life, ii. 188, 196-8, 217 n. Lyttelton, Thomas, second Lord, i. 288. Lyttelton, William Henry (Lord West- cote), i. 177; ii. 20. See under West- cote, Lord. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 461 Macartney, Earl of. Melmoth, William, M. Macartney, Earl of, ii. 143 n. Macaulay, Mrs., ii. 397 n. Macaulay, Thomas l^abington (Lord Macaulay), Baskerville's editions, i. 42 n. ; Coote, Sir Eyre, i. 241 n. ; Fowke and Warren Hastings, i. 410 n. ; Fox's East India Bill, ii. 358 n. ; Great-uncle, 1. 240 n. ; Jofmsonese, i. 251 n.; Pitt's Ministry, ii. 370 n., 375 n. ; Sir Charles Graiidison, i. 22 n. MaCBEAN, Alexander, wager, i. 30 ; starving, 319; no business, ii. 76; index to the Lives, 81 ; admitted to the Charter-house, 213; death, 404. Macbeth, i. 239, 241. Macculloch, Dr., ii. 349 n. Macdonald, Sir Alexander (first Lord Macdonald), i. 238, 244, 252, 264, 285 n., 290. Macdonald, Sir Archibald, i. 418. Macdonald, Flora, i. 265. Macdonald of Kingsburgh, i. 274 n. Mackenzie, Lady Caroline, i. 59 n. Mackenzy, Mrs., i. 205 n. MACKINNON, Lachlan, i. 255 n. Maclean, Sir Allan, i. 280. Maclean, Dr., i. 275 n. Maclean, Miss, i. 260 w. MACLEOD, Colonel, i. 257, 268. MACLEOD, Flora, i. 257. MACLEOD, John. See Raasay. MACLEOD, Lady, i. 244-6, 267 ; ii. 235 n. MACLEOD, old Laird of, i. 249, 266. MACLEOD, Laird of, i. 244, 246, 259, 262, 264, 266; Johnson's letter, 260. MACLEOD, Malcolm, i. 255, 259, 262, 265. Macleod of Macleod, Miss, i. 245 «., 289. Macmillan, Mr. Alexander, ii. 134 n. Macpherson, James, Johnson's letter, i. 307. Macpherson, Sir John, ii. 170 v. Macquarry of Ulva, i. 279. Macqueen, Rev. Donald, i. 269 n. Macraes, The, i. 249. Madox, — , ii. 270. Maintenon, Madame de, ii. 179. Maisonfort, De la, Madame, ii. 1 79 n. Malmesbury, first Earl of, i. 336 n. Malone, Edmond, Boswell's security, i- 3^7 > Johnson's payment for the Lives, \\. 208 11. ; — roasting apples, ii. 289 n. ; — relations, ii. 430 «. ; — funeral, ii. 434 ; Piozzi's marriage, ii. 407 n. ; Spence's Anecdotes, ii. 133 n.; Supple- ment to Shakespeare, ii. 141 n. Malt, price of, i. 194, 291. Maltsters, 1. 174. Manning, Rev. Owen, i. 121 n. Mansfield, first Earl of, Clarendon trustee, i. 313 ; under all the circum- stances, ii. 37 n. ; judge at Foote's trial, 56 n.; Gordon riots, 167-8; meets Dr. Brocklesby, 437. Manucci, Count, i. 392-3, 395, 398. Mamtfactory, ii. 377 71. Marclew, — , i. 154 M. Marie Antoinette, i. 369. Markham, William, D.D. (Dean of Christ Church, afterwards Bishop of Chester and Archbishop of York), i. 3i3> 323, 377> 409 n., 418; ii. 150. Markland, Jeremiah, ii. 276. Marlborough, i. 385. Marriage, i. 102, 217. Married Women's Property Act, ii. 218 n. Marshall, William, i. 165-6 n. Marshalsea, i. 306. Marsigli, Dr., ii. 94. Martial, quoted, ii. 55 n. Mary I, ii. 437. Mary, Queen of Scots, i. 104 n. • ii. 40S. Marylebone Gardens, ii. 74 n. Mason, Rev. William, i. 317, 318 n. ; ii. 286 It. Mass-house, ii. 167 n. Mathias, ^, i. 159 ; ii. 134. Matlock, i. 165. Matter of , i. 176 «. Mawbey, Sir Joseph, i. 137 ?/., 333-4. Maxwell, Dr., ii. 29S. Mayor, Professor John E. B., i. 10 n. Meagre, i. 403 w. Measures not men, i. 1 1 ;;. Meat, prices of, i. 193 n. Mediterraneatt, i. 237 «. Mei, Cavalier, i. 294 n. Melmoth, William, ii. 14S n. 462 Index to Mercers, Company of. Myddelton, Colonel. Mercers, Company of, Johnson's letter, ii. 290. Merry doings, ii. 116, 230. Metaphysical Distresses, ii. 252 n. Metcalfe, Philip, ii. 345, 388, 434. Meteors, ii. 334. Methodists, i. 136 n. ; ii. 138 w. Meyer, Doctor, i. 319. Meynell, Miss, i. 46 «. M'Ghie, Dr. William, ii. 364 n. MiCKLE, William Julius, i. 214, 422 ; ii. 400 «., 434. Middleton, Eail of, i. 236 n. MiDDLETON, Lady Diana, i. 236. Middleton, Rev. Conyers, D.D., ii. 95 «• Middleton, — , ii. 181. Milbourne, Luke, ii. 69. Mill, Sir Thomas, ii. 123 n. Mill, ii. 35 n. Millar, Andrew, i. 25 n., 27, 37 «., 62, 89 ; ii. 61 n. ; Johnson's letter, i. 30. Miller, Lady, ii. 138 «. Miller, Miss, i. 133 «. MiLLiKEN, Mr. W. E., i. 59 n. Milton, John, 'Me miserable,' i. 185 «. ; early pieces, ii. 8 11. ; Life, 68, 1 14 ; quoted, Paradise Lost, i. 279 11. ; ii. 75, 126, 329 ; Sonnets, ii. 233. Mind, its management, i. 105, 112, 189, 293. 294, 375 ; "• 99. 102, 144, 165, 265-6, 317 ; knowledge of it, i. 353 ; history of it, i. 362 ; improvement in it, i. 362-5 ; concentrated, ii. 27S. Mind of, i. 314, 343; ii. 191. Ministry, Lord North's, i. 311, 344; ii. 177, 249; Coalition, ii. 358, 370; Pitt's, 374. Miscellany Poems, ii. 224 w. Modena, Duke of, ii. 339 n. MOLli;RE, quoted, ii. 51. Monboddo, Lord (James Burnet), i. 23.'.; ii- H9> .W6 n. Monckton, Hon. Miss (Countess of Corke), ii. 151, 157, 252. Money, transmission of it, i. 77 n. ; tied up in trade, 218 ; great effect of it, 272 n. ; scarce, ii. 87, 100, 120. Montagu, Mrs., charity, i. 87 n., 371 n.; ii. 64, 190; compared with Mrs. Thrale, ii. 153; described by Miss Burney, ii. 132 n. ; Essay on Shake- speare, \\. 138; Johnson's letters, i. 87- 8> 295, 370-1 ; ii. 63-4, 336 ; — dropped,!. 372 «. ; ii. 139 n., 353 n.; — reconciled, ii. 336, 340 ; par pluribus, ii. 149; print, ii. 70, 88; mentioned, i- 383, 391; ii- 24, 140-1. 148 n., 157 n., 295. Montrose, i. 233. Moore, Edward, ii. 149. Moore, Dr. Norman, ii. 159, 229 n. Moore, Thomas, ii. 252 n. More, Hannah, Bas Bleu, ii. 390 ; Bas Bleu Society, ii. 136 n.\ best of the female versifiers, ii. 328 n. ; Johnson's admiration of her, i. 55 n. ; — drawn out, ii. 250 n. ; — at Mrs. Garrick's, ii. 251, 294 n. ; — at Oxford, ii. 257- 260; Ord, Mrs., ii. 144 w., 146 «. ; Vesey, Mrs., ii. 88 n. ; Wheeler's death, ii. 327 n.; mentioned,!. 239 n., 392 «. ; ii. 396 71. Moreton, John, i. 132 n. Morgan, Rev. Mr., ii. 404 n. MORICE, Peter, ii. 117 n. Morison, Dr., i. 94. MORLANDS, ii. 49. Moss-trooper, i. 248. MosTYN, John Meredith, ii. 5 1 n. Mountstuart, Lord, i. 396 n. MOYSEY, Abel, M.D., ii. 133, 135. Muck, Isle of, i. 267. MuDGE, John, i. 93 n.; ii. 338, 343, 346. MuDGE, Thomas, i. 93 71. MuDGE, William, i. 93 «. MuDGE, Rev. Zachariah, i. 93 «. Mull, Isle of, i. 278. MuLSO, Miss. See Chapone. Muinin, ii. 87, 385. Murphy, Arthur, Thrale's friend, i. 12^, 344 ; letter to Mrs. Thrale, 387 n. ; Foote's Life, ii. 55; xasits Johnson, 31 3 ; mentioned, i. 31 3 n. ; ii. 77, 396 n. Murray, John, ii. 18 «. Murray, — (Lord Hendcrland), i. 365 n. MusGRAVE, Mr. ^afterwards Sir) Richard, i. 399 n. ; ii. 294, 298, 373. Music lessons, ii. 148 «. Mutiny Act, i. 194 «. Myddelton, Colonel, ii. 33 n. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 46; Nairn Oxford. N. Nairn, i. 240. National Debt, i. 386 n. Neai., Fordyce & Co., i. 192 n. Neat, i. 233 n. Needwood Forest, i. 165. Nelson, Admiral, ii. 11 1 n. Nelson, Robert, ii. 89. JVet-vous, ii. 359. Nesbitt, Mrs., i. 219 «., 221 ; ii. 94 n., 160. Newark, i. 224. Newbery, John, Johnson's letters, i. 22- 4; mentioned, 69. Newcastle, i. 227, 320 n. Newdigate, Sir Roger, i. 137 ; ii. 155. Newgate, ii. 168-9. Newton, Sir Isaac, ii. 325 n. Newton, Rev. John, ii. 385 «. Newton, Thomas, D.D., Bishop of Bristol, i. 94 n., 206 ;;. ; ii. 20 n. Newton, — , i. 84 n. ; ii. 20. NiCHOLLS, Frank, M.D., ii. 401. Nichols, John, Johnson's letters, ii. 68, 80, 81, 130-1, 158-9, iSo, 195-7, 205, 218, 220, 241, 273, 275, 281, 387, 431; — J^i'ves, ii. 132 «., 138; — Rambler in Russian, ii. 377 n. ; — funeral, ii. 434; Anecdotes, ii. 274; History of Hinckley, ii. 281. Nicholson, Miss, ii. 405 n. NicoL, George, ii. 434, 438. Nitikin, Basilius, ii. 377 n. Noah's Ark, ii. 322. Nollekens, Joseph, ii. 59, 62 n., 69. NoRRis, — , ii. 218. North, Frederick, Lord (second Earl of Guilford), Conciliatory Propositions, i. 311 n. ; expenses of war, 386 ti.; Almanac Bill, ii. 76 n. ; Gordon riots, 166 M., 167 n., 170;;.; Ireland, 264 n. North Pole, i. 210. Northallerton, i. 225. Northcote, James, Abington, Mrs., i. 316 n. ; Cumberland the dramatist, ii. Ill «. ; Jack the Giant-killer, i. 135 n. ; ' Jessamy Bride,' i. 344 «. ; Lowe's picture, ii. 293 n. ; Opie, ii. 330 ??. ; Reynolds, introduced to, i. 93 n. ; — difference with his sister, ii. 84 n. ; Reynolds's, Miss, oil paintings, ii. 327 n. Northumberland, first Duke of, i. 157 n., 228, 414. Norton, Sir Fletcher (Baron Grantley\ i. 116 n. Norton, — , i. 333, 406. Nuncomar, i. 410 n. ; ii. 263 n., 289 n. O. Odyssey, quoted, ii. 440. Officiousness, ii. 357. Offley Place, i. 292 n. Ogle, Mrs., i. 88. Oglethorpe, General, i. 243 n., 392. Old age, i. 401 n. ; ii. 212. Old Bailey, ii. 65, Omont, Mr. H., ii. 410 n. Opie, John, ii. 330. Opinions, i. 364. Oppian, ii. 410. Orchards, ii. 2071. Ord, Lord Chief Baron, i. 229. Ord, Mrs., ii. 144, 146, 149, 179, 183. Orkney, Coiintess of, ii. Si n. Orrery, fourth Earl of, ii. 196 n. Orrery, fifth Earl of, i. 26 ; ii. 196. OsBORN, Mrs., i. 206 n., 258 n. Otho, i. 361. O'TooLE, Arthur, i. 204. Otway, — (a schoolboy, i. 214. OuGHTON, Sir Adolphus, i. 229. Overstone, Lord, i. 10 n. Oyid, quoted : Ars Amat., ii. 34 «., iSi ; Fast., i. 162 ; Her., i. 130 ; ii. 79 ; Meta. i. 197, 226 ; ii. 48, 96 «., 329, 367 ; Zli-w/.i. 130, the uniformity of the sun (?sea), ii. 525; compared with Virgil, ii. 440. Owen, Henry, ii. 410 n. Owen, Miss, ii. 4, 5 «., 124 «., 183 «., 184, 189. O.XFORD, amusements, i. 330 ; Angel Inn, ii. 226 ; Balliol College, i. 132 n. ; Bodleian, i. 42 n. ; ii. 77, 423 ; caution, i. 114 n.; Christ Church, i. 418-420; Clarendon Laboratory, i. 309 n.; Clarendon Press, i. 115 «., 309 n. ; ii. 131 7t. ; climate, ii. 258 n. ; coaches, i. 142 n. ; coffee-houses, i. 419 ; degrees by diploma, i. 138 n., 464 Index to Oxford Physic. 313 11. ; election of 1/68, i. 137 ; — of 1780, ii. 155 ; expenses of an under- graduate, i. 114, 418; Gentlemen Commoners, i. 418 ; Jesus College, ii. 257 «., 261 n. ; Lincoln College, ii. 16 n. ; Long Vacation, i. 361 ; ii. 227 ; mansion of the liberal arts, ii. 53 ; morning chapel, i. 323, 420 ; New Inn Hall, i. 132 ; Oriel College, i. 135 ; Pembroke College, Johnson,'s caution- money, i. 114 n. ; — studied there, i. 402 ; — and H. More visit it in 1782, ii. 258 ; — visits it in 1784, ii. 400 n. ; — portrait, ii. 259 «. ; — Buttery books, ii. 438 ; Queen's College, i. 114 n., 323 n. ; ii. 227 n., 377 n. ; Radcliffe Library, ii. 77 n. ; Riding-School, i. 309 w., 323, 327, 329, 349, 377 ; scholastic ignorance, ii. 16 ; ' thirds^ i. 114; University Col- lege, i. 113, 323, 420; Workhouse, ii. 21 n. Page, PVancis, i. 137; ii. 155 n. Page, Miss, i. 95. Pain, i. 141. Palgrave, — , ii. 256 n. Palladio, Andrew, ii. 325 n. Palmers, the Miss, ii. 85 n. Palmerston, second Viscount, ii. 313 n. Pannartz, ii. 438. Pantheon, i. 337 n. Paoli, General Pascal, Johnson dines with him, i. 315, 392 ; ii. 65, 107, 389 n. ; — loves to dine with him, ii. 292 ; — funeral, ii. 434 ; Boswell lodges at his house, i. 317. Paracelsus, ii. 53. Paradise, John, i. 314; ii. 2, 183, 250, 305- 325-6, 396, 434- Paradise, Mrs., i. 314 n. Parents, i. 217, 336 n. Parker, Rev. Mr., ii. 46 n. Parker, Sackville, ii. 228, 258. Parnell, Thomas, i. 248. Parterre, ii. 22 n. Participle present, i. 384 n. Passage, ii. 257. PATRIOT.S, ii. 363 n. Patten, Rev. Dr. Thomas, Johnson's letter, ii. 224. Paul, Dr., i. 6 n. Paul, Lewis, Johnson's letters, i. 6, 8, 45, 52, 54, 58-9, 65-7, 69-70 ; death, 125 ; lettertotheDukeof Bedford, 417. Paymistress, ii. 419. Payne, Mr. E. J., i. 11 n. Payne, John, ii. 363 n., 364 ;/., 411, 421-2, 428-9. Pearce, Zachary, Bishop of Rochester, i. 34 «• Pearson, George, i. 85 n. Pearson, Rev. John B., i. 85 n. ; ii. 86, 382. Pease, ii. 181 n. Pelle, Mrs., ii. 378, 399. Pembroke, tenth Earl of, i. 396 n. Pennick, Rev. Richard, Johnson's letter, i- 133- Pepys, Sir Lucas, ii. 106, 184, 209 ;?., 315 «., 386 «. Pepys, Samuel, ii. 136 n. ; 341 n. Pepys, William Weller, ii. 136, 157, 183, 306. Percy, Mrs., i. 90, 414 n. Percy, Thomas, D.D., Dean of Carlisle, afterwards Bishop of Dromore, Johnson's letters, i. 89, 91, 156, 414 ; P cliques, i. 89 11. ; ii. 328 n. ; Vicarage, i. 121 n. ; sermon, 157 «. ; Johnson in Sky, 285 n. ; Chaplain to George III, 414 n. ; men- tioned, i. 227 ; ii. 70 n., 399 11. Pcrequitate, ii. 178. Perkins, — , superintendent of Thrale's Brewery, i. 398, 401 n. ; ii. 199 ; aims at a partnership, ii. 213-4, 216, 219, 222; Gordon riots, ii. 171 «., 178; robbery, ii. 347 ; health, ii. 48 n., 238, 254 n. ; Johnson's letter, ii. 222 ; men- tioned, i. 2\in.; ii. 100, 145 «., 151 n., 152 n., 312, 352. Perks, Thomas, i. 14. Pero Grulla, i. 180 n. Persius, quoted, i. 64 n. ; ii. 226 n. Petrus de Maximis, ii. 438. Petticoat Government, ii. 141. Peyton, — , i. 319, 385. Philips, Ambrose, ii. 180, 325. Phillidor, F. a. D., ii. 80 m. Phipps, Captain Constantine (Baron Mulgrave), i. 210, 293. Physic, profession of, ii. 21 n. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 465 Physical Printing House Square. Physical, i. 75 n. Physiognomy, ii. 343. Piozzi, Gabriele, death, ii. 37 «. ; gentle- man by birth, 160 n. ; Johnson's mention of him, 238, 240, 251, 368 «., 406-7 ; hastens to England, 401 «., 405 n. ; charges against him, 408 n. See also under Mrs. Thrale, husband. Pirates, case of two, ii. 173. Pitt, R., i. 403 m. Pitt, William. See Chatham, Earl of. Pitt, William (the son), motion for Reform, ii. 285 n. ; ministry, 370 n., 374- Plato, i. 374 ; ii. 88. Pleasure, preconceived, i. 339. Pleiades, i. 166. Plumb, Fanny, i. 219 n. Plunkett, — , ii. 122 n. PococK, Lewis, i. 307. PoLHiLL, Nathaniel, ii. 154. Polish oats, i. 352, 354. Political Pamphlets, ii. 208. POLWHELE, Rev. Richard, ii. 330 n. PoLYBius, i. 115 n. PoMFRET, John, ii. 185 n. Pompadour, i. 80. Pompous, i. 236 n. Pope, Alexander, coadjutors in his Homer, ii. 156 ; Miscellanies, 158 n., Life, 196-7; quoted: Dunciad, ii. 93 n. ; Elegy, &c., ii. 327 ; Eloisa,&cc., i. 281 ; Epitaphs, ii. 195 n. ; Essay on Man, ii. 224 «., 238, 244, 393 ; MoralEssays, ii. 303 ; Odyssey, ii. 50 «. ; Rape of the Lock, ii. 320 n. ; Sat. and Epist., i. 248 M. ; ii. 51 n., 157 «., 178 n. PoRSON, Richard, Posterity, ii. 52 n. ; Markland's house, 276 n. ; Charles Bumey, 396 n. PoRT-wiNE, i. 50 n. Porta, Baptista, ii. 388 n. PORTEOUS, Captain, i. 25 n. Porter, Captain, i. 96. Porter, Harry, i. 15 n. Porter, Lucy, elder brother's heir, i. 98 ; younger brother's death, ii. 348, 351 ; Hammond on the Psalms, i. 357 ; ii. 225 n. ; 'hoary virginity,' 1. 129; house, i. 85 «., 96 «., 99, 358 ; ill, i- 328-9, 331 ; ii- 230> 233 ; Johnson's VOL. n. H affection for her, i. 51 k. ; — improved, i. 176 ; — -mother, i. 75-87 ; — presents to her, i. Ill ; ii. 135 ; — Prologue, ii. 17 ; — reception, i. 154, 173, 180-1, 184. 191. 34i> 359 ; ii- 228, 232 ; — letters, i. 18, 76, 78, 81-7, 90, 92, 96, 98-9, III, 125, 127, 138, 148, 158-9- 367 ; ii- 59> 62, 83, 86, 129, i34> 308, 34S, 381, 395; 'Mrs.' Porter, i. 367 ti. ; present from Mrs. Thrale, i. 358 ; temper, i. 335 ; men- tioned, i. 5, 13, 15 ; ii. 92, 185. Porter, — (Lucy Porter's second brother), 1. 139 n., 159 ; ii. 134, 348. Porter, Mrs. (the actress^, i. 44 ; ii. 344. PoRTEUS, Beilby (Bishop of Chester and of London), i. 321 n. ; ii. 234, 250, 278 n. Post, general post, i. 76 n. ; Aberdeen, 233 ft. ; Sky, 244 ; Mull, 278 ; Oxford, 310, 312, 325 ; Lichfield, 332 n , 359 ; Brighton, ii. 41 n., 126, 211 n. ; Bath, 211; postage, i. 71, 78 n., 137 n., 161 n. ; franks, ii. 19, 94 n-, 123 n., 389- Post-chaise, i. 328 ; ii. 100. Posterity, ii. 51. Pott, — , a surgeon, ii. 339, 342-4) 346-7- Powell, — , ii. 298 n. Practising and teaching, ii. 235 n. Prayers, ii. 290. Premier, i. 92 n. Pretender, ii. 161 n. Pretender, the Old, i. 13 «. Pretender, the Young, invasion of England, i. 227 «., 247; ii. 50 «. ; joined by Laird of Raasay, i. 258 ; wanderings, i. 255, 265 ; meanness, 265 n. ; designation proper for him, ii. 161 n. Price, Rev. John, ii. 77 «. Priestley, Dr. Joseph, ii. 362 n. Prijean, Mrs., i. 205 n. Prime Minister, i. 92 n. Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV), his preceptors, i. 40S ; ii. 149 «. ; Mrs. Sheridan, ii. 252 ; Ro3'al Academy dinner, 393. Printing, i. 146. Printing House Square, ii. 272 «, h 466 Index to Prior, Sir James Richard I. Prior, Sir James, i. 350 n. Prior, Matthew, Life, ii. 130, 132 ; quoted, i. 352 ; ii. 31. Prisons, Lichfield, i. 162 n. ; York, 225 ; Marshalsea, 306 ; London prisons burnt, ii. 16S-170. Problematical, ii. 57. Proby, Dean, ii. 24. Prometheus, i. 201. Prophecy by action, ii. 204. Prowse, Miss (afterwards Mrs. Rogers), Johnson's letters, ii. 193, 206, 219, 256, 378 ; her answer, 379 n. Prujean, — , ii. 83. Psalmanazar, George, ii. 433. PuGET, — , ii. 274 n. Pulsation, ii. 369. Purse, — , ii. 173 n. Put by, i. 149 M. Q- Queensberry, Dowager Duchess of, i. 309 n. R. R — , Mr., ii. 199. Raasay, Isle of, i. 244, 254, 257, 263-4. Raasay, Lady, i. 257. Raasay, Laird of, (John Macleod), i. 256-9^ 318. Rambler, i. 17 «., 29 «., 63 «. ; ii. 296. 377- Ramsay, Allan, ii. 65, 106-7, 146, 149. Ramsay, John, of Ochtertyre, i. 234 «., 244 n., 277 w. Ranby, John, i. 4 n. Ranelagh, i. 306 n. Rann, John, ii. 63 n. Jiasselas, i. 79, 87 n. ; ii. 372 «., 408 n. ; in Italian, i. 294; French, i. 324 «. ; Russian, ii. 3*^7 n. Ravenscroft, Edward, i. 185 n. Rawunson, Dr., ii. 274. Reading and writing, ii. 294 n. Reed, Isaac, ii. 363 w. Rees, Rev. Abraham, D.D., i. 374 n. Reformation, i. 74. Regatta, i. 336-9, 343. Rejuvejtesccncy, ii. 56. Relation, ii. 371 n. R cliques, i. 253 «. Remembered, pleasure of being, i. 209. Rcprehe7tso7y, ii. 232. Resolution, ii. 99 n. Restes, i. 401. Review, ii. 236 n. Revolution Club, i. 229 n. Reynault, Francis, i. 191 n. Reynolds, Frances, conversatione, ii. 179; difference with her brother, ii. 84 «., 397 ; Johnson's letters, i. 93, 1 10, 389. 39i> 407. 4"; ii- 84, 100, 107, 179, 22T, 223, 249, 337, 346,366, 395, 397 ; — , letter to, i. 407 n. ; — por- trait, ii. 179, 300, 327; lodgings, ii. 85; 'Mrs.' Reynolds, i. 411 n.\ oil- paintings, ii. 327 71. ; Paris, visits, i. 150 n. ; — pictures bought there, ii. 221 ; portrait of Miss Williams, ii. 335 «•; 'Renny,' ii. 113 n., 121, 201 ; voyage proposed, i. no w. ; writings, ii. 180, 223, 249, 395, 398 ; mentioned, i. 206 ; ii. 62, 251. Reynolds, Sir Joshua, Barry's attack, ii. 293 ; chariot, ii. 85 «. ; Crabbe, the poet, ii. 287 «., 288 ; Dyer's portrait, ii. 108 n. ; Goldsmith's epitaph, i. 407 ; Gordon Riots, ii. 167 n., 168 n. ; house at Richmond, i. 400 ; ii. 201 n. ; Johnson's executor, ii. 407 n. ; — dines with him, ii. 325-6 ; — drawn out, ii. 439 ; — funeral, ii. 434-5 ; — indebted to him, i. 76 «. ; — let- ters, ii. 280, 286-7 j — Lives of the Poets, ii. 189, 287 ; — portraits, ii. 62 n., 70, 74, 259 ;/. ; Lawrence, Thomas, ii. 132 n. ; Literary Club, ii. 312 n.; Lowe's picture, ii. 293 n.; Mason's Epistle, ii. 286 ; nieces, ii. 85 ;/. ; portrait of Archbishop of Tuam, ii. 326 n. ; Rasselas, i. 79 n. ; Royal Academy, ii. 250 n., 294, 393 n. ; sister, difference with his, ii. 84 ;/., 397 ; — oil-paintings, ii. 327 u. ; Streatham portraits, i. 232 «. ; voyage, i. no n. ; mentioned, i. 94, 122 «., 206; ii. i, 4, 65, 66, III w., 113, 116, 146, 149,186, 318 «., 335 n., 369. Rhenish, i. 52 «. Rice, Mrs., i. 219 «. Richard I, i. 74. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 467 Richardson, Samuel Scotland and the Scotch. Richardson, Samuel, Clarissa, i. 21 «., 22 ;;., 35, 395 n. ; Sir Charles Grandi- son, i. 22 n., 34 n. ; Dartmouth, Lord, ii. 291 M.; Dublin ' pirates,' i. 13 «.; flat- tery, love of, ii. 43 n. ; ' honest Joseph,' "• 7.5 j Johnson's letters, i. 21, 33-4, 67. 61 ; — neijjhbour, ii. 295, 309 ; Mulso, Miss, ii. 141 ; 'winding,' ii. 43. Riches, effect of, ii. 394 n. aider's British Alerliji, ii. 76. Ritchie, D., i. 258 n. RiTTER, Joseph, i. 241 «., 285 n. RiVAROL, i. 150 n. RiviNGTON, John, Johnson's letter, i. 168. Rizzio, David, i. 228. Robert of Doncaster, i. 224. Roberts, G., i. 145 n. Robertson, Rev. William, D.D., John- son at Edinburgh, i. 228 ; — corrections, 412 ; dozuned, ii. 73 «, Robinson, Rev. Hastings, ii. 18 «. Robinson, Henry Crabb, ii. 149 n. Robinson, Rev. R. G., ii. 18 ii. RoBSON, — , ii. 217-8. Rochefoucauld, ii. 54, 421. Rochester, ii. 319. Rockingham, Marquis of, ii. 261 «., 264 n. Rogers, Dr. John, ii. 353 n. Rogers, Rev. J. M., ii. 194 n., 378 «., 379 «■ Rogers, Mrs. See Prowse. Rogers, Samuel, i. 288 n. Kolliad, i. 333 u. Roman Catholics, i. 264, 401 n. ; ii. 166-8. Rome, i. 343 n. RoMiLLY, Sir Samuel, i. 226 «. RoONEY, John, i. 123 n. Rose, Dr., ii. 325. Rothes, Lady (B. Langton's wife), i. 172 ; ii. 32 n., 36 «., 251. Rothes, Lady (wife of Sir Lucas Pepys), ii. 36 «., 251. Rousseau, i. 263 n. Rout, ii. 59 n. Row, ii. 239. RowE, Nicholas, quoted, ii. 32, 136, 139 ; Life, 132 n., 140 ; poems, 158. Royal Academy, Cadell printer to it, H ii. 61 n. ; Johnson at the dinner (i78o\ 146, 150 ; (1782), 250 ; (1783), 292-4 ; (i784)> 392-3. 423- RUDD, Mrs., i. 395, 399 71. Ruffhead, Owen, ii. 196. Ruffles, ii. 6 n. Ruggle, George, ii. 387. Russia, ii. 377. Rustication, ii. 320, Ryland, John, Johnson's letters, i. 56, 412, 413 ; ii. 7, 411, 419, 421-2, 428 ; — funeral, ii. 434 ; Ivy Lane Club, ii. 358, 363- Rymer, Thomas, ii. 69, 248. S. Saivt-Fond, Faujas, i. 223 n. Saint Martin, ii. 192. Sale, George, ii. 149 n., 432. Salisbury, ii. 328, 342. Salisbury, first Marquis of, ii. 1.57 n. Salter, Rev. Dr. Samuel, ii. 364 n. Salusbury, Rev. G. A., ii. 27 w. Salusbury, John, i. 12S n. Salusbury, Lady, ii. 391 n. Salusbury, Mrs., Thrale's letter, i. 98 n. ; Johnson's letter, 12S; — feelings to- wards her, 196 n. ; house robbed, 163, 165 ; loan to Thrale, 192 n. ; ill, 149, 172, 180, 195, 199, 200, 203, 211-4, 216-8, 220-1; epitaph, 323, 327, 328. Salusbury, Miss (Mrs. Thrale), i. 98 «. Salusbury, SirThomas, i. 193, 195, 198, 277, 289, 292 ; ii. 391 n. Salute, i. 265 n. Sandys, George, i. 367. Sastres, Francesco, ii. 246, 279, 434; Johnson's letters, ii. 414, 416, 418, 425, 427. Savage life, i. 233, 263. Savile, Sir George, ii. 168. Saxby, — , ii. 21 n. Sayer, — , i. 406. Scarsdale, first Baron, i. 189 «., 347 ; ii. 35 ^^•■, 394 «• Scholars, dedications to, ii. 225. vSchwellenberg, Mrs., ii. 5 n. Scotland and the Scotch, abused, i. 224 n.\ beggars, i. 240; cabbages, i. 235 ; expense of travelling, i. 271 ; fees, i. 235; Gordon riots, ii. 166, 176; h 2 468 Index to Scotland and the Scotch Shelburne, Earl of. green pease, ii. 400 n. ; knives and forks, i. 272 n.\ names of gentlemen, i. 256; plaids, i. 234; scenery, i. 250 ; shoes, i. 235, 239; trees, i. 238, 242 ; turnips, i. 277; worse England, i. 317 n. Highlands: bag-pipes, i. 270; boats, 264; books, 255, 267; bread, 249, 259, 272 ; cattle, 275 ; clans, order of, 280; crops, 274; custom-houses, 271; dress, 274; emigration, 263; estates, 266 ; — rents raised, 247 ; fu- nerals, 282 «. ; houses, 251, 260, 273; knives, 272; meals, 271-3; ministry, 269 ; roads, 242 ; sea, 254; silver, 257 ; singing-birds, 251 ; snuff, 249 ; uniform, 250; weather, 274, 286; whisky, 273; wild looks of natives, 249. Scots Magazine, i. 25 «. Scott, John (first Earl of Eldon), Univer- sity College, i. 113 «., 312 n. ; spelling of his name, 366 11. ; Gordon riots, ii. 169 n. ; house in Gower Street, 193 «. Scott, Mrs., i. 219 n. Scott, Sir Walter, Miss Seward, i. 10 «. ; Scotch houses, 260 w. ; smuggling, 271 n. ; clans, 280 n. ; Miss Burney, ii. 355 n. Scott, Dr. William (Lord Stowell), Uni- versity College, i. 113 »., 311 n., 420; election of 1780, ii. 155, 164; Gordon riots, 169 ; Johnson's letter, 288 ; — executor, 407 n. ; — funeral, 434 ; men- tioned, i. 138 «., 366. ScRASE, — , i. 348 «., 395 ; ii. 56, 78, 1 1 1, 115, 119, 127, 129, 176, 183, 185, 189, 217-9- Scrimshaw, Charles, ii. 430. Scrupulosity, ii. 144 n. Sculptures, i. 145 n. Seaforth, last Earl of, i. 59 n. Secker, Archbishop, i. 121 n. Security, ii. 162 n. Sedgwick, — , i. 376. Seignelai, Marquis of, i. 270 n. Selwin, — , ii. 106 n. Selwyn, George, i. 313 n.; ii. 168 n. Seneca, ii. 93 n. Sensibility, i. 385 «. Servants, i. 391 n. Seton, Sir Henry Wilinot, ii. 84 n. Settlement, law of, ii. 297. Seward, Anna, account of her, i. 10 «., 139 «., 340 n.; Johnson and Dodd, ii. 18 «. ; — Lives, 46 n.\ mentioned, ii- 232, 397 n. Seward, Sarah, i. 139 n. Seward, Rev. Thomas, i. 10 «., 68 n., 185. Seward, William, valetudinarian, i. 346 ; ill, ii. 33 ; visits Edinburgh, 35 n. ; Johnson's bow, 150 n.; goes abroad, 298 ; attacks Piozzi, 352 n. ; Johnson's funeral, 434; mentioned, i. 398 ; ii-94, 133, 137 «-> 426. Shaftesbury, third Earl of, i. 6 n. Shakespeare, William, cast of his face, i. 331 ; Henry VIII, ii. 345 «. ; John- son's edition : subscribers, i. 64, 68, 73, 117 n., 123-4; — Proposals, i. 68 «. ; — • Garrick's suffrage sought, i. 117; — P'rench translation, i. 150 «. ; — ad- ditions, i. 168-9; Merchant of Venice, ii. 346 n. ; his merit, ii. 440; quoted : Cymbeline, ii. 334 ; Hamlet, i. 186, 334, 398; ii. 29, 255 ; I Henry IV, ii. 42, 92 «., 125, 140; 2 Henry IV, i. i8o«. ; ii. 41 ; 3 Henry VI, i. 177; Henry VIII, i. 271 ; King John, i. 353 n. ; Julius Ccesar, ii. 41 ; Love's Labour's Lost, ii.iS ; Macbeth, ii. 414 n.; Measure for Measure, ii. 368 n. ; Merry Wives, 8cc., ii. 55 ; Midsummer AHghfs Dream, ii. 276 n.; Much Ado, &:c., i. 348; Richard II, ii. 140 n., 217 n. ; Richard III, ii. 353 n. ; Tivelfth Night, ii. 20T ; Winter's Tale, ii. 176 n. Shakespeare, a racehorse, i. 341 ; ii. 43. Shanvelle [?], Rev. Mr., ii. 434. Sharp, Samuel, ii. 329 n. Sharp, — , ii. 434. Sharpe, Mrs., i. 229 n. Sharpe, Miss, ii. 251. Shaw, Rev. William, i. 412 n. Shaw, — , i. 397; ii. 193. Sheffield, Lord and Lady, ii. 210 «., 252. Shelburne, second Earl of, account of persecution of Catholic priests, i. 402 n.; prime minister, ii. 261 n., 269; attacks Burke, 263 ; knew Johnson, ib. ; mentioned, ii. 81 n., 349 n. Letters of Dr. Johnson. 469 Shelburne, Dowager Countess of. Stonehenge. Shelburne, Dowager Countess of, ii. 81 n. Shelley, Sir John, Bart., ii. 44 n., 73, 202. Shelvock, — , ii. 432. Shenstone, William, i. 89 n. ; ii. 217 n., 259 n. Sheridan, Mrs., ii. 252. Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, ii. 161 «., 252 n. Sheward, Mrs., ii. 310, 314. Shipley, Jonathan, D.D., Bishop of St. Asaph, i. 400 ; ii. 146, 149, 157, 250. Shrewsbury, Duchess of, i. 151 n. SiBBALD, Sir Robert, i. 362 n. Siberian barley, i. 352. SiDDONS, Mrs., ii. 345, 393 n. Sidney, Sir Philip, i. 166; ii. 331. Sidney, Sabrina, i. 160 n. Simeon, Sir John, Bart, i. 10 n. Simpson, Joseph, i. 29. Sinclair, Rev. John, i. 267 n. Sixteen-string Jack, ii. 63 n. Skrimage, ii. 164. Sky, Isle of, i. 244, 253, 274. Slains Castle, i. 236. Smallbroke, Dr., i. 106. Smelt, Leonard, ii. 146 n., 149. Smith, Adam, Glasgow and Brentford, i. 291 n.; importation of fruit, ii. 20 n.; life at Kirkaldy, i. 230 «.; London pavement, i. 234 w. ; malt, i. 174 n.\ opinions of others, ii. 369 n. ; prices of corn, i. 193 n. ; scrupulosity, ii. 144 n. ; sympathy, i. 141 «. ; Wealth of Natio7ts reviewed, i. 413 n. Smith, Henry, ii. 210 «., 216 «., 219 w. Smith, John Thomas, ii. 63 w., 433. Smith, Lady, i. 329, 335, 336 n. ; ii. 93. Smith, Mrs., i. 298. Smith, — , Johnson's letter, i, 167. Smollett, Commissary, i. 286, 323. Smollett, Tobias, Baretti's account of him, i. 286 n.; Humphry Clinker quoted, i. 224 n., 385 «. ; Jacobites, i. 259 n. ; monument, i. 286. Soho Square, i. 88. Solitude, 1. 131, 337. Solomon, Nathan, ii. 340 «. Sorocold, — ii. 117 n. Sortes Virgilianae, ii. 169 «., 239 n. South, Rev. Robert, D.D., ii. 183 «., 428 «., 439. Southwark, elections, i. 133-4, 137? ii. 145, 151-4, 160, 203; Thrale's house, i. 195 n.; — The Tower, i. 314 n. ; — Johnson's places, i. 398 ; — robbery, ii. 347 ; Gordon Riots, ii. 177-8. Southwell, Edmund, i. 206 n. Southwell, Frances, i. 205. Southwell, second Lord, i. 205 n. Southwell, Liicy, i. 205. Southwell, Mrs., i. 316; ii. 151, 153. Southwell, Viscount, ii. 202 n. Southwell, Viscountess, Johnson's let- ter, ii. 202. Spain, prejudice against Jews, i. 317 «. ; language, ii. 37 ; prisons, 394. Spalding Society, ii. 275 n. Speke, Captain, i. 240 «. Spence, Rev. Joseph, ii. 133, 156. Spencer, Countess, ii. 65, 11 1, 369. Spencer, second Earl, ii. 111 «., 369 n. Spii'itual Quixote, i. 46 n. Sporting Magazine, ii. 30 it., 400 n. Spottiswoode, Andrew, ii. 259 n. St. Andrews, i. 231. St. Cross, i. 122. St. Helens, Lord, i. 46 ;/. St. John's Gate, i. 66. St. Margaret's Hill, ii. 171 «. Staffordshire, i. 397 ; ii. 20 «. Stanhope, Philip, ii. 113 «. Stationers' Company, ii. 76 n. Steele, Sir Richard, i. 154. Steevens, George, Chatterton's poems, i- 398 ; Johnson's carelessness, i. 204 n. ; ii. 284 n. ; — at Marylebone Gardens, ii. 74 k. ; — Lives, ii. 221 ; — intimate with him, ii. 242 ; — funeral, ii. 434; Shakespeare, i. 117 n., 168-9, 215 «. ; mentioned, ii. 294, 315. Stephen, Sir Fitzjames, i. 410 n. Sterne, Lawrence, Tristram Shandy, i. 224 w. Stevenson, — , i. 108. Stewart (or Stuart), Francis, i. 25, 28. Stockdale, Rev. Percival, i. 42 «., 191 n., 374 n. Stocks, ii. 340. Stonehenge, ii. 340. 470 Index to Stonhewer, Richard Taylor, Rev. John. Stonhewer, Richard, ii. 256 n. Strachan-Davidson, Mr. J. L., i. 1 15 w. Strahan, Rev. George, Abingdon School, i. 95, 158; character, i. 95, 115 w. ; difference with his father, ii. 267, 272, 278, 283 ; Franklin's ad\nce, ii. 283 «.; Johnson's letters, i. 95, 97, 100, 108, 118; ii. 267, 272, 283-4, 425; — funeral, ii. 434 ; Macleod's tutor, i. 262; University College, i. 113; Vicar of Islington, ii. 88, 267 n. Strahan, Mrs., i. 31; ii. 134, 211 n.\ Johnson's letter, ii. 433. Strahan, William, Cadell's partner, ii. 61 n.; corrects Hume and Robertson, i. 413 «. ; difference with his son, ii. 267, 272, 278, 283 ; Franklin's letter, ii. 283 n.; Gordon Riots, ii. 167, 170; Johnson's letters, i. 25, 27, 28, 32, 37. 79. 113. 297, 300, 303, 309-12, 412 ;ii. 203, 207,276,278,318; King's Printer, i. 115 n.; ii. 272 «. ; member of Parliament, i. 300; franks Johnson's letters, ii. 274; mentioned, i. 17 «., 67 M. ; ii. 1 16-7, 255. Streatfield, Miss, ii. 69 «., 72. Streatham, Johnson's home, i. 129, 141 «. ; coterie, 166 «.; library, 232; blue-room, 257 ; improvements, 332, 346, 360 ; described by S. Bumey and Prior, 350 «.; picture of it, 396; island, ii. 310. Streatham Village, spring of water, i. 178 «. ; habits of depredation, ii. 312. Strickland, Mrs., i. 401. Strickland, — i. 206 «. Style, new, i. 6 n., 76 n. SuLPicius Severus, ii. 192. Sumner, Rev. Dr., i. 394 «. Surgeons, i. 162 «. Su7-vivance, i. 216 n. Sussex, i. 395 n. Sutile Pictures, i. 397. Sutton, — i. 331 n. SuvoROFF, Prochore, ii. 377 n. Swan, Dr., ii. 130 n. Sweynheym, ii. 4 38. Swift, Jonathan, Baucis and Philemon, ii. 96 n.\ Faulkner, George, i. 13 «., 316 «. ; flattered, i. 221 n.; giddiness, ii. no It. ; Journal to Stella, i. 151 n.\ Letters, i. 317 n.\ Life, ii. 196; On the death of Dr. Siuift, ii. 54 n., 147, 192, 302, 404 «., 421 n. ; Presto, i. 151 ; riui out, ii. 229 n. ; Stella, i. 6 ;;. ; ii. 192 «. ; Tale of a Tub, i. 178 n. Swinfen, Mrs., i. 54 n. SwiNFEN, Samuel, M.D., i. 6 n., 54 ;/. ; ii. 73 n., 207. SwiNTON, John, ii. 431. Sydenham, Thomas, M.D., ii. 131. Sympathy, i. 141, 170 w. ; ii. 28, 124, 215. 237. T. Tacitus, quoted, ii. 297. Talbot, Dr., i. 322. Talisker, i. 268. Talk, ii. 19. Tatler, ii. 352. Taxation no Tyranny, i. 308-11, 314, 329- Taxes, i. 202 «. Taylor, John (the Water Poet), i. 204 n. Taylor, Rev. John, D.D., bleeding, ii. 160, 401-3 ; Boswell laughs at him, ii. 31 ; bull-dog, i. 340 ; cattle, i. 160, 166, 175, 178, 182, 197, 341, 347; ii. 43, 45, 47, 49 ; chaise, i. 180; Devon- shire family, i. 12; ii. 10; growing old, ii. 95 ; heir, i. 379 n. ; house and grounds, i. 165, 179, 346; ill, i. 175; ii. 97, Id, 355, 357, 362; Johnson, feelings towards, and Johnson's feelings towards him, i. 184, 350, 353, 356-7, 369 ; ii. 240 ; — letters, i. 10, 40, 64, 70, 101-7, 109, 112, 119, 122, 156, 160, 188-91, 207, 222, 296, 304, 307, 314, 368, 372. 375. 379-So. 3S7, 390. 408; ii. 9, 10, loi, loS, 143, 165, 247, 261- 6, 269-71, 277, 2S0, 282, 285, 301 n., 322, 330, 337. 342, 355, 357, 362, 365. 370, 374, 401-3, 426; — paralytic stroke, ii. 301 ; — resents his advice, ii. 426 n. ; — serious talk with him, ii. 227 «.; law-suits, i. 375, 379, 390, 393, 395, 400, 408; ii. 158, 160, 163, 190; milk diet, ii. 234, 236; mind unsettled, i. 189-90; P.ission Week, i. 188; phraseology, ii. 160; prefer- Letter's of D7\ Johnson. 471 Taylor, Rev. John Thrale, Hester Lynch. ments, i. 12 «., 13 n., 65 «., 156, 396; ii. 108, 158, 238, 261 n., 262, 397; robbed, ii. 265 ; sister, i. 71 ; tithes, i. 166 n.; variance with Langley, i. 347; "-34; venison, ii. 32, 34; water- fall, i. 198, 342 ; wife separated from him, i. 101-7, 109, 112 ; will, i. 166 n., 379 «• Taylor, John (of Birmingham), i. 124. Tea-table, i. 273 n. Temple, second Earl, ii. 370 n. Temple, Sir Richard, ii. 188 n. Temple, Sir William, ii. 128, 400 «. Temple, Rev. William Johnson, ii. 182 n. Temple, The, i. 90 «., 316 ; the Reader, ii- 349- Terence, quoted, ii. i. Thackeray, William Makepeace, i. 389 n. Thanet, Earl of, ii. 402 n. Theobald, Lewis, ii. 93, 276 n. Thirlby, Dr. Styan, ii. 276. Thomond, Marchioness of, ii. 85 n. Thomson, James, quoted, i. 107 n.\ ii. 142. Thrale, Anna Maria, i. 140 n. Thrale, Cecilia, ii. 51, 291-2, 373. Thrale, Frances Anna, i. 315 n., 354. Thrale, Henrietta Sophia (Harriet), ii. 238, 240, 291 11. Thrale, Henry, Abingdon election, i. 132 n.; ambition, ii. 72, 127; Bath waters, ii. 140, 146 ; ' black dog,' ii. 73, 76, 78-9 ; brewerj', i. 192, 194, 346 «. ; ii. 34, 127; — difficulties in business, i. 192 n., 19S-9, 213, 217 «. ; ii. 74; — profits, i. 199, 346 ; ii. 22, 32 «., 72 ; Brighton, journey to, ii. 91 w. ; character by his wife, i. 192 n. ; ii. 95 «., 199 n. ; Contractors' Bill, ii. 142 n. ; death, ii. 209 ; Derby, visits, i. 350. 353. 355 ; diet, ii. 95 w., 97 w., 133, I40W., 162, 164, 1S4, 187, 189, 426 n. ; election, dinners, i. 204 w., 206 «., 307 ; — address, ii. 145 ; gen- tleman, how far a, ii. 160 n. ; Gor- don riots, ii. 170-1, 176; grief for his son, i. 384 «., 386, 391 ; ii. 71 n., 95 n., 97 n. ; house in Grosvenor Square, ii. 127 n. ; illness, ii. 93-106, 108, 132 «., 143 n., 159, 164 «., 183 «., 198, 200 ; ' impracticable interest,' i. 329 ; improvements at Streatham, ii. 45) 5^> 78; Italy, proposed tour, i. 387 ; ii. 192 «. ; Johnson's clothes, i. 322 ; ii. 39 ; — company, i. 347 n. ; — invest- ments, ii. 99 ; — letters, i. 153, 167, 169, 183, 275, 283, 284, 306, 30S, 403 ; ii. 6, 14, 96, 98, 162 ; — love for him and his wife, i. 142, 294, 388 ; ii. 47, 54, 100, 209, 211, 213-4 ; — '™y home,' i. 129, 141 n. ; ii. 40 w. ; — ' our,^ i. 194 ; ii. 203 ; — grief at his death, ii. 209, 351 ; — executor, ii. 210, 214, 216 n. ; — guardian to his children, ii. 292, 303; marriage, i. 98 «. ; ii. 127 «. ; Murphy and the Miss Gunnings, ii. 122 w. ; 'My master,' i. 196 «.; pillar of the house, i. 405; ii. 119; sisters, i. 219 n.; sleep, ii. 97-8, 199; Sonth- wark elections, i. 132, 136-7; ii. 145, i5i-4> 158, 160, 203; ' take him for all in all, &c.,' i. 334 ; ' takes up his restes^ i. 401, 404; Thraliana, ii. 27 n. ; will, executors and trustees, ii. 115, 119, 126, 129, 210, 216 »., 219. Thrale, Henry Salusbury, birth, i. 12S n.; reads Milton, 214; life put in a lease, 288 ; loved by Johnson, 294, 344> 383; entail, 351 ; death, 330 w., 381 ; ii. 220 71. Thrale, Hester Lynch (Miss Salusbury, afterwards Mrs. Piozzi), ancestry and birth, i. 201 n., 355 «. ; Anecdotes, sum paid her, ii. 403 «. ; aunt, ii. 38, 47 ; bad taste, ii. 200 n. ; Bath, visits, i. 383 «., 387 n. ; ii. 132, 404 n. ; Blackmore's Life, ii. 185 «. ; Boswell's brother, ii. 182 n. ; — Journal, i. 320, 330, 344, 355 ; brewery on her husband's death, ii. 23 n., 126 M., 210 n., 213, 216-8, 222 n.\ British Syiionomy, i. 212 n., 384 n. ; ii. 36 «., 357 n. ; Chambers, Sir R., ii. 263 ; children, bom, i. 140, 153. 183, 315 ; — subject to a malady, i. 349 ; ii. 74, 356 n. ; — treatment of them, i. 205 «., 294 «., 338 ;/., 350 «., 351, 381 n.; — feelings towards them, i. 353 n., 384 n. ; ii. 291 n. ; — attacks her daughters, ii. 210 «., 387 «., 394 «., 405 n., 408 n. ; ■ — borrows money from them, ii. 391 n. ; — separation on 472 Index to Thrale, Hester Lynch Thrale, Hester Maria. her marriage, ii. 405 n., 412 ; coarseness, ii. 304 n. ; compared with Mrs. Mon- tagu, ii. 153; 'contour,' ii. 150 n.; courted, ii. 140; debts, ii. 391; de- jection, ii. 394 ; described, by Miss Burney, ii. 6 n., 132 n., 153 «.; — by Boswell, ii. 22S«. ; describes Miss Burney, ii. 133 n., 408 n. ; 'despicable dread,' i. 196 n. ; ii. 127, 129 ; dress, i. 338 n., 340 ;;. ; election-dinners, i. 204, 206 ; election of 1780, ii. 152-4, 157 «. ; flattery, i. 200, 220-1, 313, 329 ; ii. 43 n., 308 ; Foote, slanders, ii. 56 n. ; forgetfulness, i. 367 ; franked letters, ii. 94 n. ; Garrick's club-forfeits, ii. 415 n.\ Gordon riots, ii. 171 n. ; Hawkes- worth's play, i. 412; husband (first^ married to her, i. 98 n.\ ii. 127 n.; his good character, ii. 95 n. ; — their happiness, ii. 210 ; — attacked by her, i. 192 n., 217 n.; ii. 96 n., 140 w., 160 n., 199 «., 210 n. ; — his money difficulties, i. 192 «., 195-9; ii- 199 '^- I — apoplexy, ii. 94 «. ; — death, ii. 209; — money left her, ii. 210 n., 221, 229, 231 ; husband (second), first acquaintance, ii. 57 «. ; — 'enchanting society,' 198 w. ; — love for him, 351 11., 368 n., 386 n. ; — his complaints, 387 «.; — attacks on her about him, 352 n. ; — marriage, ii. 6 n., 198 n., 404-9 ; — sent for from Milan, 401 n. ; — Circular to the Executors, and Johnson's replies, 404-9 ; — her two husbands compared, 406 n., 407 n. ; in- accuracy, ii. 118, 237 n.; inattention, ii. 343-4 ; jealousy, i. 344 n. ; Jewish notions, ii, 67 «. ; Johnson's advice to her, ii. 394, 406 ; — affection for her, i'- 303> 31 1 J 350 ) — ) she attacks him, ii. 387 w., 391 n. ; — attendance re- quired, i. 142 n.; — excellence, i. 196 n. ; ii. 406 ; — expostulates with her, ii. 292 n., 405 ; — says that she is to be forgotten or pitied, 412 ; — , her kind- ness to him, ii. 212, 236, 238, 244, 249, 307, 407 ; — his high opinion of her, ii. 406 ; see also under Thrale, Henry ; — letters to her described, i. 361 ; pleasure in her letters, i. 216, 327, 332, 3.35; ii- 28, 50, 75, 123; complains that they are not dated, ii. 27 n., 139, 162 ; burns them, i. 355 n. ; ii. 407 n. ; — Lives, ii. 198 n. ; — love of useful knowledge, ii. 321 n. ; — melan- choly, i. 332 n.; — ' My mistress,' i. 196 ; — , her neglect of him, ii. 241, 245. 250, 258, 292, 297, 300, 302-3, 327^ 351, 368, 381 «•> 384- ^396 n., 404 ; — , her ' unfeeling irony,' ii. 257 ; — Ode and verses, i. 284 ; ii. 192 n. ; — her present to him, ii. 392 ; — trustee, i. 355 ; — quarrel with Taylor, ii. 426 n. ; — revises her poem, ii. 403 n.\ — she writes him a serious letter, ii. 380 n., 384; Journey, ii. 318 11.; Ladies' Charity School, i. 156 n. ; learning, i. 130 «. ; ii. 34 «. ; Letters to and from Dr. Johnson, letters mis- placed, i. 163 n., 308 n. ; ii. 55 n., 96, 131, 218, 242, 256 n., 257 n.; — altered or wrong, i. 240 n., 288 ri., 336 «., 388 n. ; ii. 29 n., 245 n., 258 «., 404;?. ; — ' studied,' ii. 147 n., 175 n. ; marriage, see above under husband ; Metcalfe's dislike of her, ii. 345 n. ; Musgrave, Mr., i. 399 n. ; nerves ruined, ii. 198 n. ; NoUekens' studio, ii. 62 ti. ; Opera, at the, ii. 279 ; parts with her money, ii. 106 n. ; reconciled easily, i- 355 j reduction in her table, ii. 389 ; regaled with Greek and Latin, ii. 201 ; Regatta, at the, i. 336-9, 343 ; sea- bathing, ii. 277 «.; suitors, ii. 69 w. ; ' sunny little thing,' ii. 100 ; Thraliana, ii. 26 H. ; uncle, see Salusbury, Sir Thomas; verses, ii. 141; Welsh estates, i. 290 n. ; Whitbread's offer of marriage, ii. 23 «. ; wig, ii. 57. Thrale, Hester Maria (afterwards Vis- countess Keith), accomplished, ii. 155, 160; Baretti's pupil, i. 326, 354, 403 n.; birthday, i. 250; ii. 33, 35, 405 ti. ; cabinet, i. 196, 287, 294 ; children, management of, ii. 183 ; dancing, ii. 47 n., 48, 127; described by Miss Burney, ii. 5 «., 154 n.\ — by Baretti, ii. 356 n. ; eyes sore, ii. 148 n. ; father, watches over her, ii. 191, 200; — bis death, ii. 213 n.\ gloomy, i. 339 «. ; Gordon riots, ii. 175; health, i. 385 ; ii. 28-9, 258 ; Johnson, held Letters of Dr. Johnson. 473 Thrale, Hester Maria Voltaire. by, ii. 79 ; — his affection for her, ii. 229, 234; — Latin lessons, ii. 98 «., 154, 182, 189; — letters, ii. 72 n., 186 ; — , her letters to him, i. 356 ; ii. 78, 118, 129, 136, 191, 193, 230-2, 303- 308, 389, 397 ; — her neglect of him, ii. 279, 316, 3S4, 404 ; — verses, ii. 46 n. ; Marie Antoinette notices her, i. 369 ; marriage, i. 133 n. ; memoirs, i. 320 ; mother, conduct towards her, ii. 394 n. ; — marriage, ii. 405 n. ; offer of marriage, ii. 394 n. ; poultry, i- 334 ; ' Queeney,' i. 180 n. ; regatta, i. 339 ; watch, i. 401 ; womanly, ii. 59. Thrale, Lucy Elizabeth, i. 140 «., 153 «., 196, 290, 294. Thrale, Ralph, i. 294 «., 319, 328, 344, 348. 35i> 353- Thrale, Sophia (afterwards Mrs. Hoare), i. 183 «., 365, 393; ii. 91, 190, 316, 364, 397 ; Johnson's letter, ii. 320 ; proficience in arithmetic, ii. 321, 361 ; ill, ii. 356, 360, 383, 385-6. Thrale, Susanna A., i. 349, 393; ii. 78, 91, 190, 232, 280, 298, 303, 320, 348, 364, 397 ; Johnson's letters, ii. 316, 323, 331. 35i> 385; — 'always a Susy,' i. 354 ; ii. 44. Thuanus, i. 30 n. Thurloe, John, i. 13. Thurlow, Lord Chancellor, i. 390; ii. 213 n., 414 n. Thurlow, Thomas, Bishop of Lincoln, ii. 349 n. TiLNEY, Lord, i. 206 «. TiMMiNS, Mr. Samuel, i. 15 n. Timorsome, ii. 246. TOLCHER, Alderman, i. 93. ToMKESON, — Johnson's letter, ii. 338. ToNSON, Jacob (the younger 1, i. 62 n., 124, 127 n. ToOKE, Rev. William, ii. 377 n. Tories, i. 11 n. Torpescence, ii. 441. Touj ours per drix, i. 178 n. Town Malling, ii. 23 n. Toys, i. 294 n. Trade, ii. 126. Translation, i. 381 n. Travel, Books of, i. 166, 227. Travelling, i. 254, 270. Traverse, i. 242 n. Trinity College, Cambridge, i. 323 n. Trissino, G. G., ii. 240 «. Truth, i. 365 n. Tuam, Archbishop of, ii. 326. Timid, ii. 372 n. Turbulent ', Mr., ii. 5 w. Turnpike roads, ii. 441. TuRTON, Dr., ii. 191, 193. TuRTON, Miss, i. 132, 173 «.; ii. 20. Twiss, Richard, i. 316, 321, 351 n., 399. Tyburn, ii. 63 n. Tyranny, ii. no. Tyrwhitt, Thomas, i. 398, 404. Tyson, — , ii. 171. U. Ulinish, i. 268. Under the circumstances, ii. 36. Universal History, ii. 432. University, its advantages, ii. 440. Urquhart, James, ii. 50 n. Utensils, i. 257. V. Valetudinarians, i. 305, 378. Vanity of Human Wishes, \. \\ n. Vansittart, Dr., i. 289. Veracious, ii. 52 «. Vesey, Mrs., ii. 88, 105, 134, 136, 155 ;/., 164, 178. Vezy, Miss, ii. 312. Victor Amadei;s, i. 146. Villette, — , ii. 311 n. Vinteniers, i. 162 n. Virgil, quoted: Aineid, i. 130, 182, 221, 335; ii. 27, 41, 289, 345, 373, 408 «.; Eclogues, i. 154, 266 «., 334 n.; ii. 41 ; pieces ascribed to him, ii. 417 ; compared with Ovid, ii. 440. Voltaire, Drury Lane Theatre, i. 5 «. ; Cardinal Fleury, 12 ;/. ; Baskerville's ' ' The gentleman whom Miss Burney held up to ridicule as Mr. Turbulent was the Rev. Charles de Guiffardiere.'— C. Knight's Passages of a Worhing Life, i. 45; ed. 1864 474 Index to Voltaire Warton, Rev. Thomas. types, 42 «.; Candide, 79 «.; English- men visiting Italy, 316 n. Vows, i. 217. Vyse, Rev. Dr., ii. 271, 395; Johnson's letters, ii. 14, 207, 213, 430. Vyse, Rev. Mr. (of Lichfield;, i. 148. Vyse, Miss, i. 148, 334 ; ii. 93. W. W , Mr., i. 132, 134. W , Mrs., ii. 141. Wade, General, i. 242 n. Wade, — ii. 127 w. Wakefield, — , i. 104. Wales, i. 317 ; ii. 30. Walker, William, B.D., i. 97 n. Wall, John, M.D., i. 172, 179. Wall, Martin, M.D., 172; ii. 257 n. Wall, Mrs., ii. 257 n. Waller, Edmund, Life, ii. 68, 372 n. Walmsley, Gilbert, i. 1 1 «.,83 11. ; ii. 49 11. Walmsley, Mrs., ii. 49, 54. Walnut-trees, i. 131. Walpole, Horace (fourth Earl of Or- ford), America, war with, i. 311 n., 318 n., 325 «•) 360 n.; ii. 57 n.; Baker the antiquary, ii. 13 «. ; balloons, ii. 365 n., 420 n. ; Barry, James, ii. 293 n. ; Bas Bleu, ii. 390 n. ; Bath-Easton, ii. 138 «. ; Beauclerk and Bolingbroke, ii. 54 n. ; Birch, Dr., i. 53 n. ; Bruce the traveller, i. 313 n. ; Burney, Miss, ii. 354 w. ; Chandler's Travels, i. 321 n. ; Chatterton, i. 404 71. ; Colman and Pennick, i. 133 n.\ commercial bank- ruptcy, i. 192 n. ; Cornelys, Madame, i. 88 n. ; coronation, i. 91 ;;. ; Dart- mouth, Lord, ii. 291 71. ; debates in I784> ii- 375 ^^- ; Dettingen, i. 4 w. ; dissatisfaction general, ii. 120 n. ; Dodd's execution, ii. 11 ; election of 1768, i. 132 n., 137 n.; England rained, ii. 114 n., 264 n.; Fox and Pitt, ii. 358 n. ; Garrick and Mrs. Porter, ii. 344 n. ; George III and Johnson, ii. 87 n. ; Gordon riots, ii. 166-70 nn., 172-6 nn., 178 n. ; gout, ii. ]o8 11. \ Grenada, ii. 121 «. ; Har- court, Earl of, ii. 37 «. ; Harley, Alder- man, i. 304 n. ; hay-making, i. 352 71. ; Herschel's discoveries, ii. 386 «. ; high- waymen, ii. 312 ;;. ; Howard, John, ii. 394 n. ; Ireland in 1782, ii. 264 «. ; in 1783, ii. 340 n.; James's powder, i. 23 71. ; Jebb, Sir R., ii. 148 «. ; Jones the orientalist, ii. 155 71. ; — his Ode, ii. 369 71. ; Lyttelton, Lord, i. 288 «. ; mail-coaches, i. 392 ;/. ; Mason's version of Du Fresnoy, ii. 286 «. ; nephew's marriage, ii. 186 «. ; Pre- tender's birthday, i. 13 71. ; prophets, ii. 145 71. ; Prussia and Hungary, i. 12 «. ; Queen of Denmark's death, i. 319 m. ; Ranelagh, i. 306 71. ; reform of Parlia- ment, ii. 285 7t. ; regatta, i. 336 n., 339 71. ; revolution in the Penetralia, i. 408 71. ; Royal Academy, ii. 150 n. ; September weather, ii. 25 «. ; Seward, Rev. T., i. 10 71. ; She Stoops to Conquer, i. 214 w. ; Shelburce, Lady, ii. 81 7t. ; Siddons, Mrs., ii. 345;/., 346 77. ; Southwells, the, i. 205 w. ; specula- tion, i. 170 71. ; Spence, Joseph, ii. 133 71. ; spring of 1782, ii. 251 «., 256 «., 260 71. ; summer of 1772, i. 192 «. ; — of 1783, ii. 320 n., 326 71. ; — of 1784, ii. 416 «. ; Whitbread the brewer, ii. 23 n.\ Wilson, Dr., ii. 397 «. Walpole, Sir Robert, i. 4, 10 «. ; ii. 186 n. Walsh, William, ii. 17S. Warburton, William, D.D., Bishop of Gloucester, Prebendary of Durham, i. 226 71. ; Spence's A7iecdotes, ii. 133 «. ; 'warm language,' 156 n. ; contempt of mankind, 397 «. Ward, Mr. T. Humphry, ii. 330 ;?. Ward, William, i. 15. Warmer, Dr., ii. 169 «. Warner, Rebecca, i. 409 n. Warren, Thomas, i. 6, 9, 41-2, 125. Warren, ^, i. 164. Warton, Rev. Joseph, D.D., CoUins's poems, ii. 130 ; Essay 071 Pope, i. 62 n. ; Johnson's letters, i. 36, 38, 62, 122 ; ii. 156 ; Spence's A7tecdotes, ii. 133 «. ; his taste amazement, ii. 441 ; Theobald and Seneca, ii. 93 71. ; Winchester School, i. 63. Warton, Mrs., i. 122. Warton, Rev. Thomas, Collins visits him, i. 39 71.; Johnson's degree, i. 62 Letters of D?'. Johnson. 475 Warton, Rev. Thomas Woodward, Dr. 71.; — letters, i. 73; ii. 155; Mr. Swinton's sermon, ii. 432 w. ; men- tioned, i. 38 ft ; ii. 2,^7 n. Was to see, i. 353 n.\ ii. 186. Washington, George, ii. 57 «. Watermen's Company, ii. 319 n. Watson, Richard, Bishop of LlandafF, i. 183 «.; ii. 313 n. Watson, Professor Robert, i. 231 «., 412; ii. 91. Watts, Rev. Isaac, D.D., ii. 185 «., 232 «., 275 n. Way, Mrs., ii. 252, 339. Webster, — , i. 379 n. Wedderburne, Alexander 'Lord Lough- borough and Earl of Rosslyn), i. 356 "•, .^95- Welch, Saunders, i. 149 n., 396 ; ii. 63 n. Wellington, Duke of, i. 241 «. Wells, Mrs., i. 301 n. Welsh Grammar, i. 145. Wesley, Rev. John, causes of scarcity, i. 201 n. ; ' consorted with,' i. 305 ; free- man of Perth, i. 236 w. ; gout, ii. 109 «. ; Inverness, i. 251 n. ; Johnson's letter, i. 372 ; Marshalsea, i. 306 n. ; Newcastle in 1745, i. 227 n.; Oxford Methodists, i. 136 n. ; sisters, ii. 57 «., 392 ; sound sleeper, ii. 335 n. Wesley, Kezia, ii. 57 n. Wesley, Miss, ii. 57. West, Gilbert, ii. 188. Westcote, Lord (William Henry Lyttel- ton), i. 177; ii. 20, 189; Johnson's letters, ii. 187-8. Westminster Abbey, ii. 163, 434. Wetherell, Rev. Dr. Nathan, i. 113 w., 115 «•> 3i3> 323. 338, 349> 420; ii. 16, 183, 259. Weymouth, ii. 318, 325. Wheeler, Rev. Benjamin, D.D., ii. 260, 327, 398- Whelk, i. 268 M. Whigs, i. 11 n., 185 «., 266; ii. 87, 400 n. Whitbread, Samuel, ii. 23 «., 72 n. Whitby, Thomas, i. 301 n. Whitelamb, Mrs., ii. 57 n. Wicher's Almshouses, ii. 371. WiGAN, George, i. 1 32 n. WiLBRAHAM, — , i. Il6 11. WiLCOCKS, John, i. 403. Wilkes, John, opposed by Hnrley, i. 304 w. ; dinner at Dilly's, 397 ; poll for Chamberlain, 408 ; Gordon riots, ii. 172, 174-5 ; Johnson's letter, 295. Wilkes, Miss, ii. 295. WiLKiNS, John, Bishop of Chester, ii. 321. WiLKS, Father, i. 401, 406 ; ii. 39. Will-making, ii. 115. Williams, Anna, annuity, i. 371 //.; ii. 190. 336, 340; benefit, i. 53, 55-6, 59 It., 150; carving, ii. 125 «. ; character, ii. 334, 336 ; compared with Desmou- lins, ii. 42 ; dying, ii. 326, 328 ; death, ii. 331 ; ill, i. 314 ; ii. 33, 107, 193, 242 «., 290 ; Irish cloth, i. 168 ; Johnson's care for her, i. 37, 349 : — companion, ii- 295, 309, 344, 348, 357, 368; — sends a letter to her, ii. 318 ; Mis- cellatties, i. 87; portrait, ii. 335 «.; quarrels, ii. 74-5, 77, ii6, 295; \isitcd by Mrs. Thrale, i. 360; will, i. 156 n.\ ii. 334; mentioned, i. 94, 276, 284, 311, 394; ii. 70, 117, 1S7, 255, 332. Wilmot, Henr)', i. 421. WiLMOT, Robert, i. 421. Wilmot, Valentine Henry, i. 421. Wilson, Rev. Christopher, i. 40 ;/. Wilson, Rev. Thomas, D.D., i. 40 //. ; ii. 158, 163, 397. Wilson, Rev. Thomas (of Clitheroe), ii. 224 n. Wilton, Miss, i. 341 n. Wilton, — , i. 327. Windham, Right Hon. William, trans- lates Thztanus, i. 30 n. \ at University College, 113 «. ; visits Johnson, ii. 373 «., 420 ; Essex Head Club, 396 n. ; sees a balloon, 420 w. ; Johnson's funeral, 434 ; — anecdotes, 439. Wings of iron, ii. 372. WoFFlNGTON, Margaret, ii. 186 ;/. Wolcot, Dr. John, ii. 330 n. Wolfe, General James, i. 240 n. Women, power given them by nature, i. 104 ; portrait painting, ii. 179 w. Wood, Anthony, ii. 274. Woodcock, — , i. 103-4, 106-7. Woodward, Dr., ii. 138-9. 476 Index to Letters of Dr. Johnson. Woodw^ard, — Zoflfany. Woodward, — , i. 397 «., 400. Wordsworth, William, letter-writing, i. 65 n. ; personal talk, ii. 19 n. Workhouses, ii. 21. World, the, not to be despised, i. 337 ; not unkind, ii. 215. WoRTHlNGTON,Rev. Dr. William, ii.73. Wraxall, Sir Nathaniel W., Queen of Denmark, i. 319 «. ; Cursory Remarks, 321; American war, 390 n.\ buckles and ruffles, ii. 6 n. ; Johnson described, 136 n.\ Gordon riots, 174 « ; Om- niscient Jackson, 349 n. Wray, D., i. 365 n. Wright, Alderman, i. 116 n. Wright, Dr., ii. 434. Wright, Mrs., ii. i;7 n. Writing, unnatural in three ways, ii. 440. Wrottesley, Sir John, ii. 325 n. Wyatt, John, i. 6 n. Wynn, Sir W. W., i. 135. X. Xenophon, ii. 409. Yalden, Rev. Thomas, ii. 185 n. York, i. 224. York, Duke of, i. 409 n. Young, Rev. Edward, D.C.L., quoted, i. 173 ; ii. 44 ; Life, ii. 189-90. Young, George, M.D., i. 31. Young, Professor John, ii. 315 n. Z. ZOFFANY, i. 261 n. THE END. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELE5^,4^IFORNIA 90095-1388 Return tlits material to theJibrliry from which it was borrowed. AA 000 629 696 6 3 1210 000 4 6025