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LETTERS OF SAlt/VEL JOHNSON 


G. BIRKBECK HILL 


YOLo I. 



()
fot
 
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 


BY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 



LETTERS 


OF 


SAMUEL YOHNSON, LL.D. 


COLLECTED AND EDITED 


By GEORGE BIRKBECK HILL, D.C.L. 


PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD 
EDITOR OF BOSWELL'S 'LIFE OF JOHr-;SON' 


I 1\" TWO VOLUMES: VOL. I 


Oct. 30, 1731 - Dec. 
1, 1776 


NEVl YORK 
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 
1R92 



AUG 3 1 1955 



PREFACE 


How extensive was Johnson's correspondence, and how much 
of it has been preserved, is not perhaps generally known. He 
wrote unwillingly. 'I know not how it happens,' he told 
Dr. Taylor in the year 1756, 'but I fancy that I write letters 
with more difficulty than some other people who write nothing 
but letters; at least I find myself very unwilling to take up a 
pen only to tell my friends that I am well; and indeed I never 
did exchange letters regularly but with dear Miss Boothby I.' 
Seven years later he wrote to Boswell: 'I love to see my friends, 
to hear from them, to talk to them, and to talk of them; but it 
is not without a considerable effort of resolution that I prevail 
upon myself to write 2.' In this he was like Goldsmith who, 
apologising for his neglect in correspondence, said, 'No turnspit 
dog gets up into his wheel with more reluctance than I sit down 
to write 3: I have seen in an Auction Catalogue an extract 
from a letter by Grainger, the author of the Sugar Cane, in 
which he says: 'When I taxed little Goldsmith for not writing 
as he promised me, his answer was that he never wrote a letter 
in his life; and faith I believe him, unless to a bookseller for 
money.' 
Nevertheless, however indolent a man may be with his 
correspondence, if he lives to the age of seventy-five, and if 
his letters are thought worth keeping, a great mass will be 
preserved. Happily, there was one person to whom Johnson 
wrote eagerly enough. His letters to Mrs. Thrale are more 
than 300 in number. When he was away from Streatham, 


I Post, i. 64. 2 Life, i. 473. 
3 Forster's Life of Goldsmith, ed. 1871, i. 433. 


when 



VI 


Preface. 


when he was not: to use his own words to her, C reposing at that 
place which your kindness and Mr. Thrale's allows me to call 
my homex,' he longed for news. He once reproached Boswell 
for indulging C in an uneasy apprehension' about his wife and 
children who were 400 miles away in Edinburgh. 'Sir,' said 
he, 'consider how foolish you would think it in them to be 
apprehensive that you are ill 2 .' His trade might, as Baretti 
said, be wisdom; but 'there was never yet philosopher that 
could bear the tooth-ache patiently,' and Johnson was just as 
foolish himself about 'My Master' and 'lYly Mistress' as 
Boswell was about his wife and children. One June when he 
was at Oxford, he was left a few days without any news from 
Streatham. On the 5th he complains to his' Mistress' that 
three days had gone by without a letter. On the 6th he 
writes: 'If I have not a little something from you to-day, I 
shall think something very calamitous has befallen us.' On the 
7th his apprehension is still rising. 'I grieve and wonder and 
hope and fear about my dear friends at Streatham. But I may 
have a letter this afternoon. Sure it will bring me no bad news. 
If I have a letter to-day I will go away as soon as I can; if I 
have none, I will stay till this may be answered, if I do not come 
back to town.' On the afternoon of the same day he is comforted. 
, Your letter, which ought to have come on Tuesday, came not 
till Wednesday. \Vell, now I know that there is no harm, I will 
take a chaise and march away towards my own country 3: He 
delighted in the letters which Mrs. Thrale sent him. C Never 
imagine,' he wrote, 'that they are long; they are always too 
short for my curiosity. I do not know that I was ever content 
with a single perusal 4: Had he wished it he could have kept 
up a correspondence with men famous in almost every path of 
life, discussing those great questions that so long occupied 
Rasselas and his friends, which they left with 'a conclusion in 
which nothing is concluded.' It was not that kind of letter- 
writing that he loved. He neglected the members of his famous 


I Post, i. 1 
9. 


2 Life, iii. 4. 


3 Post, i. 3 2 4-7. 


4 Post, i. 216. 
Club, 



Preface. 


Vll 


Club, a set of men who, he maintained, were sufficient worthily 
to fill all the chairs of a University I. SO far as we know he did 
not write a single letter to Edmund Burke; he wrote more than 
300 to the wife of a Southwark brewer. With such ardour did 
he keep up the correspondence that in nine weeks of the summer 
of 1775 he wrote to her thirty times. Let us for once be thank- 
ful for the old abuse of the franking system, by which these 
letters were carried free of postage. Had he had to pay the 
usual charge of fourpence on each he would, I fear, have 
remembered, as he once bade Mrs. Thrale remember, that' three 
groats make a shilling 2,' and he would have written far less 
frequently. 
If we would judge of her share in the correspondence we must 
not look so much to those of her letters which she has printed 
as to the one which by some lucky chance came into Boswell's 
possession. 'I shall present my readers,' he says, 'with one of 
her original letters to Johnson, which will amuse them probably 
more than those well-written but studied epistles w
1ich she has 
inserted in her collection 3.' The insinuation which he casts on 
their genuineness can be shown to be well founded. Thcre is no 
doubt that some of them are fabrications, and clumsy fabrica- 
tions too 4. She was far too inaccurate to make a successful 
forger. It was not' studied epistles' that she sent to her old 
friend, or he would have speedily cried out, , Fiddle-de-dee, my 
dear.' What it was that delighted him in her letters we learn 
from one of his answers, where he says: '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 innova- 
tions are soon heard, and easily understood. Men that meet to 
talk of physicks or meta physicks, or law or history, may be 
immediately acquainted. We look at each other in silence, only 


[ Life, v. 109. 2 Post, i. 16I. 
4 For a curious instance see þost, ii. 258, n. 3. 
stance of her fabrication see ii. 210, n. I. 


3 Life, iii. 421. 
Fur another apparent in- 


for 



viii 


P1-'ejacc. 


for want of petty talk upon slight occurrences. Continue, there- 
fore, to write all that you would say I: 
Two other series of letters we owe to that strong feeling which 
Johnson ever preserved for the friends of his youth-a feeling 
which grew stronger and stronger as life ebbed away. 'If he 
ever took delight in anything,' said Baretti, , it was to converse 
with some old acquaintance 2.' It was this feeling which more 
than anything else attached him to Dr. Taylor, that heavy 
pluralist whose thoughts were ever running on preferments, 
'whose size and figure and countenance and manner were that 
of a hearty English 'Squire with the parson superinduced 3.' It 
was not, as some suspected, his hope of being Taylor's heir 
which kept the friendship alive. He clung in the same kind of 
way to his old schoolfellow, Henry Jackson, 'a low man, dull 
and untaught, who wore a coarse grey coat, black \vaistcoat, 
greasy leather breeches, and a yellow uncurled wig; whose coun- 
tenance had the ruddiness which betokens one who is in no 
haste to "leave his can.'" He gave him his guineas, and when 
he died he wrote: 'H is death was a loss, and a loss not to be 
repaired, as he was one of the companions of my childhood 4.' 
Had this worthy been as ready with his pen as he was in 
devising that new scheme of dressing leather by which he hoped 
to mend his fortune, Johnson doubtless would have corresponded 
with him too. To his old playfellow, Edmund Hector, the 
Birmingham surgeon, he wrote: 'I am now grown very solicitous 
about myoId friends, with whom I passed the hours of youth 
and cheerfulness, and am glad of any opportunity to revive the 
memory of past pleasures. I therefore tear open a letter with 
great eagerness when I know the hand in which it is super- 
scribed 5.' vVith him also he not unfrequently corresponded. 
Taylor docketed the letters which he received. The last is 
numbered 108. Of these Boswell had been allowed to publish 
but four. In the present collection sixty-two additional letters 


I Post, ii. 19. 2 Post, i. 388, n.2. 
4 Life, ii. 463; iii. 13 I. 


3 Life, ii. 474. 
5 Post, i. 73. 


are 



Preface. 


IX 


are given; twenty-three of which, if I am not mistaken, have 
never been in print before. Forty-two, therefore, remain unpub- 
lished; some may have been lost, but most I suspect are hidden 
away in the desks of collectors. 
There are great and curious gaps in Johnson's general corre- 
spondence. Of the four years, 1745, 6, 7 and R, not a single letter, 
so far as I know, has been preserved. For 1755 we have as 
many as 22, and for 1760 only two. He wrote most copiously 
in the last few months of his life, when he was seeking relief 
from his sufferings at Lichfield and Ashbourne. Deserted by 
l\irs. Thrale and deprived by death of his domestic companions, 
overwhelmed with disease and looking with horror on the grave 
into which he was sinking, lonely and solitary, he sought on all 
sides for encouragement, kindness and sympathy. Sixteen years 
earlier, when distressed by illness, he had written: 'To roll the 
weak eye of helpless anguish, and see nothing on any side but 
cold indifference, will, I hope, happen to none whom I love or 
value; it may tend to withdraw the mind from life, but has no 
tendency to kindle those affections which fi t us for a purer and 
a nobler state I.' This cold indifference was what he seems at this 
time to have been dreading. By the frequency of his letters he 
strove to keep himself alive in the memory and the affections 
of his friends. 
In the present collection will not be found those of his letters 
which were included by Boswell in the Life. In number they 
are not far short of 340. For each of them I give in the proper 
place the briefest notice of the person to whom it was addressed, 
the date at which it was written, and the volume and page where 
it will be found 2. All the other letters which I have been able 
to collect I am now publishing. I have not thought it right to 
pass over any on account of their insignificance. Those which 
were already in print I have found mainly in the two volumes 
of Correspondence published by Mrs. Piozzi in 1788, in the 


I Post, i. 141. 

 The references are in all cases to 


my edition of the Life, published by 
the Clarendon Press. 


editions 



x 


Preface. 


editions of the Life by Malone and Croker, in the lVliscellallies of 
the Philobiblon Society and in Notes and Queries. To the last of 
these publications, a storehouse of curious and interesting matter, 
I would once more express my obligations-obligations shared 
in by every student of the literature, history, and antiquities of 
our country I. The letters in these various publications are 
about 570 in number. 
In addition to this, through the kindness of collectors of 
autographs, and dealers, my collection is enriched with a large 
number of hitherto unpublished letters. A few of them indeed 
are already in print in costly private catalogues, such as Mr. 
Alfred Morrison's noble volumes. These, however, are not within 
the reach of the general reader. With the inclusion of these, 
and of the fifteen letters which were first given in my edition of 
the Life, the new letters, unless I am mistaken, amount to 
between ninety and a hundred. If we add to them the large 
number which are known only to the readers of Notes and 
Queries and of the lVfiscellallies of the Philobiblon Society it will 
be seen that the present Collection makes a great and important 
addition to J ohnsonian literature. 
In my eager search after letters I have examined in the 
Bodleian many hundreds of auctioneers' catalogues. This part of 
my task would have been greatly lightened had those catalogues 
which contain descriptions of autographs been bound up sepa- 
rately. As it was, I found them scattered among long lists, not 
only of books, but also of musical instruments, bins of wine, and 
cigars. If librarians would keep apart the catalogues in which 
autographs and manuscripts in general are described, students 
of literature and history would have at their command a great 
amount of curious material. Those of Johnson's letters of which 
I found mention in these lists I have entered in their proper 
places, giving moreover such abstracts of their contents as were 
published by the auctioneers. Some future editor may perhaps 


I Many of these letters we owe to 
Professor John E. B. Mayor, who sent 


to ./Iloles and Queries most careful 
copies of the originals. 


be 



Preface. 


Xl 


be fortunate enough in many cases to get complete copies. One 
series of letters I am greatly disappointed at not being able to 
include in my collection. In Messrs. Sotheby and CO.'s Cata- 
logue of IVlr. F. Perkins's Library, which was sold in July, 188 9, 
lot II34 is 'a series of twenty autograph letters of Johnson to 
Mr. Perkins, Southwark, together with one from Boswell to 
Perkins.' They were sold for ;(81. It is possible that among 
these twenty letters are found the five which Perkins allowed 
Boswell to publish. Of none of them have I been able to get 
a copy. This I the more regret as they would have thrown 
light on a side of Johnson's character that is little known, and 
would have let us see him engaged in what his biographer calls 
'the real business of life I.' Perkins, it will be remembered, was 
'the worthy superintendent of Thrale's Brewery 2.' On his 
master's death he became the junior partner of the wealthy 
Quakers who purchased the business. After the lapse of more 
than a century, when the secret letters and papers of kings and 
ministers have been given to the world, it might have been 
thought that the private correspondence of a great scholar with a 
superintendent of a brewery could with propriety be divulged. 
Expectation must, however, be stilI kept waiting. Perhaps a 
second hundred years must pass away before it shall be ascer- 
tained what was the part that Johnson took in founding the new 
firm of Barclay and Perkins. Something however can even 
now be known. One letter, it seems, had got separated from 
the rest 
nd this I am able to publish 3. A passage too in one 
of Johnson's letters to Mrs. Thrale 4 throws further light on the 
secret transactions by which, in the year of grace 1781, IVlr. 
Perkins the man was changed into Mr. Perkins the master. 
My chief labour has been spent on the two volumes of cor- 
respondence published by lVlrs. Piozzi. In themselves they 
required far more annotation than the other letters, for in 
writing to her Johnson touched on a much greater variety 


1 Life of Johnson, iv. 85. 2 Life, ii. 286, It. 1. 
4 Post, ii. 216. 


1 Post, ii. 222. 


of 



xu 


Preface. 


of persons and subjects. He frequently introduced quotations 
and literary allusions. She was a lady of some learning and 
many pretensions, who had more wit and more literature, he 
maintained, than even the great Mrs. lVlontagu I. In his 
letters to his other friends these quotations and allusions are 
as rare as in those to her they are abundant. I have traced 
and explained them so far as I have been able, but some have 
hitherto baffled my search. I have had besides to supply 
the names which Mrs. Piozzi either left in blank or merely 
indicated by the first letter. The frequent errors into which 
she has fallen have caused me a great deal of trouble. Many 
of these arose from that habit of inaccuracy of which Johnson 
in vain tried to work a cure; but some were clearly inten- 
tional. Of his letters not a few are carelessly inserted in the 
wrong places, but of her own some, as I have already said, 
are fabrications. In this part of my work I have made use 
of the curious marginal notes which Baretti wrote in his copy 
of the Correspondence 2. In his conjectures, when he fills up 
the blanks, he is not always right. Neverthelcss, whenever he 
was not under the influence of his feelings, his remarks are 
often of service. The malignity which he exhibits towards 
l\1rs. Piozzi renders it needful to receive his general statements 
with caution. He had no doubt cause for anger in the attacks 
which she made on him through Johnson 3, but the savageness 
of his reply far exceeded the offence. N everthdess in his 
remarks there is often a good deal of truth. If they did 
nothing else they would throw light on a man who was not 
the least interesting of the little group which gathered round 
the Thrales at Streatham. 
I cannot but think that now that Johnson's lettcrs are col- 
lected he will take a far higher rank among letter-writers than 
he has as yet filled. Admirable as many of those are which 
are published by Boswell, nevertheless in the Life they are 


1 Post, ii. 153. 


2 The book is in the British Museum. 
3 Post, i. 350, 354-5. 


overshadowed 



P1-'efa,ce. 


Xlii 


overshadowed, as it were, by his superlative merit as a talker. 
We hurry through them, or even skip over them, to arrive at 
the passages where the larger type and the inverted commas 
give signs that there we shall have good talk. His letters 
may be good but his talk has no rival. But when we no 
longer have it to tempt us, we shall not fail to recognise how 
admirable he was in his correspondence. What a variety, more- 
over, does it exhibit ! We have those fine and weighty passages 
in which he treated of the greatest of all arts-the art of living, 
and taught, as few philosophers have better taught, the manage- 
ment of the mind, whether it is troubled by cares or well-nigh 
broken with grief. We have that strong common-sense set forth 
in vigorous English, on which his friends could always draw in 
their perplexities. We have, moreover, above all in his letters 
to Mrs. Thrale, a playfulness and lightness of touch which will 
surprise those who know him only by his formal writings. How 
pleasantly, for instance, does he laugh at his friend Taylor 
whose 'talk was of bullocks,' who bred cattle almost as eagerly 
as he hunted after preferments, and who was famous, it was said. 
for having the largest bull in England and some of the best 
sermons I. The sermons were Johnson's, and the bull Johnson 
has almost made his own by the humorous way in which from 
time to time he introduces him in his letters. ' I have seen the 
great bull,' he writes, 'and very great he is. I have seen like- 
wise his heir-apparent, who promises to enherit all the bulk and 
all the virtues of his sire. I have seen the man who offered an 
hundred guineas for the young bull, while he was yet little better 
than a calf.' A year later he writes: 'There has been a man here 
to-day to take a farm. After some talk he went to see the bull, 
and said that he had seen a bigger. Do you think he is likely 
to get the farm?' Fifteen months later he returns to the sub- 
ject: 'Our bulls and cows are all well; but we yet hate the man 
that had seen a bigger bull 2.' 
The gem of my collection is a letter from Johnson to his wife, 


I Life, iii. 181, n. 3. 


" Post, i. 166, 178, 197. 
which 



XIV 


P1"eface. 


which I owe to the liberality of IVlr. William R. Smith, Barrister- 
at-Law, of the Inner Temple, and of Greatham Moor, \Vest 
Liss, Hampshire, a descendant of the Rev. George Strahan, to 
whose vicarage at Islington Johnson in the last years of his life 
now and then went for the benefit of good air. In this letter, 
full of tenderness, the fond and youthful husband addresses his 
wife who was but four days short of fifty-one as ' my dear girl,' 
'my charming love,' and as 'the most amiable woman in the 
world.' Well! she was twenty years older than Johnson, and 
no doubt deserved some of the ridicule which Lord :Macaulay 
has so lavishly cast upon her. Nevertheless at the time of her 
marriage she was of just the same age as was Barbara, Duchess 
of Cleveland, when our great historian describes her as 'no longer 
young, but still retaining some traces of that superb and volup- 
tuous loveliness which twenty years before overcame the hearts 
of all men.' For all we know, it was :Mrs. Johnson's 'superb 
and voluptuous loveliness which overcame the heart' of the 
lamented lVlr. Porter, the Birmingham mercer, and it was the 
traces of it which overcame young Samuel Johnson. She was 
only a decent married woman; had she been a royal harlot 
Macaulay, instead of mocking her' ceruse bloom,' might him- 
self have laid on the colours with an ardour and a skiU scarcely 
surpassed by Sir Peter Lely. 
Wherever I have been able to see the originals or to get exact 
copies, I have retained Johnson's spelling. In these days of 
examinations, when an excessive importance is attached to a 
somewhat mean art, it may bring comfort to those who fail in it 
to know that the man who by his Dictionary first set orthography 
on a sure footing was not always careful to comply with his own 
rulings. Thus in the following letters we find 'persuance,' 'I 
cannot butt,' 'council' (those who plead a cause), 'happyest,' 
'Fryday,' 'solicite,' 'defense,' 'pamflets,' 'harrassed,' 'do's' 
and' dos' (does), 'inventter,' 'bareIs,' 'cloaths' (clothes). 'ac- 
knowlegement,' I distresful,' 'personale,' 'Plimouth,' 'imbecil- 
lity,' 'enervaiting,' and 'devide.' Johnson frequently omitted 
the 



Preface. 


xv 


the sign of the genitive case, as, 'Bankers book,' 'Doctors pre- 
scription: In writing proper names he often left out the 
second final consonant, as' Boswel x,' , Cadel,' 'Gastrel,' '\Vraxal.' 
, Dod,' 'Pot.' This perhaps he did by rule 
 in like manner he 
frequently wrote 'ilness.' In his letters to John Nichols he 
spells his correspondent's name' Nichols,' ; Nicols,' , Nichol,' and 
, Nicol.' 
The information which I have given, in all cases where I could 
obtain it, of the prices paid at public sales for Johnson's letters 
will be of interest to collectors of autographs 2. 
I have now the pleasant task of expressing my acknowledg- 
ments for the help which I have received in my work. To the 
owners of the original letters I have in each case done this in a 
footnote. But there are two gentlemen among them, IVlr. Alfred 
Morrison and lVIr. \Villiam R. Smith, to whom I would more 
particularly express my gratitude for the liberality which has 
led them to allow me to make the freest use of their large and 
valuable collections of Jo/ms011ia11a. To Mr. Falconer Madan, 
Fellow of Brasenose College and Assistant-Librarian of the 
Bodleian, I am indebted not only for general assistance, but also 
more particularly for the communication of two unpublished 
anecdotes of Johnson, which he found among Dr. Philip Bliss's 
notes 3. Mr. J. L. G. Mowat, Fellow and Bursar of Pembroke 
College, Oxford, I have to thank for the aid which he gave me 
in deciphering, copying and collating a collection of Johnson's 
letters which is kept in the Library of that Society. Mr. G. 
K. Fortescue, the Superintendent of the Reading Room of the 
British Museum, has once more laid me under obligation by the 
kindness with which he has allowed me to draw on his wide 
knowledge of books, and by the facilities which he has given me 
in my visits to the Library. To Mrs. Raine Ellis I am indebted 
both for the information contained in the accurate notes of her 
admirable edition of the Early Diary of Frances Burney, and 


I I cannot recall a single instance in which he wrote Boswell. 
.l See in the Index, 'JOHNSON, autograph letters.' 3 Post, ii, 438. 
also 



XVI 


Preface. 


also for the help which she has given me in clearing up difficulties 
in the correspondence with Mrs. Thrale. It is greatly to be 
wished that she should complete her task by publishing a new 
edition of Madame D'Arblay's Diary. She alone knows how 
much Madame D' Arblay altered what l\1iss Burney had written, 
and how much after her death her editor contributed to this 
work of mischievous and misleading revision I. Mr. G. J. Camp- 
bell, Solicitor, of Inverness, I have to thank not only for a curious 
fragment of an autograph letter of Johnson but also for the 
trouble which he kindly took in gathering what information 
there was still to be had about Johnson's route from Loch Ness 
to Glenelg. To Mr. C. E. Doble, M.A., of the Clarendon Press, 
I am once more deeply indebted for the care with which he has 
read through my proof-sheets, and for the corrections and sug- 
gestions which he has made. 
One acknowledgment comes alas too late. To a young dealer 
in autographs, the late Mr. Samuel J. Davey, I owe not only 
many unpublished letters, but also the original of a curious note 
taken by Dr. Brocklesby of a conversation with Johnson and 
Boswell on the evening of the day on which the famous physician, 


I To Mrs. Ellis I owe the following 
little incidents connected with J ohn- 
son. I received them too late to insert 
in their proper places in my notes. 
In a pretty little book which she 
published a few years ago under the 
title of Sylvestra she recounts how 
one day, in his lodgings at Oxford, he 
was heard calling out :-' Wench, I 
gave thee my shirt to be air'd, and 
thou hast brought me thy mistress's 
smock' (vol. i. p. 27). Mrs. Ellis 
tells me that it was from her hus- 
band's great-uncle that the anecdote 
comes. He was lodging in the same 
house, and heard the cry. Kettel 
Hall is most likely the scene of the 
story, where Johnson had rooms in 
1754 * . One of her correspondents, 
* Ltfe, i. 270, 11. 


who was born at the end of last cen- 
turyand who died two years ago, a 
sister of Dean Peacock, writing to her 
said,' I remember hearing a good deal 
of a Mr. Harrison of Stub House, 
near Kirby Hill, in Yorkshire. He 
was a gentleman-farmer and country 
squire, notorious for swearing and 
overbearing conduct. He was said 
to be a clever man and a relation of 
Dr. Johnson. He had a son called 
Cornelius.' This man was most 
likely a descendant of the Rev. 
Cornelius Harrison, perpetual curate 
of Darlington, 'who was,' said J ohn- 
son, 'the only one of my relations 
who ever rose in fortune above penury 
or in character above neglect to' 


t Post, i. 22;'. 


\Villiam 



Pre fare. 


XVll 


William Hunter, died 1. I know no man who carried on the 
gentle craft of an autograph dealer with more generous ardour 
than IVlr. Davey. His manuscripts were not to him mere articles 
of traffic. He prized them also as materials of literature. What- 
ever he had he was ready to place freely at the service of the 
student. I can only record my deep regret that a career so full 
of good promise was brought to so untimely an end. 
I have done my best to make my work as accurate and as 
complete as possible, but errors and omissions are sure to be 
discovered. It will be shown, I fear, that in spite of all my 
anxious care, letters which are in print have been left unnoticed, 
and that others which I enter as new have been already pub- 
lished. I have been encouraged in my task by the kind, I might 
even say the generous treatment which my edition of the Life 
of Joh1lson received both from readers in general, and more 
especially from men familiar with the literature and history of 
the eighteenth century. I cannot but hope that this laborious 
addi tion to J ohnsonian lore and to literary history will meet with 
the same friendly welcome. It is my wish to complete my task 
by a new edition of the Lives of the Poets. For that, the third 
and final part of my work, I have already laid the foundations. 
To finish the whole building will require a long course of study 
and work. 


G. B. H. 


Feh'uary 8, 1892. 


I Post, ii. 43 6 . 


VOl.. I. 


b 



ERRATA. 


Y 01. 1. p. 
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p. 221,1. 2 '2 ,for talk nndtnsk. 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS 


The Letters published by me for the first time, whether in my edition of Boswell's 
Life of Johnson or in this Collection, are marked * in the following Table. 
Those now first collected from Magazines and from works printed for private circula- 
tion are marked t. 
Those quoted in part or merely mentioned in Auctioneers' Catalogues and elsewhere 
are marked t. 
Italics are u'ied to show that the r etter is to be found not here but in the Life 
(If Johnso/l. 


VOLUl\IE 1. 


DATE 


LETTER 


PAGE 


173 1 ... 


1... Oct. 30. ... To Gregory Hickman.-Apologises for not sending 
some verses. Is yet unemployed 
:1:2... July 27. ... To - .-Hopes for a post in Ashbourne School . 
3 ...l\óv. 25.... To Edward Cave. 
4 ... July I 2 . .. 
5 ... Cndated... 
6... 
7... 
8... 
9... 
10... 
n ... 
174 o ...*12...Jan.3 I ... To Mrs. Johnson (his wife).-Uneasy about a hurt 
she had received. Hopes they shall never again 
be separated. The best surgeon to be called in. 
Garrick and Irene. Chetwood the Prompter. His 
affection for her . 3 
174 1 ... 13... Jan. 31 ... To Lewis Paul.-Paul'sspinningmachine. Dr. James, 
'Varren, and Cave 6 
14 ... Marcb31... To Lewis Paul.-Dr. James's proposal 8 
1 i42 ... 15... Undated... To Edward Cave. 
16... 


2 


173 2 ... 
1734... 
1737... 
1 738 ... 


b2 



xx Table of Contents. 


[Vol. i. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


174 2 ... tI7... June 10 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's treaty about a change of 
livings. Lord Chesterfield. Charles of Swedm. 
Duke of Devonshire. Cardinal Fleury. Peace be- 
tween Prussia and Hungary. Lord Carteret. Thur- 
loe's Slate Paþers 10 
1743... 18... Seþt. 29 ... To Dr. Birch. 
19... Dec. 1 ... To .John Levett. 
1744 ... *20 ... Jan. 3 ... To John Levett.-His wife's property. Perks an 
attorney of Birmingham 14 
*21... Undated ... To [? John LevettJ.-Interest due to Levett 15 
*22... ... To [? John Levett].-Very ill. Disappointed by two 
to whom he had applied 16 
23... August ." To lIIr. Urban. 
17-19... 24... April 20 ... Tu James Elphinston.-Friendly feelings towards 
Elphinston . 17 
25... July 12 ... To Miss Porter.-Mortgage on his house at Lichfield. 
Fright caused by a black wafer. His wife's ill-health. 18 
26... Undated ... To [? John Levett].-Rescued from the necessity of 
borrowing 20 
17:;0 ... 27... Aþril4 ... To the Prillter of the General Advertiser. 
28 ... May 12 ... To Dr. Birch. 
29... Undated ... To .James Elþltillstoll. 
30... Seþt. 25 
Ii:iI... 31... March 9 ... To Samuel Richardson.-New edition of Clarissa. 
An index rerum should be added . 2 I 
82... April 18 ... To John Newbery.-Requests the loan of f.2 . 22 
33... July 29 ... To John Newbery.-Requests the loan of a guinea 23 
34... Aug. 24 ... To John Newbery.-Requests the loan of a guinea. 23 
*35... Nov. I ... To 'Villiam Strahan.-A message from the Gentle- 
men Partners in the Dictionary 25 
:::86... Dec. 10 ... To -.-Mrs. Lennox's book 26 
*37 ... Undated ... To William Strahan.-The progress of the Dictionary 27 
*38... ... To 'Yilliam Strahan.-The paymentto his amanuenses 27 
*39... ... To 'William Strahan.-The haste of his amanuenses. 
Poor Stuart . 28 
1752... *40... March 7 ... To - Levett.-Has sold a property to satisfy Levett 28 
41...lIIarclz 17... To Dr. Taylor. 
42... 18..." 
*43... Nov. 4 ... To Dr. Birch.-Requests the loan of catalogues 3 0 
*44... July II ... To Andrew Millar.-Macbean and Hamilton's wager. 
Requests the loan of some books . 30 
1753... *45... Jan. 20 ... To Dr. Birch.-Requests the loan of Blount's Cmstfra 32 
46... fiIarc!z 8 ... To .Joseþh TYartoll. 
*47 ... March 22... To William Strahan.-Dr. Bathurst's scheme 32 
48... May 17 ... To Samuel Richardson.-Sends a few notes on the 
Dictionary. Richardson's new book 33 
49... Sept. 26 ... To Samuel Richardson.-Returns thanks for the first 
volumes of Sir Charles Gralldisoll. Asks for an index 34 



1742-56.] 


Table of Contents. 


XXI 


PAGE 


DATE LETTER 


... To Dr. Birch.-Requests the loan of Clarendon's 
History 
51... March 8 ... To Joseph Warton.-The Advmturer. Collins the 
poet. Johnson's love for \Yarton . 
*52 ... [? July] ... To William Strahan.-Money to be advanced to Miss 
Williams. His journey to Oxford 
... I'D Thomas lVarton. 
... To Robert Clw11lbers. 
... To Thomas IVarto1Z. 


58 .. ..Feb. 4 
5!) ... Feb. 4 
60... Feó. 13 " 
61... Feb. 7 ... To the Earl of Chesteljield. 
62... Feb. ... To Thomas rVarton. 
63... Feb. 26 ... To the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. 
64 ... JIarcll 20... To Thomas 11 arto1Z. 
65 ...lI1arch 25... 
ti6 ...iI/arch 29... To Dr. Birch. 
67... APril S ... To Charles Bumey. 
*68... April II ... To Dr. Taylor.-Dr. Wilson's claim. Has moved . 
t6!1... April 15 ... To Edmund Hector.-The evenings passed together 
at Birmingham. Dictionary-making. Baskerville 
... To Bennet Lalzgtoll. 
... To Thomas 117 art()n. 


1754... *50... Jan. 


53 ...July 16 
54.. Nov. 21 
5:> ... Nov. 28 
56... Dec. 21 
57 ... Dec. 24 


Iïfl5... 


ïu ... ./lIay 6 
71 ... .May 13 
72 ...June 10 
73 .. .June 24 
74... July 19 


75... Aug. 7 
*76... Nov. 8 


77 ... Dec. 23 
i8 .., Dec. 30 


7!1 ... Dec. 31 


175 6 ... 


80... Jan. I 
81... Jan. 3 
82... Jan. 3 
:::83... Jan. 6 
84... Jan. 8 
85... Jan. 9 
86... Jan. 13 


... To Joseph Warton. -Collins the poet. Has been often 
near his state 
... To Thomas Hartoll. 


" 
... To [? Miss Cotterell].-Disappointed at missing her. 
Baretti. Mrs. Porter the actress . 
... To Thomas lVarton. 
... To Dr. Birch.-Requests the loan of\Yood's Athenæ 
Oxollienses 
... To Lewis Paul.-Is very ill. Has been thrice bled . 
... To Miss Boothby.-Reduced to weakness and 
misery. Resolutions of a better life. Report of 
his death 
... To Miss Boothby.-Cannot receive his religion from 
any human hand. Prescribes powdered orange-peel 
for her . 
... To Miss Boothby.-Her illness and his love for her. 
... To Miss Boothby.-Dreads the news of her death 
... To Miss Boothby.-His physicians. Three days' fast 
... To Lewis Paul.-Is better 
... To Miss Boothby.-Is in great trouble about her 
... To Dr. Birch.-Miss Williams's benefit . 
... To Lewis Paul.-Has by mistake opened a letter 
meant for another. :\lfrs. Swynfen 


35 


3 6 


37 


3 8 


4 0 


4 1 


43 


44 
45 


45 


51 
51 
52 
52 
52 
53 


54 



XXll Table of C01ltents. 


DATE LETTER 


175 6 ... 87... Jan. 14 ... To Miss Carter.-Miss vYilliams's benefit. Edward 
Cave. 
... To John Ryland.-Miss Williams's benefit 
... To - Cave.- Tickets for the benefit 
... To Samuel Richardson.-Gives him a book. Inflam- 
mation in his eye 
91... Undated ... To Lewis Paul.-Paul's goods seized for debt. Dr. 
James's strange conduct 
92... March 12... To Lewis Paul.-\Vill interpose with Paul's creditors 
*93... March '" To Dr. Hawkesworth.-Greville's 1vIaxims 
94 ... March 16... To Samuel Richardson.-Arrested for debt 
*95... March 20... To Dr. Dirch.-Gives him the Life of Sir Thomas 
Browne 
96... April 15... To Joseph \Varton.-Warton's Essay on POþe; his 
appointment at Winchester. Collins the poet 
*97 ... June 22 ... To Dr. Birch.-His proposed edition of Shakespeare 
t98... July 31 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Unwillingness to write letters. 
Country neighbours 
99... Sept. 25 ... To Lewis Paul.-Paul's creditors at S1. John's Gate 
100 ... Undated ... To Lewis Paul.-His boy is run away. Paul's 
creditors 
... To Lewis Paul.-Too ill to attend to Paul's affairs. 
... To Lewis Paul.-Pa-ul's creditors 
... To Edmund Hector.-Interruption in their corre- 
spondence. Friendship. Subscription for his 
Shakesþeare. His melancholy indisposition 
... To Lewis Paul.-Paul's creditors 
... To Lewis Paul.-Paul's creditors 
... To Dr. Taylor.- Those things most subject to delays 
which we most desire to do. Their long friend- 
ship. Taylor's difference with his sister. Feels 
a pang for the uneasiness he may have caused 
1757... 107... APril 9 ... To Charles O'Connor. 
t108 ... April 16... To Edmund Hector.-The subscription to his Shake- 
speare. Friends of his youth 
... To Thomas Warton. 
.., To Be1l1let Lang/OIl. 
... To Thomas Warton.-Literary work for an inhabi- 
tant of Oxford 
112... Dec. 24 ... To Charles Burney. 
1758... 113 ...lIfarch S ." 
114... Afrill4 ... To Thomas 
Varton. 
115 ...June I 
116... Sept. 21 ... To BC1lnet Langton. 
1759... 117 ...Jan. 9 
118... Jan. 13 


*88... Jan. 
89... Jan. 
90... Feb. 19 


101... 
102... 
t103... Oct. 7 


104 ... Oct. 8 
105... Undated 
t106... Nov. 18 


109 ...June 21 
110 ...June 28 
111... Oct. 27 


119 ... Jan. 16 


" " 
... To Mrs. Johnson (his mother).-Her illness. 
for her forgiveness. Will pay her debts; 
twelve guineas . 
... To Miss Porter.-His mother's illness 


[Vol. i. 


PAGE 


55 
:;6 
57 


57 


58 
59 
60 
61 


62 


62 
64 


64 
65 


66 
66 
67 


67 
69 
7 0 


7 0 


7 2 


73 


Asks 
sends 


75 
7 6 



1756-63.] 


Table of Contents. 


XXlll 


DATE LETTER 


I'AG)!: 


1759... 1:20 .., Jan. 16 ... To Mrs. Johnson.-His affliction 77 
121... Jan. 18 ... To Mrs. Johnson.-His love for her 77 
122... Jan. 20 .., To Miss Porter.-Hopes to go to Lichfield 7 8 
123... Jan. 20 ... To Mrs. Johnsoll.-Her excellence. Begs for- 
giveness 7 8 
*124... Jan. 20 ... To \Villiam Strahan.-Bargaills abuut Rasse/as 79 
125... Jan. 23 .., To Miss Porter.-SoITOW for the loss of his mother. SI 
126... Jan. 25 .. To Miss Porter.-Charles Howard. Will send [,20 81 
127... Feb. 6 ... To Miss Porter.-Every heart must lean to some- 
body. CathelÍne Chambers. His mother's debts 82 
128... Feb. 15 ... To Miss Porter.-His mother's debts 85 
129... March I ... To Miss Porter.-His mother's debts. Is very 
desolate 86 
130... March 23... To :Miss Porter.-Staple Inn. Rasselas. 86 
un... May 10 ... To Miss Porter.-Has sent copies of Rasselas to 
Lichfield friends. 87 
132... June 9 ... To Mrs. Montagu.-Subscribers to Mrs. \Villiams's 
fiJuællanüs 87 
133 ... Dec. 17 ... To Mrs. Montagu.-Asks her patronage of :Mrs. 
Ogle's concert 88 
134 .,. Undated... To JosePh Simpson. 
1760... 135... Oct. 18 ... To Bennet Langton. 
*136... Nov. 29 ... To Thomas Percy.-Bargains with Millar about the 
Reliques 89 
1761... 13ï... Jan. 13 ... To Miss Porter.-His good wishes for her. Is dis- 
ordered by a cold 90 
138 ...Jum 10 ... To Joscph Baretti. 
*13!)... Sept. u ... To Thomas Percy.-Declines Percy's invitation as 
he wishes to see the Coronation . 91 
1762... 140 ...June I ." To Dr. Staunton. 
141.../wu 8 ... To a Lady. 
142 ...July 20 ... To Joseph Baretti. 
143 ...July 20 ." To the Earl of Bute. 
*144... July 24 ... To Miss Porter.-His pension 9 2 
145 ... Nov. 3 ... To the Earl of Bute. 
146... Dee. 21 ... To Miss Reynolds.-Mr. Mudge's request that he 
should stand as godfather. Mr. Tolcher. His 
friends at Torrington. Price of dried salmon. Is 
going to Oxford 93 
14 7 ... lJee. 2 I ... To Joseph Baretti. 
1763... 148... Feb. 19 ... To George Strahan.-The benefit of confidence. 
The study of Latin 95 
149... March 26... To George Strahan.-Latin composition. 95 
150... April 12 ... To Miss Porter.-Captain Porter's death 96 
151... April 16... To George Strahan.--Latin composition. Reading 
for loose hours. English versification.. 97 
152... July 2 ... To George Grenville. His quarter's pension . 98 
153... July 5 ... To 
1iiiS Porter.-The fortune bequeathed to her by 
her brother. Hopes to visit Lichfield . 98 



XXIV Table of Contents. 


[Vol. i. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1763... 154... July 12 ... To Miss Porter.-Catherine Chambers. House- 
building 99 
155... July 14 ... To George Strahan.-Strahan's suspicion. Youth 
rigorous in its expectations 100 
tI56... Aug. 13 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's quarrel with his wife. The 
chances of conjugal life 101 
t157 ... Aug. 18 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's fugitive wife. Charles 
Howard. A melancholy mind a greater evil than 
a disobedient wife 103 
*158... Aug. 25 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Advises Taylor to remove from 
Ashbourne . 10 5 
t.159... Sept. 3 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's correspondence with his 
wife's friends; his indolence. The world has a 
right to be regarded. Country towns the place 
for gossip . 106 
160... Sept. 20 ... To George Strahan.-Latin composition. 108 
tI61... Sept. 29 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's correspondence with his 
wife's friends; his perturbation of mind 109 
162... Oct. 27 ... To Miss Reynolds.-Her projected voyage to the 
Mediterranean. Ladies are timorous, yet not 
cautious 110 
163 ... Dec. 8 ... To James Boswell. 
1764... 164... Jan. 10 ... To Miss Porter.-Sends her some presents I II 
tI65... May 22 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's agreement about his wife. 
Management of the mind I I 2 
166... Aug. 19 ... To Joshua Reynolds. 
*167... Oct. 24 ... To 'i\
illiam Strahan.-G. Strahan's entrance at 
University College. VV. Strahan's affair with the 
University. 113 
1765... 168... May 18 ... To David Garrick.-Garrick's suffrage sought for his 
Shakesþeare I 16 
*169... Undated ... To David Garrick.-Requests that places be reserved 
at the Theatre 1 I 7 
170... May 25 ... To George Strahan.-Strahan's studies at Oxford II8 
tl71... July 15 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's neglect to write .. II9 
172... Aug. 13 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Hopes to visit her at Brighthelm- 119 
stone . II 9 
:1:173... Undated ... To Mr. and Mrs. Thrale.-Is angry at finding that 
they had left Brighthelmstone 120 
*174... Aug. 17 ... To Edward Lye.-Lye's Anglo-Sax01t and Cothic 
Dictionary . 121 
tI75... Oct. 2 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Shakesþeare finished 122 
176... Oct. 9 ... To Joseph Warton.-Warton'ssubscription to Shake- 
sþeare. 122 
177 ... Oct. 16 ... To Charles Burney. 
178... Oct. 17 ... To Dr. Leland.-Acknowledgments for his degree of 
Doctor of Laws of Dublin . 123 
tI79... Dec. 8 ... To Edmund Hector.-Receipts for his Shakesþeare. 
Inquires after Birmingham friends 124 



1763-68.] 


Table of Contents. 


xxv 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1766... 180... Jan. 14 ... To 
Jiss Porter.-His house at Lichfield 125 
181...Jan. 14 '" To James Boswell. 
182... j
Iarch 9 ... To Bennet Lang/oil. 
183... fiIay 10 
184 ... Aug. 13 ... To lYilliam Drzl1Jl1JlO1UI. 
185... Aug. 21 ... To James Boswell. 
186... Oct. 10 ... To David Garrick.-[Ioo of Garrick's in Tonsol1's 
hands. 127 
*187... Nov. 13 ... To Lucy Porter.-His house at Lichficld 127 
17 6 7... 188... Feb. 14 ... To Mrs. Salnsbury.-Asks for news of 
Irs. Thrale. 128 
189... Aþril21 ... To lVilliam Drummond. 
190... July 20 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-His home. Lucy Porter. Re- 
membrance of past years . 129 
In ... Oct. 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Longs to return to Streatham 130 
HJ2 ... Oct. 10 ... To Bennet Lalzg/01t. 
193 ... Oct. 24 ... To William Drum1/lond. 
1!J4... Kov. 17 ... To Mrs. (Miss) Aston.-Walnnt-trees. Solitude. 
Death of Catherine Chambers . 131 
17 G8 ... 1
5... March 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Sollthwark election 132 
196 ...March 3 ... To Richard Pennick.-Asks him tovoteforMr. Thrale 133 
197 ... March 14... To Mrs. Thrale.-Southwark election. Thoughts on 
death. Jack the Giant-killer 134 
*I
8... March 17... To-Apperley.-Recommends Mr. Crosse for a 
fellowship at Oriel College. 135 
199... :March 18... To Mrs. Thrale.-Southwark election 13 6 
200... fifarch 23... To James Boswell. 
201 ... March 24... To :Mrs. Thrale.-Southwark and Oxford elections. 13 6 
202... April 18 ... To Miss Porter.-Death of her aunt. The uncer- 
tainty of earthly comforts 13 8 
203... April 19... To Mrs. Thrale.-Has been very ill. Little Miss 
Nanny Thrale 14 0 
204... April 28 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Kindness a great alleviation of 
sickness. Solicitudes for others. Robert Cham- 
bers 14 1 
205... May 23 ... To Mrs. Thrale.- The friendship of her house among 
the felicities of life 14 2 
206 ...May 28 ... To F. A. Barnard.-Advises about the purchase 
abroad of rare books. Schoolmen and canonists. 
Feudal and civil law. Editions curious, splendid, 
and useful. Purchase of entire libraries. Topo- 
graphy. \\'ooden cuts. Maps. Famous printers. 
Invention of printing. Early Bibles. Dangers of 
infidelity and superstition . 14 2 
207... May 28 ... To Francis Barber. 
208... June 17 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Gra.teful for her kindness. 14 8 
209... June IS ... To Miss Porter.-His health yet very weak. His 
friends at Lichfield 14 8 
210... Nov. II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Salusbury's ill-health. 149 
211 ... Dec. '2 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Apologises for not having written 149 



XXVI Table of Contents. 


[Vol. i. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


17 6 9... :\:.212... Jan. 17 .., To David Garrick.-A benefit for Mrs. 'Williams . 150 
213... March 31... To Miss :F1int (a letter in French).-Apologises for 
not having written. Miss Reynolds 15 0 
214 ... May 18 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Writes that he may not be for- 
gotten 15 I 
215... filay 31 ... To Thomas TYartmt. 
216... June 27 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Anxious about her approaching 
confinement 15 2 
217... June 29 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Hesiod on the mixture of good 
and evil. Birth of her daughter 15 2 
218... June 29 ... To Henry Thrale.-Honoured by being chosen as 
godfather . 153 
219... July 6 .,. To Mrs. Thrale.-Alarming news of her health. 
His god-child 153 
220... Aug. I4 ... To :Mrs. Thrale.-His journey to Lichfield. Finds 
changes in the town 154 
221... Aug. 26 ... To Mrs. Aston.-A hand com-mill 155 
222.._ Seþt. 9 ... To James Boswell. 
*223... Oct. 5 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's demand of a living 15 6 
';:224 .., N ov. 5 ... To Thomas Percy.-Solicits a sermon for the Ladies' 
Charity School 15 6 
2
5... Nov. 9 ... To James Boswell. 
1770... *226 .. . Jan. 9 ... To Henry Bright.-About a pupil for Bright's 
school 157 
227 .., fiIarch 21... To Dr. Farmer. 
228... May I .., To Miss Porter.-Suffers from rheumatism. His 
cousin, Tom Johnson 15 8 
229... May 29 ... To :Miss Porter.-Tom Johnson. Mr. Porter. Mr. 
Mathias 159 
230 ...June 23 .., To Thomas Warton. 
t231 ... July 2 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Offers to visit Taylor, who has 
been ill 160 
232... July 7 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Stow Hill and Borowcop Hill 160 
233... July II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Lichfield book of levies. 
The revolutions of Sadler Street . 161 
234... July 14 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Salusbury'shouse broken into 16 3 
2
5... July... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Cobb's strawberries. An 
old love 16 3 
236... July 20 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Needwood Forest. Dr. Taylor's 
house. Books of travels 16 4 
237... July 23 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Taylor's great bull 166 
238 ... Seþt. 25 ... To FrancÙ; Barber. 
239... Seþt. 27 ... To Dr. Warton. 
240... Oct. 2 .., To Mr. and Mrs. Thrale.-An application to Burke. 
Sends a pamphlet 16 7 
241 ... Dec. 7 ... To Fra1zcis Barber. 
177 1 ... *242... Jan. 25 .., To - Smith.-Encloses bills and orders Irish cloth 16 7 
*243... Feb. 2 ... To John Rivington.- The additions in the new 
edition of his Shakesþeare . 168 



1769-72.] 


Table of Contents. 


DATE LETTER 


1771... *244... Feb. IR ... To Dr. Farmer.-Ashs for assistance in the new 
edition of his Shakesþeare 
245... March ... To Henry Thrale.-Asks for a discharge for a 
recrui t 
246... l'.Iarch 20... To Rennet LangtOll. 
247... April 17 ... To Miss Langton.-Replies to her censure of him 
as deficient in friendship. Health the basis of all 
social virtues 
248... May 16 ... fo the Countess de BouJ1lers. 
249... June 15 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Sends a pamphlet about a remedy 
for Mrs. Salusbury 
... To James Bos'iuell. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Has set out for Lichfield 
... To Mrs. Thrale.- Lichfield gossip 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Maltsters. Fifty pounds gained 
by the rise upon stock 
254... July 3 ... To 
1rs. Thrale.-Tht: Staffordshire Canal. The 
great bull 
255... July 7 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-:Frank and his master much im- 
proved 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-A matter of four 'wives 
.., To )'lrs. Thrale.-Invited to Hagley. Poor Ford. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-The man who had seen a bigger 
bull. Malvem waters 
259... July 15 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Practising chemistry. 
260... July 17 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Little to please him at Lich- 
field. Lucy Porter a philosopher 
... To Sir Joslzua Reynold..:. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Accused offrigidity 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Persecuted by rheumatism 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-The solitary swan and the great 
bull. A laboratory at Streatham 
265... July 31 ... To Henry Thrale.-Watching for a vacant place in 
a passing carriage 
266... Aug. 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Detained by Lucy Porter. Mrs. 
Thrale's miscalculation 
267... Aug. 5 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dean AddenLroke. Green's 
Museum 
:W8... Aug. 29 ... To Bemlet Langton. 
269... Dec. 12 ., To David Garrick.-Epitaph on Hogarth 
:\:.270... Undated ... To [1 Thomas Cadell].-Order to bind two of his 
pamphlets. 
177 
... 271... Feb. 27 ... To Sir Joshua ReY1lolds. 
272 ... Feb. 27 ... To Joseþh Banks. 
273 ... March 14... To Bennet LangtOll. 
274... .ðIarch 15... To Jamu Boswell. 
t275 ... April 17 .., To Dr. Taylor.- Does not like to dine out on the 
last day of Lent 

ï6 ... A l
:;. 
 I ... To Jamcs BOS7vell. 


250 .. .June 20 
251... June 20 
252... June 22 
253... June 25 


256... July 7 
257... July S 
258... July 10 


261...July 17 
262... July 20 
263... July 22 
264 .. . July 2{ 


XXVll 


PAGE 


16 9 


16 9 


17 1 


lï
 


173 
173 


174 


17f, 


175 
17 6 
177 


17 8 
179 


179 


180 
182 


18 3 


18 3 


18 4 


18 5 


186 


188 


ISS 



XXVlll 


Table of Contents. 


[Vol. i. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1772... t277 ... Aug. 31 ... To Dr. Taylor.-How to manage the mind. Has 
no longer the same command of his attention as 
of old 189 
t278... Oct. 6 ... To Dr. Taylor.-The fourth edition of the Dic- 
tionary 19 1 
279... Oct. 19 ... To Mrs. Thrale.- Journey to Lichfield. Mr. 
Thrale's money difficulties. General dearth 19 1 
280... Oct. 24 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her application to her uncle for 
assistance. Nced of saving. Price of malt 193 
281... Oct. 29 ." To Mrs. Thrale.-Her application to her uncle 195 
282... Oct. 31 ... To Mrs. Thrale.- Thinking on his god-child. 
Bustle in the brew-house. The man who had 
seen a bigger bull 19 6 
283... Nov. 4 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-vVriting when there is nothing to 
be said 197 
284... Nov. 7 ." To Mrs. Thralc.-Her sagacity in great matters. 
The waterfall at Ashbourne 197 
285... Nov. 9 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The fury of housewifery. A tre- 
mendous year. .Future profits 19 8 
286... Nov. 19 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-A year of stmggle 199 
287... Nov. 23 ... To Mrs. Thralc. -Mrs. Salusbury's sufferings. 
Flattery 200 
288... Nov. 27 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Chatsworth 200 
289... Dec. 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Better times coming . 201 
t2!)0... Dec. 5 .., To Edmund Hector.-Purposes to visit him. 202 
t291... Dec. 12 ... To Edmund Hector.-Retllms to London. A cure 
for cancer . 20 3 
2!:J2... Dec. 15 ... To James Granger. -Mr. Farmer's pamphlet. 
Arthur O'Toole . 20 3 
1773... 293.. . Jan. 26 ... To Mrs. Thrale.- The inequalities of human life 20 4 
294... Feb. 19 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Southwells. Election dinners 20 5 
295 ... Feb. 24 ... To James Boswell. 
*296... Feb. 27 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Has been very ill. A spelling- 
book. Is no longer a match for wind and weather 207 
297 ... fiIarcn 4 ... To - B-. 
298... j
farch 4 ." To the Rev. - White. 
299... March 4 ... To Dr. W. S. Johnson.-The pleasure of being 
remembered. A time of uncommon turbulence 
expected. The state of literature. An expedition 
to the Polar Ocean 20 9 
300... March 9 ... To Mrs. Thralc.-Dr. James. Mrs. Salusbury's 
illness 210 
301...l\Iarch II... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Salusbury . 211 
302... March 17... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Salusbury. Grief a species 
of idleness . 2 I 2 
303 ... March 20... To Mrs. Thrale. - Mrs. Salusbury. Jackson's 
copper 21 3 
304... March 25... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Salusbury. Goldsmith and 
Colman. J ennens's Hamlet 214 



1772-73.] 


DATE LETTER 


1773... 305... April 23 


306... April 27 


307 ... lIfay 8 
308 ... May 17 


309... May 22 


310... May 23 
311 ... May 24 


t312... June 23 
313 ...July 5 
314... Aug. 3 
315... Aug. 3 
t316 ... Aug. 5 
3li ... Aug. II 
318... Aug. 12 


319... Atl..r:- 14 
320... Aug. Ii 


321... Aug. 25 


322... Aug. 28 


323... Sept. 6 


324 ... Sept. q 


325... Seþt. 14 
32li ... Sept. 21 


Table of Contents. 


... To Oliver Goldsmith.-Proposes Boswell for the 
Club. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-l\Irs. Salusbury. Her change of 
feeling towards Johnson 
... To TV. Bagshaw. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her letters never too long. 
Vows. The rights of parents over children 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Lawrence. A runaway 
match 
... To Mrs.. Thrale.-Her flattery. Celsus 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Suffers from inflammation in the 
eye. Mrs. Salusbury. Praise and flattery 
... To Dr. Taylor.- The need of exercise . 
... To James Boswell. 


" " 
... To Dr. Taylor.-Starts to-morrow for Scotland 
... To James Boswell. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Newark. Doncaster. York. 
Northallerton. Darlington. His relations. Dur- 
ham. Miss Fordyce. Wandering about the 
world. Newcastle. Books of travels 
... ToJames fios'well. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Alnwick. Edinburgh. Dr. 
Robcrtson. Boswell's rooms. Duchess of 
Douglas. Dr. Blacklock . 
... To Mrs. Thralc.-Inchkeith. St. Andrews. John 
Knox. A gloomy mansion. The Library of St. 
Mary's College. A cheap university. Aber- 
hrothick. Monboddo. Aberdeen. London pave- 
ment. Plaids, shoes, and cabbages. Libraries. 
An old acquaintance . 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Receives the freedom of Aber- 
deen. No fees. Slains Castle. Dunbuys and 
the Bullers of Buchan 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-The verge of European life. 
'Vant of trees. A Druid's temple. Elgin. 
Macbeth. Fruit-trces. Barefoot people. Beg- 
gars. Nairn. Cawdor. Fort George. Sir Eyre 
Coote. Inverness. Travelling on horseback. 
Loch Ness. A length of shade. Inns. Fall 
of Foyers. Fort Augustus. Mountain roads. 
Anoch. Cocker's Arithmetic 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-The post in the Hebrides. Sky. 
Thc Macdonalds and Macleods. Great estates. 
Raasay 
... To Lord Eliballk. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dunvegan. Offered an island. 
Meets acquaintance. Rents raised. Anoch. 


XXIX 


I'AGE 


21 5 


216 


216 


21 9 
220 


220 
222 


222 


223 


228 


23 0 


235 


23 8 


244 



xxx Y'able of Contcnts. 


DArF. LETTER 


1773 


32ì ... Sept. 24 


328 ... Sept. 28 


32!I '" Sept. 30 


330... Oct. 15 
331 ... Oct. I fi 


832... Oct. 23 


333... Oct. 23 


334... Oct. 26 



35 ... Oct. 27 
336... Oct. 28 


387... Nov. 3 


338... Nov. 12 


339... NO\. 18 


340... Nov. 27 


[VoL i. 


l'il.GI' 


Rest in a glen. A wild tribe. Snuff. Wheaten 
bread. His birthday. Uniformity of the High- 
lands. The inn at Glenelg. Sir A. Macdonald. 
Isle of Sky. The use of travelling. Through 
Sky on horseback. A tenant's house. Erse 
songs. Prince Charles. Raasay 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-' Every island is a prison.' 
Raasay. Head-dresses. The chieftaincy of the 
Macleods. Prince Charles. No foolish healths. 
Dancing. Erse songs. A crowded house . 
... To Macleod of 
T acleod.- Thanks him for his 
kindness 
'" To Mrs. Thrale.-Prisoners in Sky. Uneasyappre- 
hensions. The Laird of Macleod. The Highland 
head-dress. Raasay. Huts and philosophers. 
The old order changing. Emigration. Chapels 
in ruins. Boats. Kingsburgh. Flora Mac- 
donald. l'rince Charles's bed. 
Iacleod's estates 
and debt;:. Books. Laird of l\f uck. Highland 
hospitality. Cave near Ulinish. Talisker. Minis- 
ters. Laird of ColI. Doge of Genoa. Pastoral 
life. Cost of travelling. No custom-houses. 

feals. l":niyes. Silver. Bread. Whisky. Fuel. 
Houses. Garb. Soil and climate. Animals 
... To Henry Thrale.-Tempests. No letters 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-DrÏ\-en by a storm to ColI. The 
young Laird. Turnips. Mull . 
... To Mrs. Thrale.- Travelling in Mull. Ulva. Inch 
Kenneth. Sir Allan Maclean. Paradise opened 
in the wild. Cave. A moonlight voyage. 
Iona . 
'" To Henry Thrale. - Riding through a storm to 
Inverary. Ode. 
... To Henry Thrale.-Invernry. More than two 
months without a letter 
... To the Duke of Argyle. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Duke of Argyle. Glen Croe. 
Loch Lomond. Mr. Smollett. An honest keeper 
.., To Mrs. Thrale.-Answers to her letters. Mrs. 
Boswell. Dr. Beattie. Queeney's cabinet. Yan- 
sittart's envy. Sir T. Salusbury. Sir Sawney. 
Boswell a good companioD. The brewery. Glas- 
gow. Countesses of Loudoun and Eglintoune. 
Auchinleck 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her uncle's will. Management 
of the mind. Return to Edinburgh 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Birlh of Ralph Thrale. Lucy 
Thrale's death. Returning home 
... To James Boswell. 


24-5 


25 6 


260 


261 


275 


27 6 


27 8 


28 3 


284 


28 5 


28 7 


29 2 


294 



1773-75.] 


Table of Contcnts. 


XXXI 


DATE LJ:TTER 


P.\GE 


1774... 341... Jan. II ... To Mrs. Monlagu.-Apologises for hi,; inad- 
vertency 295 
*342... Jan. 15 .,. To Dr. Taylor.-His tour to Scotland 296 
343.. .Jatz. 29 ... To James Bos7.vell. 
344... Feb. 7 
345 ... Feb. 7 To George .Steeve1Zs. 
346... Feb. 21 
347 ... .March 5 
348...

Iarch 5 ... To James Bos7.vell. 
:::349... March 7 ... To [1 William Strahan].-Literary copy-right 297 
350 ...March II... To Mrs. Thrale.-Hopes to visit her soon 297 
351... Undated ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Has been hIed 29 8 
352... J.Warch If.... To James Bos'well. 
353 ... JIIJarch 30... To Warren Ifastim;s. 
354 ... AIay 10 ... To James Bos'well. 
*355... May 27 ... To James Boswell.-Introduces a lady 299 
356 ...JU1te '21 ... To James Boswell. 
357 ...July 4 
358 ...July 5 ... To Be1Znet Langton. 
359... Aug. 16 ... To Robert Levett. 
360 ... Oct. 1 ... To James Bos7.vell. 
361... Oct. 25 ... To - Perkins. 
362... Oct. 27 ... To James BOS7C,ell. 
363... Nov. 26 
*364 ... 
ov. 
o ... To 'Yil1iam Strahan.-CanceJs a page in the 
Journey to the TVestern Islands 3 00 
365... Dec. 6 ... To - Hollyer.-
foney sent to Thomas Johnson 3 02 
366 ... Dec. '9 .., To .fohn Hoole. 
367 ... Dec. 20 ... To TVarren EJastings. 
*368... Dec. 22 ... To '''illiam Strahan.-An apprentice to Strahan's 
business. The Blue Coat School 3 0 3 
*36
'... Dec. 22 To Dr. Taylor.-The Blue Coat Schoo1. Charle,; 
Congreve. John Wesley . 3 0 4 
177:'... 370... Jan. 2 ... To Henry Thrale.- Ranelagh House. n. Heely. 
Election dinner . 3 06 
371...Jan. 14 ... To James BOS7.iJell. 
:::372... Jan. 14 ... To Dr. Taylor.- Journcy to the lVesterl1 Islal1d.r. 
Charles Congreve 30
 
:::373.. . Jan. 20 7ò James ilIacfher.ron (extract from the original) 3 0 , 
3ì4 .. . Jan. 2 J ... To James FO.f7.,.ell. 
375 ...Jan. 2
 
376... Feb. 3 ... To :\1rs. Thrale.-Taxati0111z0 T;'1'atl11}' 308 
377... Feb. 7 ... To Dr. Lawrence. 
378 ... Feb. 7 ... To James Bos7.t.ell. 
379... Feb. ... To Henry Thrale.-Carter, the riding--school master 3 08 
380 ... Feb. 2:; ... To James Boswell. 
*381... 
1arch 1 .,. To WilHam Strahan.-Taxation 110 Tyraml)' 3 0 9 
*382... March 3 ... To William Strahan. -Oxford post. The Ministry. 
Presentation copies of Taxation no T;'1"a111lJ' 310 



XXXll Table of Contents. 


[Vol. i. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1775... 383... March 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Uneasy for want of news of the 
Thrales. Mr. Carter. Oxford post 3 II 
:1:384... March 6 ... To William Strahan. 312 
385... ,lI1arch 26... To Dr. Fothergill. 
386... April I ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Bruce the traveller. Proposed 
riding-school at Oxford. Clarendon trustees. Is 
made D.c.L. Flattery 312 
t38i ... April 8 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Strahan's apprentice. Pelted by 
the patriots. Charles Congreve . 3 1 4 
388... APril 17 .,. To Bmllet Langton. 
38!J ...lliay 6 .,. To tile Laird of Raasay. 
390... May 12 ... To 1\Irs. Thrale. - Her SusplClOns. Twiss's 
Travels. Mrs. Abington. Boswell enters at 
the Temple. Paoli. Wales. Cmy's Lelters. 
Raasay offended 31:; 
:l:3!H ... May... To Dr. Leland 3 18 
:l:392...May .,. To George Faulkner 318 
3:13... May 20 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Sends money. Peyton and Mac- 
bean starving. Queen of Denmark's death. 
Toleration 3 1 9 
3!)4 ...J/fay 21 ... To Bmnet Laizgton. 
3
15 .., May 22 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Boswell's fees and journal. Mr. 
Carter. Mourning-clothes. Chandler, Twiss, 
'Yraxall and Adair. Dr. Beattie 3 20 
:1:396... May 24 ... To Mrs. Thrale. -Asks for his mourning-clothes 3 22 
397... 1\Iay 25 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Has suffered from faintness. Mr. 
Thrale's direction about his clothes 3 22 
398 ...J/fay 27 ... To James Boswell. 
399... June I .., To Mrs. Thrale.-University College. Mrs. Salus- 
bury's epitaph. The Clarendon trustees. Chapel 
at six in the morning. Mr. Smollett . 3 2 3 
400... June 5 ... To Mrs. Thrale (w1Îtten in French).-l\frs. Salus- 
bury's epitaph. Weary of Oxford 3 2 4 
401... June 6 ... To Mrs.. Thrale.-Coulson quarrels with him. 
Oxford post. 'Yaiting for a vacancy in a coach. 
J3aretti and Queeney . 3 2 5 
402... June; ... To 
1rs. Thrale.-The riding-school. Anxious for 
news 3 26 
4u3 .,. June 7 .,. To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Salusbury's epitaph. 3 2 7 
404... June 10 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Birmingham and Lichfield . 3 28 
405... June II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Friends at Lichfield. Unusual 
compliments. Mrs. SaInsbury's epitaph. Bos- 
wen's Journal 3 2 9 
406... June 13 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Lichfie1d Amicable Society. CoIl 
and Boswell 33 1 
407... June 17 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's improvements. Har- 
vest prospects. Sir Joshua Mawbey . 33 2 
408... June 19 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Queeney's hens. Mrs. Salusbury's 
epitaph. Lichfield conversation . 334 



1775.] Table of Contcuts. 


XXXlll 


D HE LETTER 


PAGE 


1775... 409... June 21 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Delights in her letters. The 
Amicable Society. The Regatta. Enjoying the 
world. Hoc age 335 
410... June 23 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Regatta. Loves the Thrales 
and the Thralites 338 
411... June 26 ,.. To Mrs. Thrale.-Preconcerted pleasure. Queeney 
at the Regatta 339 
:::412... June 29 n' To Richard Green.-Makes an appointment . 340 
413... July I ... To Mrs. Thrale.-At Dr. Taylor's. Sir R. Chambers 340 
414 ... July ... To Mrs. Thrale.- Writing letters about nothing. Bad 
harvests. The Regatta 341 
415... July 6 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Boswell's Journal. Mrs. Thrale's 
sons. Faction. The Ministry . 343 
416... July [? 9]... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her children 345 
417... July II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Bright and cloudy days. Mr. 
Thrale's accession of fortune. Dr. Taylor's gar- 
dening. Taking a ramble in India 345 
418... July 12 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Ashbourne news. Mr. Langley 
and Dr. Taylor at variance 347 
419... July 13 '" To Mrs. Thrale.-Weak health of her children. The 
riding-school. Poor Lizard 348 
420,.. July 15 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Baretti's rudeness. Her parental 
resolution. Harry Thrale and an entail 350 
421... July 17 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-No letter. News of Dr. Taylor. 
Mr. Thrale's projects. Polish oats 35 I 
422... July 20 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Death of Ralph Thrale. The 
harvest 353 
423... July 21 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Baretti. Enjo)ing the present. 
Boswell's Journal. Mrs. Thrale's trustees . 354 
424... July 24 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Queeney's pretty letter. Leaving 
Ashbourne . 356 
425... July 26 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Lichfield. In the way of carriages. 
No materials for his letters. 357 
426... July 29 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Cheyne 358 
427... Aug. I ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Lucy Porter's fit of tenderness. 
News from America. Mr. Thrale's pool. Oxford 
a sullen solitude 359 
428... Aug. 2 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Their correspondence. The his- 
tory of one's own mind. The mind at its stationary 
point. 361 
429.,. Aug. 5 ,.. To Mrs. Thrale.-\Vill take a post-chaise. The 
mind at its stationary point (continued), Sophy 
Thrale 3 6 3 
430... Aug. 5 ... To Mrs. Desmoulins. Garrick and Hawkesworth 365 
431... Aug. 27 ... To James Boswell. 
432... Aug. 29 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-A paper mislaid. Her forgetful- 
ness. Attack of gout 3 66 
433... Sept. 9 ... To Mrs. Porter.-Has sent her books by the carrier 367 
:::434 ... Sept. 9 ... To Mrs. Aston and Mrs. Gastrell . 368 
VOL. I. c 



XXXIV 


Table of Contents. 


[Vol. i. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


'" To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's law-suit . 
... To .fames Boswell. 
... To John Wesley.-Acknowledges the receipt of the 
Commentary on the Bible. "Tesley and the 
American question 
452 '" Feb. 9 ... To .fames Boswell. 
453... Feb. 13 ... To Archibald Hamilton.-Dr. Calder aRd the Cyclo- 
þædia 
454... Feb. 15 ... To.fames Boswell. 
t455... Feb. 17 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's law-suit. Management 
of the mind. Friends of one's youth. 375 
456... Feb. 19 ... To Dr. Calder.- The Proprietors of the Cycloþædia 376 
457... Feb. 24 ... To .fames Boswell. 
458 ... flfarch 5 ... " " 
*459... March 6 ... To Dr. Donglas.-The riding-school 
t460... March 7 ... To Edmund Hector.-France compared with Eng- 
land. Charles Congreve. Valetudinarians. Mrs. 
Careless. Brothers and sisters . 
*461... March 7 '" To Dr. Taylor.-Charles Congreve. Taylor's law- 
suit 
462.,. flfarch 12... To James Boswell. 
463 ...lIIarch 12... To Dr. lVetherell. 
*464... March 23... To Dr. Taylor.-At Lichfield. Will start with Bos- 
well for Ashboume 
465... March 25... To Mrs. Thrale.-Harry Thrale's death. 
466... March 30... To Mrs. Thrale.-Sorrow not to be indulged. A 
whole system of hopes swept away 
467... April I .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale. Peyton's death. 
The sufferings and fortitude of obscure life 384- 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's behaviour J86 
... To Dr. Taylor . 387 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale gives up his tour to 
Italy. Gratitude to the Thrales . 


1775... 


435... Sept. 14 
436 .. Seþt. 18 
437... Oct. 22 
438... Nov. 16 
439... Nov. 16 
t440... Nov. 16 


t441... Nov. 16 


177 6 .., 


442... Dec. 15 
443... Dec. Ii 
444... Dec. 17 
445... Dec. 21 
446... Dec. 23 
447 ...Jan. 10 
448 ....fall. 15 
:::44
1... Jan. 15 
450... Feb. 3 
451... Feb. 6 


468... April 4 
:1:469 ... April 4 
470... April 9 


'" To .fames Bos'well. 
... To Robert Levett. 


.,. To James Bos'well. 
... To .L
frs. Porter. 
.., To Dr. Taylor.-Trip to :France. Roving the world. 
Their old friendship. The French 
... To Edmtmd Hector.-Paris. Marie Antoinette and 
Queeney 
... To Mrs. Montagu.-Her illness 
... To Mrs. Montagu.-Replies to an invitation 
'" To Mrs. Porter. 
... To Mrs. Montagu.-Replies to an invitation . 
... To James Boswell. 


368 


3 6 9 
37 0 
370 


3i l 


3i 2 


37 2 


374 


3 
.. 
, I 


37; 


3i9 


3 80 
381 


3 82 


...R.. 
.'- J 



1775-76.] 


Table of Contents. 


xxxv 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1776... 471... April II ... To Miss Reynolds.-Apologises for neglect. Mr.and 
Mrs. Thrale much dejected . 389 
472... April II ... To the Earl of Hertford.-Applies for an apartment 
in Hampton Court 389 
*473... April 13 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's law-business. Mr. and 
Mrs. Thrale 39 0 
474... April 15 .., To Miss Reynolds.-Explains why she was not re- 
ceived by Mrs. Thrale 391 
475... APril... To James Boswell. 
476... May 6 .,. To Mrs. Thrale.-His journey from Bath. Sees be- 
fore him to his third dinner. PoNlz"cal Tracts 391 
477 ... May II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Has visited her two children. 
Bennet Langton. Management of children 393 
478... May 14 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Taylor's law-business. Boswell's 
hopes. Mr. Welch 394 
479 ...May 16 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Taylor's head full of preferments. 
Dines with \Yilkes. Mrs. Knowles. Steevens and 
Chatterton 396 
480... fiEay 16 .., To Sz'r Joshua Reynolds. 
481... filay 16 ... To Jlrs. Born/ell. 
482... May 18 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Perkins crows and triumphs. Bos- 
well's return to Scotland. Mr. Twiss. 398 
483... May 22 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Taylor's law-business. Sir Joshua 
and the Bishop of St. Asaph. Chatterton. Mr. 
Thrale takes up his resles. Danger of being 
soothed into inactivity. Two Benedictines . 400 
t484... May 2
 ... To Dr. Adams.-Introduces a Benedictine 402 
485 ... June 3 ... To Henry Thrale.-Suffers from the gout. Baretti. 
Tyrwhitt and Chatterton 403 
486... June 4 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Offers though ill to come and 
see her 404 
487 ... June 5 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Still suffering from the gout 405 
488 .. . June 6 ... To Mrs. Thrale.- The gout . 405 
489 ... June 8 ... To Mrs. Thrale.- The gout. The Benedictines 4c6 
490... June 21 ... To Miss Reynolds.-Goldsmith's epitaph 407 
491...June 22 .., To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
t492... June 23 .. To Dr. Taylor. -Taylor's law-business. Advises 
him to persevere in drinking. Wilkes's poll as 
City Chamberlain. The revolution in the Prince's 
household . . 408 
493 ...fitly 2 To James Boswell. 
494 .. July 6 
495... July II ... To :Francis Fowke.-Joseph Fowke and Warren 
Hastings . 409 
496... Aug. 3 .,. To Sir Joshua ReYmJlds 4II 
t497 ... Aug. 3 ... To Miss Reynolds.-Replics to a request 4II 
*498... Sept. 21 ... To John Ryland.-A play by Dr. Hawkesworth 412 
*499...0ct. 14 ... To \Villiam Strahan.-Had sent some copy. Pro- 
fessor\Yatson. Dr. Robertson. 412 
C 1. 



XXXVI 


Table of Conte7lts. 


[Vol. ii. 


DATE LETTER 
1776... 500... Oct. 21 
*501... Nov. 14 
502... Nov. 16 
*503... Dee. I 


PAGE 


*504 ... Dec. 2 
505... Dec. 21 


... To Robert Levett. 
... To John Ryland.-Dr. I1awkesworth's 'Yorks 4 1 3 
.., To James Boswell. 
.,. To Dr. Percy.-Asks for an admission for T. Coxeter 
to the Middlesex H05pital . . 4 1 4 
... To Dr. Percy.-Sends information about T. Coxeter 4 1 4 
To ]amcs Boswell. 


APPENDICES. 


A. Draft of a Letter to the Duke of Bedford in the name of Lewis Paul 417 
B. Letter to David Burne from Archibald Macdonald about the expenses &c. 
of education at Oxford 418 
C. Yerses by David Garrick 421 
D. Letter to W. J. Mickle from James Boswell 4 22 


VOLUME II. 


1777... 506... Jan. 15 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Respiration obstructed: undergoes 
a course of bleeding. Dines out 
507... Feb. 18 ... To James Boswell. 
508... Feb. 25 ... To George Steeve1ls. 
509 ... March 8 ... To Mrs. Aston.-State of his and her health . 
510... flfarch II... To James Boswell. 
511... March IS... To Mrs. Aston.-The management of the mind. 
Gaiety a duty . 3 
512 ... March 19... To Mrs. Thrale.-A party at Sir Joshua's 4 
513... April 9 ." To Henry Thrale.-A letter of congratulation 6 
*514 ... April 12 ... To John Ryland.-Dr. Hawkesworth's Works. 
Youthful performances 7 
515,.. May 3 ... ToJames Boswell. 
*516... May 3 ... To Dr. Taylor.-H. Lucas's tragedy 9 
517 ...J/fay 19 ... To Charles O'Collllor. 
518.,. May 19 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Taylor's influence with the 
Duke of Devonshire. The knowledge of life 10 
t519 ... May 19 ... To Dr. Taylor.-An entertainment at Devonshire 
House. Vr. Dodd sentenced 10 



1776-7.] 


D.HE LETTER 


1777 ,.. 


52u.. .June 20 
521...June 22 
522 ...June 24 
523 ...Ju1le 26 
524 ...fime 28 
525 ...pene 29 
526 ...July 7 
527 ...July 9 
52S ...July 22 
529 ... July 22 
530... July 22 
531... July 22 
532... July 3[ 
533... Aug. 4 


534... Aug. { 
535... Aug. 7 


536 ... Aug. 9 
537... Aug. 13 


538... Aug. 23 


53!) ... Aug. 27 


540... Aug. 30 
541 ... Sept. I 
542... Sept. 6 


543... Sept. 8 
544... Sept. I I 
545... Sept. 13 


546... Sept. 13 
547 ... Sept. 15 


548 ... Sept. 18 


549 ... Sept. 20 


550 ... Sept. 22 


551... Sept. 25 


552.,. Sept. 27 


Table of Contents. 


... To the Rzg/zt IIoJl.. Charles Jälkimoll. 
... To Dr. Dodd. 
. .. To James Boswell. 
... To Dr. Dodd. 
... To James Boswell. 
... To Bennet Langto1l. 
... To lY. Sharp. 
... To Dr. vyse. 
.., To James BOS'lvell. 
... To flIrs. Boswell. 
." To Dr. Farmer.-The Lz.ves of the Poets. 
... To Dr. Vyse.-Grotius's nephew 
... To Henry Thrale.-O>..ford. The Lives 
... To :Mrs. Thrale.-The Lives. Gwynn the architect. 
Boswell's huge bustle 
... To James BOS'"dJell. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Birmingham and Lichfield. Old 
friends dead. Prologue for Kelly. Dr. Dodd 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Dodd. Cook's Voyages 
... fo Mrs. Thrale.-Her pleasant tattle. Petty talk. 
Scarcity of fruit. A workhouse in contemPlation. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.- Tries ipecacuanha. The great 
year of a hundred thousand barrels. Mr. Brooke 
of Town MaHing. Lichfield Races 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-A new Dean. Race week. The 
harvest 
... To James Bos'well. 


" 
... To 
rrs. Thrale.-Loitering through life. Thraliana. 
Journal-keeping. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Ashbourne. Lady Lade 
.. _ To James Boswell. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Foolish fancies. Lady Lade. Bos- 
well and the Baltic expedition. 'Vales 
." To Mrs. Aston.-Her illness 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Arrival of Boswell at Ashbourne. 
Langton's children. Great hopcs for Mr. Thrale . 
... To :Mrs. Thrale.-His birth-day. Boswell's vivacity. 
The family at Bolt Court. A memorial urn. Mr. 
Thrale's ambition 
.. _ To Mrs. Thrale.-Keddlestone and Derby. The 
china-fancy. A loan to Boswell. Rattling phrases 
together. Howell 3.nd the Spanish language 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Lord Harcourt and his dog. Ham. 
The harvcst 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Departure of Boswell. New 
clothes. The Bencùictines 
,.. To Mrs. Thrale.-Duke of Argyle. Mrs. Langton. 
Remotene::is of Brighthelmstone 


xxxvu 


PAGE 


13 
[4 
14 


IS 


17 
18 


19 


21 


24 


26 
28 


29 
3 0 


3 1 


33 


34 


37 


39 


{o 



xxxviii 


Table of Contellts. 


[Vol. ii. 


PAGE 


DATE LETTER 


1777... 553... Sept. 29 .. To Mrs. Thrale.-:Vlrs. "ïl1iams and Mrs. Desrnoll- 
lins compared. fVÙzding. Dr. Taylor busy. 
Mrs. Boswell. BosweU's Journal. Lilly 10Uy 
554... Oct. 6 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-' Always a Susy.' Remoteness of 
Brighthelmstone: Mr. Thrale's excavations. Dr. 
Taylor's waterfall 
555... Oct. 13 .,. To Mrs. Thrale.-Working at the Ú.v!:s. Her kind- 
ness and Mr. Thrale's 
556... Oct. 16 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Queeney's dancing. The last 
557 ... Oct. 22 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Lichfield. Dr. Taylor sells a cow. 
Leek in the Morlands. 
558... Oct. 25 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Cholmondely's story. Playing 
Agnes 
559... Oct. 27 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Posterity the author's favourite. 
Letter- wri ting 
56U... Oct. 29 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Academia Paracelsi. Mr. and 
Mrs. Thrale's kindness 
561... Nov. 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Returning home. Foote's death. 
The Lives . 
562... Nov. 10 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Summoned to Brighthelmstone. 
Mr. Scrase. Mrs. Thrale's wig . 
... To Mrs. Aston.-Her health. Mrs. Gastrell . 
... To Mrs. Porter.-Cast of his head by Nollekens 
... To James Boswell. 
... To Mrs. Gastrell.-His health and Mrs. Aston's 
... To James Boswell. 


563... Nov. 20 
564... Nov. 20 
565... Nov. 25 
566... Dec. 27 
567 ... Dec. 27 
177 8 ... 568 ,.Jan. 24 
*569... Jan. 28 


" 
... To Thomas Cadell.-Printer to the Royal Academy. 
l\fr. Allen . 
*570.,. Jan. 30 ... To -.-Gwynn the Architect 
571... Feb. 3 ... To Saunders Welch. 
572... Feb. 19 ... To Mrs. Porter.-His bust. Present of oysters 
573... March 5 ... To Mrs. Montagu.-Asks for a subscription for 
Davies 
574... March 6 ... To Mrs. 
lontagu.-Acknowledges her subscrip- 
tion 
575... Aþrz"! 23... To James Boswell. 
576... April 30 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Nine days of engagements . 
t577 ... May 15 .,. To Mauritius Lowe.-Application to Sir Joshua and 
Garrick 
... To James Boswell. 
. . To William Strahan. 
... To James Elphinston.-The death of a wife 
... To John Nichols.-The Lives 
... To John Nichols.-Lifè of Dryden 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Collier's epitaph. A print of 
Mrs. Montagtl. Dr. Burney robbed. Sir Joshua 
painting him. Camps. Mr. Thrale's sorrow 
:::584... Oct. 17 ... To Thomas Cadell.-The Lives 


578 ...July 3 
579 ...filly 27 
580... July 27 
581... July 27 
582 ... August 
583... Oct. 15 


4 2 


44 


4 6 
47 


4 8 


50 


51 


53 


55 


56 
58 
59 


60 


61 
61 


62 


63 


6... 


6. 
;) 


66 


67 
68 
68 


69 
71 



1777-79.] 


Table of Contents. 


DATE LETTER 


1778... 585... Oct. 24 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Thrales on the springtide of 
prosperity. Out-brewing "Yhitbread. To die is 
dreadful 
586... Oct. 31 '" To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale and the black dog. 
DowllÙzg. His portrait by Sir Joshua. Mrs. 
Williams and Mrs. Desmoulins 
. .. To Caþtain Langton. 
... To Dr. TVheeler. 
... To Dr. Edwards. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Honest Joseph. Levett, Williams 
and Poll 
591... Nov. q ... To 
Irs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale and the black dog. No 
love at Bolt Court. Dr, Burney at Oxford. Eve- 
lina. Queeney and Susy. Mr. Thrale's canal . 
592... Nov. 21 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-'Vandcring over the Steine. Ba- 
reUi's musical scheme. The lottery of love 
593... Nov. 21 ... To James Boswell. 
594... Undated ... To John Nichols.-The Index to the English Poets 
595... Nov. 26 ... To John Nichols.-The Index. Mr. Macbean 
*596... Dec. 7 ... To Thomas Fitzmaurice.-On the birth of a son. 
Lady Shelburne. 
, .. To John Nichols. 
... To John Hussey. 
... To Mrs. Aston.-Gives some account ofthe year past 
... To Mrs. Porter.-Sends good wishes for the new year 
... To Mrs. Garrick.-Garrick's death 
.,. To Miss Reynolds.-About some affair which he had 
undertaken for her 
608 ...lI{arch I ... To John Nichols. 
604... March 4 ... To Mrs. Aston.-Garrick's death . 
605... March 4 ... To Mrs. Porter.-Mr. Pearson. Mrs. Adey . 
606... March 10... To Mrs. Thrale. Baretti's golden dream. Sends 
the Lives to the king 
607 '" Marek 13... To James Boswell. 
608... March 18... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Vesey. Bleeding and fasting. 
Islington . 
*609... April 3 ... To Thomas Cadell.-Bred a bookseller. Copies of 
the Lives le::!t 
610... APril 26 ... To James Boswell. 
611... May 2 ... To Jolm Nichols. 
612... May 3 ... ToJoh1z TVesley. 
613... May 4 ... To Mrs. Aston.-Had sent her the Lives. Green's 
Museum 
614... flfay 4 ... To flfrs. Porter. 
615... May 20 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. 'Vatson's papers. 
616... May 29 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-The journey to Lichfie1d. Tom 
Johnson. Greenhill Bower. Does not forget 
Streatham 
61ï ... June 14 ... fo Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's illness . 


58ï .., Oct. 31 
588... Nov. 2 
589 ,.. Jllov. 2 
590... Nov. 9 


1779... 


597 ... Dec. 
598... Dec. 29 
599... Jan. 2 
600... Jan. 2 
601... Feb. 2 
602... Feb. 15 


XXXIX 


PAGE 


..., 
1- 


73 


75 


7 6 


79 


80 
81 


81 


82 
83 
84 


84 


85 
86 


87 


88 


89 


9 0 


9 1 


9 2 
9ì 



xl Table of Con tell ts. 


DATE LETTER 


1779... 618,.. June 14 


619...June 15 
620... June 17 
621... June 19 
622... June 23 


623... June 24 


624,.. June 27 
625 ...July 13 
626 ...July 13 
t627 .,. Aug. 3 


628... Sept. 9 
629 ... Oct. 4 


630... Oct. 5 


631 ... Oct. 8 
632... Oct. II 


633... Oct. 16 


634... Oct. 19 
t635... Oct. 19 


636... Oct. 21 


637.. Oct. 25 


638... Oct. 25 
639... Oct. 27 
640... Oct. 28 


641... Nov. 2 
t342... Nov. 4 


643... Nov. 5 


644 .., Nov. 7 


645... Nov. 8 


... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's illness-his tem- 
perate life 
.,. To Henry Thrale.-His friendship for Thrale 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-l\Ir. Thrale's illness 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's illness 
... To Henry Thrale.-Sends him 1",100. Rules of 
health. Exercise defined 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Cost of posting. His affection 
for the Thrales . 
.,. To Miss Reynolds.- The difficulty of getting money 
... To Charles Dilly. 
... To James Boswell. 
... To Dr. Taylor.-A long course of physic. Mr. 
Thrale's illness. Rules of health 
... To James BoswelL 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Anxious about Mr. Thrale. 

foney not to be spared. Subscriptions to keep 
out the French 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Boswell's report of Mr. Thrale. 
Bleeding recommended 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-The history of a toe. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.- The Thrales at Brighthelmstone. 
Kept at home by gout 
.., To Mrs. Thrale.-Rules of health. Rival book- 
sellers at Brighthelmstone. Discord in Bolt 
Court 
... To Miss Reynolds.-Wants prints of his friends 
... To Dr. Taylor.-Hopes of a Deanery. Public 
affairs. Threats of an invasion. Fruit 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Nurses and children. The delight 
of tyranny. Lady Lucan. Cumberland. Miss 
Burney and Dr. Delap 
... To Mrs. Thrale. - The booksellers' shares in the 
Lives. Fasting. Mirth spoilt by prudence. Life 
of 1IIilton 
". To M1's. Aston.-The nation full of distress 
... To James Boswell. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's will. Mrs. Lennox. 
Light and airy at seventy 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Fire at London Bridge 
... To Mr3. Thrale.-Miss Burney's silly note. Mrs. 
Thrale's inconsistency. Stark solitude 
... To Mrs. Aston.-Her health and his. The Inva- 
sion. All trade is dead 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Byron. Catamaran. Dis- 
cord in Bolt Court 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Rumours of great losses. Need 
of a religious education. Feelers. Mr. Thrale's 
health. Jamaica. An epidemic cold 


[Vol. ii. 


rAGB 


95 
9 6 
97 
9 8 


9 8 


99 
100 


101 


102 


10 3 
10 4 


10 5 


106 
10 7 


108 


110 


112 
114 


115 
117 


1I8 


119 


121 


12 3 



1779-80.] 


Fable of C ontellts. 


xli 


DATE LETTER 
1779... 646... Nov. 13 ... ToJames Boswell. 
647 ... Nov. 16 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her trustees. Trade. lIer de- 
spicable dread of living in the Borough. Practísing 
abstinence. The composition of a hero 126 
648... Nov. 20 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-
Ir. Thrale's will. The Borough 128 
:::649 ... Dec. 2 ... To Miss Porter.-Garrick's niece. Public affairs . 12 9 
17 80 ... 650.. . Jail. 20 . .. To Dr. Lawrence. 
651... Undated ... To John Nichols.-Life 0/ Prior 13 0 
652... Undated ... To John Nichols.-Collins's first piece. Dr. Swan 13 0 
653 .. . Undated .. . To John Nichols. -Life 0/ Granville . 131 
654... April 6 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Thrale at Bath. Mrs. 
Montagu. The Lives. Mr. Thrale's diet. 131 
655... APrilS ... To James Boswell. 
656... April 8 ... To Mrs. Porter.-:Vlr. Thrale's health. The Lives. 
Has abated much of his diet 1M 
657... April II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Lawrence. A party at Mrs. 
Vesey's. Miss Burney. Bath-Easton. Life 0/ 
Addisoll. Mrs. Montagu and Shakespeare 135 
658... April 15 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Drinking the waters. Mrs. 
Byron. Mrs. Thrale courted 139 
659... April 18 ... To :\Irs. Thrale.-Petticoat government. Richard- 
son and Miss Mulso. The Contractors' Bill. 
Alternate diet ql 
t660 ... April 20 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Bleeding. Management of the 
mind 143 
*661.. Undated ... To Dr. Bllrney.-Mrs. Ord 144 
662... April 25 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's Letter to the Elec- 
tors. Intervals of starving. \Varm water at Bath 145 
663... May I ... To Mrs. Thrale.-l\Ir. Thrale's diet. Mutual 
dislike where mutual approbation is expected. 
Criticisms. Mr. Melmoth. Mrs. 1\Iontagu. Mrs. 
Buller. The Exhibition 147 
661... May 7 ... To 1\Irs. Thrale.-The Southwark election. Mr. 
Fitzmaurice 15 1 
665... !\Iay 8 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Southwark election 15 2 
666 ...May 9 .,. To Mrs. Thrale.-Mrs. Montagl1 and Mrs. Thrale. 
The Southwark election. The Lives. Queeney. 
Oxford University election. 153 
667... May 9 ... To Thomas\Yarton.-Apologisesforopeningaletter 155 
b68... :\Iay 23 ... To Dr. \Yarton.-Lives 0/ Fen/oIl and Broome. 
Winchester 15 6 
669 ...l\lay 23 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-With Burke at a Bishop's. Dr. 
Taylor's law-suit 157 
670... Undated ... To John Nichols.-Rowe's Poems 15 8 
671... May 24 ... To John Nichols.-Lives 0/ Hammond and Black- 
more . 159 
672... May 25 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's health. Dr. Taylor 
fierce and fell. Queeney's accomplishments. The 
Southwark election 1:;9 


PAGE 



xlii Table of Contents. 


[V 01. it. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1780... 673... fiIay 25 ... To Dr. Far>>w'. 
674... May 30 ... To Henry Thrale.-Advice either unwelcome or 
impertinent. Diet. Kept in town by the Lives. 16z 
675... June 6 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Taylor. Her fine company 
at Bath. Alternate diet 163 
*676... June 6 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Prescribes for him 165 
677 ... June 9 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Gordon Riots: Mass-house burnt. 
Mr. Strahan and Lord Mansfield. Newgate burnt: 
with Dr. Scott at the burning ruins. The Fleet 
and King's Bench burnt. The magistrates and 
the King. Thrale's brewery 166 
678... June 10 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Soldiers everywhere. Lord George 
Gordon sent to the Tower. .Wilkes . '72 
679... June 12 '.' To Mrs. Thrale.-The streets safe. Wilkes defends 
the Bank. Riots at Bath. Miss Burney. Idle 
alarms. The Thrales at Brighthelmstone . 173 
680 .. . June 14 ... To Mrs. Thrale.- The King. The martial citizens 
of the Borough . I ï6 
681... June 15 .,. To Mrs. Thrale.-Perkins's dexterity. Sir Richard 
Hotham. Renny's conversatione 177 
682... June 16 ... To Miss Reynolds.-Her portrait of him. Corrects 
her rhymes 179 
683,.. June 16 '.' To John Nichols.-Lijè of Ambrose Philiþs . 180 
684... June 21 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Kept in town by the Lives. Im- 
provement in his health. Boswell's brother 180 
685... July 4 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Treatment of children. At Dr. 
Burney's 182 
686... July 10 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Diet. Following one's genius. 
Kept in town by the Lives 184 
687 ... July 27 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Corresponding \vith Queeney. 
Lightsome and airy. Mrs. Cholmondeley . 185 
688... July 27 ... To Lord Westcote.-Lge of Lytle/ton . 187 
689... July 28 ... To Lord Westcote.-Lives of Lytte/ton mtd 1Vest . 
690... Aug. 1 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's diet. Sends two 
volumes of the Lives. Lift of Young 189 
691... Aug. 8 ... ToMrs. Thrale.-LiftofGranvílle. Sir John Lade 190 
692.,. Aug. 14 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Stealing away to Italy. Sul- 
picius and Saint Martin. Life at thirty-five. 
lYJ"Ïting sentiment. Mr. Levett at fourscore 191 
t693... Aug. 14 ... To Mrs. Prowse.-Her mother's allowance to 
E. Herne. His cousin at Froome 193 
694... Undated ... To Johr. Nichols.-Life of Fenton 195 
695... Undated ... To John Nichols.-Life of Fmton 195 
696... Undated ... To John Nichols.-Lives of Pope, Swift, a1zd 
LytteÜon . 196 
697 ... Undated ... To John Nichols.-Proof-sheets of the Lijè of Pope 197 
698... Aug. 16 ... To John Nichols.-Lijè of Lytte/ton 197 
699,.. Aug. 18 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her neglect in writing to him. 
The Lives. 19ï 



1780-81.] 


Table of Contents. 


xliii 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1780... 700... Aug. 21 ... To Dr. Beattie. 
701... Aug. 21 ... To James BOS'"dJell. 
702... Aug. 24 ,._ To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's health. Pop-gun 
batteries. Mr. Thrale's submission to a new 
mind. Tour to Italy. 198 
703... Aug. 25 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's health. Her new 
admirer. Left alone in town 200 
704... Aug. 30 ... To a Young Cltrgyman. 
705... Sept. 9 ... To Viscountess Southwell.-Her husband's death. 
Mauritius Lowe's pension . 202 
*706... Sept. 13 ... To 'William Strahan.-A new seat in Parliament for 
Mr. Thrale 203 
*707... Sept. 23 ... To Samuel Hardy.-Prophecy by action 204 
708 ... Oct. 17 ... To James Boswell. 
709... Oct. 26 ... To John Nichols.-The Lives 205 
t710... Dec. 9 ... To Mrs. Prowse.-His cousin at Froome 206 
711... Dee. 30 ... To Dr. Vyse.-Recommends Mrs. Desmoulins as 
Matron of the Charter-house 207 
1781... 712 ...Jan. 29 ... To 117arren Hastings. 
*713... March 5 ... To William Strahan.-Money due to him for his 
books 207 
:1:714... March 5 ... To Thomas Cadell.-The Lives 208 
715... fiIarch 14... To James Boswell. 
716... April4 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
717 ... April 5 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's death-his will 209 
718... April 7 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Thrale's boundless kindness 211 
719 ... April 9 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Life not to be represented as 
darker than it is. Driven into company 2 I 2 
720... April 10 ... To Dr. Vyse.-Macbean's admittance to the Charter- 
honse 213 
721... April II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Meeting of the executors. 213 
722... April 12 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-No wisdom in nseless sorrow 214 
723... April 12 ... To AIrs. Porter. 
724... April 14 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The world not so nnjust as repre- 
sented 215 
725... April 16 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The executors. Talk about 
partnership. She may sue and be sued 216 
726... April 16 ... To John Nichols.-The octavo edition of the Lives 218 
727... April 17 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The will. The execntors . 218 
728... April 23 ... To AIrs. Strahan. 
t729 ... May 7 .. To Mrs. Prowse.-Her mother's payment to E.Herne 219 
730 ...June 2 ... To - Perkins. 
731... June 10 ... To John Nichols.-Copies oflhe Lives 220 
732 ...June 16 ... To Bennet Langton. 
733 ...June 23 ... To SÙ- Joshua Reynolds. 
734... June 25 ... To Miss Reynolds.-Mrs. Thrale's custom for her 
pictures 221 
*735 ... July 2 ... To - Perkins.- The purchase of a share in the 
brewery 222 



xliv Table of Contents. 


[V 01. ii. 


DATE LETTER 


I'^GE 


1781... 736... July 9 To Miss Burney.-Sends a present of the Lives 222 
737 ...July 17 ... To Thomas Astle. 
738... July 21 ... To Miss Reynolds.-l-Ier writings. 223 
73!) ... Sept. 25 ... To Dr. Patten.-Wilson's Arcllæological Dictiollary. 
One scholar dedicating to another 224 
:1:740... Oct. 15 '" To Mauritius Lowe.-Mr. Kearsley and Mr. Allen. 226 
741... Oct. 17 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Oxford. Mrs. Aston. Young 
Burke. Dr. Adams 226 
742... Oct. 20 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Birmingham and Lichfield. Mrs. 
Careless 228 
743... Oct. 23 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-l-Ier income. The advantages of 
saving. The gravedo 229 
744... Oct. 27 .,. To 1\Irs. Thrale.-Garrick's legatees. Gloom at 
Lichfield 23 0 
745... Oct. 31 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her income. Susan Thrale. Miss 
Porter. Goes to a ball 231 
746... Nov. 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Gasping for breath. Mrs.Porter's 
illness 23 2 
747... Nov. 10 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Ashbourne. Evelina unknown at 
Lichfield. Bishop Porteus and his father-in-law. 233 
U8 ... N ov. 12 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Preaching and practising. Mrs. 
Byron. A Lichfield poet . 234 
74
' ... Nov. 14 '" To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Taylor's milk-diet. The Bur- 
neys. Consanguineous unanimity 23 6 
750... Nov. 24 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Piozzi. Frank's child. 23 8 
751... Nov. 26 ... To Edmund Anen.-His return to Bolt Court 239 
752... Dec. 3 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Captain Burney. Mr. Piozzi 24 0 
753... Dec. 8 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Asks her not to neglect him 24 1 
754,., Dec. 26 ... To John Nichols.-l-Ias had search made for a book 24 1 
1;82... :::755... Jan. 1 ... To Mauritius Lowe 24 2 
756 ... Jan. 5 ". To James Boswell. 
757 ...Jall. 17 ... To Dr. Lawrence. 
758... Jan. 28 '" To Mrs. Thrale.-l-Ias been bled. Dreads a diminu- 
tion of her kindness . 24 2 
759 ... Fcb. 4 ... To bIrs. Strahan. 
760... Feb. 14 ... To Richard Beatniffe.-Mr. Levett's heir 243 
761... Feb. 16 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-l-lis gratitude for her kindness 244 
762 ... Feb. 17 ... To :\Irs. Thrale.-Cheered by her letter 245 
763... Feb. 21 ... To 1\1rs. Thrale.-Is growing better 245 
764... Feb. 27 ... To Edmond lJ;Ialolle. 
765 ...lIIarclz 2 ... To lIIrs. Porter. 
766... March 7 ... To Edmolld IV/alone. 
767 ... March 14... To Mrs. Thrale.-Bleeding 24 6 
768 ...1IIm'c1119... To lIIrs. Porter. 
:1:769 ... March 19... To Mrs. Aston 247 
770 ... Marek 20... To CaptaÍ1t Langton. 
771...lJ;Iarch2I... To EdmU11d Hector. 
772 ... Undated ... " ., 
:::773... March 22... To Dr. Taylor.-The silver coffee-pot 247 



1781-82 ] 


7àble of CO'lllozts. 


xlv 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1782... :::774... March 22... To 'V. G. Hamilton.-The Foedera 248 
775 ... lJIa1'r:h 28... To James Boswell. 
776 ... March 30... To Mrs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston.-Bleeding. Change 
of ministry. Mrs. Thrale's care of him 248 
777 ". April 8 ... To Miss Reynolds.-A manuscript work of hers 249 
778... April 24 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-His dinner engagements. French 
transports taken. Mr. Piozzi 2:;0 
779... April 
o ... To Mrs. Thrale.-His engagements. Cumberland's 
third night. Mrs. Sheridan. Garrick's funeral 
expenses 2 fi I 
780... May 8 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Holds phlebotomy in abhorrence 253 
781... May 15 ... To the Rev. lIIr. --. 
782... lJIay 20 ... To George KearslC)'. 
:::783... May 27 ... To -.-A pas
age in the Beauties of Johnson to 
be rectified 254- 
*784... May 28 ... To -.-Makes an appointment. 254 
785 ... fime 3 ... To James Boswell. 
786... June 4 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Harassed by a cough. Sir Richard 
Jebb. A sick man's dinner 255 
t787 ... June 4 ... To Mrs. Prowse.-Acknowledges her letter 256 
788... June 8 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her unfeeling irony . 2:;6 
789... June II ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Oxford. Dr. Edwards. Lodged 
in Jesus College. 257 
790... June 12 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dinner engagements . 258 
791... June 13 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Adams. Hannah More. A 
cold June . 259 
792... June 17 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-His terror dispelled. Dr. Edwards's 
country living 260 
t793... July 8 ... To Dr. Taylor.-End of the Rockingham Ministry. 
The silver coffee-pot . 261 
794 ...filly 22 ... To Miss Lawrence. 
t795... July 22 ... To Dr. Taylor.-An exchange of livings. Burke out 
of office. Sir Robert Chambers and Lord Shel- 
burne 2(i2 
796 ...fitly 28 ... To - Perkim. 
t797 ... Aug. 4 ... To Dr. Taylor.-England sinking. Ireland. Dr. 
Lawrence . 264- 
*798... Aug. 12 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Management of the mind 26:; 
*799... Aug. Ii ... To Dr. Taylor.-Management of the mind. A violent 
session expected. 266 
*800... Aug. 19 ... To George Strahan.-Strahan's difference with his 
father 267 
801... Aug. 24 ... To James Boswell. 
802... Aug. 26 ... To Miss Lawrence. 
803 ... Seþt. 7 ... To James Boswell. 
804... Seþt. 7 ... To lJIrs. Boswell. 
805... Undated ... To James Boswell. 
*806... Sept. 21 ... To Dr. Taylor.-IIcalth the basis of happiness. 
Lord Shelburne. The Miss Colliers . 26<<) 



xlvi Table of Contents. 


[Vol. ii. 


D_HE LETTER 


PAGE 


811 ... Oct. 22 


... To Dr. Taylor.-The Miss Colliers and Mr. Flint. 
Has read the Bible through. Death of Boswell's 
father 
... To James Compton.-Dr. Vyse 
.., To George Strahan.-Strahan's difference with his 
father. Di
putes made public 
... To John Nichols.-Anecdotes of Bowyer. Wood's 
At henae 
... To Mauritius Lowe.-Congratulates him on the re- 
ceipt of money . 
... To John Nichols.-New edition of the Lives. John 
Gay. Jortin, Markland, and Thirlby 
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
... To William Strahan.-His health. A great take of 
herrings 
... To James Bos1ilell. 
... To Dr. Taylor.-Advice about health. The Miss 
Colliers 
.,. To 'Villiam Strahan.-Strahan's difference with his 


26 9 
27 1 


1782... t807 ... Oct. 4 


808 ... Oct. 6 
*809 ... Oct. 10 


27 2 


810... Oct. 10 


273 


274 


812... Oct. 28 


275 


813... Nov. 14 
*814 ... Nov. 14 


27 6 


815... Dec. 7 
t816 ... Dec. 9 


277 


*817 ... Dec. II 


son 278 
818 ... Dec. 20 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her neglect of him 279 
:1:819... Dec. 26 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds.-Declines an invitation . 280 
820... Dec. 31 '" To 77zomas rVilson. 
t821... Dec. 31 ... To Dr. Taylor.-The Miss Colliers. A very sickly 
year . 280 
1783... 822... Jan. 10 ,.. To John Nichols.-The History of HÙu:kle,y. Samuel 
Carte. Sick and solitary 281 
t823 ... Jan. 16 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Need of comfort. Mr. Flint and 
the Miss Colliers 282 
*824... Jan. 16 ... To George Strahan.-Strahan's difference with his 
father 2 R 3 
*8
5... Undated ... To George Strahan.-Strahan's difference with his 
father 28 3 
826... Jan. 20 '" To Joseph Cradock.-A missing volume 28 4 
t827 ... Jan. 21 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Equal representation in Parliament. 
.Fears a civil war 28 5 
828... Feb. 4 ... To lI-liss Lawrence. 
829... Feb..19 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds.-Mason's EPistle to SÙ' J. 
Reynolds. Sends a copy of the Lives. 286 
830 ... March 4 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds.-Crabbe's poem 28 7 
:831... March 4 ... To Dr. Scott.-Asks for employment for a} oung man 288 
832... Aþril 12... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
833 ... Aþrt"l 12 ... To James Barry. 
834... April 19... To Joseph Fowke.-Nuncomar. Shocks to his health. 
Applies better to books. Mrs. Vvï1Iiams 288 
835... April 19 ... To the Mercers' Company.-Testifies to Mr. Comp- 
ton's merits 29 0 
t836 ... April 25 '" To the Earl of Dartmouth.-Recommends Mr. Des- 
moulins 21) I 



1782-83.] 


DATE LETTER 


1783... 837... May I 


838... May 2 
839... May 8 


840... :May 24 
841... May 31 
842 ...June 2 
:1:843... June 2 
844... June 4 
845... June 5 


846... June 13 


847 ...June 17 
848 ...June 17 
849 ...Jul1e 18 
850... June 19 


851... June 20 
852... June 20 
853... June 21 


854... June 23 
855... June 24 
856... June 25 
857... June 28 
858... June 30 
859... July I 
860... July 3 


861 ...July 3 
862 ...July 5 
863... July 5 


864... July 5 
865... July 8 


:1:866... July II 
*8.V1 ... July 15 
:1:868... July 15 
869... July 23 


870... July 24 


t871... July 24 
872... July 26 
873 ... fitly 3 0 


Table of Contcnts. 


... To Mrs. Thrale.- Death of a daughter. Fortuitous 
friendships. Paoli. The Exhibition. James Barry 
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-A course of physic. The Exhibi- 
tion. Loss of neighbours. Discontent at home . 
... To :Mr. and :Miss Wilkes.-Declines an invitation 
... To IVilliam Tf Tindh am. 
.., To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
... To -.-Orders a set of the Ramblers 
... To Dr. Hamilton.-Relief for a poor woman 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her neglect of him. More peace 
at home. A thief commits suicide 
... To 1Mrs. Thrale.-Sir R. Musgrave's present. 
Spending time. Dr. Lawrence. Mrs. Dobson 
.,. To Edmund Allm. 
... To Dr. Taylor. 
. .. To Thomas Davies. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her frigid indifference. Attacked 
by palsy. His love for her 
... To J\Irs. Thrale.-Diary of his illness 
... To Mauritius Lowe.- Too ill to wait on Mr. Barry 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Uiary of his illness. A letter 
from an unknown hand 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Diaryof his illness 
.. _ To Mrs. Thrale.- v; aters his garden. Her flattery 
... To Mrs. Porter.-Account of his illness 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-His solitude 
... To l\frs. Thrale.-The great burning-glass 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dines with the Club. Mr. Cator 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-At the Club. Has given very 
few reason to hate him 
. To James Boswell. 
... To Mrs. Porter. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-An offended physician. A parody 
of his style. Queeney's silence 
... To Susanna Thrale.-Materials for a letter 
.. _ To Mrs. Thrale.- The first irruption of irregular 
imaginations. Langton at Rochester. 'Yey- 
mouth 
__.To-. 
... To William Strahan.- Visit to Rochester 
... To Mrs. Williams. 
... To Mrs. Thrnle.-Journey from Rochester. A hot 
summer 
... To Sophia Thrale.-Arithmetic. '''ilkins's Real 
Chm'ader. Noah's Ark 
... To Dr. Taylor.-Joumey from Rochester 
... To Susanna Thrale.-Gluttony 
... To 1-1'. C. Cruikshank. 


xlvii 


PAGE 


29 1 


294 
295 


29 6 
29 6 


297 


29 8 


3 00 
3 0 4 
3 0 5 


3 0 5 
3 06 
3 0 7 
3 08 
3 0 9 
3 10 
3J I 


.F3 


3 1 f; 
316 


"'1'- 
;> i 
3 18 
3 18 


3 1 9 


3 20 
3 22 
3 2 3 



xlviii 


Table of Contcuts. 


[Vol. ii. 


DATE LETTER 
1783... 874 .,.July anti August .., To Dr. John .Mudge. 
875,.. Aug. 13 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Weymouth. Miss Bmney. 
Common evils. The Archbishop of Tuam. No 
fa.miliar friendship left him . 324 
876... Aug. 20 ... To Mrs, Thrale.-Mrs. Williams's sick chamber. 
The world sinking round him. Johnson's grimly 
ghost . 326 
877 ... Aug. 26 .., To Mrs. Thrale.-Seeks relief in change of scene 328 
878... Aug. 29 ... To Dr. Brocklesb)', 
t87
 .,. Sept. 3 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Opie's portrait of him 330 
880... Sept. 9 ... To Susanna Thrale.-Description fallacious. The 
survey of life dangerous. Sidney's painter. Death 
of Mrs. Williams 331 
881... Sept. 16 ... To Francis Barber. -A birthday dinner 331 
882... Sept. 20 ... To Dr. Bunzey. 
883... Sept. 22 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Air-balloons. Meteors. Mrs. 
\YiIliams. Suffers from a sarcocele . 332 
884... Sept. 22 .., To Mrs. Montagu.-Announces the death of her 
pensioner, Mrs. Williams . 336 
*885... Sept. 24 ... To Dr. Taylor.-His health 337 
886... Sept. 29 ... To Bennet Langton. 
887 ... Sept. or Oct. ... To Bennet Langton. 
888 ... Sept. 30 ... To James Boswell. 
88
 ... Oct. I .., To Miss Reynolds.-Sick and solitary 337 
8
0 ... Oct. I ... To Mr. Tomkeson.-Recommends Mr. Lowe 338 
8:11... Oct. 6 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Reconciled to the gout. Mr. 
Cmikshank. Peace with Mrs. Montagu. The 
Stocks 3
8 
8
)2 ... Oct. 9 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-l\'Ir. Burke. Stonehenge. Light 


PAGE 


901 ... Undated 


ili 3
 
... To Dr. Taylor.-His health . . 34 2 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her instability of attention. Mrs. 
Porter the tragedian . 343 
... To Mrs. Thrale,-Very solitary. Mrs. Siddons and 
John Kemble. His health . 344 
... To Miss Reynolds.-His health improved 346 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-The brewhouse robbed. Air- 
balloons 347 
... To Mrs. Porter.-Her brother's death. Mrs. \Yil- 
Iiams . 348 
.., To Richard Jackson.-Recommends Mr. Hoole for 
the Readership of the Temple 349 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Kinder letters from her. Old 
friendships. The ostentatious waste of building. 
Lord Kilmorey. The frequency of death. 350 
... To Susanna Thrale.-Life chequered. The Tatler. 
A generous friend 351 
... To Miss Burney.-Mrs. Chapone 353 
... To Miss Burney.-Cecilia 3:;4 


*893 ... Oct. 20 
894... Oct. 21 


895...0ct.27 


896... Oct. 27 
897 ... Nov. I 


898... Nov. 10 


*899... Nov. II 


!)OO... Nov. 13 


*902... Nov. 19 
*903 ... Undated 



1783-84.] 


Table of CO'lltents. 


xlix 


DATE LETTE.R 


PAGE 


1783... *901... Nov. 19 
905... .!\óv. 19 
906... Nov. 20 


t907 ... Nov. 22 
908... Nov. 22 


909... Nov. 24 


910 ... Nov. 27 
911... Nov. 28 
912... Nov. 29 


*913... Nov. 29 


914 ... Nov. 29 
915... Dec. 3 


916... Dec. 4 
917... Dec. 13 


*918... Dec. '20 
919... Dec. 23 
920... Dec. 24 
921... Dec. 27 


922... Dec. 31 


17 8 4...*923...Jan.3 
924 ...Jan. 6 
925 .. . Jan. I 2 


926... Jan. 21 


927 ...Jan. 21 
*928... Jan. 24 


929 ...Jan. 27 
*930... Feb. 6 
931... Feb. 9 


932 ... Feb. II 
933 ... Feb. II 
t934... Feb. 17 
935... Feb. 23 
936". Feb. 27 
937 .,. i1Iarch 2 
VOL I. 


... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's health. Need of regimen 
... To TV. G. Hamilton. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Sophy's illness. The need of 
friendship . 
... To Dr. Taylor.-Solitary. The East India Bill 
... To Sir John Hawkins.-Survivors of the Ivy Lane 
Club. 
_.. To Mrs. Thrale.-Sophy's illness. His convulsions 
returning . 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Sophy's illness 
... To Airs. Chaþone. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Sophy better. The mind enlarged 
by mere purposes. Arithmetic 
... To Dr. Taylor.- Taylor's health. Fixed air. His 
nights spasmodic 
... To JVlrs. Porte1'. 
... To Sir John Hawkins.-Dinner at the Queen's 
Arms 
... To Sir Josl/ua Reynolds. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Sleepless nights. The survivors 
of the Ivy Lane Club. Air-balloons . 
... To Dr. Taylor.-Harassed by spasms 
... To Miss Reynolc1s.-His Christmas Day dinner 
... To James Boswell. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Essex Head Club. Opiates. 
\Yant of familiar companions 
.., To Mrs. Thrale.-W. G. Hamilton. Miss Bing- 
ham. Pulsation. Attention shown him. The 
Ministry 
... To Dr. Taylor.-His health. H. Heely 
.,. To Charles Dilly. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.- His health. The talk of the sick. 
Balloons and iron wings 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Dr. Heberden's report. A sick 
man's impatience. Mr. Cat or. Her children 
... To - Perkz'ns. 
... To Dr. Taylor.-The tumult in government. All 
the world for our enemies. Burke's Sþeech 011 
India 
... To Richard Clark. 
... To Dr. Heberben.-Entreats his attendance 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Opiates. The Ramble,' in Rus- 
sian . 
... To James Boswell. 
... To Dr. Hamilton.-Mrs. Pellé 
... To Mrs. Rogers.-Admonished to make his will 
... To Mrs. Porter. 
,.. To James Boswell. 


, , 


d 


35
 


35 6 
357 


35 8 


359 
3 60 


3 61 


3 62 


3 6 3 


3 6 4 
36::- 
3 66 


3 6 7 


3 6S 


37 0 


37 1 


373 


374 


37 6 


37 6 


37 8 
37 8 



Table of Contents. 


DATE LETTER 


1784 ... 
38 .,. March 10... To Mrs. Thrale.-Confidence with respect to futurity. 
Relieved from the dropsy. Begs her not to reject 
him from her thoughts 
939... March 10... To Mrs. Porter.-His improved health . 
940... March II... To Mrs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston.-His improved 
health 
941... March 16... To Mrs. Thrale.-Opiates 
912 ...lJfarch 18... To James Bos'well. 
943... March 20... To Mrs. Thrale. -Relieved from the dropsy. 
Dying with a grace 
944,.. March 25... To Susanna Thrale.-Mr. Herschel. Need of 
activity of attention 
945 ... lJfarch 27... To Ben1zet Langton. 
946 .,. lJfarch 30... To James Boswell. 
947 ... April 5 ... To Ozias Humphry. 
948... APril 8 ... To Bennet Langton. 
949... APril 10 ... To Ozz"as Humphry. 
950 ... April 12 .., To John Nichols.- J. S. Hawkins's edition of 
Ignoramus 
951... April 12 ... To Dr. Taylor. 
952 ... APril 13 ... To Bennet Langto11. 
953... April 15 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Ivy Lane Club. A sick 
man's thoughts. His inclination to luxury. Her 
table 
954... April 19 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Essex Head and Ivy Lane 
Clubs. Le Bas Bleil. Driving the night along. 
Appetite 
955... April 21 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Escapes from a confinement of 
129 days 
956... April 26 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-The Exhibition. The Prince of 
W ales. John Howard 
... To Mrs. Porter.-His recovery 
.., To Miss Reynolds.-Cost of printing her papers 
... To ilfiss Jane Langton. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-N 0 longer drives the world about. 
Dr. Taylor's preferment 
... To Miss Reynolds.-Negotiations with her brother 
... To Ozias Humphry. 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Going with Boswell to Oxford. 
Boswell at the English Bar 
.., To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
... To Dr. Hamilton.-Mrs. Pellé 
... To Mrs. Thrale.-Visit to Oxford. Contenting a 
sick man 
*967... June 19 ... To Dr. Taylor.-Taylor's health. Dr. Nichols's 
lavish phlebotomy 
*968... June 23 .., To Dr. Taylor.-Loves to travel with Boswell 
969... June 26 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Mr. Lysons. Death of Macbean. 
Asks for words of comfort . 


957 ..' April 26 
958 ... April 30 
959... May 10 
960... May 13 


961... May 28 
962... May 31 
963... May 31 


964 ...June I 
965... June 2 
966... June 17 


[Vol. ii. 


PAGE 


3 80 
3 81 


3 82 
3 8 3 


3 8 4 


3 8 5 


3 8 7 


3 88 


39 0 


39 2 


393 
395 
395 


39 6 
397 


39 8 


399 


399 


4 01 
4 02 


4 0 3 



1784.] Table of Contents. 


Ii 


DATE LETTER 


PAG" 


1784... 970... July 2 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her second marriage. 
971...July 6 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
972... July 8 ... To Mrs. Thrale.-Her second marriage. Her past 
kindness. Queen Mary crossing the irremeable 
stream 
... To James BOS7tle/l. 
... To Dr.Adams.-Collations ofXenophon and Oppian 
... To the Rev. Mr. Bagshaw. 
.. _ To Bemzet Langton. 
... To John Ryland.-His wife's grave-stone 
... To Sir John Hawkins.-Mrs. Thrale's second mar- 
riage 
979 ... July 20 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
980 .,.July 21 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
981 ... fitly 26 .,. To James Boswell. 
982 ...July 28 " 
983 ...fitly 31 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
984... Aug. 2 ... To Dr. Burney. 
985... Aug. 5 ... lò Dr. Brocklesby. 
986 ... Aug. 7 ". To Joh1z Hoole. 
987 ... Aug. 12 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
988... Aug. 12 ... To Humphrey Heely. 
989... Aug. 13 ... To John- Hoole. 
990.._ Aug. 14 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
991 ... Aug. 14 ... To Thomas Davies. 
992... Aug. 16 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
993... Aug. 19 ... " " 
994... Aug. 19 ... To George Nicol. 
995... Aug. 19 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
996... Aug. 21 ... To William Windham. 
997 ... Aug. 21 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
998... Aug. 21 ... To Francesco Sastres.-His health. Forfeits at the 
Club. Sastres's projected Dictionary . 
... To Bemzet Langton. 
... To Dr. Brocklesby. 


9ï3 ... July II 
974... July II 
975 ...July 12 
976 ...July 12 
t977 ... July 12 
:t978 ... July 


999... Aug. 25 
]000... Aug. 26 
1001 ... Sept. 2 
1002 '.' Seþt. 2 
1003 ... Sept. 2 


1004... Seþt. 4 
1005 ... Seþt. 4 
1006 ... Sept. 4 
1007 ... Seþt. 9 
1008 ... Sept. 9 
1009... Sept. 9 
1010 ... Sept. II 
1011... Sept. 16 
1012... Sept. 16 


" " 
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
... To Francesco Sastres.-Sastres's 
read Petrarch. Virgil 
... To Dr. Bunzey. 
... To TV. C. Cruikshank. 
... ToJohn Hoole. 
... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
... To Lord Chancellor Thurlow. 
... To Dr. Brocklesby. 


cri ti c. 


Hopes to 


" " 
.., To Francesco Sastres.-Death of his friends. Essex 
Head Club 


4 0 5 


4 0 7 


4 0 9 


4 11 


4 H 


414 


4 16 


"11 8 



Iii 


Table of Contellts. 


DATE LETTER 


PAGE 


1784...1013 ... Sept. 18 ... To Sir JO.fhua Re)'1lOlds. 
tl0B ... Sept. 18 ... To John Ryland.-The Flying Man. Dismal 
solitude 419 
1015... Sept. 29 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
t1016 .., Sept. 29 ... To John Ryland.-A sick man's pleasure in the 
recovery of his friends 4 21 
1017 ... Oct. 2 ... To lVilliam lVÙzdham. 
1018... Oct. 2 ... To Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
1019... Oct. 4- .,. To - Perkins. 
1020... Oct. 6 ... To Dr. Brocklesb)1. 
t1021 ... Oct. 6 ... To John Ryland.-Mr. Payne's illness. His mind 
calmer 422 
1022... Oct. 13 ... To Dr. Heberden.-His health 4 2 3 
:::1023... Oct. 19 ... To George Strahan.-His health 4 2 5 
1024... Oct. 20 ... To lV. G. Hamz"lton. 
1025... Oct. 20 ,.. To John Paradise. 
1026 ... Oct. 20 ... To Jolt/I- Nichols. 
1027 ... Oct. 20 ... To Francesco Sa!;'tres.-Dictionaries 4 2 5 
t1028 ... Oct. 23 ... To Dr. Taylor.-How is recovery in his powed 4 26 
1029... Oct. 25 ... To Dr. Brocklesby. 
1030... Nov. I .., To Dr. Burney. 
1031.._ Nov. I .n To Francesco Sastres.-Materials for a letter 4 2 7 
t1032... Nov. 4 ... To John Ryland.-Friendship. His health failing. 
His wife's grave-slone 4 28 
1033... Nov. 5 ... ToJames Boswell. 
:tl034... Nov. 7 ... To Sir John Hawkins.-Hasting to to\\-n 4 2 9 
*1035... Undated ." To Mrs. Aston and r-.hs. Gastrell.-A farewell 
letter 4 2 9 
1036... jl/ôv. 16 ... To Dr. Burney. 
1037 ... Jtlov. 17 ... To Edmund ./Iector. 
:::1038... [? Nov.] ... To -.-Orders books to be sent to Dr. Adams. 43 0 
1039... Nov. 29 ... To Dr. Vyse.-Asks about a relation 43 0 
1040... Dec. 2 ... To Richard Green. 
1041... Dec. 2 ... To lIfrs. Porter. 
1042... Dec. 6 ... To John Nichols.-The "riters of the Allcimt 
Universal Hz'story 43 I 
:tl043 ... Two undated letters. 433 
JOHNSON'S DEATH AND FUNERAL. 


APPENDICES. 


A. Draft of a Petition for a poor woman 
B. Dr. Brocklesby's record of a conversation with Dr. Johnsùn 
C. Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, recorded by Dr. Bliss 
D. Extract from the Diary of the Right Hon. lVi/Ham Windham 


436 
436 
43 8 
439 



LETTERS OF DR. JOHNSON. 


It 


1. 


To GREGORY HICKMAN I . 


S Lichfield, Oct. 3 0 , 173 1 . 
IR, 
I have so long neglected to return you thanks for the 
favour and assistance received from you at Stourbridge, that 
I am afraid you have now done expecting it. I can, indeed, 
make no apology, but by assuring you, that this delay, what- 
ever was the cause of it, proceeded neither from forgetfulness, 
disrespect, nor ingratitude. Time has not made the sense of 
obligation less warm, nor the thanks I return less sincere. But 
while I am acknowledging one favour, I must beg another- 
that you would excuse the composition of the verses you 
desired. Be pleased to consider, that versifying against one's 
inclination is the most disagreeable thing in the world; and 
that one's own disappointment is no inviting subject; and that 
though the desire of gratifying you might have prevailed over 


I First published in the Man- been a pupil of the school about the 
chester Herald (see Gentleman's years 1725-6. Life, i. 50. According 
Magazine, 1813, p. 18). to a writer in Notes and Queries, 5th 
Nichols (Literary Anecdotes, viii. S. i. 249, Hickman-whose Chris- 
416) says that this letter was written tian name was Gregory-was by his 
'on the occasion of the writer's being mother's side connected withJohnson. 
rejected on his application for the See þost, Letter of July 8, 1771, for 
situation of Usher to the Grammar Johnson's desire to revisit Stourbridge 
School at Stourbridge.' Johnson had and' recall the images of sixteen.' 
VOL. I. B my 



2 


Letters to Edward Cave. 


[A.D. 1732-38. 


my dislike of it, yet it proves, upon reflection, so barren, that to 
attempt to write upon it, is to undertake to build without 
materials. As I am yet unemployed, I hope you will, if 
any thing should offer, remember and recommend, 
Sir, 
Your humble servant) 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


2. 
To-. 
Lichfield, July 27, 1732. Malone states that he had seen a letter of 
Johnson's to a friend dated as above, in which he says that 'he had 
recently left Sir \V olstan Dixey's house. He then had hopes of suc- 
ceeding either as master or usher in the school of Ashbourne.' 
Boswell's Johnson, ed. 1824, í. 53, n. 2. 
For Johnson's miserable life at this Leicestershire baronet's house, 
see Life) i. 84. 


3. 


To EDWARD CAVE. 
[Birmingham], November 25, 1 734. Published in the Life, i. 9 1 . 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888, 
for f.. 3 3 s . 


4. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 
Greenwich, July 12, 1737. Published in the Life, i. 10 7. 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888, 
for f..4 I5 s . 


5. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 
Castle Street, Wednesday Morning, -, [173 8 ]. Published in the 
Life, i. 120. 
6. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 


6 Castle Street, Monday, -, [1738]. Published In the Life, i. 
121. 


This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888, 
for *'4 15 s . 


To 



Aetat.22-29.] 


To lllrs. Johnson. 


.., 
,) 


7. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 
[London, 1738]. Published in the Life, i. 122. 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888, 
for f.4 IOS. 


8. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 
[London, 1 738 J. Published in the Life, i. 12 3. 


9. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 
[London], 'Vednesday, -, [1738]. Published in the Life, i. 136. 


10. 


T 0 EDWARD CAVE. 
[London, 1738]. Published in the Life, i. 137. 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Christie and Co. on June 5, 1888, 
for *'46. This extraordinary price was due to one word only. Johnson 
had signed himself-' Your's i1llþra1lsus.' 'It is remarkable,' writes 
Boswell, 'that this letter concludes with a fair confession that he had 
not a dinner.' 


11. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 
[London, 1738]. First published in the Life, i. 138. 


12. 
To JOHNSON'S VVIFE I. 


DEAREST TETTY 2, 
After hearing that you are in so much danger, as I 
apprehend from a hurt on a tendon, I shall be very uneasy 


I From the original in the pos- 
session of Mr. William R. Smith of 
Greatham Moor, vVest Liss, Hants. 
This Letter was probably written 
during Johnson's visit to Stafford- 
shire and Derbyshire recorded in the 
Life, i. 82. In August or September 
of 1739 he had, it seems, gone to 
Appleby in Leicestershire, as a can- 


didate for the mastership of the 
school (ib. p. 132). His visit was 
prolonged for some months. 
2 'Johnson used to name Mrs. 
Johnson by the familiar appellation 
of Tetly or Tetsey, which, like Betly 
or Betsey, is provincially used as a 
contraction for Elizabeth, her Chris- 
tian name.' Ib. i. 98. 


B 2 


till 



4 


To .ðf rs. J oh1zson. 


[A,D.1739. 


till I know that you are recovered, and beg that you will omit 
nothing that can contribute to it, nor deny yourself any thing 
that may make confinement less melancholy I. You have 
already suffered more than I can bear to reflect upon, and 
I hope more than either of us shall suffer again. One part 
at least I have often flatterd myself we shall avoid for the 
future, our troubles will surely never separate us more. If 
M [ ] 2 does not easily succeed in his endeavours, let 
him not [ ] to call in another Surgeon to consult with 
him, Y [ ] have two or three visits from Ranby3 or 
Shipton, who is [ ] to be the best, for a guinea, which you 
need not fear to part with on so pressing an occasion, for I can 
send you twenty pouns 4 more on Monday, which I have received 
this night; I beg therefore that you will more regard my 
happiness, than to expose yourself to any hazards. I still 
promise myself many happy years from your tenderness and 
affection, which I sometimes hope our misfortunes have not 
yet deprived me of. David 5 wrote to me this day on the affair 
of Irene, who is at last become a kind of Favourite among the 


I Mrs. Desmoulins told Boswell 
that 'Mrs. Johnson indulged herself 
in country air and nice living at an 
unsuitable expense, while her husband 
was drudging in the smoke of Lon- 
don.' Life, i. 238. 
2 The original is torn. 
3 John Ranby, principal serjeant 
surgeon to George II. Horace Wal- 
po
e, writing on June 29, 1743, about 
the French at the battle of Dettingen, 
says: 'I fancy their soldiery behaved 
il1, by the gallantry of their officers; 
for Ranby, the King's private surgeon, 
writes that he alone has 150 officers 
of distinction desperately wounded 
under his care.' Letters, i. 255. 
Ranby was surgeon also to Sir 
Robert \Valpole. Ib. p. 332. 
.. I am not quite sure of this word. 
It looks as if Johnson had written þllns 
at first, and then inserted 0, for- 
getting d. 
5 'David,' no doubt, is David 


Garrick. It was not till October 19, 
1741, that he stirred up the London 
world by his first appearance at 
Goodman's Fields. Nevertheless, at 
the date of Johnson's letter he was 
intimate with the actors. He was 
just dissolving partnership as a wine- 
merchant with his eldest brother 
Peter. 'Foote used to say, he re- 
membered Garrick living in Durham 
Yard, with three quarts of vinegar in 
the cellar, calling himself a wine- 
merchant. It is certain, however,' 
adds Murphy, 'that he served all the 
houses in the neighbourhood of the 
two play-houses, and at those places 
was a member of different clubs with 
the actors of the time.' 1\1 urphy's 
Garrick, pp. 11-16. Chetwood in 
his Hlstmy of the Stage, p. 158, 
says that' Garrick's facetious good- 
humour gained him entrance behind 
the scenes two or three years before 
he commenced actor.' 


Players, 



Aetat. 30.] 


To lVIrs. Johnson. 


5 


Players, Mr. Fletewood promises to give a promise in writing 
that it shall be the first next season, if it cannot be introduced 
now, and Chetwood the Prompter is desirous of bargaining for 
the copy, and offers fifty Guineas for the right of printing after 
it shall be played I. I hope it will at length reward me for my 
perplexities. 
Of the time which I have spent from thee, and of my dear 
L ucy 2 and other affairs, my heart will be at ease on Monday 
to give Thee a particular account, especially if a Letter should 
inform me that thy 3 lcg is better, for I hope you do not think so 
unkindly of me as to imagine that I can be at rest while I be- 
lieve my dear T etty in pain. 
Be assured, my dear Gir14, that I have seen nobody in these 
rambles upon which I have been forced, that has not contribute 
[Sl.C] to confirm my esteem and affection for thee, though that 
esteem and affection only contributed to encrease my unhappi- 
ness when I reflected that the most amiable woman in the 


I 'Mr. Peter Garrick told me,' 
writes Boswell, 'that Johnson and 
he went together to the Fountain 
tavern, and read Irene over, and 
that he afterwards solicited Mr. 
Fleetwood, the patentee of Drury 
Lane Theatre, to have it acted at 
his house; but Mr. Fleetwood would 
not accept it, probably because it was 
not patronised by some man of high 
rank; and it was not acted till 1749, 
when his friend, David Garrick, was 
manager of that theatre.' Life, i. I I I. 
F or an account of Fleetwood, see 
Davies's Life of Garrick, i. 66. 
William Rufus Chetwood published 
in 1749, A General History of the 
Stage; on the title-page he de- 
scribes himself as having been twenty 
years prompter at Drury Lane. He 
mentions (p. 46) that Voltaire, dur- 
ing his residence in England, came 
frequently to the theatre. 'I fur- 
nished him every evening with the 
play of the night, which he took 
with him into the Orchestre, his 
accustomed seat.' 


Johnson, in September, 1741, tried 
to dispose of the copyright of his 
play by the help of his friend, 
Edward Cave, who wrote :-' I have 
put Mr. Johnson's play into Mr. 
Gray's [a bookseller] hands, in 
order to sell it to him, if he is 
inclined to buy it. . . He [Johnson J 
and I are very unfit to deal with 
theatrical persons. Fleetwood was 
to have acted it last season, but 
Johnson's diffidence or [there is .a 
blank in the original] prevented it.' 
Life, i. 153. In the end he did 
better than he had hoped, for Dodsley 
gave him [,100 for the copyright, 
while he made [,195 by the repre- 
sentation. Ib. p. 198. 
2 Mrs. Johnson's daughter by her 
first husband. She was living either 
, with her relations in the country,' or 
else with Johnson's mother. Ib. i. 110. 
3 He had at first written your. 
4 As Mrs. Johnson was born on 
Feb. 4, 1688-9, she was only four 
days short of fifty-one. 


world 



6 


To Lewis Paul. 


[A.D. 1741. 


world was exposed by my means to miseries which I could 
not relieve. 


I am 
1\1 y charming Love 
Yours 


SAM: JOHNSON. 


Jan. 3 1st , 1739-4 0 '. 
Lucy always sends her Duty and my Mother her Service. 
To Mrs. Johnson at Mrs. Crow's in Castle Street near Cavendish Square, 
London 2. 


13. 
To LEWIS PAUL 3. 
St. John's Gate, January 31st, 1740-41. 


SIR, 
Dr. James presses me with great warmth to remind you of 
your promise, that you would exert your interest with Mr. 
\Varren to bring their affairs to a speedy conclusion; this you 


I 'The new style was adopted in 
England by 24 Geo. II (1751), which 
enacted,(I) Thattheyear 1752 should 
begin on January 1 instead of March 
25, which was then the legal com- 
mencement. (2) That the 3rd day of 
September, 1752, should be called 
the 14th. Accordingly the [legal] year 
1751 had no January, February, nor 
March up to the 24th inclusive, and 
September wanted eleven complete 
days.' Penny Cyclo., first ed. xxiii. 178. 
Johnson recorded in his Diary:- 
, Jan. I, 1753, N .S. which I shall use 
for the future.' Jan. 1 had been 
always popularly kept as the first 
day of the year. Thus Swift wrote 
to Stella on Jan. I, I71l-12 :-' Now 
I wish my dearest little MD many 
happy new years.' Swift's Works, 
ed. 1803, xxii. 45. 
2 Johnson had been lodging in 
6 Castle Street since the spring of 
1738. Life, i. 121. It is now called 
Castle Street East. 
3 First published in Croker's 
Boswell, p. 43. 


This Letter was sold by Messrs. 
Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 1875, 
for.i5 7 s .6d. 
In a paper by the late Robert 
Cole, F.S.A., read before the British 
Association at Leeds in September, 
1858, quoted in Gilbert French's Life 
of Samuel Cromþt01t, 2nd ed. p. 244, 
an interesting account is given of 
Lewis Paul. Baines, in his History 
of the Cotton Manufacture, ed. 1835, 
p. 119, had stated that' Arkwright 
was generally believed to have in- 
vented the machine for spinning 
cotton and wool by rollers, but that 
the process had previously been 
described in the specification of the 
machine invented by John Wyatt.' 
Mr. Cole proves that' to Paul alone 
must be awarded the honour of the 
invention.' He was the son of a 
Dr. Paul, and the ward of the third 
Earl of Shaftesbury. Between 1729 
and 1738 he invented a machine for 
pinking crapes, &c. A daughter of 
Johnson's godfather, Dr. Swinfen, 
lafterwards Mrs. Desmoulins) learnt 
know. 



Aetat. 31.] 


To Lewis Paul. 


7 


know, Sir, I have some right to insist upon, as Mr. Cave was, 
in some degree, diverted from attending to the arbitration by 
my assiduity in expediting the agreement between you; but I 
do not imagine many arguments necessary to prevail upon Mr. 
'Varren to do what seems to be no less desired by him than the 
Doctor. If he entertains any suspicion that I shall endeavour 
to enforce the Doctor's arguments
 I am willing, and more than 
barely willing, to forbear all mention of the question. He that 
desires only to do right, can oblige nobody by acting, and must 
offend every man that expects favours. It is perhaps for this 
reason that Mr. Cave seems very much inclined to resign the 
office of umpire; and since I know not whom to propose in his 
place equally qualified and disinterested, and am yet desired to 
propose somebody, I believe the most eligible method of deter- 
mining this vexatious affair will be, that each party should draw 
up in a narrow compass his own state of the case, and his de- 
mand upon the other; and each abate somewhat, of which him- 
self or his friends may think due to him by the laws of rigid 
justice. This will seem a tedious method, but will, I hope, be 
shortened by the desire, so often expressed on each side, of a 
speedy determination. If either party can make use of me in 


the art as his pupil. His first patent 
for spinning is dated June 24, 1738, 
and "as for fourteen years. To 
meet the expenses he borrowed 
money from \Varren, the Birming- 
ham bookseller; j;2oo from Dr. 
Swinfen's daughter, and various 
sums from Dr. James, the inventor 
of the powder. He granted licenses 
to use his spindles; thus in April, 
1740, he granted a license to \Yarren 
for 50 spindles, in consideration of 
the debt owing to him amounting to 
j;lOoo; and to Cave a license for 
z 50 spindles in consideration of a 
large sum. Dr. James wrote to 
\\"arren on July 17, 1740 :-' Yester- 
day we went to see Mr. Paul's 
machine, which gave us entire satis- 
faction. I am certain that if he could 
· See Appendix A. 


begin with j;1O,OCXJ he must. or at 
least might, get more money in 
twenty years than the City of London 
is worth.' Paul, who was desirous 
of getting the machinery used in the 
Foundling Hospital, addressed to 
the President, the Duke of Bedford, 
a letter, the draft of which is in 
Johnson's hand writing a. I n the 
course of twenty years or so his 
machine, he said, had gained him, as 
patentee, above j;zo,ooo. He made 
considerable improvements in it, and 
in 1758 obtained a new patent. He 
died the following year. 
I Edward Cave was the printer of 
St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell, the 
proprietor of the Gentleman's Maga- 
zine. Life, i. III. 


this 



8 


To Lewls Palll. 


[A.D. 1741. 


this transaction, in which there is no opportunity for malevo- 
lence or prejudice to exert themselves, I shall be well satisfied 
with the employment. 
Mr. Cave, who knows to whom I am writing, desires me to 
mention his interest, of which I need not remind you that it is 
complicated with yours; and therefore cannot be neglected by 
you without opposition to motives, far stronger than the per- 
suasions of, 


Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


14. 
To LEWIS PAULI. 
At the Black Boy, over against Durham Yard, Strand", 
March 31st, 1741. 
SIR, 
The hurry of removing and some other hindrances, have 
kept me from writing to you since you left us, nor should I 
have allowed myself the pleasure of doing it now, but that 
the Doctor 3 has pressed me to offer you a proposal, which I 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, p. 44. This Letter was sold by 
Messrs. Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 
1875, for [,6. 
,. On Durham Yard about the 
year 1772 the Adelphi was erected 
by the Scotch architects, the brothers 
Adam. Life, ii. 325, n. 3. Johnson 
twice lodged in the Strand. Ib. iii. 
405, n. 6. 
3 Dr. James, the inventor of the 
famous powder. His' skill in physic' 
Johnson celebrated in the Lives 0/ 
the Poets. Lift, i. 81. They had 
been schoolfellows, and saw a good 
deal of each other in London. Ib.iii.4. 
Thomas Warren was the Binning- 
ham bookseller in whose house 
Johnson lived for some months in 
the year 1733, and who in 1735 
published his translation of Lobo's 
Voyage to Abyssinia. Ib. i. 85-7. 
In 1743 \Varren became bankrupt, 


as is shown by an advertisement in 
Aris's Birmingham Gazette of Feb. 
21, 1743, offering for sale by his 
assignees a license for working fifty 
of Paul's spindles. Two years after- 
wards a second attempt was made to 
sell. (See the Gazelte of April 29, 
1745.) The Life of Cromþton, 2nd 
ed. p. 293. See þost, Letter of April 15, 
1755, where Johnson wri tes to 
Hector :-'\\That news of poor War- 
ren? I have not lost all my kindness 
for him.' cDr. James and \Varren 
appear to have contracted, James to 
supply pills and vulnerary balsam, 
and \Yarren to publish in numbers 
The Rational Farmer, with an Her- 
bal; and also the American Traveller, 
of which book Dr. James would 
seem to have been the author.' 
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's Auc- 
tion Catalogue for July 29, 1867; 
Lot 708: 'Paul Papers.' 


know 



Aetat. 31.] 


To Lewis Paul. 


9 


know not why he does not rather make himself; but his re- 
quest, whatever be the reason of it, is too small to be denied. 
He proposes,-I. To pay you immediately, or give you satis- 
factory security for the speedy payment of :LICO. 2. To ex- 
change general releases with Mr. \Varren. These proposals he 
makes upon the conditions formerly offered, that the bargain 
for spindles shall be vacated. The securities for 1\-1r. Warren's 
debts released, and the debt of :L65 remitted, with the ad- 
dition of this new article, that Mr. \tVarren shall give him the 
books bought for the carrying on of their joint undertaking. 
\tVhat difference this new demand may make, I cannot tell, 
nor do I intend to be understood in these proposals to ex- 
press any of my own sentiments
 but merely to write after a 
dictation. I believe I have expressed the Doctor's mean- 
ing, but being disappointed of an interview with him, cannot 
shew him this, and he generally hints his intentions somewhat 
obscurely. 
He is very impatient for an answer, and desires me to im- 
portune you for one by the return of the post. I am not willing, 
in this affair, to request anything on my own account; for you 
know already, that an agreement can only be made by a com- 
munication of your thoughts, and a speedy agreement only by 
an expeditious communication. 
I hope to write soon on some more agreeable subject; for 
though, perhaps, a man cannot easily find more pleasing em- 
ployment than of reconciling variances, he may certainly amuse 
himself better by any other business, than of interposing in con- 
troversies which grow every day more distant from accommo- 
dation, which has been hitherto my fate; but I hope my 
endeavours will be, hereafter, more successful. 
I am, Sir, 
Yours, &c., 
SA
[: J OHXSON. 


To Mr. Lewis Paul. In Birmingham. 


15. 


To EDWARD CAVE. 
[London. 1742.' Puhlisherl in the Life, i. 155. 


To 



10 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1742. 


16. 
To EDWARD CAVE. 
[London, 1742.] Published in the Life, i. 156. 


17. 
To the Reverend DR. TAYLOR t. 


DEAR SIR, 
The Brevity of your last Letter gives me expectation of a 
longer, and I hope you will not disappoint me, for I am always 
pleased to hear of your proceedings. I cannot but somewhat 
wonder that Seward 2 should give his Living for the prospects 
or advantages which you can offer him. and should be glad to 
know your treaty more particularly. I think it not improper 
to mention that there is a slight report of an intention to make 
Lord Chesterfield Lieutenant 3 , of which, if I hear more, I will 
inform you farther. 


I Published in Notes and Queries, 
6th S. v. 303, by Professor John 
E. B. Mayor, with the following note 
by Mr. M. M. Holloway :-' These 
MSS. were purchased by Sir John 
Simeon, Bart., in 1861, from a de- 
scendant of the Pierpoint family in 
Devonshire; three only appear to 
have been known to Boswell [Lije, 
i. 238; iv. 228, 270], and about 
twelve have been privately printed 
for the Philobiblon Society by Sir 
John Simeon, from whom I bought 
the collection, and sold this portion 
to the Lord Overstone.' In the 
reprints in the Philobiblon Society 
(vol. vi) ] have discovered blunders, 
and therefore I feel the more grate- 
ful to Professor Mayor for the trouble 
he has taken to secure an accurate 
reprint. I have been fortunate 
enough to obtain copies of other let- 
ters of the same series; but there 
are many which I have not seen. 
For Dr. Taylor see Life, ii. 473. 
2 The Rev. Thomas Seward, Rec- 
tor of Eyam, Derbyshire, and of 
Kingsley, near Cheadle in Stafford- 


shire, and Canon Residentiary of 
Lichfield, Boswell describes him as 
, a genteel well-bred dignified clergy- 
man, who had travelled with Lord 
Charles Fitzroy, who died when 
abroad.' Life, ii. 467. According 
to Horace \\"alpole, when Lord 
Charles fell ill, Seward, thinking that 
his life was saved by the treatment 
used, 'began a complimentary Ode 
to his physician; but was called 
down before it was finished on his 
pupil's relapse, who did die; how- 
ever the bard was too much pleased 
with the dlbut of his poem to throw 
it away, and so finished it.' Letters, 
viii. 415. He was the father of 'the 
celebrated' Anna Seward (Life, ii. 
467), an affected, tiresome, spiteful 
and mendacious creature, who wrote 
bad verses, and disgraced \\ralter 
Scott by being one of his corre- 
spondents. Nay, even he went so 
far as to write a preface to what is 
called her Poetical .W orks. 
I have not ascertained the nature 
of Seward's' treaty 1 with Taylor. 
3 Sir Robert \VaJpole's Ministry 
I propose 



Aetat.32.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


I I 


I propose to get Charles of Sweden I ready for this winter, 
and shall therefore, as I imagine, be much engaged for some 
months with the Dramatic Writers, into whom I have scarcely 
looked for many years 2. Keep Ire1le close, you may send it 
back at your leisure. 
You have never let me know what you do about Mr. Car's 
affair or what the official has decided. Eld 3 is only neglected, 
not forgotten. 


had come to an end in February of 
this year. On March 6, Lord Ches- 
terfield wrote to Dr. Chenevix:- 
'The public has already assigned me 
different employments, and among 
others that which you mention; but 
I have been offered none, I have 
asked for none, and I will accept of 
none till I see a little clearer into 
matters than I do at present. I have 
opposed measures not men.' Ches- 
terfield's Misc. Works, iv. 226. The 
employment mentioned was the Lord- 
Lieutenancy of Ireland. Ib. i. 195. 
He did not receive the appointment 
till 1745. Ib. p. 254. The phrase 
'measures not men' is earlier by 
23 years than any instance I have 
seen quoted. Mr. E. J. Payne, in his 
note on 'the cant of Not men but 
measures' in Burke's Present Dis- 
contents (1770), quotes Dr. John 
Brown's Thoughts on Civil Liberty 
(1765), p. 124, and Goldsmith's Good- 
Natured Man (1768), Act ii, where 
Lofty says :-' Measures, not men, 
have always been my mark.' Payne's 
Burke, i. 274. 
I This no doubt was a play. The 
two and thirty lines in The V anity of 
Human Wishes in which 'S",,-edish 
Charles' is drawn, have lived till 
now, and are likely to live for many 
an age yet. The play, had it been 
written, would be as much forgotten 
as Irene. 
2 In his edition of Shakesþeare 
(published in 1765), vol. vi. 159, he 
says :--' J was many years ago so 


shocked by Cordelia's death, that I 
know not whether I ever endured to 
read again the last scenes of the play 
till I undertook to revise them as an 
editor.' According to a writer in the 
Gentleman's Magazine, 1843, i. 482, 
Steveens says :-' Dr. Johnson once 
assured me that when he wrote 
his Irme he had never read Othello; 
but meeting with it soon afterwards, 
was surprised to find that he gave in 
one of his characters a speech very 
strongly resembling that in which 
Cassio describes the effects produced 
by Desdemona's beauty on suchinani- 
mate objects as the guttered rocks and 
congregated sands [Act ii. sc. 1.1. 69]. 
The Doctor added that on making the 
discovery, for fear of imputed plag- 
iarism he struck out the accidental 
coincidence from his own tragedy.' 
That Johnson, who was now but 
thirty-two years old, should for 
many years have scarcely looked into 
the dramatic writers, is a clear proof 
that his friend Gilbert \Valmsley was 
wrong in hoping that he would 
(turn out a fine tragedy-writer.' 
3 Eld perhaps was the man men- 
tioned in the following passage in the 
Life, iii. 326 : -' BOSWELL. "I drank 
chocolate, Sir, this morning with Mr. 
Eld ; and, to my no small surprise, 
found him to be a Staffordshire 
TVhig, a being which I did not be- 
lieve had existed." JOHNSON. "Sir, 
there are rascals in all countries." 
BOSWELL. "Eld said, a Tory was a 
creature generated between a non- 
[If 



12 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1742. 


[If the time of the Duke's government should be near ex- 
piration, you must cling close and redouble your importunities, 
though if any confidence can be placed in his Veracity, he may 
be expected to serve you more effectually when he is only a 
Courtier, than while he has so much power in another Kingdom I.] 
I am well informed that a few days ago Cardinal Fleury sent 
to an eminent Banker for IVloney, and receiving such a reply as 
the present low state of France naturally produces: sent a party 
of the Guards to examine his Books and search his House, such 
is the felicity of absolute Governments, but they found the 
Banker no better provided than he had represented himself, 
and therefore broke part of his furniture and returned 2. 
It is reported that the peace between Prussia 3 and Hungary 
was produced wholly by the address of Carteret, who having 
procured a copy of Broglio's orders at the very time that they 
were despatched, and finding them to contain instructions very 
inconsistent with a sincere alliance, sent them immediately to 
the King of Prussia, who did not much regard them, till he 
found that he was in persuance [sic] of them exposed without 


juring parson and one'sgrandmother." 
JOHNSON. "And I have always 
said, the first \Vhig was the Devi1.'" 
1 This passage is erased in the 
original. The' Duke' was no doubt 
the third Duke of Devonshire, who 
was Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland from 
1737 to 1744. Burke's Peerage, ed. 
1864, p. 335. 'Taylor had a con- 
siderable political interest in the 
county of Derby, which he employed 
to support the Devonshire family; 
for, though the schoolfellow and 
friend of Johnson, he was a \Yhig.' 
Life, ii. 474. It is likely that Taylor 
hoped to receive from the Duke one 
of the valuable Irish deaneries or 
bishoprics which were so commonly 
given to Englishmen. Confidence 
could be placed inhis Grace's veracity, 
for it was this Duke whom Johnson 
commended for a 'dogged veracity.' 
Life, iii. 378. 
For Taylor's greed of preferments 


see þost, Letters of May 16,1776, and 
July 8, 1782. 
2 Voltaire describes Cardinal Fleury 
as a minister, 'ne comprenant abso- 
lument rien à une affaire de finance.' 
(Euvres de Voltaire, ed. 1819-25, 
xix. 38. A writer in the Gentleman's 
fl-lagazine for March, 1742, p. 16 5, 
speaking of the oppressive taxation 
in France says :-' The people are 
everywhere ripe for rebellion; the 
Ministry have demanded a loan of 
ten millions of livres of the financiers, 
to be paid the first of July.' 
3 In Notes and Queries this is 
printed 'Russia,' btrt Johnson cer- 
tainly meant, and most probably 
wrote, Prussia. Horace \Valpole 
wrote four days later :-' \Ve were 
surprised last Tuesday [the 8th] with 
the great good news of the peace 
between the Queen [Maria Theresa] 
and the King of Prussia.' \\Talpole's 
Letters, i. 175. 


assistance 



Aetat.83.] 


To the Reverend Dr. 1 ày10 r. 


I " 
J 


assistance to the hazard of the late battle, in which it is generally 
believed that he lost more than twice as many as the Austrians. 
He would then trust the French no longer X. You see that I am 
determined to write a letter, for I never was authour of so much 
political Intelligence before. 
I am, if the relief of uneasiness can produce obligations, more 
obliged to you, for what I imagine you have now sent IVliss 2, 
than for all that you have hitherto done for me. 
Thurloe's papers which cost here .lB 9s. 6d. 3 , are intended to 
be reprinted in Ireland at four guineas. Methinks you should 
send orders to Faulkener 4 to subscribe. 
I am, Dear Sir, 
Yours very affectionate, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
Have you begun to write out your Letters? 
June 10, 17425. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor 
at 
Jarket Bosworth, Leicestershire 6. 


I In the Ge1ztleman's .JfagazÏ1ze 
for July, 1742, p. 389, much the same 
account is given, though Carteret's 
name is not mentioned. According 
to Carlyle the King of Prussia learnt 
of the orders given to Broglio from 
one of his prisoners, an Austrian 
general who had been mortally 
wounded. This man had seen a 
letter from Fleury to the Queen of 
Hungary, and got the King a sight 
of it. History of Friedrich II, ed. 
1862, iii. 580. The' late battle' was 
that of Chotusitz or Czaslau, in 
which Frederick, though he gained 
the victory, lost in killed 1905, to 
1052 on the side of the Austrians. 
Ib. p. 574. The peace was signed at 
Breslau on June 1 I. The news of it 
had reached London on the 8th; 
but in England the dates still fol- 
lowed the Old Style. 
2 'Miss,' no doubt, was Johnson's 
step-daughter, Lucy Porter. See 
þost, p. 18. 
3 In the Register of Books for 


May, 1742, in the Gentleman's Maga- 
zine, p. 280, I find :-' A Collection 
of the State Paþers of Jolm Tlzurloe, 
Esq., Secretary to Oliver Cromwell, 

c., price [8 14s. in sheets. \\?ood- 
ward and Davis.' 
4 George Faulkner, 'the prince of 
Dublin printers,' as Swift called him 
(Swift's Works, ed, 1803, xviii. 288) ; 
the associate and correspondent of 
LordChesterfield( Chesterfield's Misc. 
Works, iv. 291). Boswell describes 
him as 'the famous George Faulkner.' 
Life, v. 44. Richardson charged 
him with joining with other Dublin 
booksellers in pirating Sir Charles 
Grandison. Sir Charles Grandison, 
2nd ed. vi. 412. 
5 Horace \Yalpole, writing on the 
same day, thus dates his letter:- 
'June 10, the Pretender's birthday, 
which, by the way, I believe he did 
not expect to keep at Rome this 
year, 1742.' Letters, i. 173. 
6 'Taylor went to Christ Church 
with a view to the study of the law, 
To 



I4 


To John Levett. 


[A.D. 1743. 


18. 


To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH. 


[London], September 29, 1743. Published in the Life, i. 160. 


19. 
To JOHN LEVETT. 
December I, 1743. Published in the Life, i. 160. 


20. 
To JOHN LEVETT I. 


SIR, 
I am obliged to trouble you upon an affair which I have 
hardly time to explain, but in which I must beg that you will 
assist as a few words will enable you to understand it better 
than I do; and the Humanity and Generosity which appeared 
in your last letter give me no reason to doubt of your Com- 
pliance with my Request. 
When I married Mrs. Johnson who was her first husband's 
executrix, we by the advice of his chief Creditor made a re- 
signation (1 suppose legal) of all his affairs to lVlr. Perks an 
Attorney of Birmingham. Soon afterwards IVlr. Perks died, 
as was supposed, without any effects, and therefore \Ve thought 
no more of the affair, but were lately accidentally informed that 
a Composition is offered, and then I wrote to Birmingham for 


but entering into holy orders was 
presented to the valuable Rectory of 
Market Bosworth in 1740, on the 
death of Mr. Beaumont Dixie. He 
was supposed to have got it by pur- 
chase. Gisborne, the banker of 
Derby, suspecting somewhat from 
the sums Taylor drew from him, 
marked some of the pieces; which 
presently came back, in part of the 
same sum, from the worthy Patron, 
who had reason afterwards for saying 
"that a broken attorney made a 
notable parson." He found that he 
had met with his match.' Nichols's 


Lit. Anec. ix. 58. 
I From the original, in the pos- 
session of the Rev. F. R. Jefferson, 
Noman's Heath Vicarage, Tamworth. 
Boswell mentions Mr. Levett among 
Johnson's early friends belonging to 
the best families in Lichfield. Life, 
i.81. In 1761 Mr. John Levett was 
returned for Lichfield, but on petition 
was declared to be not duly elected. 
Pari. His!. xv. 1088. Johnson, in a 
letter dated a month earlier, had 
apologised to Mr. Levett for his 
delay in paying the interest of a 
mortgage. Life, i. 160. 
Directions 



Aetat.34.] 


To John Levett. 


15 


Directions how to act, and received yesterday a Letter by which 
I am informed that the accounts are to be irrevocably settled on 
Thursday. Having not the papers at London, there is great 
danger, as I apprehend, that they cannot arrive soon enough. 
I have however sent Miss Porter directions to open a Cabinet, 
and bring it to you, and beg that you will find a IVlessenger to 
make the Demand in form I. 
Be pleased to inform IVle where I may see you when you 
come to town, for not to have the satisfaction of waiting upon 
one for whom, on account of a long series of kindness to my 
Father and myself, I have so much Respect will be a great 
and uneasy Disappointment to, 


Sir, 
Your most humble Servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
I had forgot to inform you that your 1Vlessenger may apply to 
Mr. Will m Ward, Mercer in Birm. for directions where to go. 
Jan. 3, 1743-4. 
To Mr. Levett in Lichfield. 


21. 
To [? JOHN LEVETT 2 .J 


Sm., 
I have been hinderd from writing to you by an imagina- 
tion that it was necessary to write more than I had time for, 


I Light is thrown on this letter by 
the following passage in a paper by 
Mr. Samuel Timmins, published in 
the TransactionsoftheArchaeological 
Section of the Birmingham and Mid- 
land Institute, 1876 :-' My friend, 
Mr. Joseph Hill, says, A copy of an 
old deed which has recently come 
into my hands, shews that a hundred 
pounds of Mrs. Johnson's fortune 
was left in the hands of a Birming- 
ham attorney named Thomas Perks, 
who died insolvent; and in 1745, a 
bulky deed gave his creditors 7s. 4d. 
in the pound. Among the creditors 
for [100 were" Samuel Johnson, gent., 


and Elizabeth his wife, executors of 
the last will and testament of Harry 
Porter, late of Birmingham aforesaid, 
woollen draper, deceased." Johnson 
and his wife were almost the only 
creditors who did not sign the deed, 
their seals being left void. I t is 
doubtful, therefore, whether they ever 
obtained the amount of the com- 
position, [36 13s.4d.' See also the 
Life, i. 95, n. 3. 
2 From the original, in the posses- 
sion of!\lr. J. H. Hodson of Lichfield. 
It was most likely written to 
Mr. Levett of that town, to whom 
Johnson, as is shown by his Letter of 
but 



16 


7'0 .J.lfr. 'Urban.' 


[A.D. 1744. 


but recollecting that business may be despatched much more 
expeditiously by conversation, I beg to be informed when I can 
wait on you with most convenience to yourself. I believe I 
shall find means of accommodating the affair so as to give you 
valuable satisfaction. You forgot to send me word what interest 
is due, which I mention that you may examine, for though Mr. 
Aston I has a receipt for interest which I got him to pay to your 
Father, I cannot conveniently wait on him about it. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Golden Anchor, Holborn 2 . Sat. Morning. 


22. 
To [? JOHN LEVETT 3 .J No date. 


SIR, 
I am very ill, and unable to wait on you or meet with you. 
I have been disappointed by two to whom I applied, and either 
of whom might have done it without inconvenience. The gen- 
tleman whom I have desired to come with this has (?) offered it 
on terms which may make a little longer delay, but if you have 
anyone with whom you can have the things necessary it may 
now be done. 


I am, Sir, 
Your humble friend, 
SA1\'[: JOHNSON. 
I had sent to you but I had forgot your lodging which you 
have not mentioned in your notes. 


23. 


To MR. 'URBAN.' 


August, 1744. Published in the Life, ii. 16 4. 


Dec. 1, 1743 (Life, i. 161), owed the 
interest of a mortgage. 
I Mr. Aston probably belonged to 
the family of Sir Thomas Aston. Life, 
i. 83. He is mentioned again,þost, 
P.3 0 . 


,. Johnson twice lodged in Holbom 
between the years 1741 and 1749. 
Life, iii. 405, n. 6. 
3 From the original, in the pos- 
session of Mr. J. H. Hodson of 
Lichfield. 


To 



Aetat. 84.] 


To James Elþhz.nston. 


I7 


24. 


To JAMES ELPHINSTON I. 


SIR, 
I have for a long time intended to answer the Letter which 
you were pleased to send me, and know not why I have delayed 


r First published in Memoirs oj 
the Life and Writings of Dr. John- 
son, 1785, p. 166. 
James Elphinston most likely be- 
came known to Johnson through 
\Villiam Strahan, the printer, who 
had married his sister. The year 
after the date of this letter' he sug- 
gested and took the charge of an 
edition of the Rambler at Edinburgh.' 
Life, i. 210. About the year 1753 
he opened a school at Brompton; 
moving later on to Kensington, where 
Boswell and Johnson one day dined 
with him (ib. ii. 226), in 'a noble 
mansion opposite to the King's gar- 
dens, with an elegant ball-room with 
handsome bow-windows at the top 
of the eastern division of the house.' 
Nichols's Lit. Anec. iii. 32. Jeremy 
Bentham describes it as ' a spacious 
mansion,' having dined there 'on a 
summer's day' with Burkarti, the 
Resident from the Free City of 
Hamburgh, who occupied in it 'a 
comfortable and pleasant apartment.' 
Bentham's Works, x. 58. In the 
fourth edition of the Rambler, pub- 
lished in 1756, the reader is informed 
in a foot-note on the first page, that 
, Mr. Elphinston, to whom the author 
of these papers is indebted for many 
elegant translations of the mottos 
which are inserted from the Edin- 
burgh edition, now keeps an academy 
for young gentlemen at Brompton, 
near Kensington.' Johnson, who by 
his own failure knew the difficulty of 
starting an 'academy,' was willing, 
it seems, in this curious way, to give 
his friend, the young Scotchman, a 
helping hand. He thus described 
VOL. I. 


him twenty years later :-' His inner 
part \s good, but his outer part is 
mighty awkward. . . . I would not 
put a boy to him, whom I intended 
for a man of learning. But for the 
sons of citizens who are to learn a 
little, get good morals, and then go 
to trade, he may do very well.' Life, 
ii. 171. He had been abroad in his 
youth with Carte, the Jacobite his- 
torian, who believed in the royal 
touch, and he was himself a N on- 
juror. Johnson in 1754 had recom- 
mended his schoöl for the son of his 
friend, Fitzherbert, but was told that 
'the Scotchman and Non-juror would 
be insuperable objections.' An Ac- 
count of the Life of Dr. Johnson, 
1805. p. 66. 
In 1778 Elphinston published that 
translation of Martial which provoked 
Burns's epigram :- 
, 0 thou whom Poetry abhors, 
.Whom Prose has turned out of 
doors, 
Heard'st thou that groan-pro- 
ceed no further, 
'Twas laurell'd Martial roaring 
murder.' 
'His brother-in-law Strahan sent 
him a subscription of fifty pounds, 
and said he would send him fifty 
more, if he would not publish.' Life, 
iii. 258. Of his skill as a translator 
the following may be taken as a 
sample :- 
'To SAB1DIUS. 
, I love thee not, nor can the cause 
display; 
love thee not, poor Sab: I still 
may say.' 


c 


it 



I8 


To JWiss Porter. 


[A.D. 1749. 


it so long; but that I had nothing particular either of enquiry 
or information to send you; and the same reason might still 
have the same consequence, but that I find, in my recluse kind 
of life, that I am not likely to have much more to say at one 
time than another, and that therefore I may endanger, by an 
appearance of neglect long continued, the Joss of such an 
Acquaintance as I know not where to supply. I therefore 
write now to assure you how sensible I am of the kindness you 
have always expressed to me, and how much I desire the cul- 
tivation of that Benevolence which perhaps nothing but the 
distance between us has hindered from ripening before this 
time into Friendship. Of myself I have very little to say, and 
of any body else less; let me, however, be allowed one thing, 
and that in my own favour; that I am, 
Dear Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


April 20, 1749. 


25. 


To MISS PORTER I. 
Goff Square, July 12, 1749. 


DEAR MISS, 
I am extremely obliged to you for. your letter, which 
I would have answered last post, but that ilIness prevented me. 


He introduced a new system of or- 
thography, and quarrelled over it with 
Strahan, who, no doubt, refused, as 
King's Printer, to follow his brother- 
in-law in a mode of spelling of which 
the foJlowing is a specimen. It is 
taken from his 'Deddicacion To' 
Dhe King' of his Propriety Ascer- 
tained in her Picture, (two quarto 
volumes of about 650 pages):- 
'Yoor Madjesty haz dained by fixing 
Inglish Speech in Inglish Orthog- 
graphy to' secure dhe unfading luster 
ov Truith, and dhe unfailing succes- 
sion ov a Horrace, a Boileau, and a 
Pope.' Strahan nevertheless be- 
queathed to him an annuity of [100. 


He lived till the age of eighty-seven, 
dying in 1809; to the last he wore 
the dress which had been in fashion 
early last century-' the coat with 
flaps and buttons to the pockets and 
sleeves, the powdered bag-wig with 
a high toupee, a cocked hat, shoe- 
buckles and an amber-headed cane.' 
Nichols's Lit. Anec. iii. 35. 
J First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, p. 62. 
2 In Dodsley's London and its 
Environs, 1761, iii. 53, this place is 
caned Gough's Square, and is de- 
scribed as 'a very smaJl oblong 
square, with a row on each side of 
handsome buildings.' In what year 
I have 



Aetat.39.] 


To JVliss Porter. 


I9 


I have been often out of order of late, and have very much 
neglected my affairs. You have acted very prudently with 
regard to Levett's affair, which will, I think, not at all embarrass 
me, for you may promise him, that the mortgage shall be taken 
up at Michaelmas, or, at least, some time between that and 
Christmas; and if he requires to have it done sooner, I will 
endeavour it I. I make no doubt, by that time, of either doing 
it myself, or persuading some of my friends to do it for me. 
Please to acquaint him with it, and let me know if he be 
satisfied. When he once called on me, his name was mistaken, 
and therefore I did not see him; but, finding the mistake, wrote 
to him the same day, but never heard more of him, though I 
entreated him to let me know where to wait on him. You 
frighted me, you little gipsy, with your black wafer, for I had 


Johnson took the house is not known; 
he resided in it till March 23, 1759. 
Life, iii. 405, n. 6. It is likely that 
the money which he received for 
Irene in February, 1749, enabled him 
to live in more comfort than hitherto, 
and that it was then that he moved. 
It was in this house that he wrote the 
main part of his Dictionary, his 
Ramblers, Adventurers, many of his 
Idlers, and Rasselas. [t was here 
that he mourned over the loss, first 
of his wife and then of his mother. 
I t still stands, with a tablet on it to 
tell its history. 'It is the first or 
corner house on the right hand, as 
you enter through the arched way 
from the North-west.' Ib. i. 188, 
n. I. 
I On December I, 1743, Johnson 
wrote to Levett to ask his forbear- 
ance with respect to the interest due 
on a mortgage. Money no doubt 
had been borrowed on the security 
of the freehold house at Lichfield 
which had belonged to his father, 
and in which his mother was still 
living. Mr. J. H. Hodson of Lich- 
field has in his interesting collection 
of autographs the following unad- 
dressed letter of Johnson's step- 
C 2 


daughter, referring to the same 
affair :- 
'I shall take it as a particular 
favour. if you will not mention the 
ejectment, or cause it to be deliver'd 
to Mrs. Johnson till I have spoke to 
you again, which I shall be glad to 
do the first opportunity. She has 
been very poorly for some time, and 
is too weak at present to bear the 
shock of such a thing, and I believe 
the very knowing of it would almost 
destroy her. I hope you need not 
be under any apprehension concern- 
ing the Money,as I will do my utmost 
endeavour to procure it as soon as 
I can. Your complying with the 
above request will infinitely oblige 
, Your humble Servant, 
, Lucy PORTER. 
June 7.' 
See þost, Letter of March 7, 175 2 . 
On Johnson's death his house was 
sold for [235. Hawkins's Johnson, 
p. 599. On October 20, 1887, it was 
sold for [800 to Mr. G. H. Johnson 
of Southport. Daily News, Oct. 2 I, 
1887. Mr. Johnson with a noble 
spirit is preserving it as a memorial 
of its great owner. 


forgot 



20 


To-. 


[A.D. 1750. 


forgot you were in mourning, and was afraid your letter had 
brought me ill news of my mother, whose death is one of the 
few calamities on which I think with terror I. I long to know 
how she does, and how you all do. Your poor mamma is come 
home, but very weak 2; yet I hope she will grow better, else she 
shalI go into the country. She is now up-stairs, and knows not 
of my writing. 


I am, dear Miss, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


26. 
TO_3. 
I am very much obliged to you for your commission, which 
though, I think, not absolutely necessary to me, will be ex- 
tremely convenient, as it will rescue me from the necessity 
of soliciting a favour, which, you know, all mankind is apt 
to rate not according to its real value, but to the exigence of 
him that asks it. I have all the assurance that human life 
allows, of being able by the time you mention of setling 
[sic] the affair without any trouble, and shall consider this 
exemption from the pain of borrowing as a very considerable 
favour to, 


Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
Will you spend an evening with me? as you mention nothing 
of my coming to you, I suppose it is not convenient. May 
I have the pleasure of seeing you? I am almost always at 
home. 


I Carlyle, who in many ways was 
like Johnson, writing about his 
mother not long before her death, 
said :-' The thing I have dreaded 
all my days is perhaps now drawing 
nigh.' Corresþondence of Emerson 
and Carlyle, ed. 1883, ii. 226. 
2 'Mrs. Johnson, for the sake of 
country air, had. lodgings at Hamp- 


stead.' Life, i. 192. 
3 From the original in the posses- 
sion ofthe Rev. Clement Price, Selby 
Oak Vicarage, Birmingham. The 
address and date are torn off. It is 
possible that this letter was written 
to Mr. Levett, and refers to the 
mortgage mentioned in the letter to 
Miss Porter. 


To 



To Sa1Jluel RÙhardso1l. 


Aetat. 41.] 


21 


27. 


To THE PRINTER OF THE GENERAL ADVERTISER. 
[London, April 4, 175o.J Published in the Life, i. 227. 


28. 
l' 0 THE REVEREND MR. BIRCH. 
Gough Square, May 12, 1750. Published Ïn the Life, i. 226. 


29. 
To ]A:\IES ELPHINSTON. 
[London, 1750.] Published in the Life, i. 210. 


30. 
To ] AMES ELPHINSTON. 
[London], September 25, 1750. Published in the Lift, i. 2 II. 


To SAMUEL RICHARDSON I. 


31. 


DEAR SIR, March 9, 1750-1. 
Though Clarissa wants no help from external splendour, 
I was glad to see her improved in her appearance 2, but more 
glad to find that she was now got above all fears of prolixity, 
and confident enough of success to supply whatever had been 
hitherto suppressed. I never indeed found a hint of any such 
defalcation, but I regretted it; for though the story is long, 
every letter is short 3. 


I Published in the Corresþondence 
of Samuel Richardson, v. 281. 
2 The first edition of Clarissa 
(lï48) was in small print, in seven 
volumes duodecimo. The fourth 
edition (1751) was in large print, in 
seven volumes octavo; each contain- 
ing a table of contents, while at the 
end of the last volume is 'a collection 
of many of the Moral and Instruc- 
tive Sentiments in this History made 
by an Ingenious Gentleman and 
presented to the Editor.' 
3 In the Preface to the first two 


volumes Richardson says: -' It was 
resolved to present to the \Vodd the 
Two First Volumes by way of Speci- 
men; and to be detennined with 
regard to the rest by the Reception 
those should meet with. If that 
be favourô.ble, Two others may soon 
follow; the whole Collection being 
ready for the Press: That is to say, 
If it be not found necessary to ab- 
stract or omit some of the Letters, in 
order to reduce the Bulk of the 
\Vhole.' In the Preface to the fourth 
edition he says :-' It is proper to 
I wish 



22 


To John Newbery. 


[A.D. 1751. 


I wish you would add an index rerum X, that when the reader 
recollects any incident, he may easily find it, which at present 
he cannot do, unless he knows in which volume it is told; for 
Clarissa is not a performance to be read with eagerness, and 
laid aside for ever; but will be occasionally consulted by the 
busy, the aged, and the studious 2; and therefore T beg that 
this edition, by which I suppose posterity is to abide, may want 
nothing that can facilitate its use. 
I am, Sir, 
Yours, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


32. 
To JOHN NEWBERY 3. 


DEAR SIR, 
I have just now a demand upon me for more money than 
I have by me: if you could conveniently help me with two 
pounds it will be a favour to 
Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


April 18, 1751. 
Endorsed-' 20th April. Received of Mr. Newbery the sum of two 
guineas for the use of ]\fr. Johnson, pr me. 


observe with regard to the þresent 
Edition that it has been thought fit 
to restore many Passages, and 
several Letters which were omitted 
in the former merely for shortening- 
sake. These are distinguished by 
Dots or inverted Full-points. And 
it is intended to print them sepa- 
rately, for the sake of doing justice 
to the Purchasers of the former Edi- 
tions.' 
I Richardson's last novel, Sir 
Charles Grandison, very likely in 
consequence of Johnson's request, 
repeated as it was in his letter of 
September 26, 1753, was furnished 
with a copious 'Index, Historical 
and Characteristical,' as well as with 


'THOS. Lucy.' 


one to the 'Similes and Allusions.' 
In this latter we find such entries as 
the following :-' GRANDISON, Sir 
Charles, His look, To a sun-beam, 
v. 332. His friends in the nuptial 
procession, To the Satellites attend- 
ing a primary planet.' 
2 Lord Macaulay had read Sir 
Charles Grandison so often that 'he 
thought it probable that he could re- 
write it from memory.' Trevelyan's 
111 acaulay, ed. 1877, i. 133. A curious 
proof of the popularity of Clarissa 
in France is shown by the fact that 
Lovelace is given in Littré's Diction- 
ary as a French word. I t is de- 
fined as élégant slductcur. 
3 This and the next two Letters 
To 



Aetat. 41.] 


To John Newbery. 


23 


33. 


To JOHN NEWBERY. 


SIR, 
I beg the favour of you to send me by the bearer a guinea, 
for which I will account to you on some future production. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


July 29, 1751. 
Endorsed-' 29th July. Received of Mr. Newbery the sum of one 
guinea for the use of Mr. Johnson. 


'THos. Lucy.' 
The following entry is in Newbery's hand: 'Lent Mr. Johnson, 
July 30, -L I I.' 


we
e first published in Prior's Life 
oj Goldsmith, ed. 1837, i. 340. 
Goldsmith pleasantly introduces 
John N ewbery in the Vicar of Wake- 
field, ch. xviii, as a traveller who 
came up to a little ale-house in which 
the Vicar was detained by illness 
and by want of money. 'This person 
was no other than the philanthropic 
bookseller in St. Paul's Churchyard, 
who has written so many little books 
for children: he called himself their 
friend, but he was the friend of all man- 
kind. He was no sooner alighted, but 
he was in haste to be gone; for he 
was ever on business of the utmost 
importance, and was at that time 
actually compiling materials for the 
history of one Mr. Thomas Trip. I 
immediately recollected this good- 
natured man's red pimpled face; 
for he had published for me against 
the Deuterogamists of the age, and 
from him I borrowed a few pieces to 
be paid at my return.' According 
to a writer in the Euroþean Maga- 
zine for August, 1793, p. 92, 'Dr. 
Goldsmith used to tell many pleasant 
stories of N ewbcry, who, he said, 
was the patron of more distressed 


authors than any man of his time.' 
He is that 'great philosopher Jack 
Whirler' of The Idler, No. 19, 
'whose business keeps him in per- 
petual motion, and whose motion 
always eludes his business.' Haw- 
kins writes of him as 'a man of a 
projecting head, a good understand- 
ing, and great integrity; who by a 
fortunate connection with Dr. James, 
the physician, and the honest exer- 
tions of his own industry became the 
founder of a family.' Hawkins's 
Johnson, p. 364. He was the vendor 
of Dr. James's famous powder, in 
which Goldsmith had such faith that 
he took it in his last illness, in de- 
fiance of his doctors, and probably 
thereby increased the violence of the 
attack. Forster's Goldsmith, ii. 418. 
Horace Walpole, who had no less 
faith in it, thought that 'Goldsmith 
might have been saved, if he had 
continued it, but his physician inter- 
posed.' Letters, vi. 72. Fielding 
praises it in Amelia, Bk. viii. ch. 9, 
and Cowper felt' bound to honour it.' 
Southey's Cowþer, v. 226. See also 
ib. p. 126. For an interesting ac- 
count of N ewbcry and his connection 
To 



24 


To John Newbery. 


[A.D. 1751. 


34. 


To JOHN NEWBERY. 
DEAR SIR, Aug. 24, 175 1 . 
I beg the favour of you to lend me another guinea, for 
which I shall be glad of any opportunity to account with you, 
as soon as any proper thing can be thought on, or which I will 
repay you in a few weeks. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Endorsed-' 24th August. Received of Mr. Newbery the sum of 
one guinea for the use of Mr. Johnson, pr me, 


with Dr. James see A Bookseller of 
the Last Century, by Charles \Velsh. 
London, 1885. 
I t is likely that the first of the 
three sums was an advance and not 
a loan, for Johnson was at this time 
contributing a Life of (tzeynel to 
The Student, a Monthly Miscellany 
published by Newbery. This Life 
appeared in three successive numbers, 
probably those for May, June and 
July, 1751. In some of the numbers 
the name of the month is omitted. 
In 1758 Johnson was again working 
for Newbery, who was the proprietor, 
in whole or in part, of the Idler. 
The advances or the loans began 
again, as the two following entries 
show :- 


, May 19, 1759. 
I promise to pay to Mr. Newbery 
the sum of forty-two pounds nineteen 
shillings and ten pence on demand, 
value received. 
[42 19s. IOd. SAM: JOHNSON.' 
, 1'.1 arch 20, 1760. 
I promise to pay to Mr. Newbery 


'TH05. Lucy.' 


the sum of thirty pounds upon de- 
mand. 
,[,30 os. od. SAM: JOHNSON.' 
Prior's Goldsmith, i. 341. 
From April 15, 1758 to April 5, 
1760 Johnson wrote his Idlers for a 
weekly newspaper in which N ewbery 
had some part. Life, i. 330. Ac- 
cording to Hawkins, 'a share in the 
profits of this paper was Johnson's 
inducement to write.' Hawkins's 
Johnson, p. 364. When the Idlers 
were collected in volumes they were 
published by Newbery, one-third of 
the profits going to him and two- 
thirds to the author. In an account 
between the two men of the sale of 
an edition in two volumes of 1500 
copies N ewbery took ,[,42 IS. 2d. 
and Johnson [84 2S. 4d. Life, i. 335. 
It is probable that the money for 
which the receipt is given in the text 
was an advance on future profits. 
See the Introduction to my edition 
of Johnson's Essays in 'The Temple 
Library,' p. 36. 


To 



Aetat.42.] 


To Willianz Strahan. 


25 


35. 
To 'WILLIAM STRAHAN I. 
DEAREST SIR, Nov. 1, 175 1 . 
The message which you sent me by Mr. Stuart 2 I do not 
consider as at all your own, but if you were contented to be 
the deliverer of it to me, you must favour me so far as to 
return my answer, which I have written down to spare you the 
unpleasing office of doing it in your own words. You advise 
me to write, I know with very kind intentions, nor do I intend 
to treat your counsel with any disregard when I declare that in 
the present state of the matter 'I shall ?lot write' -otherwise 
than the words following :- 
'That my resolution has long been, and is 110t now altered, 
and is now less likely to be altered, that I shall ?lot see the 
Gentlemen Partners 3 till the first volumc is in the press, which 
they may forward or retard by dispensing or not dispensing 
with the last message.' 


I From the original in the posses- 
sion, first, of Mr. Frederick Barker, 
of 41 Gunterstone Road, \Yest Ken- 
sington, \V., and subsequently of the 
late Mr. S. J. Davey, of 47 Great 
Russell Street, W. C. 
William Strahan, who was born in 
Edinburgh in 1715, at an early age 
established himself as a printer in 
London. In 1770 he purchased from 
Mr. George Eyre a share of the 
patent for King's Printer; he was a 
member of Parliament from 1774 to 
1783, and he died in 1785. In con- 
junction either with Millar or Cadell 
he was the publisher of works of 
Blackstone, Blair, Gibbon, Hume, 
Johnson, Robertson, and Adam 
Smith; and he was the printer of 
Johnson's Dictionary. 
2 Francis Stuart, or Stewart, was 
one of the five Scotchmen whom 
Johnson employed as amanuenses in 
the work of his Dictionary. Life, i. 
187. He died early, as is shown by 
the next letter but one. In ] 780 


Johnson writing about him said:- 
, The memory of him is yet fresh in 
my mind; he was an ingenious and 
worthy man.' Ib. iii. 421. Accord- 
ing to a writer in the Gent. Mag. 
for 1799, p. 1171, who had been 
employed in Strahan's printing works, 
Stewart in a night ramble in Edin- 
burgh in 1736 with some of his 
companions 'met with the mob con- 
ducting Captain Porteous to be 
hanged; they were next day exa- 
mined about it before the Town 
Council, when, as Stewart used to 
say, "we were found to be too drunk 
to have any hand in the business." 
He gave an accurate account of it in 
the EdznburL![h flfagazille of that 
time.' This last statement throws 
doubt on the whole narrative, for the 
Scots Magazine, the first published 
at Edinburgh, did not begin till 1739. 
3 'The Gentlemen Partners' in the 
Dictionary were R. and J. Dodsley, L. 
Hawes, C. Hitch, J. and P. Knapton, 
T. and T. Longman, and A. Millar. 
Be 



26 


To-. 


[A.D. 1751. 


Be pleased to lay this my determination before them this 
morning, for I shall think of taking my measures accordingly 
to-morrow evening, only this that I mean no harm, but that 
my citadel shall not be taken by storm while I can defend it, 
and that if a blockade is intended, the country is under the 
command of my batteries, I shall think of laying it under 
contribution to-morrow Evening I. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most obliged, most obedient, 
and most humble servant, 
To Mr. Strahan. SAlVI: J OI-INSON. 
36. 
To-. 
[London], December 10, 1 75 I. 
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue for May 10, 18 75, 
Lot 83 is 'an autograph Letter of Dr. Johnson, one page quarto, dated 
December 10, 175 I. "I thought it necessary to inform you how it 
happened that I seemed to give myself so little trouble about my Book, 
when I gave you so much." He speaks of Lord Orrery's favourable 
opinion of "our Charlotte's Book 2," and mentions other matters con- 
nected with literary subjects.' It sold for ;(,2 5 S . 


I Johnson was to receive for the 
Dictionary [1575 in all, paying his 
assistants himself. Boswell says that 
'he was often goaded to dispatch, 
more especially as he had received 
all the copy-money by different drafts 
a considerable time before he had 
finished his task.' Life, i. 287. It 
seems probable that the partners 
had threatened 'a blockade' by 
refusing the weekly contribution. 
To this, Johnson replied that he was 
the real master of the position; if he 
were to throw up the work in the 
middle the loss which would be in- 
curred would fall on them and be very 
heavy. By the evening of the next 
day therefore they must let him have 
some money, or he would strike work. 
2 'Our Charlotte' was Mrs. Len- 
nox. She had published in the pre- 
YI0US winter a novel under the title 


of TIle Memoirs of Harriet Stuart. 
'One evening at the Club,' writes 
Hawkins, 'Johnson proposed to us 
the celebrating the birth of her first 
literary child, as he called her book, by 
a whole night spent in festivity. Our 
supper was elegant, and he had 
directed that a magnificent hot apple- 
pie should make a part of it, and this 
he would have stuck with bay-leaves, 
because, forsooth, Mrs. Lennox was 
an authoress, and h3.d WrItten verses; 
and further, he had prepared for her 
a crown oflaurel, with which, but not 
till he had invoked the Muses by 
some ceremonies of his own inven- 
tion, he encircled her brows. About 
five his face shone with meridian 
splendour, though his drink had 
been only lemonade.' Hawkins's 
Johnson, p. 286. 
In ;\lessrs, Sotheby and Co.'s Auc- 
Tn 



Aetat. 42.] 


To Willian/, Strahan. 


27 


37. 


To \VILLIAM STRAHAN I. 


DEAR SIR, 
What you tell me I am ashamed never to have thought 
on-I wish I had known it sooner-Send me back the last 
sheet; and the last copy for correction. If you will promise 
me henceforward to print a sheet a day, I will promise you to 
endeavour that you shall have every day a sheet to print, 
beginning next Tuesday. 


To Mr. Strahan. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most, &c. 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To 'VILLIAM STRAHAN 2. 


38. 


DEAR SIR, 
I must desire you to add to your other civilities this one, to 
go to Mr. Millar 3 and represent to him the manner of going on, 
and inform him that I know not how to manage. I pay three 
and twenty shillings a week to my assistants, in each instance 
having much assistance from them, but they tell me they shall 


tion Catalogue for November 27, 1889, 
Lot 102 is a letter of Mrs. Lennox 
dated November 21, 1751, in which 
she writes: 'Mr. Johnson has in- 
fonned me of the generous concern 
you exprest for the severity of my 
critics, and your good intentions to 
rescue my book from their censures, 
and restore me to Mr. Millar's good 
opinions.' 
I From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 
41 Gunterstone Road, West Ken- 
sington. First published in my 
edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson, 
vol. vi. A ddmda, p. xxv. 
In all likelihood Johnson is writing 
about the Dictio1lary. As the first 
edition was in folio, a sheet consistcd 


of four pages. Johnson writing on 
April 3, 1753, says, 'I began the 
second vol. of my Dictionary, room 
being left in the first for Preface, 
Grammar, and History, none of them 
yet begun.' Life, i. 255. As the 
book was published on April 15, 
1755 (ib. i. 290, n. 1), the printing 
must have gone on very rapidly, 
when a start was once made. By 
coþy he means his ma;zuscrzpt for 
þrhzting. 
2 This and the next letter are from 
the original in the possession of Mr. 
John \\Taller, of 2 Artesian Road, 
\Vestbourne Grove. First published 
in my edition of Boswell's Life of 
Johnson, vol. vi. Addcnda, p. xxv. 
3 For Andrew ì\lillar,sceþost, p. 3 0 . 
11c 



28 


To - Levett. 


[A.D. 1752. 


be able to pull better in method, as indeed I intend they shall. 
The point is to get two Guineas I. 
Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To Mr. Strahan. 


To \VILLIA:\l STRAHAN. 


39. 


SIR, 
I have often suspected that it is as you say, and have told 
Mr. Dodsley of it. It proceeds from the haste of the amanuensis 
to get to the end of his day's work. I have desired the passages 
to be clipped close, and then perhaps for two or three leaves it 
is done. But since poor Stuart's 2 time I could never get that 
part of the work into regularity, and perhaps never shall. I 
will try to take some more care, but can promise nothing; when 
I am told there is a sheet ur two I order it away. You will fmd 
it sometimes close; when I make up any myself, which never 
happens but whcn I have nobody with me, I generally clip it 
close, but one cannot always be on the watch. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To - LEVETT, ESQ., In Lichfield 3. 


40. 


SIR, 
I am extremely obliged to you for the long credit and kind 
forbearance which I have received from you. I have sold a 
property principally to satisfy you, and in consequence of that 


I The writer in the Gent. I/I ago 
quoted ante, p. 25, says that after 
the printing had gone on some time 
'the proprietors of the Dz.ctionary 
paid Johnson through Mr. Strahan 
at the rate of a guinea for every 
sheet of MS. copy delivered. The 
copy was written upon quarto post, 
and in two columns each page. 
Johnson wrote in his own hand the 
words and their explanation, and 
generally two or three words in each 


column, leaving a space between 
each for the authorities, which were 
pasted on as they were collected by 
the different amanuenses; and in 
this mode the MS. was so regular 
that the sheets of MS. which made 
a sheet of print could be very exactly 
ascertained.' 
2 See ante, p. 25, n. 2. 
3 From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. J. H. Hodson of Lich- 
field. 


sale 



To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


29 


Aetat. 42.] 


sale can now give you a Draught of one hundred pounds upon 
a Bookseller of credit payable on the first of IVlay and realizable 
in the meantime X. If you have not any evidence of the money 
paid for me by IVlr. Aston I know not how to ascertain it, for 
though I could make oath to a payment I cannot certainly tell 
of how much, though I think, of twelve pounds 2. Would you 
be pleased to terminate the affair with IVlr. J. Sympson 3? I 
have not mentioned it to him, because I neither would employ 
anyone you may not desire to be employed, nor oblige you to 
confess any dislike. I know not indeed that anybody needs to 
be employed, for I do not doubt your candour. 
I am, Sir. with great respect, 
Your humble servant, 
SA
VI: JOHNSON. 
For any money above one hundred pounds I must beg you 
to accept my Note for six months. 
March 7, 1752. 


41. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR. 
[London], March 17, 1752. Mentioned in the Life, i. 238. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR. 


42. 


March 18, 1752. Published in the Life, i. 238. 


I I have little doubt that the 
property which Johnson sold was 
his share, or part of his share 
in The Rambler, the last num- 
ber of which was published a week 
after the date of this letter. On 
April 1 of the previous year he had 
entered into an agreement with Cave 
about the sale of the second edition of 
the first seventy numbers. (Nichols's 
Lit. A nee. viii. 415, where the 
year 1759 is clearly a misprint for 
1751, for it is described as the 24th 
George II.) That Johnson subse- 
qnently sold the whole of his share 
in the future profits we know from 
Chalmers. Biog. Diet. xix. 58. 


This letter darkens the gloom in 
which we see the Rambler bring his 
paper to its close. His wife was on 
her death-bed, and now we learn 
that he was harassed for the pay- 
ment of a debt which he had incurred 
for the sake of his mother. 
2 In a letter to Levett dated Dec. I, 
1743, he says: 'I will pay the 
interest (I think twelve pounds) in 
two months.' Life, i. 160. See ante, 
p. 16, for mention of a receipt which 
Mr. Aston had. 
3 For Joseph Simpson, one of 
Johnson's schoolfellows, who be- 
came a barrister but 'fell into a dis- 
sipated course of life,' see Life, iii. 28. 
To 



3 0 


To A lldrew Millar. 


[A.D. 1752. 


43. 


To THE REVEREND MR. BIRCH I. 


SIR, 
I beg the favour that if you have any catalogue by you 
such as the Bib!. Thuaneana 2, or any other of value, that you 
will lend it for a few days to 
Sir, 
Your most humble servt, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Nov. 4, 175 2 . 
If you leave it out directed, we will call for it. 
To the Reverend Mr. Birch. 


44. 
To ANDREW MILLAR 3. 
SIR, July II. 
You seem to have entirely mistaken l\1r. lVlacbean's errand 
by objecting want of money-no money was asked-the whole 
affair is that l\1r. l\Iacbean and lYlr. Hamilton want to wager 
as you and I have done, and so lay the money in your hand, 
you have therefore to put the money into 1Vlacbean's hand to 
be put back into yours. I have no share in the matter but 
that I lend Macbean the money, that is you lend on my account. 
You may easily see my end in it, that it will make both 


Z From the original in the British 
Museum :-Sloane MSS., 4310. 300. 
2 The Catalogus Bibliothecæ Thu- 
anæ was published in Paris in 1679. 
The library had belonged to the 
historian De Thou (Thuanus), whose 
Hist01'ia sui Temþoris in 138 books 
Johnson towards the dose of his life 
had thoughts of translating. Life, 
iv. 410. He inspired, it seems, his 
young friend 'Windham to undertake 
the task, who however did not make 
much progress. Diary of the Right 
Hon. W. WÙzdham, pp. 21, 50. 'En 
mourant de Thou laissait une biblio- 
thèque qui est restée célèbre.' Nouv. 
Biog. Gén. xlv. 259. Johnson men- 
tions the Thuanian Catalogue in his 


Account of the Harleian Library, 
Works, v. 189. 
3 From the original in the pos- 
session of Mr. Alfred Morrison of 
F onthill House. 
Andrew Millar was 'a bookseller 
in the Strand, who took the principal 
charge of conducting the publication 
of Johnson's Dictionary. When the 
messenger who carried the last sheet 
to him returned, Johnson asked him, 
" \Vell, what did he say? "-" Sir, 
(answered the messenger) he said, 
thank GOD I have done with him." 
"I am glad (replied Johnson, with 
a smile) that he thanks GOD for 
any thing.'" Life, i. 287. See also 
L
tters of Hume to Strahan, p. xxiii. 
1V1- 



Aetat.43.] 


To Andrew Millar. 


3 1 


M - and H - push on the business, which is all that we both 
wish. 
It is therefore my advice that it be complied with, since, as 
you see, there is no expense in it, but remember that I don't 
care, and will not have it mentioned as any obligation on me, 
but as done for the common interests I. 
When I sent back your books I returned by mistake to you 
a Young upon OpÙwz 2 , which I had from l\lrs. Strahan; please to 
let me have it back. 
Pray be so kind as to procure me the three following books- 
Law's Serious Call. 8vo. 3 
Helsham's Philosophy 4. 
Present State of England-last 5. 
I am, Sir, &c. 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To Mr. Millar. 


I Johnson had two Macbeans 
among his amanuenses, one of whom 
he befriended in his old age. Life, 
i. 187. Mr. Hamilton was most 
likely Archibald Hamilton, the prin- 
ter, 'who had kept his coach (Mrs. 
\\Yilliams said) several years sooner 
than Mr. Strahan. Johnson. "He 
was in the right. Life is short. The 
sooner that a man begins to enjoy 
his wealth the better.'" Ib. ii. 226. 
Hamilton, it seems from this letter, 
had some share in printing the Dic- 
tionary, though a great deal of it was 
done by Strahan. Ib. iv. 321. Ap- 
parently for the sake of getting the 
work hastened, some kind of wager 
had been made by the author and 
the publisher. Johnson perhaps had 
wagered that he could supply copy 
or manuscript faster than Millar 
could get it set up in type. Macbean, 
who perhaps was at the head of 
Johnson's assistants, now wished to 
wager against the printer. Millar 
was to hold the stakes. Macbean 
had no money, and Johnson had no 


money, but Millar could trust Johnson 
and therefore was to advance it on 
his account. He was to put the 
amount of the wager into Macbean's 
hands, who would at once pay it back 
to him as the holder of the stakes. 
If Macbean lost, Millar, who would 
hand over the stake to Hamilton, 
would come on Johnson, who, in 
his turn, would no doubt deduct 
the money from Macbean's weekly 
wages. 
2 A Treatise on Oþium. By Ceo. 
Young, M.D. Published by Millar in 
1753. Gent. Mag. 1753, p. 202. 
3 '\Vhen I was at Oxford,' said 
Johnson, 'I took up Law's Serious 
Call to a Holy Life, expecting to find 
it a dull book (as such books generally 
are) and perhaps to laugh at it. But 
I found Law quite an overmatch for 
me.' Life, i. 68. 
4 A Course of Lectures in Natural 
Philosoþhy, by the late Rich. Hels- 
ham, M.D. Ge1zt.lIIag. 1739, p. 276. 
5 Chamberlayne's Present State of 
Great Britain-the last edition. 


To 



"2 
,') 


To Wz'llia1Jz Strahan. 


[A.D. 1753. 


45. 


To THE REVEREND MR. BIRCH I. 


SIR, 
I beg the favour of you to lend me Blount's Censura 
Scriptorum 2. I shall send my servant for it on IVlonday. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Jan. 20. To the Reverend Mr. Birch. 
Endorsed-20 Jan. 1753. 


46. 
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH VVARTON. 
[London], March 8, 1753. Published in the Life, i. 253. 


To \VILLIAM STRAHAN 3. 


47. 


SIR, 
I have enclosed the Scheme 4 which I mentioned yesterday 
in which the work proposed is sufficiently explained. 
The Undertaker, Mr. Bathurst S, is a Physician of the U niver- 
sity of Cambridge, of about eight years standing, and will per- 


I From the original in the British 
Museum :-Sloane fliSS. 4310. 302. 
2 Sir Thomas Pope Blount's Cen- 
sura CelebriorumA uthorum. London, 
1690, folio. 'It is a bibliographical 
dictionary of a peculiar kind, and 
may be described as a record of the 
opinions of the greatest writers of all 
ages on one another.' Among the 
celebriores authores passed over in 
silence are Spenser, Shakespeare and 
Milton. Dict. Nat. Biog., v. 256. 
3 From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 
Gunterstone Road, West Kensing- 
ton. First published in my edition 
of the Life, vol. vi. Addenda, p. xxi. 
4 The Scheme, which if not written 
by Johnson was certainly revised by 
him, is given in the Addenda to my 
edition of the Life, vi. xxii. I twas 


for a comprehensive Geograþhical 
Dictionary. 
5 Bathurst was Johnson's beloved 
friend, of whom' he hardly ever spoke 
without tears in his eyes.' Life, i. 
190, n. 2. He took his degree of 
Bachelor of Medicine at Peterhouse, 
Cambridge, in 1745, and did not, it 
should seem, proceed to the higher 
degree. By 1753 he would have been 
of eight years' standing. In 1757 he 
was at the Havannah, where 'he fell 
a sacrifice to the destructive climate.' 
Johnson wrote to Beauclerk: ' The 
Havannah is taken ;-a conquest 
too dearly obtained; for Bathurst 
died before it. Vix Priamus tanti 
totaque Troja fuit.' Ib. i. 242, n. I. 
The quotation is from Ovid, He- 
roides, i. 4. 


form 



Aetat. 43.] 


To Sanzuel Richardso1l. 


33 


form the work in such a manner as may satisfy the publick. 
No advice of mine will be wanting, but advice will be all that 
I propose to contribute unless it should be thought worth while 
that I should write a preface, which if desired I will do and put 
my name to it. The terms which I am commissioned to offer 
are these :- 
I. A guinea and half shall be paid for each sheet of the copy. 
2. The authour will receive a Guinea and half a week from 
the date of the contract. 
3. As it is certain that many books will be necessary, the 
Authour will at the end of the work take the books furnished 
him in part of payment at prime Cost, which will be a consider- 
able reduction of the price of the Copy; or if it seems as 
you thought yesterday no reduction, he will allow out of the 
last payment fifty pounds for the use of the Books and return 
them. 
4. In two months after his first demand of books shall be 
supplied, he purposes to write three Sheets a week and to con- 
tinue the same quantity to the end of the work, unless he shall 
be hindered by want of Books. He does not however expect 
to be always able to write according to the order of the 
Alphabet but as his Books shall happen to supply him, and 
therefore cannot send any part to the press till the whole is 
nearly finished. 
5. He undertakes as usual the Correction. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


March 22nd [probably 1753]. 
To Mr. Strahan. 


48. 


To SAMUEL RICHARDSON I. 
DEAR SIR, May 17, [1753]. 
As you were the first that gave me any notice of this 
paragraph, I send it to you with a few little notes, which I wish 


I First published in Original Let- 
ters, edited by Rebecca \Varner, 
181 7, p. 20 9. Published in Croker's 
VOL. L D 


Boswell, p. 95, under the date of 
May 17, 1755. 
This letter was written when a 


you 



34 


To Sa1Jzuel RÙhardso1l. 


[A.D. 1753. 


you would read. It is well when men of learning and penetration 
busy themselves in these enquiries; but what is their idleness 
is my business. Help indeed now comes too late for me I, when 
a large part of my book has passed the press. 
I shall be glad if these strictures appear to you not un- 
warrantable; for whom should he who toils in settling a 
language desire to please but him who is adorning it 2 ? I hope 
your new book is printing. Macte nova virtute. 
I am, dear Sir, 
l\lost respectfully and most affectionately, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM : JOHNSON. 


49. 
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON 3. 
DEAR SIR, September 26, 1753. 
I return you my sincerest thanks for the volumes of your 
new work; but it is a kind of tyrannical kindness to give only 
so much at a time, as makes more longed for; but that will 
probably be thought, even of the whole, when you have given it. 
I have no objection but to the preface, in which you first 
mention the letters as fallen by some chance into your hands, 


large part of one of Johnson's books 
had passed the press, and when a 
new book by Richardson was likely 
to be printing. This suits May, 
1753. On April 3 of that year John- 
son recorded :-' I began the second 
vol. of my Dictionary, room being 
left in the first for Preface, Grammar, 
and History, none of them yet be- 
gun.' Life, i. 255. The first edition 
of Sir Charles Grandison bears the 
date of 1754, but the first four of the 
six volumes were published before 
the remaining two, and were reviewed 
in the Gentleman's lYIagazine for 
November, 1753, p. 511. Johnson, 
as his next letter shows, had received 
a present of some of the volumes as 
early as September 26, and Miss 
Talbot was reading them still earlier. 


Carter and Talbot Corres. ii. 13 1 , 9. 
1 "Well might Johnson say that 
"the English Dictionary was written 
with little assistance of the learned," 
for he told me that the only aid which 
he received was a paper containing 
twenty etymologies, sent to him by a 
person then unknown, who he was 
afterwards informed was Dr. Pearce, 
Bishop of Rochester.' Life, i. 29 2 . 
2 Johnson's admiration of Richard- 
son was very great. He was one of 
the very few men whom he 'sought 
after.' Ib. iii. 314. In an introduc- 
tory note to the Rambler, No. 97, he 
describes him as 'an author who has 
enlarged the knowledge of human 
nature.' 
3 Published first in the Richard- 
son Corresþo1ltlence, v. 283. 


and 



Aetat. 44.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Birch. 


35 


and afterwards mention your health as such, that you almost 
despaired of going through your plan. If you were to require 
my opinion which part should be changed, I should be inclined 
to the suppression of that part which seems to disclaim the 
composition I. \Vhat is modesty, if it deserts from truth? Of 
what use is the disguise by which nothing is concealed 2 ? 
You must forgive this, because it is meant well. 
I thank you once more, dear Sir, for your books; but cannot 
I prevail this time for an index ?-such I wished, and shall wish, 
to Clarissa 3. Suppose that in one volume an accurate index 
was made to the three works- but while I am writing an 
objection arises-such an index to the three would look like the 
preclusion of a fourth, to which I will never contribute; for if 
I cannot benefit mankind, I hope never to injure them. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most obliged and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH 4. 


50. 


SIR, 
If you will be pleased to lend me Clarendon's History for 
a few days, it will be a favour to, 
Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM = JOHNSON. 


To the Rev d Dr. Birch. 
Endorsed-January, 1754. 


J In the Richardson Corresþond- 
ence this is printed comþetition. 
2 In the preface Richardson says: 
-' How such remarkable collections 
of private letters fell into the editor's 
hands he hopes the reader will not 
think it very necessary to enquire.' 
After describing how he had in 
Pamela 'exhibited the beauty and 
superiority of virtue in an innocent 
and unpolished mind,' and in Clarissa 
D2 


in 'a young lady of higher fortune 
and born to happier hopes,' he con- 
tinues :-' Here the editor appre- 
hended he should be obliged to stop 
by reason of his precarious state of 
health and a variety of avocations 
which claimed his first attention.' 
3 See ante, p. 22. 
4 From the original in the British 
Museum :-Sloalle hiSS., 4310. 304. 


To 



36 


To the Reverend JosePh U7 ar tO'll. 


[A.D. 1754. 


51. 


To THE REVEREND JOSEPH 'VARTON I . 
DEAR SIR, March 8th, 1754. 
I cannot but congratulate you upon the conclusion of a 
work, in which you have borne so great a part with so much 
reputation. I immediately determined that your name should 
be mentioned, but the paper having been some time written, 
Mr. Hawkesworth, I suppose, did not care to disorder its text, 
and therefore put your eulogy in a note. He and every other 
man mention your papers of Criticism with great commendation, 
though not with greater than they deserve 2. 
But how little can we venture to exult in any intelJectual 
powers or literary attainments, when we consider the condition 
of poor Collins. I knew him a few years ago full of hopes and 
full of projects, versed in many languages, high in fancy, and 
strong in retention. This busy and forcible mind is now under 
the government of those who lately would not have been able 
to comprehend the least and most narrow of its designs. What 
do you hear of him? are there hopes of his recovery? or is he 
to pass the remainder of his life in misery and degradation? 
perhaps with complete consciousness of his calamity 3. 


I First published in '\\.T ooll's Me- 
moirs of Dr. Joseþh TVarton, p. 21 9. 
2 On March 8, 1753, Johnson, 
writing for' the authors and proprie- 
tors of The Adventurer,' offered Mr. 
"\Varton two guineas for each paper 
that he should contribute. Lift, i. 
253. In the last number, published 
on March 9, 1754, the day after the 
date of Johnson's letter, Hawkes- 
worth, the editor, stated in a note :- 
'The pieces signed Z are by the Rev. 
Mr. Warton, whose translation of 
Virgil's Pastorals and Georgics would 
alone sufficiently distinguish him as 
a genius and a scholar.' 
3 Johnson thus described Collins's 
state in 'the character' which he 
wrote of him in 1763 :-' The latter 
part of his life cannot be remembered 


but with pity and sadness. He lan- 
guished some years under that de- 
pression of mind which enchains the 
faculties without destroying them, 
and leaves reason the knowledge of 
right without the power of pursuing 
it. These clouds which he per- 
ceived gathering on his intellects he 
endeavoured to disperse by travel, 
and passed into France; but found 
himself constrained to yield to his 
malady, and returned. He was for 
some time confined in a house of 
lunatics, and afterwards retired to 
the care of his sister in Chichester, 
where death, in 1756, came to his 
relief.' Johnson's Works, viii. 4 02 . 
Johnson was mistaken in the year of 
his death. He died on June 12, 
1759, unnoticed either by the Gentle- 
You 



Aetat. 44.] 


To Wz"llz"a11Z Strahan. 


37 


You have flattered us, dear Sir, for some time, with hopes 
of seeing you; when you come you will find your reputation 
increased, and with it the kindness of those friends who do 
not envy you; for success always produces either love or 
hatred. I enter my name among those that love, and that love 
you more and more in proportion as by writing more you are 
more known; and believe, that as you continue to diffuse among 
us your integrity and learning, I shall be still with greater 
esteem and affection, 


Dear Sir, 
Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


52. 
To \VILLlA
l STRAHAN I. 
[Perhaps written at Oxford in July, 1754.] 


SIR, 
I shall not be long here, but in the meantime if Miss 
Williams wants any money pray speak to 1\11'. l\1illar and supply 


man's MagazÙte or the Annual 
Register. Goldsmith, writing of him 
a few weeks earlier, had described 
him as 'happy if insensible of our 
neglect, not raging at our ingratitude.' 
Enquiry into the Present State of 
Polite Learning, ch. x. To this 
account Johnson added the following 
in his Lives of the Poets :-' Such 
was the fate of Collins, with whom 
I once delighted to converse, and 
whom I yet remember with tender- 
ness. . .. His disorder was not 
alienation of mind, but general laxity 
and feebleness, a deficiency rather of 
his vital than intellectual powers. 
What he spoke wanted neither judg- 
ment nor spirit j but a few minutes 
exhausted him.' Works, viii. 403. 
See þost, Letter of April 15, 1756. 
Johnson thus mentions him in a note 
on Cymbeline in his edition of Shake- 
speare (vii. 358) :-' For the obsequies 
of Fidele a song was written by my 
unhappy friend, :\lr. \Yilliam Collins 


of Chichester, a man of uncommon 
learning and abilities. I shall give 
it a place at the end in honour of his 
memory.' 
] From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 
Gunterstone Road, \\T est Kensington. 
First published in my edition of the 
Life, vol. vi, Addenda, p. xxvii j 
where in a note I state :-' Miss 
\\Tilliams (the blind lady) came to 
live with Johnson after his wife's 
death in 1752 (ib. i. 232). The fact 
that Strahan is asked to supply her 
with money after speaking to Mr. 
Millar seems to show that this letter 
was written some time before the 
publication of the Dictionary in April 
1755. Millar" took the principal 
charge of conducting its publication,' 
and Johnson "had received all the 
copy-money, by different drafts, a 
considerable time before he had 
finished his task" (ib. i. 287). 
'His" journey" may have been his 
her 



3 8 


To the Reverend.f oseþh "fVarton. [A.D. 1754. 


her, they write to me about some taxes which I wish you would 
pay. 
My journey will come to very little beyond the satisfaction 
of knowing that there is nothing to be done, and that I leave 
few advantages here to those that shall come after me. 
I am, Sir, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


My compliments to Mrs. Strahan. 
To Mr. Strahan. 


53. 
To THE REVEREND THO;\IAS \V ARTON. 
[London], July 16, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 270. 
54. 
To ROBERT CHA::\'IBERS. 
[London], November 21, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 274. 
55. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS 'V ARTON. 
[London], November 28, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 275. 
56. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS "TARTON. 
[London], December 21, 1754. Published in the Life, i. 276. 
57. 
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH 'VARTON I. 
DEAR SIR, [London], Dec. 24 th , 1754. 
I am sat down to answer your kind letter, though I know 
not whether I shall direct it so as that it 'may reach you; the 


visit to Oxford in the summer of 1754. 
He went there, because, " I cannot," 
he said, "finish my book [the Dic- 
tionary] to my mind without visiting 
the libraries" (ib. i. 270). Accord- 
ing to Thomas \Varton "he collected 
nothing in the libraries for his Dic- 
tionary" (ib. n. 5). It is perhaps to 
this failure that the latter part of the 
letter refers.' 
Since writing this note I have 
discovered that Johnson visited Ox- 
ford in July or early in August, 1755. 


An Account of the Life 0/ Dr. John- 
SOil, p. 109. That he had intended 
to pay a visit there that summer is 
shown by his letter to T. \Varton 
dated June 24. Life, i. 290. His 
letter to the same friend, dated 
August 7, leads one to think that he 
had examined manuscripts during his 
stay. On the whole I am inclined to 
assign this letter to July, 1754, though 
it may belong to the following year. 
I First published in WoolI's Me- 
moirs of Dr. Joseþh UTarton, p. 229. 
miscarriage 



Aetat. 45.J 


To the Reverend Tho1Jzas TVarion. 


39 


miscarriage of it will be no great matter, as I have nothing 
to send but thanks, of which I owe you many; yet, if a few 
should be lost, I shall amply find them in my own mind; and 
professions of respect, of which the profession will easily be 
renewed while the respect continues: and the same causes 
which first produced can hardly fail to preserve it. Pray let me 
know, however, whether my letter finds its way to you. 
Poor dear Collins !-Let me know whether you think it would 
give him pleasure if I should write to him I. I have often been 
near his state 2, and therefore have it in great commiseration. 
I sincerely wish you the usual pleasures of this joyous season, 
and more than the usual pleasures, those of contemplation on 
the great event which this festival commemorates. 
I am, dear Sir
 
Your most affectionate 
and humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


58. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS 'V ARTON. 
[London ], February 4, I7 5 5. Pu bl ished in the Life, i. 27 8 . 
59. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS 'VARTON. 
[London], February 4, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 27 8 . 
60. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS \V ARTON. 
[London], February 13, 1755. Puhlished in the Life, i. 279. 


I Johnson wrote to Thomas \Yar- 
ton on November 28, 1754 :-' Poor 
dear Collins! Would a letter give 
him any pleasure? I have a mind 
to write.' T. \Varton says in a note 
on this passage :-' Collins was at 
this time on a visit to .Mr. \Varton ; 
but labouring under the most deplor- 
able languor of body and dejection of 
mind.' Life, i. 276, 11. 2. \Varton 
in a letter to \ViIliam H ymers says: 
-' In 1754 he came to Oxford for 
change of air and amusement, where 
he stayed a month; I saw him fre- 
quently, but he was so weak and 


low that he could not bear conversa- 
tion. Once he walked from his 
lodgings opposite Christ Church to 
Trinity College [\Varton's College], 
but supported by his servant.' N. 
Drake's Glealzer, iv. 475. 
2 Boswell describing Johnson's 
hypochondria says :-' I am aware 
that he himself was too ready to call 
such a complaint by the name of 
madness.' Ib. i. 65. 'I inherited,' 
Johnson said, , a vile melancholy from 
my father, which has made me mad 
all my life, at least not sober.' Ib. 
V. 21 5. 


To 



4 0 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1755. 


61. 
To THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD. 
[London], February 7, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 261. 
62. 
To THE REVEREND THO
IAS \VARTON. 
[London], February, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 279. 
63. 
To THE VICE-CHANCELLOR OF OXFORD. 
London, February 26, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 282. 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 1875, 
for .{ß 6s. 


64. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS 'VARTON. 
[London], March 20, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 282. 
65. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS 'V ARTON. 
[London], March 25, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 283. 
66. 
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH. 
[London], March 29, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 285. 
67. 
To MR. BURNEY. 
Gough Square, April 8, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 286. 
68. 


SIR, 
I think your draught better than M
r. Ballard's; and the 
case quite clear on Mr. B-'s side; at least so far as that Dr. 
Wilson 2 can have no money till the debts due out of that money 
which he claims are paid. The law or custom of the Church 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


I From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 
Gunterstone Road, West Kensington. 
I t was sold by :Messrs. Christie and 
Co. on June 5, 1888, for 1,3 3 s . 
2 There were at this time two \Vil- 
sons, Thomas and Christopher, Pre- 


bendaries of\Vestminster. Le Neve's 
Fast. Ecc. Angl. iii. 366. Taylor, who 
was also a prebendary, might have 
had some dispute with one of them. 
He succeeded Thomas \Vilson in one 
of his livings in 1784. Post, Letter 
of 
Iay 13, 1784. 


must 



Aetat. 45.] 


To .l!.'d1JIUnd Hector. 


4 1 


must determine the rest. It seems equitable enough that he 
should claim that money which was received for him, and 
only wanted to be divided, if there were no prior claim, or 
debt due from it. 
\Vhat is the matter that one never sees you? I am moved I, 
and I fancy I shall move again, but how often soever I move, 
I shall be with great constancy, 
Your affectionate, &c., 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 


April II, 1755. 
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor. 


69. 
To ED;\IUND HECTOR 2. 


DEAR SIR, 
I was extremely pleased to find that you have not forgotten 
your old friend, who yet recollects the evenings which we have 
passed together at Warren's 3 and the (illegible 4). As Nature, 
I suppose, operates very uniformly, I believe you as well as 
I are come now to that part in which the gratifications and 
friendships of younger years operate very powerfully on the 


1 Johnson, writing this word at the 
end of one line and the beginning of 
the next, divides it 'mo-ved.' By 
, move' he seems to imply change of 
residence; but there seems no doubt 
that from about 1749 to 1759 he lived 
in Gough Square. Life, iii. 405, n. 6. 
The next letter moreover, written 
only four days later, is dated Gough 
Square. It is possible that the move 
was from one house to another in the 
same Square. 
2 First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S. iii. 301. 
Edmund Hector was a medical 
man in practice at Birmingham, the 
son, it is probable, of George Hector 
of Lichfield. 'My mother,' writes 
Johnson of his own birth, 'had a very 
difficult and dangerous labour, and 
was assisted by George Hector, a 
man-midwife of great reputation. I 
was born almost dead, and could 


not cry for some time. When he had 
me in his arms he said, " Here is a 
brave boy.'" An Account of the 
Life of Dr. JOhlZS01Z, 180 5, p. 9. 
Johnson recorded in his Dz"ary in 
1781 :-' Hector is an old friend, the 
only companion of my childhood that 
passed through the school with me. 
We have always loved one another.' 
Life, iv. 135. Hector's sister, .l\1rs. 
Careless, was, said Johnson, 'the 
first woman with whom I was in 
love. It dropt out of my head im- 
perceptibly. If I had married her,' 
he afterwards added, · it might have 
been as happy for me.' Ib. ii.460-1. 
3 See atlte, p. 8, n. 3. 
4 'Swan' is suggested by the pub- 
lisher of this letter, and with great 
probability. For \Yarren's house, 
where Johnson and Hector had 
lodged, was 'over against the Swan 
Tavern in High Street.' Ib. i. 85, ?Z. 3. 
minù. 



4 2 


To Ed7Jzund Hector. 


[A.D. 1755. 


mind. Since we have again renewed our acquaintance do 
not let us intermit it so long again. 
The Books I think to send you in a strong box by the carrier, 
and shall be obliged if you will remit the money to my mother, 
who may give you a receipt in my name I. 
I wish, come of wishes what will, that my work may please 
you, as much as it now and then pleased me, for I did not find 
dictionary making so very unpleasant as it may be thought 2. 
M:r. Baskevill 3 called on me here. I suppose you visit his 
printing house, which will I think be something very con- 
siderable.-What news of poor Warren? I have not lost all 
my kindness for him, for when I remember you I naturally 
remember all our connexions, which are more pleasing to me 
for your sake. 


I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Gough Square, Fleet Street, Apr. 15, 1755. 
To Mr. Hector in Birmingham. 


I The books were probably the 
two volumes of the Dictiol1ary which 
were published about the day on 
which this letter was written. Life, i. 
290, 11. I. See þost, Letter of Oct. 
7, I ï 56, where Johnson refers to Hec- 
tor's kindness in this matter. 
2 .When Stockdale expressed his 
surprise that Johnson 'in his easy 
circumstances should think of pre- 
paring a new edition of a tedious 
scientific dictionary, "Sir," said he, 
" I like that muddling work." , Ib. ii. 
203, 11. 3. See þost, Letter of Oct. 6, 
177 2 . 
3 vV. Hutton in his History oj 
Birmingham, ed. 1795, p. 120, gives 
an interesting account of John Bas- 
kerviUe, the famous Birmingham 
printer. Born in 1706, he was first a 
stone-cutter, then a writing-master, 
next a japanner. 'His inclination 
for letters induced him to turn his 
thoughts towards the press. He sunk 
[,600 before he could produce one 


letter to please himself. His first 
attempt in 1756 was a quarto edition 
of Virgil, price one guinea. He died 
in 1775. Noone could be found to 
buy his types. They were refused 
by both Universities, and they lay a 
dead weight till purchased by a 
literary society at Paris in 1779 for 
[,3700.' From them were printed the 
great editions of Voltaire's vVorks 
published in 1785-9. Johnson in 
1769 gave to the Library of Trinity 
College, Oxford, a copy of the Virgil 
which he had promised, he said, 
many years before. Life, ii. 67. 
Macaulay, in the third chapter of his 
History (ed. 1874, i. 356), describes 
how' the magnificent editions of Bas- 
kerville went forth to astonish all the 
librarians of Europe.' I doubt much 
whether anything could have aston- 
ished Bodley's Librarians during the 
latter half of the eighteenth century. 
The Library shows signs of great 
neglect during that period. 


To 



Aetat. 45.] 


To 1J1iss 


43 


70. 


To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London], May 6, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 288. 
71. 
To THE REVEREND THO!\IAS \VARTON. 
[London], May 13, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 289. 
72. 
To THE REVEREND THO\IAS \VARTON. 
[London], June 10,1755. Published in the Life, i. 290 
73. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS \VARTON. 
rLondon], June 24, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 290. 
74. 


To MISS 


IVIADAM, 
I know not how liberally your generosity would reward 
those who should do you any service, when you can so kindly 
acknowledge a favour \vhich I intended only to myself. That 
accidentally hearing that you were in town, I made haste to 
enjoy an interval of pleasure which I found would be short, 
was the natural consequence of that self-love which is always 
busy in quest of happiness; of that happiness which we often 
miss when we think it near, and sometimes find when we 
imagine it lost. \Vhen I had missed you, I went away disap- 
pointed; and did not know that my vexation would be so 
amply repaid by so kind a letter. A letter indeed can but 
imperfectly supply the place of its writer, at least of such 
a writer as you; and a letter which makes me still more desire 
your presence, is but a weak consolation under the necessity 


July 19, 1755. 


I First published in the Piozzz" 
Letters, ii. 400. 
Mrs. Piozzi says that it was' ad- 
dressed to a lady who desires that 
her name may be concealed.' Ib. 
p. 385. Baretti states in a marginal 
note that the lady-' with whom I 


brought him acquainted' -was Miss 
Cotterell, one of the two daughters of 
Admiral Cotterell, who lived opposite 
Johnson in Castle Street, Cavendish 
Square (Life, i. 244). 
For Baretti, see Lift. i. 302. 


of 



44 


To the Reverend Dr. Birch. 


[A.D. 1755. 


of living longer without you: with this however I must be 
for a time content, as much content at least as discontent will 
suffer me; for lVIr. Baretti being a single being in this part 
of the world, and entirely clear from all engagements, takes the 
advan tage of his independence, and will come before me; for 
which if I could blame him, I should punish him; but my own 
heart tells me, that he only does to me, what, if I could, I should 
do to him. 
I hope Mrs. _I, when she came to her favourite place, found 
her house dry, and her woods growing, and the breeze whistling, 
and the birds singing, and her own heart dancing. And for you, 
Madam, whose heart cannot yet dance to such musick, I know 
not what to hope; indeed I could hope every thing that would 
please you, except that perhaps the absence of higher pleasures 
is necessary to keep some little place vacant in your remem- 
brance for, 


:Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 


75. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS \VARTON. 
[London], August 7, 1755. Published in the Life, i. 29 0 . 
76. 


SIR, 
If you can lend me for a few days Wood's Ath. Ox. 3 , it will 
be a favour. My servant will call for it on Monday. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH 2. 


Saturday. 
To the Reverend Dr. Birch. 
Endorsed-Nov. 8, 1755. 


I Mrs. Porter the actress, accord- 
ing to Baretti, who says, 'Johnson 
esteemed her much, whatever Mrs. 
Piozzi may insinuate of his contempt 
for theatrical folks. She lived at 
High-wood-ill' [sic]. Johnson wrote 
to Baretti on July 20, 1762 :-' Miss 
Cotterell still continues to cling to 


Mrs. Porter.' Life, i. 369; and on 
Dec. 21 of the same year :-' Miss 
Cotterell is still with Mrs. Porter.' 
Ib. p. 382. 
2 From the original in the British 
Museum :-Sloa1ze MSS. 4310. 
3 Wood's Athenæ OXOllicnses. 


TlI 



Aetat.46.] 


To Miss Boothby'. 


45 


77. 


To LEWIS PAULI. 


DEAR SIR, 
I would not have you think that I forget or neglect you. 
I have never been out of doors since you saw me. On the 
day after I had been with you, I was seized with a hoarseness, 
which still continues; I had then a cough so violent, that I once 
fainted under its convulsions. I was afraid of my lungs. My 
Physician bled me yesterday and the day before, first almost 
against his will, but the next day without any contest 2. I had 
been bled once before, so that I have lost in all 54 ounces 3. 
I live on broaths, and my cough, I thank God, is much abated, 
so that I can sleep. You [sic] find it impossible to fix a time for 
coming to you, but as soon as the physician gives me leave, 
if you can spare a bed, I will pass a week at your house 4. 
Change of air is often of use, and, I know, you will let me live 
my own way. I have been pretty much dejected. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Monday, Dec. 23 5 , 1755. 
To Mr. Paul. 


78. 
To MISS BOOTHBY 6. 
DEAR MADAM, Dec. 30, 1755. 
I t is again midnight, and I am again alone. With what 
meditation shall I amuse this waste hour of darkness and 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, p. 100. Corrected by me from 
the original in the possession of the 
late Mr. S. J. Davey, of 45, Great 
Russell Street, London. For Lewis 
Paul, see ante, p. 6. 
2 In Mr. Croker's edition this is 
printed' without my [word wanting].' 
The word is not wanting, but difficult 
to decipher. 
3 For Johnson's use of bleeding 
see Life, iii. 15 2 , 11. 3. 
4 Paul's house was perhaps at 


Kensington. His death on April 25, 
1759, is recorded in the Gentleman's 
Magazine for that year (p. 242) as 
taking place at Kensington Gravel 
Pits. 
5 Monday was the 22nd. 
6 This and the five other letters to 
Miss Boothby were first published in 
the Piozzi Letters, ii. 391-400. 
Hill Boothby, only daughter of 
Brooke Boothby and Elizabeth Fitz- 
herbert, and sister of the sixth 
baronet, Sir Brooke Boothby, was 
vacuity? 



46 


To lVIiss Boothb)'. 


[A.D. 1755. 


vacuity? If I turn my thoughts upon myself, what do I per- 
ceive but a poor helpless being, reduced by a blast of wind to 


born Oct. 27, 1708, died Jan. 16, 
1756. Johnson had become ac- 
quainted with her on his visit to 
Derbyshire, mentioned atzte, p. 3, 
when the daughters of some of the 
Derbyshire squires showed their 
good taste and good sense by desir- 
ing the company of the young genius, 
poor and unpolished as he was. 
Life, i. 83. Her friend Miss Mey- 
nell, of whom' Johnson said that she 
had the best understanding he ever 
met with in any human being' (ib.), 
had married Miss Boothby's relation, 
William Fitzherbert, father to the 
first Lord St. Helens; a man more 
, generally acceptable' than any 
known to Johnson. Ib. iii. 148. 
Nevertheless in the year 1772, in 
some fit of despondency, after going 
one morning to see the convicts 
executed, , he went to his own stable 
and hanged himself with a bridle.' 
Ib. ii. 228, 11. 3. His wife died in 
1753, 'in the flower of her age, dis- 
tinguished for her piety and fine 
accomplishments,' as we read in the 
Gentleman's Magazine for that year 
(p. 148) in a notice likely enough 
written by Johnson. He told Mrs. 
Thrale, if we can trust that lady's 
account, that 'her husband felt at 
once afflicted and released.' Her 
virtues had been almost oppressive. 
Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 160. Her six 
motherless children for the next three 
years were under Miss Boothby's 
care. An Account of tIle Life 0/ Dr. 
Johnson, 1805, p. 36. She and John- 
son kept up a long correspondence; 
thirty-two of her letters were pre- 
served and published, and but six of 
his. Ib. pp. 33-144. 'I never did 
exchange letters regularly,' he wrote 
to Dr. Taylor,' but with dear Miss 
Boothby.' Post, p. 64. Mrs. PiozzÌ 
gives the following account of her, 


but how much of it is true cannot be 
known. There is surely, to say the 
least, great exaggeration in it. ' Dr. 
Johnson told me she pushed her piety 
to bigotry, her devotion to enthusiasm; 
that she somewhat disqualified herself 
for the duties of this life by her 
perpetual aspirations after the next; 
such was however the purity of her 
mind, he said, and such the graces 
of her manner, that Lord Lyttelton 
and he used to strive for her prefer- 
ence with an emulation that occa- 
sioned hourly disgust, and ended in 
lasting animosity: "You may see 
(said he to me when the Poets' Lives 
were printed) that dear Boothby is 
at my heart still. She would delight 
in that fellow Lyttelton's company 
though, all that I could do ; and I 
cannot forgive even his memory the 
preference given by a mind like hers.' 
PiozzÌ's Anecdotes, p. 160. 'Did you 
not tell him he was a rascal?' Mrs. 
Piozzi might have been asked in his 
own words (Life, iv. 10) by anyone 
who had any belief in the latter part 
of her story. That Miss Boothby 
was a lady of some learning is shown 
by 'a Hebrew Grammar, or the 
sketch of one, composed for her own 
use, and written in a character 
eminently beautiful that was pre- 
served by her family.' Piozzi Letters, 
ii. 379. 
She is the original of Miss Saint- 
hill in The Sþiritual Quixote led. 
1773, iii. 99-183), while Sir William 
and Lady Forester, with whom' this 
very sensible maiden lady' was stay- 
ing, are drawn from the Fitzherberts. 
, Her Ladyship,' we are told, 'was a 
little inclined to the mystic, or rather 
the seraphic theology.' Ib. p. 101. 
Boswell, who quotes with approval 
the third of Johnson's letters to Miss 
Boothby, says 'that the excellence 
weakness 



Aetat. 46.] 


To 11liss Boothby. 


47 


weakness and miscry? How my present distemper was brought 
upon me I can give no account, but impute it to some sudden 
succession of cold to heat; such as in the common road of life 
cannot be avoided, and against which no precaution can be taken. 
Of the fallaciousness of hope, and the uncertainty of schemes, 
every day gives some new proof; but it is seldom heeded, till 
something rather felt than seen, awakens attention. This illness, 
in which I have suffered something and feared much more, has 
depressed my confidence and elation; and made me consider all 
that I have promised myself, as less certain to be attained or 
enjoyed. I have endeavoured to form resolutions of a better 
life; but I form them weakly, under the consciousness of an 
external motive. Not that I conceive a time of sickness a time 
improper for recollection and good purposes, which I believe 
diseases and calamities often sent to produce, but because no 
man can know how littlc his performance will answer to his 
promises: and designs are nothing in human eyes till they arc 
realised by execution I. 
Continue, my Dearest, your prayers for me, that no good 
resolution may be vain. You think, I believe, bettcr of me than 
I deserve. I hope to be in time what I wish to be; and what 
I have hitherto satisfied myself too readily with only wishing. 
Your billet brought me what I much wished to have, a proof that 
I am still remembercd by you at the hour in which I most desire it! 
Thc Doctor is anxious about you. He thinks you too negli- 
gent of yourself; if you will promise to be cautious, I will 
exchange promises, as we have already exchanged injunctions 2. 


of the others is not so apparent.' 
Life, iv. 57, n. 3. They are in truth 
in an unnatural strain. They were 
all written when Johnson was de- 
pressed by a severe illness and when 
she was dying. He seems more- 
over to affect a style that would have 
better become a spiritual novel. 
I have not followed Mrs. Piozzi's 
arrangement of these letters. I have 
little doubt that they were all written 
within a few days, and that Johnson 
in dating two of them Jan. 1 and 3, 


1755, mistook the year. 
x On his birthday, nine years 
later, he recorded: -' I have now 
spent fifty-five years in resolving; 
having from the earliest time almost 
that I can remember been forming 
schemes of a better life. I have done 
nothing.' Life, i. 483. 
2 In her 'billet' dated Sunday 
night (Dec. 28),-endorsed by J ohn- 
son' December, 1755,'-she said:-' I 
beg you would be governed by the 
good Doctor while you are sick; 
H owcver, 



4 8 


To lJfiss Boothby. 


[A.D. 1755. 


However, do not write to me more than you can easily bear; do 
not interrupt your ease to write at all. 
Mr. Fitzherbert sent to-day to offer me some wine; the people 
about me say I ought to accept it, I shall therefore be obliged 
to him if he will send me a bottle I. 
There has gone about a report that I died to-day, which 
r mention, lest you should hear it and be alarmed. You see 
that I think my death may alarm you; which for me is to think 
very highly of earthly friendship. I believe it arose from the 
death of one of my neighbours. You know Des Cartes's argu- 
ment, 'I think, therefore I am.' It is as good a consequence, 
, I write, therefore I am alive.' I might give another, , I am alive, 
therefore I love Miss Boothby'; but that I hope our friendship 
may be of far longer duration than life 2. 
I am, dearest Madam, 
with sincere affection, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


79. 
To MIss BOOTHBY. 
My SWEET ANGEL, Dec. 3 1 , [1755]. 
I have read your book 3, I am afraid you will think without 
any great improvement; whether you can read my notes I know 
not. You ought not to be offended; I am perhaps as sincere as 
the writer. In all things that terminate here I shall be much 
guided by your influence, and should take or leave by your 
direction; but I cannot receive my religion from any human 
hand 4. I desire however to be instructed, and am far from 
thinking myse!f perfect. 


when you are well. do as you please.' 
An Account, &c., p. 129. The' good 
Doctor' was Lawrence-Johnson's 
'physician and friend,' sprung from 
Milton's 'Lawrence, of virtuous father 
virtuous son.' Life, ii. 296, n. I. 
I 'I am glad you sent for the 
hock,' she replied. 'Mr. Fitzherbert 
has named it more than once.' An 
Account, &c., p. 130. 
,. 'Had she lived some years longer 


Johnson would in all probability 
have become quite an enthusiast in 
point of religion, and have gone mad 
with it. He was so strongly inclined 
to it.'-BARETTI. . 
3 She had written in her last 
letter :-' As an answer to one part 
of your letter I have sent you a 
little book.' An Account, &c., p. 
130. 
4 'He would have certainly taken 
I beg 



Aetat. 46.] 


To flfiss Boothby 


49 


I beg you to return the book when you have looked into it. 
I should not have written what is in the margin, had I not had 
it from you, or had I not intended to shew it you. 
It affords me a new conviction, that in these books there 
is little new, except new forms of expression; which may be 
sometimes taken, even by the writer, for new doctrines. 
I sincerely hope that God, whom you so much desire to serve 
aright, will bless you, and restore you to health, if he sees it 
best. Surely no human understanding can pray for any thing 
temporal otherwise than conditionally. Dear Angel, do not 
forget me. IVly heart is full of tenderness. 
It has pleased God to permit me to be much better; which 
I believe will please you. 
Give me leave, who have thought much on medicine X, to 
propose to you an easy, and I think a very probable remedy for 
indigestion and lubricity of the bowels. Dr. Lawrence has told 
me your case. Take an ounce of dried orange-peel finely pow- 
dered, divide it into scruples, and take one scruple at a time 
in any manner 2; the best way is perhaps to drink it in a glass 


it from her without ever suspecting ledge of physic (he said) I learnt 
he did.'-BARETTI. from Dr. James, whom I helped in 
'I would be a Papist if I could,' writing the proposals for his Dic- 
he said to Boswell. 'I have fear tionary and also a little in the Dic- 
enough; but an obstinate rationality tionary itself. I also learnt from Dr. 
prevents me.' Life, iv. 289. She Lawrence, but was then grown more 
wrote to him in an earlier letter :-' I stubborn.' Ib. iii.22. See þost, Letters 
am desirous that in the great and of May 23, 1773, and June 19, 17 8 3. 
one thing necessary you should 2 'Next morning [April I, 1775] I 
think as I do; and I am persuaded won a small bet from Lady Diana 
you sometime will.' An Account, Beauc1erk, by asking Dr. Johnson as 
&c., p. 100. It is probable that her to one of his particularities, which 
views were somewhat the same as her Ladyship laid I durst not do. It 
the poet Cowper's, who wrote shortly seems he had been frequently ob- 
before Johnson's death :-' \Ve re- served at the Club to put into his 
joice in the account you give us of pocket the Seville oranges, after he 
Dr. Johnson. His conversion will had squeezed the juice of them into 
indeed be a singular proof of the the drink which he made for him- 
omnipotence of Grace; and the more self. Beauclerk and Garrick talked 
singular the more decided.'- of it to me, and seemed to think 
Southey's Cowþer, xv. 150. that he had a strange unwillingness 
I 'Dr. Johnson,' writes Boswell to be discovered. We could not 
with justice, , was a great dabbler in divine what he did with them; and 
physic.' Life, iii. 152. 'My know- this was the bold question to be put. 
VOL. I. F of 



-50 


To Miss Boothby. 


[A.D. 1756. 


of hot red port X, or to eat it first and drink the wine after 
it. If you mix cinnamon or nutmeg with the powder, it were 
not worse; but it will be more bulky, and so more troublesome. 
This is a medicine not disgusting, not costly, easily tried, and if 
not found useful, easily left off. 
I would not have you offer it to the Doctor as mine. 
Physicians do not love intruders; yet do not take it without his 
leave. But do not be easily put off, for it is in my opinion very 
likely to help you, and not likely to do you harm; do not take 
too much in haste; a scruple once in three hours, or about five 
scruples a day, will be sufficient to begin, or less, if you find any 
aversion. I think using sugar with it might be bad; if syrup, 
use old syrup of quinces: but even that I do not like. I should 
think better of conserve of sloes. Has the Doctor mentioned 
the bark? in powder you could hardly take it; perhaps you 
might take the infusion. 
Do not think me troublesome, I am full of care. I love you 
and honour you; and am very unwilling to lose you. 
ADieu je VOltS rec01ll1Jlallde 2. 
I am, Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


My compliments to my dear Miss 3. 
I saw on his table the spoils of 
the preceding night, some fresh peels 
nicely scraped and cut into pieces. 
"0, Sir, (said I) I now partly see 
what you do with the squeezed 
oranges which you put into your 
pocket at the Club." JOHNSON. "I 
have a great love for them." Bos- 
WELL. "And pray, Sir, what do you 
do with them? You scrape them it 
seems, very neatly, and what next? " 
JOHNSON. "Let them dry, Sir." 
BOSWELL. " And what next?" 
JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, you shall know 
their fate no further." BOSWELL. 
"Then the world must be left in the 
dark. It must be said (assuming a 
mock solemnity) he scraped them, 
and let them dry, but what he did 
with them next he never could be 


prevailed upon to tell." JOHNSON. 
" Nay, Sir, you should say it more 
emphatically :-he could not be pre- 
vailed upon, even by his dearest 
friends, to tell." , Life, ii. 330. 
I Port is not in Johnson's Dic- 
tionary, though he gives claret, hock, 
and sherry. I have often in my 
boyhood heard port offered to a 
guest as 'red wine,' while sherry was 
spoken of as 'white wine.' 
2 'The true phrase is J e vous re- 
commande à Dieu.'-BARETTI. Once 
when Dr. Johnson was himself very 
ill he broke out into French. 'Ah, 
þriez Dieu þour moi,' he exclaimed 
suddenly to Miss Burney, grasping her 
hand. Mme. D'Arblay'sDiary,ii.295. 
3 No doubt Mr. Fitzherbert's eldest 
daughter. 


To 



Aeta.t. 46.] 


To Miss Boothby. 


51 


80. 


To MISS BOOTHBY I. 


DEAREST MADAM, 
Though I am afraid your illness leaves you little leisure 
for the reception of airy civilities, yet I cannot forbear to pay 
you my congratulations on the new year; and to declare my 
wishes, that your years to come may be many and happy. In 
this wish indeed I include myself, who have none but you on 
whom my heart reposes 2; yet surely I wish your good, even 
though your situation were such. as should permit you to 
communicate no gratifications to, 
Dearest, dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


January I, 1755 [175 6 ]. 


81. 


To MISS BOOTHBY. 


DEAREST MADAM, 
Nobody but you can recompense me for the distress which 
I suffered on Monday night. Having engaged Dr. Lawrence to 
let me know, at whatever hour, the state in which he left you; 
I concluded when he staid so long, that he staid to see my 
dearest expire. I was composing myself as I could to hear 
what yet I hoped not to hear, when his servant brought me 
word that you were better. Do you continue to grow better? 
Let my dear little Miss inform me on a card. I would not 
have you write lest it should hurt you, and consequently hurt 
likewise, . 


Jan. 3, 1755 [175 6 ]. 


Dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


, This letter is quoted by Boswell, his step-daughter: -' Every heart 
Life, iv. 57, n. 3. must lean to somebody, and I have 
2 Four years later, on the death of nobody but you.' Post, Letter of 
his mother, he wrote to Lucy Porter, Feb. 6, 1759. 
E 2 To 



52 


To Miss Boothby. 


[A.D. 1756. 


82. 
To MISS BOOTHBY. 
DEAREST DEAR, Saturday, (Jan. 3, 175 6 ]. 
I am extremely obliged to you for the kindness of your 
enquiry. After I had written to you, Dr. Lawrence came, and 
would have given some oil and sugar, but I took Rhenish I 
and water, and recovered my voice. I yet cough much, and 
sleep ill. I have been visited by another Doctor to-day; but 
I laughed at his Balsam of Peru 2. I fasted on Tuesday, Wed- 
nesday, and Thursday, and felt neither hunger nor faintness 3. 
I have dined yesterday and to-day, and found little refresh- 
ment. I am not much amiss; but can no more sleep than if 
my dearest lady were angry at, 


Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM : JOHNSON. 


83. 
To LEWIS PAUL. 


January 6, I7 56. 
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co's. Auction Catalogue for May 10, 1875, 
Lot 86 is an autograph Letter of Johnson to Lewis Paul, dated Jan. 6, 
1756, with the post-mark' Peny Post.' Says that he is better, 'but 
cannot yet go into the cold air.' It sold for!. 2 18s. 


84. 


To l\IISS BOOTHBY. 
HONOURED MADAM, 
I beg of you to endeavour to live. I have returned your 
Law, which however I earnestly entreat you to give me 4. I am 


· Rhenish is not defined in J ohn- 
son's Dictionary, but he defines Hock 
as Old strong Rhenish. 
2 This doctor was, I suspect, 
James, who dealt in balsams. Ante, 
p. 8, n. 3. 
3 'As to regular meals (said John- 
son), I have fasted from the Sunday's 
dinner to the Tuesday's dinner with- 
out any inconvenience.' Life, iii. 306. 
4 On October 1 I, 1755, she wrote 


January 8, 1756. 


to him :"-' Have you read Mr. Law? 
not cursorily but with attention? I 
wish you would consider him. His 
Aþþeal to all that doubt I think the 
most clear of all his later writings.' 
An Account, &c., p. 127. It was 
probably this book of hers which he 
had borrowed and was now returning. 
Law's Serious Call to a Holy Life he 
had read at Oxford. Ante, p. 3 0 , 


n. I. 


In 



Aetat. 46.] 


To the Revere'nd Dr. Birch. 


53 


in great trouble; if you can write three words to me, be pleased 
to do it. I am afraid to say much, and cannot say nothing 
when my dearest is in danger. 
The all-merciful GOD have mercy on you. 
I am, Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: J OHNSON I. 


85. 
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH 2. 
SIR, Jan. 9, 175 6 . 
Having obtained from lVlr. Garrick a benefit for a gentle- 
woman of [word illegible 3 J, distressed by blindness, almost the 
only casualty that could have distressed her, I beg leave to 
trouble you, among my other friends, with some of her tickets 4. 


I She died on the 16th of this 
month. 'I have heard Baretti say,' 
writes Mrs. Piozzi, 'that when this 
lady died Johnson was almost dis- 
tracted with his grief.' PiozzÌ's 
Anecdotes, p. 161. 
In writing to him Miss Boothby 
now and then quoted passages from 
his letters to her. I have gathered 
the following fragments from the 
missing correspondence. 
'Few are so busy as not to find 
time to do what they delight in 
doing.' An Account, &c., p. 42. 
'The best intention may be trouble- 
some.' Ib. p. 55. 
'Those whom we condescend to 
call Great.' Ib. 
'The effect of education is very 
precarious. But what can be hoped 
without it? Though the harvest 
may be blasted, we must yet cultivate 
the ground.' Ib. p. 73. 
, The common dialect of daily cor- 
respondence.' Ib. p. 121. 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, p. 101. 
'Of Dr. Birch Johnson said he 
had more anecdotes than any man.' 
Life, v. 255. 'He was,' says Haw- 


kins, 'but a dull writer. Johnson 
was used to speak of him in this 
manner :-" Torn is a lively rogue; 
he remembers a great deal, and can 
tell many pleasant stories; but a pen 
is to Torn a torpedo, the touch of it 
benumbs his hand and his brain: 
Tom can talk, but he is no writer." , 
Hawkins's Life of Johnson, p. 209. 
Horace \\T alpole describes him as a 
worthy, good-natured soul, full of 
industry and activity, and running 
about like a young setting-dog in 
quest of anything, new or old, and 
with no parts, taste, or judgment.' 
Letters, vii. 326. He ran about in 
more senses than Qne, for he once 
walked round London, crossing the 
Thames twice so as to take in South- 
wark. The excursion took him six 
hours, 'and he computed the circuit 
at above twenty miles.' Hawkins, 
p. 208. 
3 This word, which is something 
like Lozernitz, is, perhaps, the name 
of the place in SO\lth \-Vales whence 
Miss \Villiams carne. 
4 Seven years later Boswell, in 
the account which he gives of his 
first meeting with Johnson, says:- 
Your 



S4 


To LewzS Paul. 


[A.D. 1756. 


Your benevolence is well known, and was, I believe, never 
exerted on a more laudable occasion. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


86. 
To LEWIS PAUL I. 


SIR, 
I am much confused with an accident that has happened. 
When your papers were brought me, I broke open the first 
without reading the superscription, and when I had opened 
it, found it not to belong to me. I did not read it when I found 
my mistake. I see it is a very full paper, and will give you 
much trouble to copy again, but perhaps it will not be neces- 
sary, and you may mend the seal. I am sorry for the mischance. 
You will easily believe it was nothing more. If you send it me 
again, the child 3 shall carry it. 
For bringing Mrs. Swynfen"', I know not well how to attempt 
'He then addressed himself to This Letter was sold by Messrs. 
Davies: "'What do you think of Sotheby and Co. on May 10, 1875, 
Garrick? He has refused me an for 1;3 4 S . 
order for the play for Miss \ViHiams, 2 This conjectural date, which is 
because he knows the house will be given by Mr. Croker, I have adopted, 
fun, and that an order would be as well as his arrangement of the 
worth three shillings." Eager to other undated letters of the same 
take any opening to get into conver- series. For Lewis Paul, see ante, 
sation with him, I ventured to say, p.6. 
"0 Sir, I cannot think Mr. Garrick :'; The child was perhaps his black 
would grudge such a trifle to you." servant who had entered his service 
" Sir," said he, with a stern look, " I in 1752. Life, i. 239. Post, p. 66, he 
have known David Garrick longer is described as 'my boy.' 
than you have done: and I know no 4 See ante, p. 6, n. 3, where it 
fight you have to talk to me on the is stated that' a daughter of John- 
subject.'" Boswell adds in a note: son's Godfather (Dr. Swynfen), after- 
-' That this was a momentary sally wards Mrs. Desmoulins, learnt the 
against Garrick there can be no art of pinking crapes by Paul's 
doubt; for at Johnson's desire he machine as his pupil.' He borrowed 
had, some years before, given a 1;200 from her, 'for which he gave a 
benefit-night at his theatre to this bond (afterwards repaid, and the 
very person, by which she had got bond given up and cancelled).' 
two hundred pounds.' Life, i. 392. French's Life of S. CrOlllþt01z, p. 255. 
I First published in Croker's Bos- How nearly Mrs. Swynfen was re- 
well, p. 101. lated to this lady I do not know. 


Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1755 [1756]2. 


it. 



Aetat. 46.] 


To lVIiss Cftrter. 


55 


it. I am not sure that her husband will be pleased, and I think 
it would look too much like making myself a party, instead o( 
acting the part of a common friend, which I shall be very 
ready to discharge. I should imagine that the best way would 
be to send her word when you will call on her, and perhaps 
the questions on which she is to resuscitate her remembrance, 
and come to her at her own house. I really know not how to 
ask her husband to send her, and I certainly will not take her 
without asking him. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To MISS CARTER I. 


87. 


1\IADAl\1, 
From the liberty of writing to you, if I have hitherto been 
deterred by the fear of your understanding, I am now encouraged 
to it by the confidence of your goodness. 
I am soliciting a benefit for Miss Williams, and beg that 
if you can by letters influence any in her favour, and who is 
there whom you cannot influence? you will be pleased to 
patronise her on this occasion. Yet, for the time is short, 
and as you were not in town, I did not till this day remember 
that you might help us, and recollect how widely and how 
rapidly light is diffused. 
To every joy is appended a sorrow. The name of Miss 
Carter introduces the memory of Cave. Poor dear Cave! 


I First published in Pennington's 
lIIemoirs of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, 
ed. 1816, i. 40. 
Miss Elizabeth Carter, commonly 
known in later life as 'the learned 
Mrs. Carter,' was one of the three 
ladies-Hannah More and Fanny 
Burney being the other two-with 
whom Johnson dined one day, when 
he said :-' Three such women are 
not to be found; I know not where 
I could find a fourth, except Mrs. 
Lennox, who is superior to them all.' 
Life, iv. 275. 


He had addressed to her an epi- 
gram both in Greek and Latin in the 
Gelltleman's .ðf agazine for 1738, p. 
210 (Johnson's Works, i. 170), and 
also the following, which, I believe, 
is only to be found in Pennington's 
Jt1 emoirs, i. 398 :- 
'Quid mihi cum Cultu? Probitas 
inculta nitescit, 
Et juvat Ingenii vita sine arte rudis. 
Ingenium et mores si pu1chra pro- 
bavit Elisa, 
Quid majus mihi spes ambitiosa 
dabit ?' 


lowed 



56 


To J ohll Ryla'nd. 


[A.D. 1756. 


lowed him much; for to him I owe that I have known you I. 
He died, I am afraid, unexpectedly to himself, yet surely un- 
burthened with any great crime; and for the positive duties of 
religion, I have yet no right to condemn him for neglect 2. 
I am with respect, which I neither owe nor pay to any other, 
Madam, 
Your most obedient 
and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Gough Square, 
Jan. 14, 1756. 


88. 
To JOHN RYLAND 3. 
SIR [London, January, 175 6 .] 
, 
I have obtained a benefit play for Miss Williams, which yet 
will not be for her benefit without the concurrence of her friends, 
among which she numbers you, and therefore has troubled [you] 
with tickets which she begs you will try to dispose among your 
acquaintance. \lVe both send our compliments to Mrs. Ryland, 
and to the young Scholar. 
I am. dear Sir, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To Mr. Ryland. 


I Under the signature of Eliza 
she had been an early contributor to 
the Gentleman's J1fagazine, of which 
Cave was editor and proprietor. Pen- 
nington's Memoirs, p. 37. 
2 Cave died on January 10, 1754. 
In the Memoir which Johnson wrote 
of him he says :-' He fell into a kind 
of lethargic insensibility, in which 
one of the last acts of reason which 
he exerted was fond
y to press the 
hand that is now writing this little 
narrative.' Johnson's Works, vi. 
433. 
3 From the original in the pos- 
session of the late Mr. S. J. Davey, 
of 47 Great Russell Street, London. 
'It is remarkable,' writes John 


Nichols, 'that Mr. Ryland should 
nowhere have been mentioned in 
Mr. Boswell's communicative Life 
of Johnson.' Lit. Anee. ix. 502. He 
is twice mentioned, but no more 
than mentioned; nevertheless he was 
one of Johnson's oldest and closest 
friends. Perhaps Boswell passed 
him over in silence, in return for his 
keeping from him the letters which 
he had received from Johnson. He 
was Hawkesworth's brother-in-law, 
and Hawkesworth Boswell attacked 
for his' provoking effrontery.' Life, 
i. 252. An interesting paper might 
be written on the intentional omis- 
sions in the Life of Johnson. 
John Ryland was a merchant, a 
To 



Aeta.t. 46.] 


To Sanzuel RÙhards01z. 


57 


89. 
To MR. CAVE I. 
DEAR SIR, [London, January, 175 6 .] 
I find this Gentleman knows more of Tickets than either 
you or I; and I wish you would be so good as to settle with 
him. I fancy printed ones may serve, on good strong paper. 
Let them be dated right. There should be for Box, Pit, and 
Galleries. 


To Mr. Cave. 


I am, Sir, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: J OHKSON. 


90. 
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON 2. 


Tuesday, Feb. 19, 1756. 


DEAR SIR, 
I return you - my sincerest thanks for the favour which you 
were pleased to do me two nights ago 3. Be pleased to accept 
of this little book, which is all that I have published this 
winter 4. The inflammation is come again into my eye 5, so 
that I can write very little. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most obliged 
and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To Mr. Richardson. 


good scholar, a staunch Whig of the 
old school, and a dissenter. He was 
a contributor to the Gentlemalz's 
Magazine, He constantly visited 
Johnson during his last illness, and 
supplied Nichols with several of the 
particulars in the article on Johnson 
in the Gentleman'.!;. fllagazine, 1784, 
P.957. 
I First published in the Gentle- 
man's Magazine for 1793, p. 19. 
Mr. Nichols conjectures with great 
probabiiity that this letter refers to 
Miss \Villiams's benefit. Cave was 
either the brother or the nephew of 
the founder of the Gentleman's M aga- 
zine who had died in 1754. 


:. First published in the Richard- 
son Corresþondence, v. 285. 
3 The nature of the favour may 
probably be inferred from his next 
letter to Richardson (post, p. 61). 
By his severe illness which affected 
his sight he must have been kept 
from earning money by his pen. 
4 'The little book' was either the 
Abridgmmt of the Dictionary, ad- 
vertised in the Gentleman's 1.Jl aga- 
zine for January, 1756, p. 45, or Sir 
Thomas Browne's Christian Morals 
with Life, advertised in the Gentle- 
man's fllagazine for March, p. 139. 
5 Four days earlier he had thought 
the inflammation cured, for on 
To 



58 


To Lewis Paul. 


[ A.D. 1756. 


91. 


To LEWIS PAULI. 


SIR, [London], vVednesday, [175 6 ]. 
I this morning found a letter, which as you sent when my 
eye was out of order, I had never read to this hour, and 
therefore, now I have read, I make haste to tell you that if 
I understand it right, that is, if Mr. Cave 2 be your landlord, 
I believe I can favour you, and, if the difficulty still continues, 
will endeavour it. They do not, I fancy, want the money, 
and then they may as well seize, if they must seize, for more 
or less, the property, I suppose, being equivalent to much more, 
and in no danger of being removed. I am very sorry I did not 
read the letter among the first things that, upon recovery, I was 
able to read; but having put it aside, it had the fate of other 
things for which the proper time has been neglected. Let 
me know what I shall do, or whether any thing at all is to 
be done. 
I am now thinking about Hitch 3. I am yet inclined to 
believe that he will rather lend money upon spindles, a security 
which he has found valid, than upon a property to be wrung by 
the law from Dr. James, who will not pay for three box tickets 
which he took 4. It is a strange fellow. Hitch has a dislike of 


February 15 he composed a prayer 
entitled, '\\Then my Eye was re- 
stored to its Use.' Prayers a1zd 
1I1editatio?ts, p. 27. According to 
Boswell, 'he did not see at all with 
one. of his eyes, though its appear- 
ance was little different from that of 
the other.' Life, i. 41. This seems 
borne out by his letter to lVlrs. Thrale 
of May 24, 1773, where he says:- 
, My fever has left me a very severe 
inflammation in the seeing eye.' See 
also Life, ii. 264, where he says, 'By 
an inflammation in my eye I could 
not for some time read your letter.' 
Nevertheless writing to Miss Porter 
on May 29, 1770, he says :-' I am 
very sorry that your eyes are bad; 
mine continue pretty good, but they 


are sometimes dim.' According to 
Malone, speaking to Dr. Burney of 
his bad eye he said, 'the dog was 
never good for much.' Life, i. 41, 
?t.2. 
I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 101. 
2 Probably William Cave, Edward 
Cave's younger brother, 'who in- 
herited from him a competent estate.' 
Johnson's Works, vi. 434, note. 
3 Perhaps Charles Hitch, one of 
the original proprietors of Johnson's 
Dictionary. Life, i. 183. 
4 Paul had granted a license to 
Dr. James for the use of his in- 
vention (Life of Cromþton, p. 256, 
and ante, p. 6), for which, it should 
seem, money was still due, though 
James; 



Aetat. 46.] 


To Lewis Paul. 


59 


James; perhaps another might think better of him, but where 
to find that other I know not. I can, I believe, by a third hand 
have Hitch sounded; but if it had not the appearance of de- 
clining the office, I should tell you, that your own negotiation 
would effect more than mine. However, in both these affairs, 
I am ready to do what you would have me. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To LEWIS PAUL [. 


92. 


SIR, 
I am still of opinion that they will hear me at the gate 2, 
and I have no difficulty to speak to them, but though I hope 
I can obtain a forbearance, I am confident that I shall get 
nothing more, nor would any attempt to borrow of them or 
sell to them have any other effect than that of disabling me 
from proceeding in my just request. You may easily believe 
that spindles are there in very little credit. 
I will propose to a friend to speak to Mr. Hitch, you well 
know it is impossible to guess what [may] be the answer when 
money is to be sought. If my friend refuses the errand, what 
shall we do? that must be considered. Will you then write to 
him by me, as a preparative, and then see him if he gives any 
countenance to the affair ? You are much more skilful in these 


payment apparently was resisted. 
The three box-tickets had no doubt 
been taken for Miss Williams's 
benefit. 
[ First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 101. An exact transcript 
of the original letter, now in the 
Patent Office Library, has been sent 
me by the kindness of Mr. W. E. 
Milliken of that Office, who writes to 
me :-' Dr. Johnson was often a guest 
in the house of Kenneth Mackenzie, 
seventh and last Earl of Seaforth, 
whose only child, Caroline, born 
1767, was my mother's mother. 
Johnson took a great fancy to Lady 


Caroline as a child - would fondle 
her, and call her" his little Jacobitish 
mistress" -by no means repelled, we 
may be sure, by the well-known 
sympathies of her house, and by the 
fact of her lineal descent, through her 
mother, from Charles II's son, the 
Duke of Grafton. Thus it comes 
about that I, as an infant, have been 
nursed in the arms of one who, as a 
little child, had herself been petted 
by Dr. Johnson.' 
2 St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell, 
where the Cell/leman's flfagazine 
was published. 


transactions 



60 


To Dr. Hawkesworth. 


[A.D. 1756. 


transactions than I, and might much sooner find out a proper 
person to deal with, for my friends have not much money. 
Would it be wrong if you wrote a short letter for me to show 
at Cave's as a kind of Credential, containing only a few lines to 
mention the value of the stock, the certainty of the security, and 
your desire of my interposition. That I may not seem to thrust 
myself needlessly between Cave and payment, let the letter be 
without dejection as if the delay was a thing rather convenient 
than necessary to you. Cave cannot, I think, want forty pounds, 
nor perhaps has he twice forty to spare. 
I will do my best for you in both negociations, with Hitch my 
best can be very little, with Cave I expect to succeed, at least 
for so short a delay as to Midsummer, and think it would [sic] 
as well in your letter to refer payment to lVIichaelmass, or Christ- 
mass. If they will grant the whole of our request (for I shall 
make it mine too) they may more easily grant part. But once 
more-you know all these things better than 1. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON I. 


March 12, 1756. 
To Mr. Paul. 


93. 
To DR. HAWKESWORTH 2. 
DEAR SIR, [March, 1756.] 
I have been looking into the Book here and there and 
I think have read a pretty fair specimen. It is written with 


I While Johnson was thus busying 
himself for his friend, he was, as the 
next letter but one shows, in diffi- 
culties himself. 
2 From the original in the posses- 
sion of the late Mr. S. J. Davey, 
of 47 Great Russell Street, London. 
Boswell describes Hawkesworth as 
living in great intimacy with J ohn- 
son, about the year 1752. Life, i. 
234. This letter was enclosed by 
Hawkesworth to Fulke Greville in 
another dated Bromley, Kent, March 
14, 1756. I t refers to Greville's 




faxims, Characters, and Reflections, 
which had just been published-' a 
book,' according to Boswell, 'which 
is entitled to much more praise than 
it has received.' Life, iv. 304. 
Hawkesworth wrote to Greville:- 
'I enclose you Johnson's letter, it 
will cost you threepence, but I dare 
say you will think it worth twice the 
money. It is an original, and (as I 
told you it would be) expressed in 
general terms, without referring to 
particular passages as new, striking, 
delicate or recherché. You see in 
uncommon 



Aetat. 46.1 


To Samuel Richardson. 


61 


uncommon knowledge of mankind, which is the chief excellence 
of such a book. The sentences are keenly pointed, and vigor- 
ously pushed, which is their second excellence. But it is too 
Gallick I, and the proper names are often ill-formed or ill-chosen. 
To use a French phrase, I think the good carries it over the 
bad 2. The good is in the constituent, the bad in the accidental 
parts. 
We cannot come to-morrow, but I purpose to be with you 
on the Saturday following, to see the Spring and Mrs. Hawkes- 
worth 3. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Miss W_4 sends her compliments. 


94. 
To SAMUEL RICHARDSON 5. 


SIR, 
I am obliged to entreat your assistance. 
an arrest for five pounds eighteen shillings. 


the first place that he has not read 
the book through; he never reads 
any book through. . . Take his own 
testimony in his own words, they are 
written indeed not in letters but in 
pothooks, a kind of character which 
it will probably cost you some time 
to decipher, and perhaps at last you 
may not succeed.' It is amusing to 
find Johnson long afterwards, when 
looking through the manuscripts 
which Hawkesworth had left behind 
him, asking :-' \Vho was his Ama- 
nuensis? that small hand strikes a 
reader with terrour. It is pale as 
well as small.' Post, Letter of April 
12, 1777. 
According to Mme. D'Arblay, Gre- 
ville never met Johnson till about 
twenty years after the date of the 
Letter in the text. F or the curious 
scene which she then witnessed see 
Life, iv. 304, 1t. 4, and Early Diary 
of Frances Burney, ii. 285. For 


I am now under 
Mr. Strahan, from 


Johnson's habit of rarely reading 
books through, see Life, i. 71; ii. 226. 
I For his dislike of Gallicisms, see 
lb. iii. 343. It is strange that in the 
next sentence in his letter he should 
himself, to use his own words, 
, babble a dialect of France.' 
2 Le bon l'emporte sur Ie mal. 
3 Hawkesworth was living at Brom- 
ley, where Johnson four years earlier 
had buried his wife; 'to which,' 
writes Boswell, 'he was probably led 
by the residence of his friend at that 
place.' L
ïe, i. 241. 
4 Blind Miss \Villiams. 
5 First published in the Gentle- 
man's lI.fagazÙze, 1788, p. 479, and a 
second time in Murphy's Essay on 
Johnson, ed. 1792, p. 87. 'On the 
margin of this letter,' says Murphy, 
'there is a memorandum in these 
words :-" March 16, 1756. Sent six 
guineas. Witness, \Vm. Richardson.'" 
My friend Mr. Arthur John Butler, 
whom 



62 


To the Reverend JosePh Warton. 


[A.D. 1756. 


whom I should have received the necessary help in this case, 
is not at home; and I am afraid of not finding Mr. Millar. 
I f you will be so good as to send me this sum, I will very 
gratefully repay you, and add it to all former obligations. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most obedient 
and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Gough Square, March 16, [1756]. 
95. 
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH I. 
Mr. Johnson returns Dr. Birch thanks for his book which 
sickness has obliged him to keep beyond the time intended, and 
desires his acceptance of the Life of Sir Thomas Browne, by way 
[of] interest for the loan 2. 
To Dr. Birch. 
Endorsed-March 20, 1756. 


96. 
To THE REVEREND JOSEPH 'VARTON 3 . 
DEAR SIR, April 15 th , 1756. 
Though when you and your brother 4 were in town you did 
not think my humble habitation worth a visit, yet I will not so 
far give way to sullenness as not to tell you that I have lately 
seen an octavo book which I suspect to be yours, though I have 
not yet read above ten pages 5. That way of publishing, without 


who has done so much to make 
Dante known to English readers, has 
seen in the old books of Jacob Ton- 
son the younger, a correspondence 
of about this period, 'beginning with 
a letter from Johnson to the effect 
that he was in difficulties and re- 
quired assistance. The difficulty, he 
added, was not likely to recur, "as I 
have no other debts except to 
friends." There are besides a re- 
ceipt from him and an extract from 
Tonson's ledger-" To your note of 
hand when you was arrested for 
debt. . . [Ao.'" 


Z From the original in the British 
Museum :-Sloane 1JI"SS., 4310. 31 I. 
2 See ante, p. 57, 12. 4. 
3 First published in Wooll's Me- 
moirs oj Dr. Joseþh WartOil, P.238. 
4 Thomas Warton. Johnson felt 
very grateful to him for' the uncom- 
mon care which he had taken of his 
interest' in procuring him the degree 
of Master of Arts. Life, i. 275. 
5 The 'octavo book' was Warton's 
Essay on the Genius and Writings oj 
POþe. Dodsley, the publisher, wrote 
to vVarton on April 8 :-' Your Essay 
is published, the price 5s. bound. I 
acquainting 



Aetat. 46.] 


To the Reverend JosePh IVarto1l. 


63 


acquainting your friends, is a wicked trick I. However, I will 
not so far depend upon a mere conjecture as to charge you with 
a fraud which I cannot prove you to have committed. 
I should be glad to hear that you are pleased with your new 
situation 2. You have now a kind of royalty, and are to be 
answerable for your conduct to posterity. I suppose you care 
not now to answer a letter except there be a lucky concurrence 
of a post-day with a holiday. These restraints are troublesome 
for a time, but custom makes them easy, with the help of some 
honour, and a great deal of profit, and I doubt not but your 
abilities will obtain both. 
For my part, I have not lately done much. I have been ill in 
the winter, and my eye has been inflamed; but I please myself 
with the hopes of doing many things, with which I have long 
pleased and deceived myself. 
What becomes of poor dear Collins 3? I wrote him a letter 
which he never answered. I suppose writing is very trouble- 
some to him. That man is no common loss. The moralists 
all talk of the uncertainty of fortune, and the transitoriness of 
beauty; but it is yet more dreadful to consider that the powers 
of the mind are equally liable to change; that understanding 
may make its appearance and depart, that it may blaze and 
expire. 
Let me not be long without a letter, and I will forgive 
you the omission of the visit; and if you can tell me that 


have a pleasure in telling you that it 
is liked in general, and particularly 
by such as you would wish should 
like it. But you have surely not 
kept your secret: Johnson mentioned 
it to Mr. Hitch [the bookseller, no 
doubt] as yours.' \Vooll's llIemoirs 
of Dr. Warton, p. 237. The second 
volume was not published till 1782, 
though 200 pages of it, as we are told 
in the preface, had been printed 
more than twenty years. When 
Boswell in 1763 expressed his wonder 
at the delay, Johnson replied:- 
, Why, Sir, I suppose he finds himself 
a little disappointed in not having 


been able to persuade the world to 
be of his opinion as to Pope.' Life, 
i. 448. 
Z Johnson himself for the most 
part did not print his name on the 
title-page, though in most cases, to 
quote his own words, 'he expected 
it to be known' (þost, Letter of Jan. 
20, 1759). The authorship of the 
Rambler, however, he tried to keep 
secret. Life, i. 209, n. 1. 
2 'In 1755 \Varton was elected 
second master of \Vinchester School, 
with the management of a boarding 
house.' Wooll's fifemoirs, p. 30. 
3 See ante, p. 36. 


you 



64 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1756. 


you are now more happy than before, you will give great 
pleasure to, 


Dear Sir, 
Your most affectionate 
and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


97. 
To THE REVEREND DR. BIRCH I. 


SIR, 
Being, as you will find by the proposal, engaged in a work 
which requires the concurrence of my friends to make it of 
much benefit to me, I have taken the liberty of recommending 
six receipts to your care, and do not doubt of your endeavour 
to dispose of them. 
I have likewise a further favour to beg. I know you have been 
long a curious colIector of books. If therefore you have any 
of the contemporaries or ancestors of Shakespeare, it will be 
of great use to lend me them for a short time; my stock of 
those authours is yet but curta supellex 2. 
I am, Sir, 
Your obliged humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


June 22, 1756. 
To the Reverend Dr. Birch. 


98. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 3. 


DEAR SIR, 
I promised to write to you, and write now rather to keep 
my promise than that I have anything to say, that might not be 
delayed till we meet. I know not how it happens, but I fancy 
that I write letters with more difficulty than some other people, 
who write nothing but letters, at least I find myself very un- 
willing to take up a pen, only to tell my friends that I am 
well, and indeed I never did exchange letters regularly but 
with dear Miss Boothby4. 


% From the original in the British 
Museum :-Sloane MSS., 4310. 312. 
The work on which Johnson was 
engaged was his edition of Shake- 
sþeare. Life, i. 318, andþ(Jst, p.68. 


2 'Tecum habita, et noris quam sit 
tibi curta supellex.' Perst"us, iv. 52. 
3 First published in Notes and 
Quert"es,6th S., v. 304. 
4 Johnson wrote to Boswell on 
However 



Aetat. 46.] 


To Lezuis Paul. 


65 


However let us now begin, and try who can continue punc- 
tuality longest. There is this use in the most useless letter, that 
it shews one not to be forgotten, and they may, at least in 
the beginning of friendship, or in great length of absence, keep 
memory from languishing, but our friendship has been too long 
to want such helps, and I hope our absence will be too short 
to make them necessary. 
My life admits of so little variety, that I have nothing to 
relate, you who are married, and a magistrate, may have many 
events to tell both foreign and domestick I. But I hope you will 
have nothing to tell of unhappiness to yourself. 
[I was glad of your prospect of reconciliation with Mouse- 
ley (?)2, ",'hich is, I hope, now completed; to have one's neighbour 
one's enemy is uncomfortable in the country where good neigh- 
bourhood is all the pleasure that is to be had. Therefore now 
you are on good terms with your N eighbours, do not differ 
about trifles 3 .] 


I am, dear Sir, 
Your most affectionate servant, 
SAM: JOHKSON. 


My compliments to your Lady. 
July 31, 175 6 . 
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor, at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire 4. 


To LEWIS PAULs. 


99. 


SIR, 
I would not have it thought that if I sometimes transgress 
the rules of civility, I would violate the laws of friendship. If 


December 8, 1763 :-' I love to see 
my friends, to hear from them, to 
talk to them, and to talk of them ; 
but it is not without a considerable 
effort of resolution that I prevail 
upon myself to write.' Life, i. 473. 
Goldsmith, apologising to one of his 
friends for his neglect in correspond- 
ence, said: 'N 0 turnspit dog gets up 
into his wheel with more reluctance 
than I sit down to write.' Forster's 
Goldsmith, i. 433. Wordsworth had 
YOLo 1. F 


the same reluctance. \V ordsworth's 
Life, ed. 1851, i. 260. 
· Before long Taylor's' domestick 
events' supplied correspondence 
enough. See þost, Letter of August 
13, 17 6 3. 
2 See þost, Letter of November 18, 
175 6 . 
.i The passage enclosed in brackets 
is erased in the original. 
4 Taylor was Rector of this town. 
S First published in Croker's Bos- 
I had 



To Le'luis P aut. 


66 


[ A.D. 1756. 


I had heard anything from the gate I I would have informed 
you, and I will send to them lest they should neglect to 
transmit any accounts that they receive. I have been many 
times hindered 2 from coming to you, but if by coming I could 
have been of any considerable use, I would not have been 
hindered. They are so cold at the gate both to the landlord 
and to you, that if I could think of any body else to apply 
to, I would trouble them no more. I am thinking of Dicey. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Sept. 25, 1756. 
To Mr. Paul. 


100. 
To LEWIS PAUL 3. 
SIR, Wednesday, [175 6 ]. 
You will think I forgot you. but my boy is run away 4, and 
I know not whom to send. Besides, nothing seemed to require 
much expedition, for IVlr. Cave has left London almost a fort- 
night. They intimate at the Gate some desire to know your 
determination. I will be with you in a day or two. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


101. 
To LEWIS PAUL. 
DEAR SIR, Saturday, [175 6 ]. 
I have been really much disordered,-when your last mes- 
sage came I was on the bed, and had not resolution to rise, 


well, p. 102; corrected by me from 
the original in the possession of the 
late Mr. S. J. Davey, of 47 Great 
Russell Street, London. 
I t was sold by Messrs. Christie 
and Co., on June 5, 1888, for .[4. 
% St. John's Gate. Allte, p. 59. 
2 Johnson has not written this 
word very clearly, but both here and 
just below he has, if I mistake not, 
written hindred. 
S This and the next two letters 
were first published in Croker's Bos- 


well, p. 102. 
4 The boy is no doubt Francis 
Barber (ante, p. 54, n. 3), who 
'continued in Johnson's service from 
1752 till Johnson's death, with the 
exception of two intervals; in one of 
which, upon some difference with his 
master, he went and served an 
apothecary in Cheapside, but still 
visited Dr. Johnson occasionally; 
in another he took a fancy to go to 
sea.' Life, i. 239, n. I. 


ha ving 



Aetat.47.] 


7'0 Ed'lnund Hector. 


6"'7 
I 


having had no sleep all night. I indeed had for two days no 
audible voice, but am now much better, though I cannot hope 
to go out very quickly. 


I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


102. 
To LEWIS PAUL. 


[N 0 date.] 


SIR, 
I am astonished at what you tell me. I cannot well come 
out to-night, but will wait on you on Monday evening. I have 
been very busy, but have now some leisure. I repeat again 
that I am astonished. Henry I is just gone out of town, but 
I could send to him, if there was any likelihood of advantage 
from it. I am certain it is not done with his privity, for he has 
no interest in it,-and he is too wise to do ill without interest! 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM : JOHNSON. 
I am ready to do on this occasion any thing that can be 
done. 


103. 
To EDMUND HECTOR 2. 
DEAR SIR, Oct. 7, 175 6 . 
After a long intermission of our correspondence you took 
some time ago a very kind method of informing me that there 
was no intermission of our friendship 3. yet I know not why, 
after the interchange of a letter or two, we have fallen again into 


I David Henry, an Aberdeenshire 
man, was born in 1710. He came 
up to London at an early age, where 
as a journeyman printer he lived on 
terms of intimacy with Benjamin 
Franklin and WiHiam Strahan. He 
married Cave's sister. In 1754 his 
name appears as a partner at St. 
John's Gate, where he lived for 
many years, possessing the freehold 
F 2 


property of it at his death in 1792. 
He was an author as well as a printer 
and publisher. Patrick Henry, the 
American statesman, was the son of 
his first cousin. Nichols's Lit. Anec. 
iii. 4 2 3, 759. 
2 First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S. iii. 301. 
3 See ante, p. 42, n. I. 


our 



68 


To Ed'lJlztnd Hector. 


[A.D. 1756. 


our former silence. I remembcr that when we were nearer each 
other we were more diligent in our correspondence, perhaps 
only becausc we were both younger, and more ready to employ 
ourselves in things not of absolute necessity. In early life every 
new action or practice is a kind of experiment, which when it 
has been tried, one is naturally less eager to try again. Friend- 
ship is indeed one of those few states of which it is reasonable to 
wish the continuance through life, but the form and exercise 
of friendship varies, and we grow to recollect (?) to show kindness 
on important occasions without squandering our ardour in super- 
fluities of empty civility I. 
It is not in mere civility that I write now to you but to inform 
you that I have undertaken a new Edition of Shakespeare 2, and 
that the profits of it are to arise from a subscription, I therefore 
solicit the interest of all my friends, and believe myself sure of 
yours without solicitation. The proposals and receipts 3 may 
be had from my mother, to whom I beg you to send for as many 
as you can dispose of, and to remit to her money which you 
or your acquaintances shall collect. Be so kind as to mention 


J 'This passage is very difficult 
to decipher.' Note in Notes and 
Queries. 
2 'I t is remarkable that at this 
time his fancied activity was for the 
moment so. vigorous that he promised 
his work should be published before 
Christmas, J757. Yet nine years 
elapsed before it saw the light.' 
Life, i. 319. 
3 In a copy of Harwood's History 
of Lidtjìeld in the Bodleian Library 
one of these receipts has been in- 
serted at p. 487 :- 
'No. 27. 
Received of The Revd. Mr. 
Seward One Guinea, being the First 
Payment for a Copy of SHAKE- 
SPEARE'S \\-T ORKS which I promise to 
deliver according to the Proposals. 
, SAM. JOHNSON.' 
The signature has been pasted on ; 
the receipt is in print with the ex- 
ception of Mr. Seward's name, which 
is written, but not by Johnson. In 


a volume of pamphlets in the Bod- 
leian Library (No. 141) I have found 
the following entry in Malone's hand- 
writing ;- 
'The Proposals in 1756 were en- 
titled thus :- 
" Proposals for printing 
by Subscription 
The Dramatick Warks 
of 
William Shakspeare. 
Corrected and Illustrated 
by 
Samuel Johnson. 
Conditions. 
I. That the book shall be ele- 
gantly printed in eight volumes in 
oct a vo. 
2. That the price to subscribers 
shall be Two Guineas; one to be 
paid at subscribing, the other on the 
delivery of the book in sheets. 
3. That the work shall be pub- 
lished in or before Christmas, 1757.'" 


my 



Aetat.47.] 


To Lewis Paul. 


69 


my undertaking to any other friends that I may have in your 
part of the kingdom, the activity of a few solicitors may produce 
great advantages to me. 
I have been thinking every month of coming down into the 
country, but every month has brought its hinderances I. From 
that kind of melancholy indisposition which I had when we 
lived together at Birmingham, I have never been free, but have 
always had it operating against my health and my life with 
more or less violence 2. I hope however to see all my friends, 
all that are remaining, in no very long time, and particularly you 
whom I always think on with great tenderness. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most affectionate servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To Mr. Hector, in Birmingham. 


104. 
To LEWIS PAUL 3. 
SIR, Oct. 8, 1756. 
You think it hard by this time you cannot have a letter. 
I engaged Mr. N ewbery 4, who sent me on Monday night the 
note enclosed, and appeared to think the matter well settled. 
On Tuesday I wrote to Mr. Henry 5, but soon heard he was 
out of town. I knew not what to do.-I then had recourse to 
young l\lr. Cave 6, who very civilly went about the business, and 
came to me yesterday in the evening with this account. 
Mr. Cave 7 seized, and has a man in possession. 
He made a sale, and sold only a fire-shovel for four shillings. 
The goods were appraised at about eighty pounds. 


I Johnson let more than twenty 
years go by without visiting his 
native town, being hindered no doubt 
mainly by his poverty. Life, i. 340, 
n. I. In the last seventeen years of 
his life he visited it a dozen times. 
Ib. iii. 452. 
2 See ib. i. 64, 87 for his 'melan- 
choly indisposition.' 
3 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, p. 102. 
The original was sold by Messrs. 


Sotheby and Co., on May 10, 1875, 
for 1;3 3 s . 
4 See allte, p. 22. 
5 See allte, p. 67. 
6 Richard Cave, Edward Cave's 
nephew, 'who from 1754 to 1760 
was the printer of the Gelltleman's 
JIagazille in conjunction with David 
Henry.' Nichols's Lit. Anec. v. 58. 
7 William Cave. Ante, p. 58, 
n.2. 


l\lr. Cave 



7 0 


To Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1756. 


Mr. Cave will stay three weeks without any further motion 
in the business, but will still keep his possession. 
He expects that you should pay the expence of the seizure; 
how much it is I could not be informed. 
He will stay to Christmas upon security. He is willing to 
continue you tenant, or will sell the mill to any that shall work 
or buy the machine. He values his mill at a thousand pounds I. 
He did not come up about this business, but another. 
Mr. Barker 2, as young Mr. Cave thinks, is at Northampton. 
These, Sir, are the particulars that I have gathered. 
I am, Sir, 
Your very humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


105. 
SIR, To LEWIS PAUL 3. [No date.] 
I am no less surprised than yourself at the treatment which 
you have met with, and agree with you that Mr. Cave must 
impute to himself part of the discontent that he shall suffer till 
the spindles are produced. 
If I have any opportunity of dispelling the gloom that over- 
casts him at present, I shall endeavour it both for his sake and 
yours; but it is to little purpose that remonstrances are offered 
to voluntary inattention or to obstinate prejudice. Cuxon in 
one place and Garlick in the other leave no room for the un- 
pleasing reasonings of 


Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


106. 


DEAR SIR, 
You have no great title to a very speedy answer,.yet I did 
not intend to have delayed so long. I am now in doubt whether 
I The mill, I conjecture, was the Life of S. Cromþt01z, p. 265. 
place in which the 250 spindles were 3 First published in Croker's Bos- 
worked for which Paul had granted well, p. 103. 
a license to Edward Cave. Ante, p. 6. The original was sold by Messrs. 
2 Perhaps Johnson wrote Bowker, Sothebyand Co., on May 10, 1875, 
for with a man of that name Paul for 1:,2 19s. 
had been connected in business. 4 First published by the P hilobiblon 
you 


To DR. TAYLOR 4. 



Aetat.47.] 


To Dr. Taylor. 


7 1 


you are not come to town, if you are double postage is a proper 
fine I. 
There is one honest reason why those things are most subject 
to delays which we most desire to do. What we think of 
importance we wish to do well, to do anything well requires 
time, and what requires time commonly finds us too idle or 
too busy to undertake it. To be idle is not the best excuse, 
though if a man studies his own reformation it is the best reason 
he can allege to himsel(, both because it is commonly true, and 
because it contains no fallacy, for every man that thinks he is 
idle condemns himself and has therefore a chan"ce to endeavour 
amendment, but the busy mortal has often his own commenda- 
tion, even when his very business is the consequence of Idleness, 
when he engages himself in trifles only to put the thoughts of 
more important duties out of his mind, or to gain an excuse 
to his own heart for omitting them. 
I am glad however that while you forgot me you were gaining 
upon the affections of other people. 
It is in your power to be very useful as a neighbour, a magis- 
trate, and a Clergyman, and he that is useful, must conduct 
his life very imprudently not to be beloved. If Mousley (?) 2 
makes advances, I would wish you not to reject them. You 
once esteemed him, and the quarrel between you arose from 
misinformation and ought to be forgotten. 
When you come to town let us contrive to see on
 another 
more frequently, at least once a week. We have both lived 
long enough to bury many friends, and have therefore learned 
to set a value on those who are left. Neither of us now can find 
many whom he has known so long as we have known eacb 
other. Do not let us lose our intimacy at a time when we 
ought rather to think of encreasing it. \Ve both stand almost 
single in the world, I have no brother, and with your sister you 
have little correspondence 3. [But if you will take my advice, you 


Society, vi. 15; also in Notes and 
Queries,6th S. v.324. It is endorsed: 
'The best Letter in the \V orld.) 
I Johnson directed the letter to 
Market Bosworth; if Taylor were in 
London it would have to be forwarded 


to him there. 
2 The editor of this Letter in Notes 
and Queries says that the name may 
be Morley or Moresby. It is no doubt 
the person mentioned ante, p. 65. 
3 Johnson writing to Hector many 
will 



7 2 


To Edrflztnd Hector.. 


[A.D. 1757. 


will make some overtures of reconciliation to her. If you have 
been to blame, you know it is your duty first to seek a renewal 
of kindness. If she has been faulty, you have an opportunity 
to exercise the virtue of forgiveness. You must consider that 
of her faults and follies no very great part is her own. Much 
has been the consequence of her education, and part may 
be imputed to the neglect with which you have sometime 
treated her. Had you endeavoured to gain her kindness and 
her confidence) you would have had more influence over her t .] 
I hope that before I shall see you, she will have had a visit or 
a letter from you. The longer you delay the more you will 
sometime repent. When I am musing alone, I feel a pang for 
every moment that any human being has by my peevishness 
or obstinacy spent in uneasiness 2. I know not how I have fallen 
upon this, I had no thought of it, when I began the letter, [yet] 
am glad that I have written it. 
I am, dearest Sir, 
Your most affectionate 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Nov. 18, 1756. 


To the Rev d Dr. Taylor) at 1\larket Bosworth, Leicestershire. 


107. 
To CHARLES O'CONNOR. 
London, April 9, 1757. Published in the Life, i. 3 2 1. 


To EDMUND HECTOR 3. 


108. 


DEAR SIR, 
l\ly mother informs me that you have lately remitted her 


years later said :-' You and I should 
now naturally cling to one another : 
we have outlived most of those who 
could pretend to rival us in each 
other's kindness. .. . You indeed 
have a sister with whom you can 
divide the day: I have no natural 
friend left.' Life, iv. 147. 
I 'The sentences in brackets have 
been carefully erased in much darker 
ink, probably by Taylor, and the 


words "You will forgive her and" 
here inserted, not (apparently) in 
Johnson's hand, also in much darker 
ink.' Note in Notes and Queries. 
2 'I am always sorry (said Dr. 
Johnson) when I make bitter speeches, 
and I never do it but when I am 
insufferably vexed.' Mme. D' Arblay's 
Dimy, i. 13I. See Life, ii. 256. 
3 First published in Notes and 
Qucric.ç,6th S. iii. 321. 


some 



Aetat. 48.] 


To [Tho1Jzas -':'Varton]. 


73 


some money for the receipts I. I am very sensibly touched by 
your kindness. The Subscription though it does not quite equal 
perhaps my utmost hope, for when was hope not disappointed? 
yet goes on tolerably, and the undertaking will I think be some 
addition to my fortune, whatever it may be to my reputation 2. 
I rather take it unkindly that you do not from time to time 
let me hear from you. I am now grown very solicitous about 
myoId friends, with whom I passed the hours of youth and 
cheerfulness, and am glad of any opportunity to revive the 
memory of past pleasures. I therefore tear open a letter with 
great eagerness when I know the hand in which it is super- 
scribed. Your letters are always so welcome, that you need not 
increase their value by making them scarce. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most affectionate friend, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


London, Apr. 16, 1757. 
To Mr. Hector in Birmingham. 


109. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS \V ARTON. 
[London J, J line 2 I, 1757. Life, i. 3 22 . 


110. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London], June 28, 1757. Published in the Life, i. 337. 
111. 
To [THOMAS \V ARTON 3J. 
DEAR SIR, Oct. 27, 1757. 
I have been thinking and talking with Mr. Allen 4 about 
some literary business for an inhabitant of Oxford. Many 


I See ante, p. 68, 1Z. 3- 
2 Johnson wrote to Mr. Burney on 
December 24,1757:-' How my new 
edition [of Shakespeare] will be re- 
ceived I know not; the subscription 
has not been very successful.' Life, 
i.3 2 3. 
3 Published in Croker's Boswell, 
page 108, with the following note:- 
, This letter was found by Mr. Peter 


Cunningham, in the papers of Allen, 
the printer, and was intended, no 
doubt, for Thomas \Varton, though 
per haps, from some change of opinion, 
not forwarded to him.' 
4 Edmund Allen, afterwards 'John- 
son's landlord and next neighbour in 
Bolt Court, for whom he had much 
kindness.' Life, iii. 141. 


schemes 



74 


To Bennet La-ngt01z. 


[A.D. 1757-59. 


schemes might be plausibly proposed, but at present these may 
be sufficient. I. An Ecclesiastical History of England. In this 
there are a great many materials which must be compressed into 
a narrow compass. This book must not exceed 4 vols. 8vo. 
2. A History of the Reformation, (not of England only, but of 
Europe;) this must not exceed the same bulk, and will be full 
of [a 'word omitted] and very entertaining. 3. The Life of 
Richard the First. 4. The Life of Edward the Confessor. 
All these are works for which the requisite materials may 
be found at Oxford, and any of them well executed would be 
weB received. I impart these designs to you in confidence, that 
what you do not make use of yourself shall revert to me un- 
communicated to any other. The schemes of a writer are his 
property and his revenue, and therefore they must not be made 
common. I am. Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


112. 
To MR. BURNEV. 
Gough Square, December 24, 1757. First published in the Life, 
i. 323. 


113. 
To MR. BURNEY. 
London, March, 8, 1758. Published in the Life, i. 327. 


114. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS \V ARTON. 
[London], April 14, 1758. Published in the Life, i. 335. 
115. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS \VARTON. 
[London], June I, 1758. Published in the Lift, i. 336. 
116. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London J, September 2 I, 1758. Published in the Life, i. 33 8 . 
117. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
January 9, 1759 [misdated 175 8 ]. Published in the Life, i. 3 2 4. 


To 



Aetat.48-49.] To Mrs. Johnson (Johnson's 17Zother). 75 


118. 
To MRS. JOHNSON (Johnson's mother I). 
HONOURED MADAM, 
The account which Miss 2 gives me of your health pierces 
my heart. God comfort and preserve you and save you, for the 
sake of Jesus Christ. 
I would have Miss read to you from time to time the Passion 
of our Saviour, and sometimes the sentences in the Communion 
Service, beginning 'Come Ullto me, all ye that travail and are 
heavy ladell, alld I will-give YOll rcst 3.' 
I have just now read a physical 4 book, which inclines me to 
think that a strong infusion of the bark would do you good. 
Do, dear mother, try it. 
Pray, send me your blessing, and forgive all that I have done 
amiss to you. And whatever you would have done, and what 
debts you would have paid first, or anything else that you would 
direct, let Miss put it down; I shall endeavour to obey you. 
I have got twelve guineas 5 to send you, but unhappily am 


I The first seven of these Letters 
to Mrs. Johnson and Miss Porter 
(excluding No. 128) were published by 
Malone in the fourth edition of the 
Life; the remaining five by Croker 
in his Boswell, pages 114, 115, 118. 
, In 1759, in the month of January, 
Johnson's mother died at the great 
age of ninety, an event which deeply 
affected him; not that "his mind 
had acquired no firmness by the con- 
templation of mortality," but that 
his reverential affection for her was 
not abated by years, as indeed he 
retained all his tender feelings even 
to the latest period of his life. I have 
been told that he regretted much his 
not having gone to visit his mother 
for several years, previous to her 
death. But he was constantly en- 
gaged in literary labours which con- 
fined him to London; and though he 
had not the comfort of seeing his 
aged parent, he contributed liberally 
to her support.' Life, i. 339. 


2 Lucy Porter, his step-daughter. 
3 Johnson mingles the version in 
the Communion Service - , Come 
unto me all that travail and are 
heavy-laden, and I will refresh you,' 
with that in the Bible-' Come unto 
me, all ye that labour and are heavy- 
laden, and I will give you rest.' St. 
Matthew, xi. 28. 
4 Johnson defines þhysical in its 
second signification, þertaining to 
the science of healing. For his 
'dabbling in physic,' see ante, p. 49, 
n. I. 
S 'I find in his Diary,' writes 
Hawkins, 'a note of the payment to 
Mr. Allen, the printer, of six guineas, 
which he had borrowed of him, and 
sent to his dying mother.' Hawkins's 
Johnson, p. 366. Johnson, in all his 
money difficulties, never seems to 
have turned to his old pupil Garrick, 
who could easily have helped him, 
and no doubt would. Seven years 
earlier, however, Johnson had drawn 
at 



7 6 


To flfiss Porter. 


[A.D. 1759. 


at a loss how to send it to-night. If I cannot send it to-night, it 
will come by the next post :r. 
Pray, do not omit any thing mentioned in this letter: God 
bless you for ever and ever. 


Jan. 13, 175 82 . 
To Mrs. Johnson in Lichfield. 


I am your dutiful son, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


119. 
To MISS PORTER. 


My DEAR MISS, 
I think myself obliged to you beyond all expreSSlOn of 
gratitude for your care of my dear mother. God grant it may 
not be without success. Tell Kitty 3 that I shall never forget her 
tenderness for her mistress. Whatever you can do, continue to 
do. My heart is very full. 
I hope you received twelve guineas on IVlonday. I found 


him in Pro spero (The Rambler, No. 
200), and had ended his paper by 
saying: -' I left him without any 
intention of seeing him again, unless 
some misfortune should restore his 
understanding.' Reynolds, more- 
over, was in great prosperity, for in 
1758 he had one hundred and fifty 
sitters (Taylor's Reynolds, i. 157). 
From him he did at one time borrow 
thirty pounds, which, on his death- 
bed, he requested him to forgive. 
Life, iv. 4 1 3. 
I Jan. 13, on which day Johnson 
was writing, was Saturday. He 
wrote again on Tuesday, the 16th; 
Thursday, the 18th; and Saturday, 
the 20th, for it was on the evenings 
of those days of the week that mails 
left London ' for all parts of England.' 
There were at this time only 123 
places to which letters were sent 
six times a week. Dodsley's London 
and its Environs, ed. 1761, v. 219. 
As is shown by Johnson's next letter, 
the mail that left London for Lich- 
field on Saturday evening was de- 
livered on Monday-in the morning, 
as we learn from the Life, ii. 468, 


where a London letter is received at 
breakfast - time. 
2 \Vritten by mistake for 1759. 
Johnson had not yet got accustomed 
to the change of style, which he had 
first used six years before (ante, p. 6, 
n. 1). Even in a letter written so far 
on in the year as March I, he 
falls into the same blunder (þost, 
p.86). 
, On the outside of this letter was 
written by another hand-" Pray ac- 
knowledge the receipt of this by re- 
turn of post without fail." '-MALONE. 
3 Catherine Chambers, Mrs. John- 
son's maid-servant. Johnson recorded 
in his Diary on 'Sunday, Oct. 18, 
1767. Yesterday, Oct. 17, at about 
ten in the morning, I took my leave 
for ever of my dear old friend, 
Catharine Chambers, who came to 
live with my mother about 1724, and 
has been but little parted from us 
since. She buried my father, my 
brother, and my mother. She is 
now fifty-eight years old. . . . \Ve 
kissed, and parted. I humbly hope 
to meet again, and to part no more.' 
Life, ii. 43. 


a way 



Aetat. 49.] 


To .Ælrs. johnson. 


77 


a way of sending them by means of the postmaster, after I had 
written my letter, and hope they came safe r. I will send you 
more in a few days. God bless you all. 
I am, my dear, 
Your most obliged 
and most humble servant, 
Jan. 16, 1759. SAM: JOHNSON. 
Over the leaf is a letter to my mother. 
To Miss Porter, at Mrs. Johnson's, in Lichfield. 


120. 
To MRS. JOHNSON. 
DEAR HONOURED l\ioTHER, 
Your weakness afflicts me beyond what I am willing to 
communicate to you. I do not think you unfit to face death 2, 
but I know not how to bear the thought of losing you. En- 
deavour to do all you [ can] for yourself. Eat as much as 
you can. 
I pray often for you; do you pray for me. I have nothing to 
add to my last letter. 


I am, dear, dear mother, 
Your dutiful son
 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Jan. 16, 1759. 


121. 
To MRS. JOHNSON. 
DEAR HONOURED MOTHER, 
I fear you are too ill for long letters; therefore I will only 
tell you, you have from me all the regard that can possibly 


I The difficulty of sending money 
is shown in a letter of Cowper's 
dated Olney, Nov. 10, 1767 :-' I 
shall be glad if you will find an op- 
portunity of sending me six guineas 
in a parcel by the Olney waggon 
which sets out from the George, in 
Smithfield, early on Tuesday morn- 
ing, therefore it must be sent to the 
inn on Monday night.'-Southey's 
Cowþer, xv. 21. 


2 How Johnson's truthfulness 
stands forth here! No flattering at 
that dread hour. 'I do not think 
you unfit to face death' is all that 
he dared say even to his mother. 
, " Don't compliment now," he replied 
warmly,' on his own death-bed to a 
friend who praised too highly the 
life which he had led. Life, iv. 410, 
n.2. 


subsist 



7 8 


To lIirs. JOklZS01l. 


[A D.1759. 


subsist in the heart. I pray God to bless you for evermore, for 
J esus Christ's sake. Amen. 
Let Miss write to me every post:r, however short. 
I am, dear mother, 
Your dutiful son, 
Jan. 18, 1759. SAM: J OHi\SON. 
To Mrs. Johnson, in Lichfield. 


To MISS PORTER. 


122. 


DEAR MISS, 
I will, if it be possible, come down to you 2. God grant 
I may yet [find] my dear mother breathing and sensible. Do 
not tell her lest I disappoint her. If I miss to write next post, 
I am on the road. 


I am, my dearest Miss, 
Your most humble servant, 
Jan. 20, 1759. SAM: JOHNSON. 
To Miss Porter, at Mrs. Johnson's, in Lichfield. 


123. 
To MRS. JOHNSON 3. 
DEAR HONOURED MOTHER, 
N either your condition nor your character make it fit for 
me to say much. You have been the best mother, and I believe 
the best woman in the world. I thank you for your indulgence 
to me, and beg forgiveness of all that I have done ill, and all 
that I have omitted to do well 4. God grant you his Holy 


1 Every letter which he received 
would have cost him fourpence. In 
the last year of Johnson's life the 
charge was raised to fivepence. By 
1812 it had gone up to ninepence, 
where it remained for nearly thirty 
years. Penny Cyclo., ed. 1840, xviii. 
455. 
2 Travelling was still very slow. 
Fielding, in Tom Jones (bk. xi. ch. 
9), published in 1749, describes a 
nobleman in his coach and six taking 
two days to perform a journey of 
ninety miles, though he started at 


seven in the morning. Johnson in 
1772, by which time a great deal had 
been done to render travelling more 
rapid, took twenty-six hours in going 
in the coach from London to Lich- 
field-a distance of 116 miles. Post, 
Letter of Oct. 19, 1772. 
3 'This letter was written on the 
second leaf of the preceding.'- 
MALONE. 
4 In a prayer which Johnson wrote, 
dated' Jan. 23. The day on which my 
dear mother was buried,' he says:- 
'Forgive me whatever I have done 
Spirit, 



Aetat. 49.] 


1'0 1 VilliaJll Sb/aha1'l. 


79 


Spirit, and receive you to everlasting happiness, for Jesus 
Christ's sake. Amen. Lord Jesus receive your spirit. Amen. 
I am, dear, dear mother, 
Your dutiful son, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Jan. 20, 1759. 


To 'VILLIAM STRAHAN X. 


124. 


SIR, 
When I was with you last night I told you of a story which 
I was preparing for the press. The title will be 
'The Choice of Life 


or 
The History of . . . . . Prince of Abissinia.' 


unkindly to my mother, and what- 
ever I have omitted to do kindly.' 
Pro and jJfed., p. 37. On Easter 
Day of the same year he wrote in a 
prayer :-' Forgive me, 0 Lord, what- 
ever my mother has suffered by my 
fault. . . . And, 0 Lord, so far as it 
may be lawful I commend unto thy 
fatherly goodness my father, brother, 
wife, and mother, beseeching thee to 
make. them happy for Jesus Christ's 
sake.' Croker's Boswell, p. 823. In 
this commendation, in giving their 
names, he mentions them in the order 
in which they had died. 
I From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 
Gunterstone Road, West Kensington. 
First published in my edition of the 
Life, vol vi; Addenda, p. xxviii. 
'The late Mr. Strahan,' writes 
Boswell, 'told me that Johnson wrote 
Rasselas that with the profits he 
might defray the expense of his 
mother's funeral, and pay some little 
debts which she had left. He told 
Sir Joshua Reynolds, that he com- 
posed it in the evenings of one week, 
sent it to the press in portions as it 
was written, and had never since read 
it over. Mr. Strahan, Mr. Johnston, 


and Mr. Dodsley purchased it for a 
hundred pounds, but afterwards paid 
him twenty-five pounds more, when 
it came to a second edition... . 
Voltaire's Candide, written to refute 
the system of Optimism, which it has 
accomplished with brilliant success, 
is wonderfully similar in its plan and 
conduct to Johnson's Rasselas.; inso- 
much, that I have heard Johnson 
say, that if they had not been pub- 
lished so closely one after the other 
that there was not time for imitation, 
it would have been in vain to deny 
that the scheme of that which came 
latest was taken from the other.' Life, 
i.341. That Johnson sent Rasselasto 
the press in portions, as it was written, 
does not seem consistent with this 
letter, and Sir Joshua's memory 
probably failed him on this point. 
H is friend Baretti said that' any 
other person with his reputation 
would have got L400 for it, but he 
never understood the art of making 
the most of his productions.' Prior's 
Life of 1I1àlone, p. 160. 
Candide, it should seem, was pub- 
lished in the latter half of February, 
1759. Grimm in his letter of March I 
speaks of its having just appeared. 
It 



80 


To lVilHaul SI1/aha1l. 


[A.D.175Ø. 


It will make about two volumes like little Pompadour I, that 
is about one middling volume. The bargain which I made with 
Mr. Johnson was seventy five pounds (or guineas) a volume, and 
twenty-five pounds for the second edition. I wiII sell this either 
at that price or for sixty 2, the first edition of which he shall 
himself fix the number, and the property then to revert to me, or 
for forty pounds, and I share 3 the profit, that is retain half the 
copy. I shall have occasion for thirty pounds on Monday night 
when I shall deliver the book which I must entreat you upon 
such delivery to procure me. I would have it offered to l\lr. 
Johnson 4, but have no doubt of selling it, on some of the terms 
mentioned. 
I will not print my name, but expect it to be known 5. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Jan. 20, 1759. 


Get me the money if you can. 


He does not mention it in his pre- 
vious letter of Feb. 15. Corres. Lit. 
(ed. 1829), ii. 296. This letter proves 
that Rasselas was written before 
Candide was published. See also 
the Introduction to my edition of 
Rasselas, Clarendon Press, 1887, 
p. 24. 
I By' little Pompadour' Johnson, 
I conjecture, means the second and 
cheaper edition of The History of 
the Marchioness de Pomþadour. 
The first edition was published by 
Hooper in one volume, price five 
shillings (Gmtleman' s Magazine for 
Oct. 1758, p. 493), and the second in 
two volumes for three shiHings and 
sixpence (Gentleman's 111 agazine for 
Nov. 1758, p. 543). It is strange 
however that Johnson should refer 
to this book, as it is scandalous and 
almost indecent. 
2 In the original 'fifty - five 
pounds' written first and then scored 
over. 
3 In my edition of the Life, share 


is misprinted have. 
4 Mr. Johnson, the bookseller, was, 
I conjecture, \V. Johnston, who, with 
Strahan and Dodsley, purchased the 
book. He lived in Ludgate Street. 
See Nichols's Lit. Anec.) iii. 727. 
5 Johnson did not generally' print 
his name.' He published anony- 
mously his translation of Lobo's 
Voyage to Abyssinia.,. LOlldon.,' The 
Life of Savage.,. The Rambler and 
The Idler, both in separate numbers 
and when collected in volumes; 
Rasselas.,. The False Alarm.,. Falk- 
land's Islands.,' The Patriot.,' and 
Taxation no Tyranny.,. (when these 
four pamphlets were collected in a 
volume he published them with the 
title of Polt"tical Tracts by the Authour 
of the Rambler). He gave his name 
in The Vanity of HUJJla/z Wishes, 
Irene, the Dictionary, his edition of 
Shakesþeare, the Journey to the 
Western Islands, and the Lives of 
the Poets. 
Fielding at one time of his life 
To 



Aetat. 49.] 


To ilfiss Porter. 


81 


125. 


To MISS PORTER. 
You will conceive my sorrow for the loss of my mother, of the 
best mother. If she were to live again, surely I should behave 
better to her. But she is happy, and what is past is nothing 
to her; and for me, since I cannot repair my faults to her, 
I hope repentance will efface them. I return you and all those 
that have been good to her my sincerest thanks, and pray God 
to repay you all with infinite advantage. Write to me, and 
comfort me, dear child. I shall be glad likewise, if Kitty will 
write to me. I shall send a bill of twenty pounds in a few days, 
which I thought to have brought to my mother; but God 
suffered it not. I have not power or composure to say much 
more. God bless you and bless us all. 
I am, dear Miss, 
Your affectionate humble servant. 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Jan. 23, 1759 I. 
To Miss Porter in Lichfield. 


126. 
To MISS PORTER. 
(The beginning is torn and lost.) 


Yau will forgive me if I am not yet so composed as to give 
any directions about any thing. But you are wiser and better 
than I, and I shall be pleased with all that you shall do. It is not 


boasted that he had never published 
even a pamphlet without setting his 
name to it, and adds :-' For the sake 
of men's characters I wish all other 
writers were by law obliged to use 
the same method ; but till they are I 
shall no longer impose any such re- 
straint on myself.' Fielding's Works, 
ed. 1806, v.413. 
I In a prayer which Johnson com- 
posed on this event he speaks of 
himself as 'now about to return to 
the common comforts and business 
of the world.' Pro and Med., p. 38. 
In a note on this (Life, i. 514) I 


YOLo I. 


speak of this prayer as being com- 
posed on the day on which his mother 
was buried, and add :-' After his 
wife's death he had allowed forty 
days to pass before his "return to 
life.'" On looking once more at the 
passage in Prayers and Meditations, 
I see that I may have been mistaken. 
For he adds that the prayer was 
'repeated on my fast with the ad- 
dition.' The addition is likely enough 
the second part of the prayer, and it 
is in it that this statement is found. 
When the fast was held we are not 
told. 


t..
 


of 



82 


To Miss Porte1
. 


[A D. 1759. 


of any use for me now to come down; nor can I bear the place. 
If you want any directions, Mr. Howard I will advise you. The 
twenty pounds I could not get a bill for to-night, but will send 
it on Saturday. 


I am, my dear, 
Your affectionate servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Jan. 25, 1759. 


127. 
To MISS PORTER. 


DEAR MISS, 
I have no reason to forbear writing, but that it makes my 
heart heavy, and I had nothing particular to say which might 
not be delayed to the next post; but had no thoughts of ceasing 
to correspond with my dear Lucy, the only person now left in 
the world with whom I think myself connected 2. There needed 
not my dear mother's desire, for every heart must lean to some- 
body, and I have nobody but you; in whom I "put all my little 
affairs with too much confidence to desire you to keep receipts, 
as you prudently proposed. 
If you and Kitty 3 will keep the house, I think I shall like it 
best. Kitty may carry on the trade for herself, keeping her own 
stock apart, and laying aside any money that she receives for 
any of the goods which her good mistress has left behind her. 


I Mr. Howard, whose Christian 
name was Charles, 'was in the law, 
and resided in the Close.' Boswell 
mentions him among Johnson's 
early friends and patrons. Life, i. 
80. Writing of him in a letter to 
Dr. Taylor (þost, August 18, 1763), 
Johnson says :-' His profession has 
acquainted him with matrimonial 
law, and he is in himself a cool and 
wise man.' His daughter Mary 
married in December, 1757, Dr. 
Erasmus Darwin. Their third son 
was Robert \Varing Darwin, the 
father of Charles Robert Darwin. It 
is very likely that from Johnson's 
friend, ' the cool and wise man,' the 
great naturalist indirectly derived 


his Christian name. He was named, 
it is believed, after Erasmus Dar- 
win's favourite son Charles, who 
died from a dissection wound at 
Edinburgh; who, in his turn, was 
named, we may assume, after his 
mother's father, Johnson's friend. It 
is interesting to find Charles Dar- 
win's great-grandfather described by 
Johnson as 'a cool and wise man'; 
for no man in a higher degree de- 
served that character than Charles 
Darwin himself. 
2 He had some distant relations to 
whom he left legacies. Life, iv. 401, 
n. 3; 402, n. 2. 
3 Catherine Chambers, Mrs
 J ohn- 
son's old servant. Ante, p. 76, n. 3. 
I do 



Aetat. 49.] 


To Miss Porter. 


8'" 
.) 


I do not see, if this scheme be followed, any need of appraising 
the books 1. My mother's debts, dear mother, I suppose I may 


1 His mother had carried on her 
husband's trade as a bookseller; the 
books were the stock in her shop. 
Life, i. 90, n. 3; 175, n. 1. In the 
Johnson MSS. at Pembroke College 
are the following documents relating 
to the trade as carried on by her 
husband, her son Nathanael and her- 
self :- 
To the Hon ù Gilb. Walmesley Esqr. 
1 Memoires of Literature 
for feb. and March . 0 2 0 
May 10, 1726. 1 Dit. Ap. 
and May. . . . . 0 2 0 
1 Dit. June 0 I 0 
1 Swift's Cadenus &c.. . 0 I 0 
1 memoiresJuly,Aug.Sept. 
Oct. . . . . . . 0 4 0 
I Phyical [sic] Dict. . . 0 6 0 
I moyle's \\T orks. 3 vol. 0 17 0 
1 Gullivers Travels. 2 vol. 0 9 6 
I Glew [? 1 lb. of glue] . 0 0 5 
1 memoirs for Nov. and 
Dec. . . .. 0 2 0 
Jan. 27, 17267. 1 Hederici 
Lexicon . . . . . 0 13 6 
I Aliffs Canon and Civill 
Law .... 4 0 


4 2 5 


Jan. 27, 1726-7. 
Received then the contents of this 
Bill four pound two shillings two- 
pence in full of all Accounts 
MICH. JOHNSON. 
To the Hon d Mr. Walmesly. 
Holland on ye smallpox 0 2 9 
Republick, Aug. Sept. 
Oct. . . . . . . 0 3 0 
I - Nov. Decemb.. . 0 2 0 
I Norfolk Congress 0 0 9 
I Cornel. Nepos, De[cem- 
ber]. . . .. 0 4 6 
1 Republick, Jan. feb. 
March, Ap. May . . 0 5 0 
I Letter from Rome 0 I 6 
(
 2 


Tryal of witnesses 0 1 6 
Republick, June, J ul y, 
Aug. 0 3 0 
1 - Sept. Oct.. . . 0 2 0 


6 0 


039 


2 3 


Last Bill, query where it 
ended. 
Human Understanding 0 5 6 
RepubI. May and June 0 2 0 
Dunciade and Key 0 2 0 
July 0 1 0 


Here 
ended. 


suppose the former bill 


Decemb. ye 28, 1729. 
Recev d then the Contents of this 
Bill and all Acct. 


1\1. JOHNSON. 


SIR, 
I here send you the Books 
togeather with an account of the 
Charge of them; the whole is 
26. 6.4, rec'd 21-S0 that there re- 
mains due to me 5.6.4, which you 
will please to remit aU your Con- 
venient time. 
I am your humble Serv t 
D. JOHNSON. 
Swarkstone, Aug. 21, 1733. 
On Monday and Tuesday the 
third and fourth of Sept r will be ye 
last day's of our attending the sale, 
and on which day's we shall return 
half a Crown in the Pound, for all 
books that may be bought on those 
two day's. I shall be glad to have 
your company. 
For Gilb t Walmesley 
Esq. at His House 
In Lichfield. 


pay 



84 


T'o Miss Porter. 


lA.D.1759. 


pay with little difficulty; and the little trade may go silently 
forward. I fancy Kitty can do nothing better; and I shall not 
want to put her out of a house, where she has lived so long, 
and with so much virtue. I am very sorry that she is ill, and 
earnestly hope that she will soon recover; let her know that 
I have the highest value for her, and would do any thing for her 
advantage. Let her think of this proposal. I do not see any 


To the Hon d Gilbert \Valmesley Esqr. 
17 Republicks of Letters 
from May 1732 to No- 
ember 1733. . . 0 17 0 
I Lock on ye Longitude 0 0 6 


o 17 6 


Nov. 10th, 1733. 
Reed then in full of this Bill and 
all Accts. 


SARAH JOHNSON. 
To Gilbert Walmesley Esqr. 
12 Republicks of Letters 
from Oct. 1733 to Nov. 
1734 . . . . . . . 0 12 0 
Feb. 21 st. An Almanack 
bound in veIl. . . . . 0 I 9 
1734, May 20. The Bishops 
Charge . . . 0 1 0 
Oct. 2. A Play. . . . 0 0 6 


o 15 3 


Reed Feb. 3, 1734/5 ye contents 
of this Bill in full of all accounts, I 
say rec d by me, 
NATH: JOHNSON. 
Febru. ye 3 d , 1734-5 
J:, s. d. 
003 


Mr. \Valmsley paid all but 
October was the last Re- 
publick he had then 
recev d 
June 30th. Popes Letters . 
12 Republicks since 


060 
o 12 0 


o 18 3 


Jan. 10, 1735, 
Rec d then in full of this Bill and 
all Act's. 


SARAH JOHNSON. 
'Ashby, Jan. 3 1 , 1735. 


SIR. 
My sister Johnson desiars me to 
wright in her behalf to you, there 
being due to her for the parcell of 
books you had of her at Swarkstone 
five" pund six shillings and foure 
pence, you had a perticuler acount 
sent you with the books, as she wase 
obliged to sell of the studey of books 
at a loe rate to turn it into money, 
she hoped you would have paid the 
bill which she sent to Mr. Newton, 
some time agoe. He reterned the 
bill and said you mentiond some 
mestake, which if there wase my 
sister desiard him to let you so [ sic] 
she would desiare you to paye him 
the rest, and deduct the mestake for 
she desiars no moore than is justly 
due to her, the interest that might 
have been maid in this time will help 
towards a smal mestake. She begs 
you will paye the money to Mr. 
Newton who will soon come to 
Ashby and will i dare saye help it to 
my sister Johnson. I am yr 
Humble sarvant, 
J AMES BATE.' 
At the foot is written in another 
hand :-' N.B. I paid IVlr. Newton 
J:, 5 ; but I believe sd [?] I rectify the 
mistakes in Mrs. Johnson's bill, 
there will be something due, tho' a 
trifle, to 


G. VVTALMESLEV.' 
likelier 



Aetat. 49.] 


To 
JIiss Pm/ler. 


8S 


likelier method by which she may pass the remaining part of 
her life in quietness and competence. 
You must have what part of the house you please, while you 
are inclined to stay in it; but I flatter myself with the hope that 
you and I shall some time pass our days together I. I am very 
solitary and comfortless, but will not invite you to come hither 
till I can have hope of making you live here so as not to dislike 
your situation. Pray, my dearest, write to me as often as you can. 
I am. dear l\'Iadam, 
Your affectionate humble servant
 
Feb. 6, 1759. SA
l: J OHNSO
. 
128. 


To Ml
S PORTER 2. 


My DEAR MISS, 
I am very much pleased to find that your opmIOn concurs 
with mine. I think all that you propose is right and beg that 
you would manage every thing your own way, for I do not doubt 
but I shall like all that you do. 
Kitty shall be paid first, and I will send her down money 
to pay the London debts afterwards, for as I have had no 
connexion with the trade, it is not worth while to appear in 
it now. Kitty may close her mistress's account and begin 
her own. The stock she shall have as you mention. I hope 
she continues to recover. 
I am very much grieved at my Mother's death, and do not 
love to think nor to write about it. I wish you all kinds of 
good, and hope sometime to see you. 
I am, dear Miss, 
Your affectionate servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


London, Feb. 15, 1759. 


I Miss Porter lived on, it should 
seem, in Johnson's house in Lich- 
field till she had built one of her 
own. Life, i. 110, n. 3. S he died 
without ever visiting London. Ib. 
ii. 462. 
2 I have carelessly failed to record 
the name of the correspondent to 
whose kindness I am indebted for 
this unpublished letter. It is en- 
dorsed :-' An original letter of Dr. 


Johnson-given to me by Geo. 
Pearson, St.John's ColI. Cam. G.\V.' 
George Pearson was probably the 
son of the Rev. Mr. Pearson, of 
Lichfield (Life, ii. 471; iv. 256), 
whom Mr. Croker describes, in one 
place, as the legatee of Lucy Porter, 
and in another place as the husband 
of the lady who inherited her fortune. 
Croker's Boswell, Preface, p. xiv, 
and p. 492. 


To 



86 


To .Jfiss Porter. 


[A.D. 1759. 


129. 


To MISS PORTER. 
DEAR MADAM, March I, 175 8 [9]" 
I thought your last letter long in coming; and did not 
require or expect such an inventory of little things as you have 
sent me. I could have taken your word for a matter of much 
greater value. I am glad that Kitty is better; let her be 
paid first, as my dear, dear mother ordered, and then let me 
know at once the sum necessary to discharge her other debts, 
and I will find it you very soon. 
I beg, my dear, that you would act for me without the least 
scruple, for I can repose myself very confidently upon your 
prudence, and hope we shall never have reason to love each 
other less. I shall take it very kindly if you make it a rule to 
write to me once at least every week, for I am now very desolate, 
and am loth to be universally forgotten. 
I am, dear sweet, 
Your affectionate servant, 
SAM: J OHNSüK. 


130. 


To MISS PORTER. 
DEAR MADAM, March 23, 1759. 
I beg your pardon for having so long omitted to write. 
One thing or other has put me off. I have this day moved my 
things, and you are now to direct to me at Staple Inn, London 2. 
I hope, my dear, you are well, and Kitty mends. I wish her 
success in her trade. I am going to publish a little story book, 


I See ante, p. 76, 11. 2. 
2 He had left Gough Square, 
where he had Jived since 1749. Life, 
iii. 405, n. 6. On January 9 of this 
year (in a letter misdated 1758) he 
wrote to Langton, who had sent 
him some game :-' I have left off 
house-keeping, and therefore made 
presents of the game.' Life, i. 326. 


Apparently he had dispersed his 
household, sleeping probably in his 
old house, but having no cooking 
done there. His chambers in Staple 
Inn are not known. I made enquiries 
about them, but was infonned that 
the books of the Society had been 
destroyed in a fire. 


which 



Aetat. 49.] 


To Mrs. Montagu. 


87 


which I will send you when it is out I. Write to me, my dearest 
girl, for I am always glad to hear from you. 
I am, my dear, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM : JOHNSON. 


131. 
To MISS PORTER. 
DEAR MADA
I, May 10,1759. 
I am almost ashamed to tell you that all your letters came 
safe, and that I have been always very well, but hindered, I 
hardly know how, from writing. I sent, last week, some of my 
works, one for you, one for your aunt Hunter, who was with my 
poor dear mother when she died, one for Mr. Howard 2, and one 
for Kitty. 
I beg you, my dear, to write often to me, and tell me how you 
like my little book. 
I am, dear love, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


132. 
To MRS. MONTAGU 3. 
MADAM, June 9, 1759. 
I am desired by Mrs. Williams to sign receipts with her 
name for the subscribers which you have been pleased to pro- 


I The little story book was Ras- 
selas. It was reviewed in the Gentle- 
man's Jlfagazine for April (p. 184), 
and was no doubt published in that 
month. The Gentleman's lVIagazine 
at this time was published at the end 
of the month, or even later. Thus 
the number for April, 1759, contains 
news as late as April 30. 
2 See ante, p. 82, n. I. 
3 This and the following letter 
were first published in Croker's 
Boswell, page 1 I 8. 
For an account of Mrs. Montagu, 
see Boswell's Johns01z, ii. 88. In 
1775 she gave Mrs. \\'illiams a small 
annuity. Croker's Boswell, p. 458, 


and þost, Letter of Sept. 22, 1783. 
The subscriptions were perhaps for 
Mrs. Williams's llfiscellanies, though 
that volume was not published till 
seven years later. Life, ii. 25. 
Johnson once censured Mrs. Mon- 
tagu's mode of conferring charity. 
, If,' said he, 'a wench wants a good 
gown, do not give her a fine smelling- 
bottle, because that is more delicate; 
as I once knew a lady lend the key 
of her library to a poor scribbling 
dependant, as if she took the woman 
for an ostrich that could digest iron.' 
Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 271. \Ve learn 
from Hayward's Piozzi, i. 154, that 
this lady was Mrs. 1\10ntagu. 


curc, 



88 


To Mrs. Montagu. 


[A.D. 1759. 


cure, and to return her humble thanks for your favour, which 
was conferred with all the grace that elegance can add to 
beneficence. 


I am, Madam. 
Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To MRS. MONTAGu. 


133. 


M Gray's Inn., Dec. 17, 1759. 
ADAM, 
Goodness so conspicuous as yours will be often solicited, 
and perhaps sometimes solicited by those who have little pre- 
tension to your favour. It is now my turn to introduce a 
petitioner, but such as I have reason to believe you will think 
worthy of your notice. Mrs. Ogle, who kept the music-room 
in Soho Square 2, a woman who struggles with great industry 
for the support of eight children, hopes by a benefit concert to 
set herself free from a few debts, which she cannot otherwise 
discharge. She has, I know not why, so high an opinion of me 
as to believe that you will pay less regard to her application 
than to mine. You know, l\1adam, I am sure you know, how 
hard it is to deny, and therefore would not wonder at my com- 
pliance, though I were to suppress a motive which you know 
not, the vanity of being supposed to be of any importance to 
Mrs. Montagu. But though I may be willing to see the world 
deceived for my advantage, I am not deceived myself, for I know 
that Mrs. Ogle will owe whatever favours she shall receive from 
the patronage which we humbly entreat on this occasion, much 


· Johnson, who had moved to 
Staple Inn on March 23 of this 
year, had resided there but a short 
time, and was now occupying cham- 
bers in Gray's Inn, whence in a few 
months he moved to Inner Temple 
Lane. I am informed by Mr. 'V. 
R. Douthwaite, Librarian of Gray's 
Inn and author of Gray's hm, its 
History and Associations, that 'he 
does not seem to have held chambers 
directly from the Society.' 
" Horace\Valpole in 1771 mentions 


a Madame Cornelys who' took Car- 
lisle House in Soho Square, enlarged 
it, and established assemblies and 
balls by subscription.' She had ap- 
parently been there some years, as 
in 1764 he had said that 'she had 
enlarged her vast room.' Letters, 
iv. 302 ; v. 283. She got into diffi- 
culties and died in the Fleet Prison. 
Cunningham's Handbook of London, 
ed. 1850, p. 456. Perhaps Mrs. Ogle 
had occupied the same house. 


more 



Âetat. 50.] 


To the Reverend Tho1Jlas Percy. 


89 


more to your compassion for honesty in distress, than to the 
request of, 


IVladam, 
Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


134. 
To JOSEPH SIMPSON. 
[London, I759?] Published in the Life, i. 346. 
Boswell ascribes this undated letter to 1759. In a note on it I have 
shown that it probably belongs to a later date. 


135. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London], October 18, 1760. Published in the Life, i. 357. 


136. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS PERCY I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I went this morning to Mr. Millar 2, and found him very 
well disposed to your project. I told him the price of 3 vols. 
was an hundred guineas, to which he made no objection 3. I said 
nothing of advancing any money, for he was in great haste, and 
I did not at once recollect it. There is only one thing which I 


I From the original in the Dyce 
and Forster Libraries, Science and 
Art Department, South Kensington, 
communicated to me by Mr. R. 
Forster Sketchley. 
2 Andrew Millar, the great book- 
seller, whom Johnson called 'the 
Maecenas of the age.' Life, i. 287, 
11. 3. 
3 In 1761 Percy published a trans- 
lation from the Portuguese of a 
Chinese novel, Hate Kiau Chooan, in 
four volumes, and in 1762 llIis- 
cellaneous Pieces relating 10 Ihe 
Chinese, in two volumes. His Re- 
liques of Andenl E1zglislz Poetry 
did not appear till 1765; nevertheless 
it is no doubt this work which was 
the subject of this letter. It was in 


three volumes, and Johnson, as Percy 
tells us in his Preface, had seen some 
of the manuscript and had urged its 
publication. Shenstone wrote on 
March I, 1761 :-' You have perhaps 
heard me speak of Mr. Percy; he 
was in treaty with Mr. James Dods- 
ley for the publication of our best old 
ballads in three volumes. . . . I pro- 
posed the scheme for him myself.' 
Shenstone's Works, iii. 32 I. 'Mr. 
Shenstone,' writes Percy in his Pre- 
face, 'was to have borne a joint 
share in the work had not death un- 
happily prevented him.' (He died 
on Feb. II, 1763.) The bargain 
with Millar dropped through, for it 
was Dodsley who had the high 
honour of publishing the Reliques. 
dislike. 



9 0 


To Miss Porter. 


[A.D. 1761. 


dislike. He wants the Sheets that are in my hands to shew to 
I know not whom. In that there is yet some danger. If we 
had not had this Specimen I think we should have immediately 
bargained. Perhaps after all the bargain is made. You will 
know from his own Letter, which he promised me to write to- 
night, and which, if he writes it, will make this superfluous. But, 
this business being of moment, I would not appear to neglect it. 
:Make all compliments to l\Irs. Percy X, for 
Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
60 SA
l: JOHNSON. 
Nov. 29, 17 . 
To the Rev d Mr. Percy. 


137. 
To MISS PORTER 2. 
Inner Temple Lane 3, Jan. 13, 176 I. 


DEAREST MADAM, 
I ought to have begun the new year with repairing the 
omissions of the last, and to have told you sooner, what I can 


I I t was to his young wife that 
Percy, two years earlier, had ad- 
dressed those pretty lines begin- 
mng:- 
, 0 Nancy, wilt thou go with me, 
Nor sigh to leave the flaunting 
town? 
Can silent glens have charms for 
thee ? 
The lowly cot and russet gown? ' 
Dodsley's Collection of Poems, ed. 
1758, vi. 233, and H. B. \Vheatley's 
edition of the Reliques, i. Preface, 
P.7 2 . 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, 8vo. ed., p. 122. 
3 Johnson had moved into Inner 
Temple Lane in 1760. 'I have been 
told,' says Hawkins, 'by his neigh- 
bour at the corner, that during the 
time he dwelt there, more inquiries 
were made at his shop for Mr. John- 
son than for all the inhabitants put 
together of both the Inner and 
:\liddle Temple.' lIawkins's Lift: of 


Johnson, p. 383. In Dodsley's Lon- 
dOll, published in 1761, the side of 
the Temple fronting the Thames is 
described as 'lying open and airy, 
and enjoying a delightful prospect 
into Surrey.' vol. vi. p. 104. Boswell, 
thirty years after Johnson, had 
chambers on the same staircase, and 
here 'he was forcing himself to sit 
some hours a-day,' at the very time 
that he was bringing out his Life of 
Joll1lsolt. Letters of Bl'swell, p. 335, 
and Croker's Bos'well, p. 830. 
According to the Gentleman's 
lIIagazine for 1857, part ii, p. 552, 
Johnson had occupied the first 
floor of NO.1. On October 8 of that 
year there was a sale by auction of 
the floor, windows, doors, and panel 
partition. They fetched LIO 5s. 
The entire staircase and the outside 
door with its pilasters were with- 
drawn from the sale, as the Benchers 
wished to preserve them as relics. 
The house was pulled down. It 
always 



Aetat. 51.] 


To the Reverend Tho1Jzas Percy. 


9 1 


always tell you with truth, that I wish you long life and happi- 
ness, always increasing till it shall end at last in the happiness of 
heaven. 
I hope, my dear, you are well; I am at present pretty much 
disordered by a cold and cough; I have just been blooded, and 
hope I shall be better. 
Pray give my love to Kitty. I should be glad to hear that 
she goes on well. 


I am, my dearest dear, 
Your most affectionate servant, 
SA)I: JOHNSOK. 


138. 
To JOSEPH BARETTI. 
London, June 10, 1761. Published in the Life, i. 3 6 1. 


139. 


To THE REVEREND THOMAS PERCY I. 
DEAR SIR, 
The kindness of your invitation would tempt me to leave 
pomp and tumult behind, and hasten to your retreat; however, 
as I cannot perhaps see another coronation 2 so conveniently as 


stood on the site of what is now 
caIJed Johnson's Buildings. 
To the kindness of Mr. H. \V. 
La wrence, Sub-Treasurer of the Inner 
Temple, I owe the following copy of 
a ' Bench Table Order':- 
, Inner Temple, Bench Table, 
'Tuesday, Nov. 10,1857. 
'Ordered that the Staircase, &c. 
of Dr. Johnson's Staircase be pre- 
sented to the Crystal Palace Com- 
pany.' 
Mr. W. Gardiner, the Secretary 
of the Crystal Palace Company, in- 
forms me that no trace of it can be 
found. He does not think that it 
was ever set up, but that it was 
stored in a part of the building which 
was destroyed by fire in 1866. 
Charles Lamb, who in 1809 took 
chambers at No. -1- of the same Lane, 


says :-' I have two rooms on the 
third floor and five rooms above, with 
an inner staircase to myself, and all 
new painted &c., and all for [,30 a 
year! ' Letters of Cilarles Lamb, ed. 
by A. Ainger, i. 252. 
I From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font- 
hill House. 
This Letter was sold for [,5 IOS. 
by Messrs. Christie & Co. on June 5, 
1888. Lot 48. 
2 The Coronation took place on 
Sept. 22. Horace \Valpole wrote on 
Sept. 28 :-' ""hat is the finest sight 
in the world? A Coronation. What 
do people talk most about? A 
Coronation. What is delightful to 
have passed? A Coronation. In- 
deed, one had need be a handsome 
young peeress not to be fatigued to 
this, 



9 2 


To Miss Porter, 


lA.D.1762. 


this, and I may see many young Percies, I beg your pardon for 
staying till this great ceremony is over, after which I purpose to 
pass some time with you, though I cannot flatter myself that I 
can even then long enjoy the pleasure which your company 
always gives me, and which is likewise expected from that of 
Mrs. Percy, by, 


Sept. 12, 1781. 
To the Rev d Mr. Percy, at Easton Mauduit, Northamptonshire, by 
Castle Ashby. 


Sir, 
Your most affectionate 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


140. 
To DR. STAUNTON. 
[London], June 1, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 367. 


141. 
To A LADY. 
[London], June 8, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 368. 


142. 
To JOSEPH BARETTI. 
London, July 20, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 369. 


143. 
To THE EARL OF BUTE. 
[London], July 20, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 376. 


144. 


DEAR :MADAM, 
If I write but seldom to you it is because it seldom happens 
that I have anything to tell you that can give you pleasure, but 
last Monday I was sent for by the chief Minister 2 the Earl of 


To MIss PORTER I. 


death with it.' Letters, iii. 444. John- 
son visited Percy at his Vicarage at 
Easton Maudit in 1764. Life, i. 486. 
I From the original in the posses- 
sion of the late Mr. Stamford Raffles, 
13 Abercromby Square, Liverpool. 
>: Neither Premier nor Prime 


Minister is in Johnson's Dictionary. 
In 1775 he used the term Pnllle 
Minister. Life, ii. 355. Hume in 
1742 speaks of \Valpole as Prime 
Minister. Hume's Essays, ed. 1742, 
ii. 204. For Johnson's pension see 
Life, i. 372. 


Bute, 



Aetat. 63.] 


To 
7/I1SS Re)!1ZOlds. 


93 


Bute, who told me that the King had empowered him to do 
something for me; and let me know that a pension was granted 
me of three hundred a year. Be so kind as to tell Kitty. 
I am, dearest l\Iadam, 
Your most affectionate 
SA:\I : JOHNSON. 


July 24, 1762. 


To Miss Porter, Lichfield. 


To THE EARL OF BUTE. 


145. 


Temple Lane, November 3, 1762. Published in the Life, i. 380. 


146. 
To MISS REYNOLDS I. 
DEAR lYIADAM, Dec. 21,1762. 
If Mr. :Mudge should make the offer you mention, I shall 
certainly comply with it, but I cannot offer myself unasked 2. I 
am much pleased to find myself so much esteemed by a man 
whom I so much esteem. 
Mr. ToIcher 3 is here; full of life, full of talk, and full of en- 
terprise. To see brisk young fellows of seventy-four, is very 
surprising to those who begin to suspect themselves of growing 
old. 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 129. 
Boswell says that he had seen 
Johnson's letters to Miss Reynolds 
(Sir Joshua's sister), but that' her too 
nice delicacy would not permit them 
to be published.'-Life, i. 486, 11. I. 
2 'To be a godfather.' - MISS 
REYNOLDS. Mr. Mudge was most 
likely one of the sons of the Rev. 
Zachariah Mudge, either John, 'the 
celebrated surgeon,' or Thomas, who 
in 1793 or 1794 received a reward of 
[,3,000 from Parliament for his im- 
provement in the construction of 
chronometers. \Villiam Mudge, John 
Mudge's son, famous for the part he 
took in the trigonometrical survey of 


Great Britain and Ireland, was born 
in 1762. I t is probable therefore 
that it was about him that the offer 
was made. See Boswell's Jolmson, 
i. 378, and Knight's Cye/o. of Biog. 
iv. 373. 
3 'An alderman of Plymouth, he 
to whom Johnson exclaimed in his 
mock enthusiasm, "I hate a 
Docker." '-CROKER. See the Life, 
i. 379, n. 2. N orthcote in Hazlitt's 
Conversatiòns (p. 288) said :-' Old 
Mr. Tolcher used to say of the 
famous Pulteney-" My Lord Bath 
always speaks in blank verse.'" He 
gave young N orthcote an introduc- 
tion to Reynolds. Leslie and Taylor's 
Life of Reynolds, i. 406. 


You 



94 


To ./oseþh Baretti. 


[A.D. 1762. 


You may tell at Torrington that whatever they may think, I 
have not forgot Mr. Johnson's widow X, nor school-Mr. Johnson's 
salmon-nor Dr. Morison's Idler. For the widow I shall apply 
very soon to the Bishop of Bristol 2, who is now sick. The salmon 
I cannot yet learn any hope of making a profitable scheme, for 
where I have inquired, which was where I think the information 
very faithful, I was told that dried salmon may be bought in 
London for a penny a pound; but I shall not yet drop the 
search. 
For the school, a sister of Miss Carwithen's has offered herself 
to Miss Williams, who sent her to Mr. Reynolds, where the 
business seems to have stopped. Miss Williams thinks her well 
qualified, and I am told she is a woman of elegant manners, and 
of a lady-like appearance. Mr. Reynolds must be written to, 
for, as she knows more of him than of me, she will probably 
choose rather to treat with him. 
Dr. Morison's Books shall be sent to him with my sincere 
acknowledgements of all his civilities. 
I am going for a few days or weeks to Oxford, that I may free 
myself from a cough, which is sometimes very violent; however, 
if you design me the favour of any more letters, do not let the 
uncertainty of my abode hinder you, for they will be sent after 
me, and be very gladly received by, 
Madam, 
Your most obliged humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSOX. 


147. 


To JOSEPH BARETTI. 


London, December 21, 17 62 . 


Published in the Life, i. 3 80 . 


I 'A clergyman's widow-to procure 
a pension for her.'-MISS REYNOLDS. 
Johnson and Reynolds on their tour 
to Devonshire in the summer of this 
year had visited at Torrington Rey- 
nolds's brother-in-law, Mr. Johnson. 
Leslie and Taylor's Life of Reynolds, 
i. 21 5. 


2 Thomas N ewton, a Lichfield 
man. Johnson hearing his Disser- 
tations on the Proþhecies descri bed 
as his great work, said: -' \\-'hy, 
Sir, it is Tom's great work; but how 
far it is great, or how much of it is 
Tom's, are other questions.'-Life, 
iv. 286. 


To 



Aetat. 53. J 


To George Strahan. 


95 


148. 


To GEORGE STRAHAN I. 
DEAR GEORGE, Feb. 19, [17 6 3]. 
I am glad that you have found the benefit of confidence, 
and hope you will never want a friend to whom you may safely 
disclose any painful secret. The state of your mind you had not 
so concealed but that it was suspected at home, which I mention 
that if any hint should be given you, it may not be imputed to 
me, who have told nothing but to yourself, who had told more 
than you intended 2. 
I hope you read more of Nepos, or of some other book, 
than you construe to Mr. Bright 3. The more books you look 
into for your entertainment, with the greater variety of style 
you will make yourself acquainted. Turner I do not know; but 
think that if Clark 4 be better, you should change it, for I shall 
never be willing that you should trouble yourself with more than 
one book to learn the government of words. \Vhat book that 
one shall be, IVer. Bright must determine. Be but diligent in 
reading and writing, and doubt not of the success. Be pleased 
to make my compliments to Miss Page and the gentlemen. 
I am, 
Dear Sir. 
Yours affectionately, 
SAM: JOHNSOK. 


149. 


To GEORGE STRAHAN 5. 
DEAR SIR, March 26, 17 6 3. 
You did not very soon answer my Jetter, and therefore 
cannot complain that I make no great haste to answer yours. 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 129. 
George Strahan, the son of Wi IIi am 
Strahan the printer, became Vicar 
of Islington. He attended Johnson 
on his death-bed, and published his 
Prayers and Meditations. Life, iv. 
376. He was at this time at the 
Abingdon Grammar School. 


2 See þost, Letter of Aug. 19, 1782. 
3 Mr. Bright was the Master of 
Abingdon School. 
4 I think that John Clarke is 
meant, the author of books on Latin 
Grammar and Composition. I do 
not know who Turner was. 
S First published in Croker's Bos- 
'well, page 130. 


lam 



9 6 


7ò .J.lfiss Porter. 


[A.D. 1763. 


I am well enough satisfied with the proficiency that you make, 
and hope that you will not relax the vigour of your diligence. 
I hope you begin now to see that all is possible which was pro- 
fessed. Learning is a wide field, but six years spent in close 
application are a long time; and I am still of opinion, that if 
you continue to consider knowledge as t
e most pleasing and 
desirable of all acquisitions, and do not suffer your course to be 
interrupted, you may take your degree not only without de- 
ficiency, but with great distinction. 
You must still continue to write Latin. This is the most 
difficult part, indeed the only part that is very difficult of your 
undertaking. If you can exemplify the rules of syntax, I know 
not whether it will be worth while to trouble yourself with any 
more translations. You will more increase your number of 
words, and advance your skill in phraseology, by making a short 
theme or two every day; and when you have construed properly 
a stated number of verses, it will be pleasing to go from reading 
to composition, and from composition to reading. But do not 
be very particular about method; any method will do, if there 
be but diligence. Let me know, if you please, once a week what 
you are doing. 


I am, 
Dear George, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSOX. 


150. 
To MISS PORTER I. 
My DEAR, April 12,17 6 3. 
The newspaper has informed me of the death of Captain 
Porter 2. I know not what to say to you, condolent 3 or con- 
solatory, beyond the common considerations which I suppose 
you have proposed to others, and know how to apply to your- 
self. In all afflictions the first relief is to be asked of God. 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 130. 
2 'Miss Porter's brother, a Captain 
in the Navy, left her a fortune of ten 
thousand pounds; about a third of 
which she laid out in building a 


stately home, and making a hand- 
some garden in an elevated situation 
in Lichfield.' Life, ii. 462. 
3 Condolent is not in Johnson's 
Dictionary. 


I wish 



Aetat 53.] 


To George Strahan. 


97 


I wish to be informed in what condition your brother's death 
has left your fortune; if he has bequeathed you competence or 
plenty, I shall sincerely rejoice; if you are in any distress or 
difficulty, I will endeavour to make what I have, or what I can 
get, sufficient for us both. 


I am, 
IVladam, 
Yours affectionately, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


151. 


To GEORGE STRAHAN I. 


DEAR SIR, April 16, 17 6 3. 
Your account of your proficience is more nearly equal, 
I find, to my expectations than your own. You are angry that 
a theme on which you took so much pains was at last a kind 
of English Latin; what could you expect more? If at the 
end of seven years you write good Latin, you will excel most of 
your contemporaries: Scribendo disces scribere. It is only by 
writing ill that you can attain to write well. Be but diligent 
and constant, and make no doubt of success. 
I will allow you but six weeks for Tully's Offices. Walker's 
Particles 2 I would not have you trouble yourself to learn at all by 
heart, but look in it from time to time, and observe his notes and 
remarks, and see how they are exemplified. The translation 
from Clark's history will improve you, and I would have you 
continue it to the end of the book. 
I hope you read by the way at loose hours other books, 
though you do not mention them; for no time is to be lost; and 
what can be done with a master is but a small part of the whole. 
I would have you now and then try at some English verses. 
When you find that you have mistaken any thing, review the 
passage carefully, and settle it in your mind. 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 130. 
2 Treatise of Enf{lish Particles, 
shewing how to render them accord- 
VOL. I. II 


ing 10 Ille þroþn"elie and elegance 
of Ihe Laline. London, 1655. Dy 
\Villiam \Valker, D.D. 


Be 



9 8 


To j}Iiss Porter. 


[A.D. 1763. 


Be pleased to make my compliments, and those of Miss 
Williams, to all our friends. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Yours most affectionately, 
SA:\T: JOHNSON. 


152. 


To THE RIGHT RON. GEORGE GRENVILLE I. 
S July 2, 17 6 3. 
IR, 
Be pleased to pay to the bearer seventy-five pounds, being 
the quarterly payment of a pension granted by his Majesty, and 
due on the 24th day of June last to, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM. JOHNSON 2. 


153. 


To MIss PORTER 3. 
MY DEAREST DEAR, July 5, 17 6 3. 
I am extremely glad that so much prudence and virtue 
as yours is at last awarded 4 with so large a fortune, and doubt 
not but that the excellence which you have shewn in circum- 
stances of difficulty will continue the same in the convenience of 
wealth. 
I have not written to you sooner, having nothing to say, 


I Published in the Gre1Zville 
Pajers, ii. 68. 
George Grenville was Chancellor 
of the Exchequer. For the payment of 
Johnson's pension see Life, i. 376, 1t. 2. 
2 Four days before the date of 
this letter the following note had 
been sent, which, in its result, affected 
Johnson's life scarcely less than his 
pension. I owe this copy of it to the 
kindness of Mrs. Thomas, of Eyhorne 
House, Hollingbourne, near Maid- 
stone, who possesses the original :- 
'Mr. Thrale presents His most 
respectfull compliments to Mrs. and 
Miss Salusbury and wishes to God 
He could have communicated His 
Sentiments to Them last night, which 
is absolutely impossible for Him to 


do to any other Person breathing; 
He therefore most ardently begs to 
see Them at any Hour this after- 
noon, and He will at all Events im- 
mediately enter upon this very in- 
teresting Subject, and when once 
begun, there is no Danger of His 
wandering upon any other: in Short, 
see Them, He must, for He assures 
Them, with the greatest Truth and 
Sincerity, that They have 1JZurder'd 
Peace and Happiness at Home. 
'Southwark, 28 June, 1763.' 
Mr. Thrale married Miss Salus- 
bury on the following Oct. 11. Gen- 
tleman's ltfagazine, 1763, p. 518. 
3 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 144. 
4 Perhaps he wrote rewarded. 
which 



Aetat. 53.] 


To jJ;fiss Porter. 


99 


which you would not easily suppose-nothing but that I love 
you and wish you happy; of which you may be always assured, 
whether I write or not. 
I have had an inflammation in my eyes; but it is much better, 
and will be, I hope, soon quite well. 
Be so good as to let me know whether you design to stay at 
Lichfield this summer; if you do, I purpose to come down. 
I shall bring Frank I with me; so that Kitty must contrive to 
make two beds, or get a servant's bed at the Three Crowns 2, 
which may be as well. As I suppose she may want sheets, and 
table linen, and such things, I have sent ten pounds, which she 
may layout in conveniences. I will pay her for our board 
what you think proper; I think a guinea a week for me and the 
boy. 
Be pleased to give my love to Kitty. 
I am, my dearest love, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


154. 
To MIss PORTER 3. 
Mv DEAREST LOVE, July 12, 17 6 3. 
I had forgot my debt to poor Kitty; pray let her have the 
note, and do what you can for her, for she has been always very 
good. I will help her to a little more money if she wants it, and 
will write. I intend that she shall have the use of the house as 
long as she and I live 4. 
That there should not be room for me at the house is somc 
disappointment to me, but the matter is not very great. I am 
sorry you have had your head filled with building, for many 
reasons. It was not necessary to settle immediately for life at 
anyone place; you might have staid and seen more of the 
world. You will not have your work done, as you do not under- 
stand it, but at twice the value. You might have hired a house 


I His black servant. 
2 'The good old-fashioned inn, 
the very next house to that in which 
Johnson was born and brought up,' 
where he and Boswell stayed in 


1776. Life, ii. 461. It is still stand- 
ing. 
3 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 145. 
4 See allte, p. 82. 


1I2 


at 



IOO 


To George Straha1l. 


[A.D. 1763. 


at half the interest of the money for which you build it, if your 
house cost you a thousand pounds. You might have the Palace 
for twenty pounds X, and make forty of your thousand pounds; 
so in twenty years you would have saved four hundred pounds, 
and still have had your thousand. 
I am, dear Dear, 
Yours, &c., 
SA.'\I: JOHNSON. 


155. 


To GEORGE STRAHAN 2. 


DEAR GEORGE, 
To give pain ought always to be painful, and I am sorry 
that I have been the occasion of any uneasiness to you, to whom 
I hope never to [do] any thing but for your benefit or your 
pleasure. Your uneasiness was without any reason on your part, 
as you had written with sufficient frequency to me, and I had 
only neglected to answer them, because as nothing new had 
been proposed to your study, no new direction or incitement 
could be offered you. But if it had happened that you had 
omitted what you did not omit, and that I had for an hour, 
or a week, or a much longer time, thought myself put out of 
your mind by something to which presence gave that prevalence, 
which presence will sometimes give even where there is the most 
prudence and experience, you are not to imagine that my friend- 
ship is light enough to be blown away by the first cross blast, or 
that my regard or kindness hangs by so slender a hair as to be 
broken off by the unfelt weight of a petty offence. I love you, 
and hope to love you long. You have hitherto done nothing 
to diminish my good will, and though you had done much more 
than you have supposed imputed to you, my good will would 
not have been diminished. 
I write thus largely on this suspicion, which you have suffered 
to enter your mind, because in youth we are apt to be too 


I When Boswell visited Lichfield 
in 1776 the Bishop's Palace was 
occupied by Miss Seward's father. 
Life, ii. 467. Bishop Selwyn, \vho 
was appointed in 1867, was, I was 
told, the first prelate who made it his 


permanent abode. 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 146 ; corrected by me 
from the original in the possession 
of Mr. \V. R. Smith, of Greatham 
Moor, \Vest Liss, Hants. 


ngorous 



Aetat. 53.J 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


IOI 


rigorous in our expectations, and to suppose that the duties of 
life are to be performed with unfailing exactness and regularity; 
but in our progress through life we are forced to abate much 
of our demands, and to take friends such as we can find them, 
not as we would make them. 
These concessions every wise man is more ready to make 
to others, as he knows that he shaH often want them for himself; 
and when he remembers how often he fails in the observance or 
cultivation of his best friends, is willing to suppose that his 
friends may in their turn neglect him, without any intention to 
offend him. 
vVhen therefore it shaH happen, as happen it will, that you or 
I have disappointed the expectation of the other, you are not 
to suppose that you have lost me, or that I intended to lose you; 
nothing will remain but to repair the fault, and to go on as if it 
never had been committed. 
I am, Sir, 
Your affectionate scrvant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Thursday, July 14, 17 6 3. 


156. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
You may be confident that what I can do for you either by 
help or counsel in this perplexity shall not be wanting, and 
I take it as a proof of fricndship that you have recourse to 
me on this strange revolution of your domestick life. 
I do not wonder that the commotion of your mind made 
it difficult for you to give me a' particular account, but while my 
knowledge is only general, my advice must be general too. 
Your first care must be of yourself and your own quiet. Do 
not let this vcxation take possession of your thoughts, or sink 
too deeply into your heart. To have an unsuitable or unhappy 


I First published in The Miscel- 
lanies of the PhÜobiblon Sodety, vi. 
19; afterwards by Professor J. E. B. 
::\layor in Notes and Queries, 6th 
S., v. 324. It is the first of a series 
of letters about a quarrel between 


Dr. Taylor and his wife which ended 
in a separation. Boswell seems to 
have known nothing of this matter. 
According to Nichols (Lit. A nee. 
ix. 58) Taylor was twice married. 


marriage 



I02 


To the Reve'rend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1763. 


marriage happens every day to multitudes, and you must en- 
deavour to bear it like your fellow sufferers by diversion at one 
time and reflection at another. The happiness of conjugal life 
cannot be ascertained or secured either by sense or by virtue, 
and therefore its miserics may be numbered among those evils 
which we cannot prevent and must only labour to endure with 
patience, and palliate with judgement. If your condition is 
known I should [think] it best to come from the place, that you 
may not be a gazing-stock to idle people who have nobody 
but you to talk of. You may live privately in a thousand places 
till the novelty of the transaction is worn away. I shall be glad 
to contribute to your peace by any arrangement in my power. 
vVith respect to the Lady I so little understand her temper 
that I know not what to propose. Did she go with with [ sic] a 
male or female companion? With what money do you believe her 
provided? To whom do you imagine she will recur for shelter? 
What is the abuse of her person which she mentions? What is 
[the] danger which she resolves never again to incur? The tale 
of Hannah I suppose to be false, not that if it be true it will 
justify her violence and precipitation, but it will give her con- 
sequent superiority in the publick opinion and in the courts of 
Justice, and it will be better for you to endure hard conditions 
than bring your character into a judicial disquisition. 
I know you never lived very well together, but I suppose that 
an outrage like this must have been preceded by some un- 
common degrees of discord from which you might have pro- 
gnosticated some odd design, or that some preparations for this 
excursion must have been made t of which the recollection may 
give you some direction what to conjecture, and how to proceed. 
You know that I have never advised you to any thing tyran- 
nical or violent, and in the present case it is of great importance 
to keep yourself in the right, and not injure your own right 
by any intemperance of resentment or eagcrness of reprisal. 
For the present I think it prudent to forbear all persuit [sic], 
and all open enquiry, to wear an appearance of complete in- 
differcnce, and calmly wait the effects of time, of necessity, and 
of shame. I suppose she cannot live long without your money, 
and the confession of hcr want will probably humble her. 
Whethcr 



Aetnt. 53.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


10 3 


\Vhether you will inform her brother, I must leave to your 
discretion, who know his character and the terms on which 
you have lived. If you write to him, write like a man ill treated 
but neither dejected nor enraged. 
I do not know what more I can say without more knowledge 
of the case, only I repeat my advice that you keep yourself 
cheerful, and add that I would have [you] contribute nothing 
to the publication of your own misfortune. I wondered to see 
the note transcribed by a hand which I did not know. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your most affectionate 
SAJI: JOHNSON. 


August 13, 1763. 
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 


157. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I have endeavoured to consider your affair according to the 
knowledge which the papers that you have sent me, can afford, 
and will very freely tell you what occurs to me. 
\Vho 1\1r. \V oodcock is I know not, but unless his character 
in the world, or some particular relation to yourself, entitle him 
to uncommon respect, you seem to treat him with too much 
deference by soliciting his interest and condescending to plead 
your cause before him, and imploring him to settle those terms 
of separation which you have a right to prescribe. You are 
in my opinion to consider yourself as a man injured, and instead 
of making defence, to expect submission. If you desert your- 
self who can support you? You needed not have confessed 
so much weakness as is made appear by the tale of the half- 
crown and the pocket picked by your wife's companion. How- 
ever nothing is done that can much hurt you. 
You enquire what the fugitive Lady has in her power. She 
has, I think, nothing in her power but to return home and mend 
her behaviour. To obtain a separate maintenance she must 
prove either cruelty to her person or infidelity to her bed, and 


I First published in The lJIiscel- 
1ll11ies {If the Philobibwll Society, vi. 


22 ; afterwards in Noles and Queries, 
6th S., '0. 342. 


I suppose 



I04 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1763. 


I suppose neither charge can be supported. Nature has given 
women so much power that the law has very wisely given them 
little I. 
The Letter for Mr. Wakefield I think you do not want; it 
is his part to write to you, who are ill treated by his sister. 
You owe him, I think, no obligations, but have been accustomed 
to act among your wife's relations with a character of inferiority 
which I would advise you to take this opportunity of throwing 
off for ever. Fix yourself in the resolution of exacting repara- 
tion for the wrong that you suffer, and think no longer that 
you are to be first insulted and then to recompense by sub- 
mission the trouble of insulting you. 
If a separate alimony should come to be stipulated I do 
not see why you should by an absurd generosity pay your 
wife for disobedience and elopement. vVhat aIlowance will be 
proper I cannot teIl, but would have you consult our old friend 
Mr. Howard 2. His profession has acquainted him with matri- 
moniallaw, and he is in himself a cool and wise man. I would 
not have him come to Ashbourne nor you go to Lichfield; meet 
at Tutb ury 3 or some other obscure and commodious place and 
talk the case at large with him, not merely as a proctor but 
as a friend. 
Your declaration to Mr. Woodcock that you desired nothing 
to be a secret was manly and right; persist in that strain of 
talking, receive nothing, as from favour or from friendship; 
whatever you grant, you are to grant as by compassion, what- 
ever you keep, you are to keep by right, \Vith l\Ir. vVakefield 
you have no business, till he brings his sister in his hand, and 
desires you to receive her. 
I do not mean by all this to exclude all possibility of accom- 
modation; if there is any hope of living happily or decently, 
cohabitation is the most reputable for both. 
I 'Men,' said Johnson, 'know that 3 Tutbury is nearly half-way be- 
women are an over-match for them, tween Ashbourne and Lichfield, lying 
and therefore they choose the a little off the main road. Here in 
weakest or most ignorant. If they 1569, and again in 1585, Mary Queen 
did not think so, they never could of Scots was imprisoned. Froude's 
be afraid of women knowing as History of England, ed. 1870, ix. 33; 
much as themselves.' Life, v. 226. xi. 529. 
2 See ante, p. 82, n. I. 


Your 



Aetat.53.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


10 5 


Your first care must be to procure to yourself such diversions 
as may preserve you from melancholy and depression of mind, 
which is a greater evil than a disobedient \vife. Do not give way 
to grief, nor nurse vexation in solitude; consider that your case 
is not uncommon, and that many live very happily who have 
like you succeeded ill in their . . . . I connexion. 
I cannot butt [sic] think that it would be prudent to remove 
from the clamours, questions, hints, and looks of the people 
about you, but of this you can judge better than, 
Dear Sir, 
Your affectionate 
Aug. 18, 17 6 3. SAM: JOHNSON. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 


158. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 2. 


DEAR SIR, 
Having with some impatience reckoned upon hearing from 
you these two last posts, and been disappointed, I can form 
to myself no reason for the omission but your perturbation 
of mind, or disorder of body arising from it, and therefore I once 
more advise removal from Ashbourne as the proper remedy 
both for the cause and the effect. 
You perhaps ask, whither should I go? any whither where 
your case is not known, and where your presence will cause 
neither looks nor whispers. \
lhere you are the necessary sub- 
ject of common talk, you will not safely be at rest. 
If you cannot conveniently write to me yourself let somebody 
write for you to 


August 25, 1763. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashboume, Derbyshire. 


Dear Sir, 
Your most affectionate 
SA
[: JOHNSON. 


x 'This word I cannot decipher. 
I t looks like "uplier.'" Professor 
1\1 ayor, j"otes and Queries. 


2 From the original in my posses- 
sion; first published in my edition 
of the Life, i. 472. 


To 



106 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1763. 


159. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 
DEAR SIR, Sept. 3, 1763. 
Mr. Woodcock, whatever may be his general character, 
seems to have yielded on this occasion a very easy admission to 
very strong prejudices. He believes every thing against you 
and nothing in your favour. I am therefore glad that his 
resolution of neutrality, so vehemently declared, has set you free 
from the obligation of a promise made with more frankness than 
prudence to refer yourself to his decision. Your letters to him 
are written with great propriety, with coolness and with spirit, 
and seem to have raised his anger only by disappointing his 
expecta tions of being considered as your protector, and being 
solicited for favour and countenance. His attempts to intimidate 
you are childish and indecent; what have you to dread from the 
Law? The Law will give Mrs. Taylor no more than her due 
and you do not desire to give her less. 
I wish you had used the words pretcnded friendship and would 
have [you] avoid on all occasions to dec1are whether, if she should 
offer to return, you will or will not receive her. I do not see that 
you have any thing more [to do] than to sit still, and expect 
the motions of the Lady and her friends. If you think it neces- 
sary to retain Council [sic], I suppose you will have recourse to 
Dr. Smallbrook 2 , and some able Man of the common Law or 
chancery, but though you may retain them provisionally, you 
need do nothing more; for I am not of opinion that the Lady's 
friends will suffer her cause to be brought into the Courts. 
I do not wonder that lVIr. Woodcock is somewhat incredulous 
when you tell him that you do not know your own incomc; pray 
take care to get information, and cither grow wiser or conceal 
your weakness. I could hardly believe you myself when I heard 


I First published in The flJiscel- 
lanies of the Philobiblon Sodety, vi. 
28 ; afterwards in Notes and Quen"es, 
6th S., v. 343. 
2 'About this time [1738] J ohn- 
son applied to Dr. Adams to consult 


Dr. Smalbroke of the Commons, 
whether a person might be permitted 
to practice as an advocate there 
without a doctor's degree in Civil 
Law.' Life, i. 134. 


that 



Aetat. 53.J 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


10 7 


that a wrong letter had been sent to Woodcock by your servant 
who made the packet. You are the first man who, being able to 
rcad and write, had packets of domestick quarrels made by 
a servant. Idleness in such degree, must end in slavery, and 
I think you may less disgracefully be governed by your Lady 
than by Mr. Hint [?]. It is a maxim that no man evcr was 
enslavcd by influencc I while he was fit to be free. 
I cannot but think that Mr. VV oodcock has reason on his sidc 
when he advises the dismission of Hannah. vVhy should you 
not dismiss hcr? It is more injury to her reputation to keep 
her than to send her away, and the loss of her place you may 
recompensc by a present or some small annuity conveyed to her. 
But this I would havc you do not in compliance with solicitation 
or advice, but as a justification of yourself to the world; the 
world has always a right to be regarded 2. 
In affairs of this kind it is necessary to converse with some 
intelligent man, and by considering the question in all states 
to provide means of obviating every chargc. I t will surely be 
right to spend a day with Howard. Do not on this occasion 
cither want money or spare it. 
You seem to be so well pleased to be where you are, that 
I shall not now press your removal, but do not believe that 
everyone who rails at your wife, wishes well to you. A small 
country town is not the place in which one would chuse to 


I The word influe1tce was much in 
men's mouths at this time. Hume 
in his History of El1gland (ed. 1773, 
viii. 319), writing of the reign of 
Charles II, says: -' The Crown 
still possessed considerable power of 
opposing parliaments, and had not 
as yet acquired the means of in- 
fluencing them.' Cf. also ib. vi. 163. 
The elder Pitt, in 1766, said in Par- 
liament :-' I have had the honour 
to serve the Crown, and if I could 
have submitted to influence might 
have still continued to serve.' Par/. 
Hist. xvi. 98. Burke in 1770, in his 
TILOu,g-Jlts on tlte Cause of the Prest'nt 
IJisamtcllts, writes: - 'The power 


of the Crown, almost dead and 
rotten as Prerogative, has grown up 
anew, with much more strength, and 
far less odium, under the name of 
Influence.' Payne's Burl,:e, i. 10. 
Johnson perhaps had in mind the 
following lines in The Castle of 1n- 
dolmce (ii. 29) :- 
, But in prime vigour what can last 
for ay? 
That soul-enfeebling wizard Indo- 
lence, 
I whilom sung, wrought in hig works 
decay; 
Spread far and wide was his curs'd 
influence.' 
- See I_ife, ii. 74. 11.3. 


f} uarrcl 



108 


To George Strahan. 


[A.D. 1763. 


quarrel with a wifc; every human being In such places is 
a spy. 


I am, dear Sir, 
Yours affectionately, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 


160. 
To GEORGE STRAHAN I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I should have answered your last letter sooner if I could 
have given you any valuable or useful directions, but I know not 
any way by which the composition of Latin verses can be much 
facilitated. Of the grammatical part which comprises the know- 
ledge of the measure of the foot, and Quantity of the syllables, 
your grammar will teach you all that can be taught, and even 
of that you can hardly have any thing by rule but the measure of 
the foot. The quantity of syllables even of those for which rules 
are given is commonly learned by practice and retained by 
observation. For the poetical part, which comprises variety 
of expression, propriety of terms, dexterity in selecting com- 
modious words, and readiness in changing their order, it will all 
be produced by frequent essays, and resolute perseverance. The 
less help you have the sooner you will be ablc to go forward 
without help. 
I suppose you are now ready for another author. I would 
not have you dwcll longer upon one book, than till your fami- 
liarity with its style makes it easy to you; every new book will 
for a time be difficult. :Make it a rule to write something in 
Latin every day, and let me know what you are now doing, and 
what your scheme is to do next. Be pleased to give my 
compliments to Mr. Bright, Mr. Stevenson, and Miss Page. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your affectionate servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Sept. 20, 1763. 
To Mr. Strahan at the Reverend Mr. Bright's in Abingdon, Berks. 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 161; corrected by me 
from the original in the possession 


of Mr. W. R. Smith, of Greatham 
Moor, \Vest Liss, Hants. 


To 



Aetat.54.] 


To the Reverend Ð1'. Ta)'lor. 


10 9 


161. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
The alterations which you made in the letter) though I 
cannot think they much mended it, yet did no harm, and per- 
haps the letter may have the effect of reducing the Lady and 
her friends to terms truly moderate and reasonable by shewing 
what slight account you make of menaces and terror. I no more 
desire than you to bring the cause before the Courts, and if they 
who are on the Lady's side can prove nothing, they have in 
reality no such design. I t is not likely that even if they had 
proof of incontinency they would desire to produce it) or make 
any other use of it, than to terrify you into their own Conditions. 
Of the letter which you sent me I can form no judgement till 
you let me know how it came into your hands. If the servant 
who received it produced it voluntarily, I suspect that it was 
written on purpose to be shewn you; if you discovered it by 
accident) it may be supposed to be written that it might be 
shewn to others. I do not see that it deserves or requires any 
notice on either supposition. 
You suspect your housekeeper at Ashbourn of treachery, and 
I doubt not that the Lady has her lower friends and spies behind 
her. But let your- servant be treacherous as you suppose, it is 
your own fault if she has any thing to betray. Do your own 
business, and keep your own secrets, and you may bid defiance 
to servants and to treachery. 
Your conduct with regard to Hannah has, I think, been ex- 
actly right; it will be fit to keep her in sight for some months, 
and let her have directions to shew herself as much as she can. 
Your ill health proceeds immediately from the perturbation 
of your mind. Any incident that makes a man the talk and 
spectacle of the world without any addition to his honour is 
naturaIly vexatious, but talk and looks are all the evils which 
this domestick revolution has brought upon you. I knew that you 
and your wife lived unquietly together, I find that provocations 


1 First published in the ltfiscel- 
lallies 0/ the PllilobiblOlZ Society, 


vi. 32; afterwards in NolL's and 
Queries, 6th S.) v. 382. 


were 



I IO 


To .J.Wiss Re)'1Zolds. 


[A.D. 1763. 


were greater than I had known, and do not see what you have 
to regret but that you did not separate in a very short time 
after you were united. You know, however, that I was always 
cautious when I touched on your differences, that I never advised 
extremities, and that I commonly softened rather than instigated 
resentment. What passes in private can be known only to those 
between whom it passes, and they who [are] ignorant of the 
cause and progress of connubial differences, as all must be but 
the parties themselves, cannot without rashness give any counsel 
concerning them. Your determination against cohabitation with 
the Lady I shall therefore pass over, with only this hint, that 
you must keep it to yourself; for as by elopement she makes 
herself liable to the charge of violating the marriage contract, 
it will be prudent to keep her in the criminal state, by leaving 
her in appearance a possibility of return, which preserves your 
superiority in the contest, without taking from you the power 
of limiting her future authority, and prescribing your own 
conditions. 
I cannot but think that by short journeys, and variety of 
scenes, you may dissipate your vexation, and restore your 
health, which will certainly be impaired by living where every 
thing seen or heard impresses your misfortunes on your mind. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your most &c. &c., 
Sept. 29, 1763. SAM-: JOHNSON. 
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 


162. 


To MIss REYNOLDS r. 
Oxford, October 27, [1763]. 
Your letter has scarcely come time enough to make an answer 
possible. I wish we could talk over the affair. I cannot go now. 


1 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 161. Mr. Croker says in 
a note that 'Captain, afterwards Sir 
George Collier, was about to sail to 
the Mediterranean, and offered Miss 
Reynolds a passage; and she ap- 
pears to have wished that Johnson 
might be of the party. Johnson was 


not aware that Captain Collier's lady 
was also going. Sir Joshua had 
gone to the Mediterranean in a 
similar way with Captain Keppel.' 
Sir George Collier in 1779 was the 
commander of the English Fleet in 
the war against America. An,nual 
Register, 1779, p. 188. 


I must 



Aetat. 54.] 


To j]/Ii'ss Porter. 


I I I 


I must finish my book I. I do not know Mr. Collier. I have 
not money beforehand sufficient. How long have you known 
Collier, that you should have put yourself into his hands? I 
once told you that ladies were timorous, and yet not cautious. 
If I might tell my thoughts to one with whom they never had 
any weight, I should think it best to go through France. The 
expense is not great; I do not much like obligation, nor think 
the grossness of a ship very suitable to a lady. Do not go till I 
see you. I will see you as soon as I can. 
I am, my dearest, 
Most sincerely yours, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


163. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, December 8, 17 6 3. Published in the Life, i. 473. 


164. 


To MIss PORTER 2. 
My DEAR, London, Jan. 10, 1764. 
I was in hopes that you would have written to me before 
this time, to tell me that your house was finished, and that you 
were happy in it. I am sure I wish you happy. By the carricr 
of this week you will receive a box, in which I have put some 
books, most of which were your poor dear mamma's, and a 
diamond ring, which I hope you will wear as my new year's gift. 
If you receive it with as much kindness as I send it, you will not 
slight it; you will be very fond of it. 
Pray give my service to Kitty 3, who, I hope, keeps pretty 
well. I know not now when I shall come down; I believe it 
will not be very soon. But I shall be glad to hear of you from 
time to time. 


I If this letter is assigned to the 
right year the book must have been 
his edition of Shakespeare, which 
was begun in 1756 and completed 
in 1765. 


2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 163. 
3 Catherine Chambers. Ante, p. 
7 6 , n. 3. 


I wish 



112 


To the Reverend Dr. Ta)'lor. 


[A.D. 1763. 


I wish you, my dearest, many happy years; take what care 
you can of your health. 
I am, my dear, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: J OUNSON. 


165. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I congratulate you upon the happy end of so vexatious 
an affair, the happyest [sic] that could be next to Reformation 
and Reconcilement. You see how easily seeming difficulties are 
surmounted. 
Th3.t your mind should be harried, and your spirits weakened, 
it is no wonder; your whole care now should be to settle and 
repair them. To this end I would have you make use of all 
diversions, sports of the field abroad, improvement of your estate 
or little schemes of building, and pleasing books at home; or if 
you cannot compose yourself to read, a continual succession of 
easy company. Be sure never to be unemployed, go not to bed 
till you sleep, and rise as soon as you wake, and give up no 
hours to musing and retrospect. Be always busy. 
You will hardly be quite at rest till you have talked yourself 
out to some fricnd or other, and I think you and I might con- 
trive some retreat for part of the summer where we might spend 
some time quietly together, the world knowing nothing of the 
matter 2. 
I hear you talk of letting your house at 'VVestminster. 'VVhy 
should you let it? Do not shew yourself either intimidated or 
ashamed, but come and face mankind like one that expects not 
censure but praise. Yon will now find that you have money 
enough. Come and spend a little upon popular hospitality. 
Your low spirits have given you bad counsel: you shall not 
give your wife, nor your wife's friends, whose power you now 
find to be nothing, the triumph of driving you out of life. If 


I First published in the Miscel- 
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, vi. 
37; afterwards in Notes alzd Queries, 
6th S., v. 382. 
2 Johnson s pent some weeks of 


this summer at Easton Maudit, in 
Northamptonshire (Life, i. 486). It 
is possible that Taylor met him some- 
where in the neighbourhood, and 
'talked himself out to him.' 


you 



Aetat.54.] 


To ýVilliaul Strahan. 


IIJ 


you betray yourself who can support you? All this I shall be 
glad to dilate with you in a personal interview at some proper 
place, where we may enjoy a few days in private. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Yours affectionately, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


May 22, 1764. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 


166. 
To JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
Easton Maudit, August 19, 1764. Published in the Life, i. 486. 


167. 
To \VILLIAM: STRAHAN I. 


SIR, 
I think I have pretty well disposed of my young friend 
George, who, if you approve of it, will be entered next :l\Ionday 
a Commoner of University College, and will be chosen next day 
a Scholar of the House. The Scholarship is a trifle, but it gives 
him a right, upon a vacancy, to a Fellowship of more than sixty 
pounds a year if he resides. and I suppose of more than forty if 
he takes a Curacy or small living 2. The Col1ege is almost filled 
with my friends, and he will be well treated 3. The Master is 


I First published in my edition of 
Boswell's Johnson, volume vi, Ad- 
denda, p. xxx, from the original in 
the possession of l\lr. Frederick 
Barker, of 41 Gunterstone Road, 
\\' est Kensington. 
2 In the College records is the 
following entry :- 
'Oct. 30-31, 1764. Candidatis 
examinatis electi sunt Gulielmus 
Jones et Georgius Strahan in vacuas 
Exhibitiones Dni Simonis Benet 
Baronetti.' 
Gulielmus Jones is the famous 
oriental scholar, Sir William Jones, 
whose portrait adorns the Hall of his 
ancient College. Life, ii. 25, n. 2. 
On April 16, 1767, is found the 
election of 'Georgium Strahan, so- 
VOL. 1. 


phistam in perpetuum hujus Collegii 
Socium.' 
He vacated his fellowship in 1773. 
J ones had been elected Fellow on 
August 7, 17 66 . Life 0/ Sir William 
Jones, p. 45. His fellowship is de- 
scribed as 'not exceeding, upon an 
average, one hundred pounds.' 
3 Among Johnson's friends belong- 
ing either then or later on to the Col- 
lege were the Master, Dr. \Vetherell ; 
'William Scott (afterwards Lord 
Stowell); John Scott (afterwards 
Earl of Eldon); Robert Chambers 
(afterwards Sir Robert Chambers, 
one of the Judges in Bengal); the 
Right Hon. \Villiam \\Ïndham; and 
Mr. Coulson, whose guest he was in 
June, 1775 (þost, Letter of June I, 
informed 



I I4 


To TVill-ianz Strahan. 


[A.D. 1764. 


informed of the particular state of his education, and thinks, 
what I think too, that for Greek he must get some private 
assistance, which a servitour of the College is very well qualified 
and will be very willing to afford him on very easy terms. 
I must desire your opinion of this scheme by the next post, 
for the opportunity will be lost if we do not now seize it, the 
Scholarships being necessarily filled up on Tuesday. 
I depend on your proposed allowance of a hundred a year, 
which must the first year be a little enlarged because there are 
some extraordinary expenses, as 
Caution I (which is allowed in his last quarter) 7 0 0 
Thirds 2 (He that enters upon a room pays two 
thirds of the furniture that he finds, and receives 
from his successor two thirds of what he pays; 
so that if he pays;/; 20 he receives;/; 13 6s. 8d., 
this perhaps may be) 12 0 0 
Fees at entrance, matriculation, &c., perhaps 2 0 0 
His gown (I think) 2 10 0 
;/;23 10 0 
If you send us a Bill for about thirty pounds we shall set out 
commodiously enough. You should fit him out with cloaths 
and linen, and let him start fair, and it is the opinion of those whom 


1775). In the Common Room there 
is an engraving of him with this 
inscription: 'Samuel Johnson, LL.D. 
in hac camera communi frequens 
conviva. D.D. Gulielmus Scott nuper 
socius.' 'I have drunk,' said J ohn- 
son, 'three bottles of port without 
being the worse for it. University 
College has witnessed this.' Life, 
iii.245. 
See Appendix B for A. Macdonald's 
Letter to David Hume about an 
Oxford education. 
I The 'caution' is the sum de- 
posited by an undergraduate with 
the College Bursar or Steward as a 
security for the payment of his' bat- 
tells' or account. Johnson in 1728 
had to pay at Pembroke College the 
same sum (seven pounds) that George 


Strahan in 1764 had to pay at 
University College. Life, i. 58, n. 2. 
2 An undergraduate who entered 
Queen's College in 1778 wrote to his 
father :-' My furniture is pretty 
good, and the thirds will run low, I be- 
lieve.' Letters of Radcliffe andJames, 
p. 45. Bentham, who entered Queen's 
College in June, 1760, calls them 
, thirdings.' He paid [8 for his 
I caution'; LI 125. 6d. for his gown 
(which, being a commoner's, would 
be cheaper than Strahan's), and 7s. 
for his cap and tassel. 
Less than a year before the date 
of Johnson's Letter he had been 
attending Blackstone's lectures on 
law, and detecting the lecturer's 
fallacy about natural rights. Bent- 
ham's Works, x. 3 6 , 39, 45. 
I consult, 



Aetat. 55.] 


To T/flz'll-ianz Straha1l. 


lIS 


I consult, that with your hundred a year and the petty scholar- 
ship he may live with great ease to himself, and credit to you X. 
Let me hear as soon as is possible. 
In your affair with the university, I shall not be consulted, but 
I hear nothing urged against your proposal 2. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Oct. 24, 1764. 
My compliments to lVlrs. Strahan. 
To Mr. Strahan, Printer, in New Street, Shoe-Jane, London. 
I Dr. ,\\-Yetherell wrote to Mr. state of degradation to the proud 
Strahan on May 20, 1767 :-' I think position which it now holds. In the 
myself peculiarly happy in being so ' Orders of the Delegates of the Press, 
nearly connected with your son 1758,' there is the following entry, 
George, whose amiable temper will bearing date but six days later than 
always render him a valuable mem- that of Johnson's letter:- 
ber of society, and whose studies 'Tuesday, Oct. 30, 1764. At a 
will, I hope, benefit mankind.' From meeting of the Delegates of the 
an original letter in the þossession of Press. 
iJfr. Frederick Barker. 'Ordered, 
2 \Vhen in February, 1767, John- 'That the following articles be 
son had his interview with George III, made the foundation of the new 
'the King asked him what they were lease to be granted of the moiety of 
doing at Oxford. Johnson answered, the Printing House; that a copy of 
he could not much commend their them be delivered to Mr. Baskett 
diligence, but that in some respects and Mr. Eyre, and that they be 
they were mended, for they had put desired to give in their respective 
their press under better regulations, proposals at a meeting to be held on 
and were at that time printing Poly- Tuesday the sixth of November.' 
bius.' Life, ii. 35. He overstated (p. 41.) 
the case. By that time not even an The chief part of the lease con- 
editor had been secured; one was sisted of the privilege to print Bibles 
found by the end of the year. Ad- and Prayer Books. Mark Baskett 
vanæs were made to him till 1787 and members of his family before 
for work done, when they came to an him had long been tenants. His 
end, and the edition of Polybius too. lease was to expire at Lady Day, 
It does not appear that a single page 1765. It seems probable that Strahan 
of type had been set up. More than had hoped to get a share in the lease. 
a hundred years after the last pay- Six years later he purchased from 
ment was made, in the Selections Eyre' a share of the patent for 
from Polybitts of Mr. Strachan- King.s Printer.' Nichols's Lit. Anec. 
Davidson, Johnson's statement was iii.392. From a curious manuscript 
in part made good. Nevertheless volume in the possession of the 
the press had been put under better Delegates I have been allowed to 
regulations, and the first steps had extract the following abbreviated 
been taken in advancing it from a account of what took place:- 
I 2 


To 



116 


To David Garrick. 


[A.D. 1765. 


168. 
To DAVID Gl\.RRICK I. 
DEAR SIR, May 18, 17 6 5. 
I know that great regard will be had to your opinion of an 


'In November 1764, Mr. Basket 
came to Oxford, and petitioned for a 
renewal of his lease. Mr. Eyre, a 
printer of London, made a somewhat 
better offer. Mr. Basket's offer was 
accepted by the Delegates out of 
regard to the fact that he and mem- 
bers of his family had long been 
tenants, and a note of agreement was 
signed by the Vice-Chancellor on 
the one part and by Mr. Basket on 
the other. Mr. Eyre dispersed a 
Memorial, dated Nov. 28, 1764, to 
the Common Rooms setting forth 
the Hardships of his Case. His 
partisans maintained that Mr. Basket 
did not deserve any Preference, as 
he had even forfeited his Former 
Lease by his great Neglect and 
shamefull manner of Printing. There 
was great Truth in this last Argu- 
ment. Mr. Basket lived upon a 
Genteel Private Fortune, and neither 
understood nor gave any Attention 
to the Business of Printing. He left 
it therefore to the Care of his Ser- 
vants, who employed the Presses in 
printing a Great Number of small 
Prayer-Books in 12mo. for Foreign 
Sale: So that what Mr. Eyre al- 
ledged in his Memorial was an 
indisputable Fact-" That most of 
the Chapells in Oxford were supply'd 
with Folio and Quarto Prayers Book 
[sic] from Cambridge." The Under 
Serv ts and Press-men were a set of 
Idle Drunken Men, and the House 
appeared more like an Ale House 
than a Printing Room. 
, It was very evident that a great 
Majority of the Members of Con- 
vocation would declare against full- 
filling the Agreement. The Opinion 


of Councill was taken whether having 
been signed by the Vice-Chancel- 
lor it was absolutely binding. The 
answers returned by Mr. Wilbraham 
were so confused and perplexed 
that very little knowledge or satisfac- 
tion was to be obtained from them. 
Mr. N orton [afterwards Sir Fletcher 
N orton, first Lord Grantley; Life, 
ii. 91, 472, 11. 2] return'd an Answer 
favourable to the Friends of Mr. Eyre 
who consulted him. The lease, 
partly owing to the illness of the 
Vice-Chancellor, was not brought 
before Convocation till his successor 
entered into office. 
'On Oct. 21, 1765, a New Oc- 
casional Delegacy for Leasing out 
the House &c. was appointed. On 
Oct. 29, the Lease was brought 
before Convocation. The Seal was 
refused by a great Majority. On 
Nov. 6 a new Delegacy was ap- 
pointed, who examined the Proposals 
of different Printers, and in the end 
appointed Messrs. Gill and Wright, 
Stationers in Abchurch Lane, London, 
who undertook to give a Bond to 
indemnify the University from the 
Costs of any Suit which Mr. Basket 
should commence against them: 
On Dec. 10 the several Proposals 
were read in Convocation. There 
was against l\1 r. Basket's being 
Tenant, a great Majority. Agåinst 
Mr. Eyre a great Majority. For 
Messrs. \Vright and Gill a great 
Majority.' Their tenancy lasted till 
the end of 1788. They both became 
Aldermen of London; each was 
supposed to have left a fortune of 
.6300,000. Nichols's Lit. Anec. iii.604. 
I Published in the Private Corre- 
Edition 



Aetat. 55.] 


To David Garrick. 


117 


Edition of Shakspeare. I desire, therefore, to secure an honest 
prejudice in my favour by securing your suffrage, and that this 
prejudice may really be honest, I wish you would name such 
plays as you would see, and they shall be sent you by, 
Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SA
I: JOHNSON I. 


To DAVID GARRICK 2. 


169. 


DEAR SIR, 
You have many requests, and many of them must be 


sþondence of David Garril--k, i. 183, 
and Croker's Boswell, p. 167. 
I Johnson's edition was published 
in the following October. He did 
not go the way to secure Garrick's 
good-will, for in his Preface he re- 
flected on him in the following 
passage :-' I collated such copies as 
I could procure, and wished for 
more, but have not found the col- 
lectors of those rarities very com- 
municatÏ\-e.' Life, ii. 192. Dr. 
\Varton writing on Jan. 22, 1766, 
said :-' Garrick is entirely off from 
Johnson, and cannot, he says, for- 
give him his insinuating that he 
withheld his old editions, which 
always were open to him.' \Yooll's 
Warton, p. 313. See the Life, v. 244, 
n. 2 for Johnson's doubt whether 
Garrick had ever examined one of 
Shakespeare's plays from the first 
scene to the last. \Yhat answer 
Garrick sent to Johnson's letter is 
not known; the following letter 
which he wrote to him nearly a fort- 
night later is given in the Garrick 
Corresþondence
 i. 186:- 
'May 31,1765. 
, DEAR SIR, 
, My brother greatly astonished 
me this morning, by asking me " if I 
was a subscriber to your Shak- 
speare?" I told him, yes{ that I was 
one of the first, and as soon as I 


heard of your intention; and that I 
gave you, at the same time, some 
other names, among which were the 
Duke of Devonshire, Mr. Beighton, 
&c. I cannot immediately have 
recourse to my memorandum, though 
I remember to ha,'e seen it just 
before I left England. I hope that 
you will recollect it, and not think 
me capable of neglecting to make 
you so trifling a compliment, which 
was doubly due from me, not only 
on account of the respect I have 
always had for your abilities, but 
from the sincere regard I shall ever 
pay to your friendship. 
, I am, Sir, your most obedient 
humble servant, 
'DAVID GARRICK.' 
It is a curious fact that in the 
edition of Shakespeare which J ohn- 
son and Steevens published jointly in 
1773, while in Johnson's Preface, 
which comes first, the reflection on 
Garrick remains, in Steevens' Adver- 
tisement to the Reader which follows 
it is stated that 'Mr. Garrick's col- 
lection of plays, curious and extensive 
as it is, derives its greatest value 
from its accessibility.' 
2 From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Alfred H. Huth, Bolney 
House, Ennismore Gardens, London. 
There is nothing to show in what 
year this Letter was written. I twas 
denied, 



I18 


To George Strahan. 


[A.D. 1765. 


denied X, but I hope this will not be of the number, by which 
you are desired to order your Boxkeeper, to reserve four places 
for Dr. Bell of \Vestmin3ter 2, any night on which you intend to 
appear, before Friday. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant. 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


May 25. 
[Written in pencil-To David Garrick, Esq., Adelphi 3.] 


170. 


To GEORGE STRAHAN\ 
University College, Oxford. 
DEAR SIR May 25, 1765. 
, 
That I have answered neither of your letters you must not 
impute to any declension of good will, but merely to the want of 
something to say. I suppose you pursue your studies diligently, 
and diligence will seldom fail of success. Do not tire yourself 
so much with Greek one day as to be afraid of looking on it the 
next; but give it a certain portion of time, suppose four hours, 
and pass the rest of the day in Latin or English. I would have 
you learn French, and take in a literary journal once a month, 
which will accustom you to various subjects, and inform you 
what learning is going forward in the world. Do not omit to 
mingle some lighter books with those of more importance; that 
which is read remisso animo is often of great use, and takes 
great hold of the remembrance. However, take what course you 
will, if you be diligent you will be a scholar 5. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Yours affectionately, 
SAM:: JOHNSON. 


sold by Messrs. Sotheby and Co., on 
May 10, 1875, for 1,2 15S. 
I Boswell at his first meeting with 
Johnson heard him complain that 
'Garrick had refused him an order 
for the play for Miss 'Williams.' Life, 
i. 392. 
2 See Life, ii. 204, n. 1 for the 
Rev. Dr. Bell, Prebendary of West- 
minster. 


3 Garrick moved to the Adelphi 
about 1770 or 1771, so that the letter 
belongs to a later year. 
4 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 168. 
5 G. Strahan's fellow-student Wil- 
liam Jones, in the first two or three 
years after matriculation, not only 
read 'with great assiduity all the 
Greek poets and historians of note, 
To 



Aetat.55.] 


To .Jlrs. Thrale. 


119 


171. 


DEAR SIR, To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 
It is so long since I heard from you that I know not well 
whither to write. \Vith all your building and feasting you might 
have found an hour in some wet day for the remembrance of 
your old friend. I should have thought that since you have led 
a life so festive and gay you would have [invited] me to partake 
of your hospitality. I do not [know] but I may come, invited or 
uninvited, and pass a few days with you in August or September, 
unless you send me a prohibition, or let me know that I shall be 
insupportably burthensome. Let me know your thoughts on 
this matter, because I design to go to some place or other and 
would be [loth] to produce any inconvenience for my own 
gratification. 
Let me know how you go on in the world, and what entertain- 
ment may be expected in your new room by, 
Dear Sir, 
Your most affectionate Servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Temple", July IS, 1765. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 


172. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 


London, Aug. 13, 17 6 5. 


NIADAM, 
If you have really so good an opinion of me as you express, 
it will not be necessary to inform you, how unwillingly I miss 


and the entire works of Plato and 
Lucian, with a vast apparatus of 
commentaries on them, and the best 
authors in Italian, Spanish and Por- 
tuguese,' but also studied deeply 
Arabic, Persian and Hebrew. He 
brought to Oxford a native of Aleppo 
who spoke Arabic fluently, in the 
hope that some of his brother-col- 
legians would take lessons from this 
man and help to bear the expense of 
his maintenance. Life of Sir lVil- 
liam Jones, p. 4 0 . 


I First published in the Miscel- 
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, vi. 
39 ; afterwards in Notes and Queries, 
6th S. v. 383. 
2 Johnson was still living in Inner 
Temple Lane, where he had resided 
for more than five years. \Vriting to 
Taylor on the following October 2, he 
dates his letter' Johnson's Court.' 
3 First published in the Piozzi 
Letters, i. 1. For Johnson's first 
acquaintance with the Thrales, see 
the Life, i. 490, 5 20 . 


the 



120 


To !VIr. or Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1765. 


the opportunity of coming to Brighthc1mstone I in Mr. Thrale's 
company; or, since I cannot do what I wish first, how eagerly 
I shall catch the second degree of pleasure, by coming to you 
and him, as soon as I can dismiss my work from my hands 2. 
I am afraid to make promises even to myself; but I hope that 
the week after the next will be the end of my present business. 
When business is done, what remains but pleasure? and where 
should pleasure be sought, but under Mrs. Thrale's influence? 
Do not blame me for a delay by which I must suffer so 
much, and by which I suffer alone. If you cannot think I 
am good, pray think I am mending, and that in time I may 
deserve to be, 


Dear Madam, 
Your most obedient and 
most humble servant, 
SAM: J 011 NSOi\". 


To MR. OR MRS. THRALE. 


173. 


Autumn of 1765. 
, Mr. Johnson in the autumn of the next year [1765] followed us to 
Brighthelmstone, whence we were gone before his arrival; so he was 
disappointed and enraged, and wrote us a letter expressive of anger 
which we were very desirous to pacify, and to obtain his company again 
if possible. Mr. Murphy brought him back to us again very kindly.' 


I Brighthelmstone, or Brighton, 
was still a small place, but was grow- 
ing rapidly. Defoe in 1722 says that 
Bright Helmston was commonly 
called Bredhemston. Defoe's Tour, 
Vol. I, Letter ii, p.6I. In 1761 it was 
described as 'being bounded on the 
west by a large com field, and on the 
east by a fine lawn called the Steine, 
which runs winding up into the 
country among hills to the distance of 
some miles. Though,' it was added, 
, the town is well supplied with pro- 
visions, yet some inconveniencies 
are experienced from the want of a 


regular and daily market.' Gentle- 
man's Magazine, 1761, p. 249. Five 
years later in the same Magazine 
(1766, p. 59) we read that 'it is a 
small ill-built town, containing six 
principal streets, East Street, Black 
Lion Street, Ship Street, Middle 
Street, West Street and North Street. 
It is become one of the principal 
places in the kingdom for the resort 
of the idle and dissipated, as well as 
of the diseased and infirm.' See also 
\Vooll's Memoirs of Dr. Warton, 
p. 347. 
2 His edition of Shakespeare. 
PZ"o::::i 



Aetat.55,J 


To [the Rev. Edward Lye
. 


I2I 


Piozzi Anecdotes, page [26. 
Collection. 


This letter IS not in Mrs. Piozzi's 


174. 
To [THE REV. EDWARD LYE x]. 


DEAR SIR, 
I think you may be encouraged by the liberaJity of the 
Archbishop to hope for more Patrons of your undertaking, and 
therefore advise you to open your Subscription. The method 
may perhaps be not at first to advertise but to send your pro- 
posal with a letter to such of the Bishops and others as you hope 
to find favourers of literature, sending at the same time to all 
your inferiour [?] friends, particularly to our Club 2. \Vhen you 
see how far your personal interest will carry you, an estimate may 
be easily made of the probability of success, and the measures 
will be easily adjusted. I would have the whole price paid at 
once, which all will readily comply with, and much trouble 
will be saved. In contracting with your printer, obJige him to 
a certain number of Sheets weekly. If you print at London, 
you will like l\ilr. Allen the printer better than most others. 
He is a Northamptonshire Man 3. Go on boldly, I doubt not 
your Success. 


x From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 
Gunterstone Road, \Vest Kensing- 
ton. 
Though this letter has no address 
I have no doubt that it was written 
to the Rev. Edward Lye, Vicar of 
Yardley Hastings, Northampton- 
shire, the editor of Junius's Ety- 
mologicum Anglicamml to which 
Johnson had gone for some of his 
etymologies. Lye for many years 
before 1765 had been engaged on an 
Anglo-Saxon and Gothic Dictionary, 
but had almost relinquished the de- 
sign from a dread of the labour and 
expense. On June 25, 1765, Arch- 
bishop Secker urged him to print it 
by subscription, and promised to 
subscribe i50. On July 5, Lye 
replied that with this encouragement 


he would go on with his work. He 
lived to print about thirty sheets, but 
died on August 16, 1767, leaving its 
completion to his friend, the Rev. 
Owen Manning, who published it in 
1772, from the press of Mr. Allen of 
Bolt Court. Nichols's Lit. Ana. 
ix. 751. 
2 Johnson wrote to Boswell on 
March 9, 1766 :-' Mr. Lye is print- 
ing his Saxon and Gothick Diction- 
ary; all THE CLUB subscribes.' 
Life, ii. 17. 
3 Mr. Lye's living was in North- 
amptonshire, near Easton Maudit, 
Dr. Percy's vicarage, where Johnson 
had spent some weeks the year be- 
fore. Life, i. 486. Allen the printer 
Johnson described as 'one of his 
best and tenderest friends.' Ib. iv. 
354. 


Please 



122 


To the Reverend JosePh 
Vartoll. 


[A.D. 1765. 


Please to make Mrs. Calvert the compliments of Mrs. \Villiams, 
and of, 


Dear Sir, 
Your most humble Servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


We have Gothick types at London. 
Aug. 17, 1765. 


175. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 
D EAR SIR, 
You need be no longer in pain, for I received your letter, 
but though when I wrote to you I expected soon to have had it 
in my power to go to you, yet, as it often happens, one thing or 
another has obstructed my purpose. 
My Shakespeare is now out of my hands, and I do not see 
what can hinder me any longer. When I find that I can come 
I will write to you, for I suppose you will meet me at Derby 2. I 
think it time that we should see one another, and spend a little 
of our short life together. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Yours affectionately, 
Oct. 2,17 6 5. SAM: JOHNSON. 
Johnson's Court, Fleet Street 3. 


176. 
To rHE REVEREND JOSEPH \VARTON 4 . 
DEAR SIR, Oct. 9 th , 17 6 5. 
Mrs. Warton uses me hardly in supposing that I could forget 
so much kindness and civility as she showed me at Winchester 5. 
I remember, likewise, our conversation about St. Cross 6. The 


I First published in the Miscel- 
11l11ieS of the Philobiblon Society, vi. 
4 1 . 
2 Johnson did not pay his visit to 
the Midland Counties before the 
summer of 1767. 
3 For Johnson's Court, see the 
Life, ii. 5, 229,4 2 7. 
4 First published in \Vooll's Life 
.
f .nr.JosePh lFarlon, page 309. 


5 Johnson had spent two nights at 
'Winchester in August, 1762, on his 
way to Devonshire with Reynolds. 
Leslie and Taylor's Life of Reynolds, 
i. 214. He visited it again in 177 8 . 
Life, iii. 3 6 7. 
6 The ancient and beautiful Hos- 
pital for aged brethren about a mile 
from Winchester. 


desire 



Aetat. 56.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Leland. 


12 3 


desire of seeing her again will be one of the motives that will 
bring me into Hampshire. 
I have taken care of your book; being so far from doubting 
your subscription, that I think you have subscribed twice: you 
once paid your guinea into my own hand in the garret in Gough 
Square. When you light on your receipt, throw it on the fire; 
if you find a second receipt, you may have a second book I. 
To tell the truth, as I felt no solicitude about this work. I 
receive no great comfort from its conclusion; but yet am well 
enough pleased that the public has no farther claim upon me. I 
wish you would write more frequently to, 
Dear Sir, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


177. 
To CHARLES BURNEY. 
[London], October 16, 1765. Published in the Life, i. 500. 


178. 
To THE REVEREND DR. LELAND 2. 


SIR, 
Among the names subscribed to the degree which I have 
had the honour of receiving from the University of Dublin, I find 
none of which I have any personal knowledge but those of Dr. 
Andrews and yourself. 


I Johnson had opened his sub- 
scription list for his edition of 
Shakespeare in 1756. Ante, p. 68. 
2 First published in Malone's 
edition of the Life. 
Johnson had received from Trinity 
College, Dublin, the degree of 
Doctor of Laws. Life, i. 489. Dr. 
Leland was the author of a His- 
tory of Ireland. Ib. ii. 255; iii. 
II2. He was a frequent corre- 
spondent of Edmund Burke, whom he 
addressed as 'My dear Ned.' Dr. 
Francis Andrews was the Provost, 
the only layman who had held that 
office since the Restoration. Leland 


writing to William Burke on July 27 
of this year says :-' I am First Lord 
of the Treasury and Paymaster- 
General of the forces to my lawful 
and rightful sovereign King Andrews 
the Great. John Rooney, the porter, 
is my private-secretary; and I have 
every morning a levee of chimney- 
sweepers, paviours, carpenters, junior 
fellows, &c. I take bribes of hares 
and wild-fowl from the brewer. I do 
jobs; and in all respects am per- 
fectly a ministerial man in this little 
kingdom.' Burke Corresþondence, i. 
82, 462. 


Men 



I24 


To Ed7711t1zd Hector. 


[A.D. 1765. 


Men can be estimated by those who know them not, only as 
they are represented by those who know them; and therefore 
I flatter myself that I owe much of the pleasure which this dis- 
tinction gives me, to your concurrence with Dr. Andrews III 
recommending me to the learned society. 
Having desired the Provost to return my general thanks to 
the University, I beg that you, Sir, will accept my particular and 
immediate acknowledgments. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, 
London, Oct. 17, 1765. 


179. 
To EDMUND HECTOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I am very glad of a letter from you upon any occasion, but 
could wish that when you had despatched business, you would give 
a little more to friendship, and tell me something of your self. 
The books must be had by sending to Mr. Tonson the receipts 
and second payment which belongs to him 2. Any bookseller 
will do it, or any correspondent here. It would be extremely 
inconvenient, and uncustomary for me to charge myself with the 
distribu tion. 
I never refuse any subscriber a new receipt when he has lost 
that which he had. You have three by which you may supply 
the three deficiencies. When the former receipts are found they 
must be destroyed. 
If Mr. Taylor 3 be myoId friend, make my kindest com- 
pliments. 


I First published in .Notes and 
Querie.ç, 6th S. iii. 321. 
2 The first payment for the new 
edition of Shakespeare (a guinea) 
had been made to Johnson, as is 
shown by his receipt (ante, p. 68). 
The second payment was the book- 
sellers'share. Had Johnson followed 
the usual custom of printing the list 
(If subscribers we should have known 


how much he received for his labours. 
, I have two very cogent reasons,' he 
said, C for not printing any list ;-one 
that I have lost all the names, the 
other that I have spent all the 
money.' Life, iv. 1 II. J. and R. Ton- 
son stand first in the list of book- 
sellers on the title-page of his Shake- 
sþeare. 
3 John Taylor, 'who by his in- 
By 




etat. 56.] 


To iJIiss Porter. 


12 5 


My heart is much set upon seeing you all again, and I hope 
to visit you in the spring or summer, but many of my hopes have 
been disappointed. I have no correspondence in the country, 
and know not what is doing. What is become of Mr. \Varren I ? 
His friend Paul has been long dead 2. And to go backwarder, 
what was the fate of poor George Brylston 3 ? 
A few years ago I just saluted Birmingham, but had no time 
to see any friend, for I came in after midnight with a friend, 
and went away in the morning 4. When I come again I shall 
surely make a longer stay; but in the mean time should think it 
an act of kindness in you to let me know something of the 
present state of things, and to revive the pleasure which your 
company has formerly given to, 
Dear Sir, 
Your affectionate and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Dec. 8, 1765. 


To Mr. Hector, in Birmingham. 


180. 
To MISS PORTER s. 
Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, Jan. 14, 1766. 


DEAR MADAM, 
The reason why I did not answer your letters was that I 
can please myself with no answer. I was loth that Kitty should 


genuity in mechanical inventions 
and his success in trade acquired an 
immense fortune.' Life, i. 86. 
, John Taylor, Esq. may justly be 
deemed the Shakespeare or Newton 
of Birmingham. He rose from 
minute beginnings to shine in the 
commercial hemisphere, as they in 
the poetical or philosophical. To 
this uncommon genius we owe the 
gilt button, the japanned and gilt 
snuff-box, with the numerous race 
of enamels; also the painted snuff- 
box. . . . He died in 1775 at the age 
of 64, after acquiring a fortune of 
[,200,000.' W. Hutton's Brief His- 
tory of Birmingham, 1797, p. 9. 
· The Birmingham bookseller who 


printed his translation of Lobo's 
A byssÙzia. Life, i. 86. A ?ztc, p. 8. 
2 Lewis Paul, Johnson's corre- 
spondent, died on April 25, 1759. 
Gentleman's 1l1àgazine, 1759, p. 24 2 . 
See allte, p. 6. 
3 Of 'poor George Brylston' and 
his fate nothing, I fear, can ever be 
known. 
4 No doubt he passed through it 
on his way to Lichfield, where he 
spent five days in. the winter of 
1761-2. Life'. i. 370. 
5 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 173. 
Miss Porter had probably finished 
her new house, and was now on the 
point of leaving Johnson's, in which 
leave 



126 


To Miss Porter. 


[A.D. 1766. 


leave the house till I had seen it once more, and yet for some 
reasons I cannot well come during the session of parliament I. 
I am unwilling to sell it, yet hardly know why. If it can be let, 
it should be repaired, and I purpose to let Kitty have part of 
the rent while we both live; and wish that you would get it 
surveyed, and let me know how much money will be necessary 
to fit it for a tenant. I would not have you stay longer than is 
convenient, and I thank you for your care of Kitty. 
Do not take my omission amiss. I am sorry for it, but know 
not what to say. You must act by your own prudence, and I 
shall be pleased. Write to me again; I do not design to neglect 
you any more. It is great pleasure for me to hear from you; 
but this whole affair is painful to me. I wish you, my dear, many 
happy years. Give my respects to Kitty. 
I am, dear Madam, 
Your most affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


181. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
Johnson's Court, January 14, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 3. 
182. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
Johnson's Court, March 9, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 16. 
183. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
Johnson's Court, May 10, 1766. Published in the Life, ii. 17. 
184. 
To \Vn.LIAM DRUMMOND. 
Johnson's Court, August 13, q66. Published in the Life, ii. 27. 
185. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, August 21, 1766. Published in the Life, ii, 20. 


she had been living with his mother's 
old servant Kitty (Catherine Cham- 
bers). Kitty died in the following 
year, having, it seems probable, 


stayed on in the old house. 
I For an explan
.tion of this see 
the Life, i. 518. 


To 



Aetat.57.] 


To .J.Wiss Porter. 


I2j 


186. 


To DAVID GARRICK I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I return you thanks for the present of the Dictionary, and 
will take care to return you other books. 
I have had it long in my mind to tell you that there is a 
hundred pounds of yours in Mr. Jonson's 2 hands, if you have 
not received it. I know not whether any other paper than what 
I gave you be necessary. If there is anything more to be done, 
I am ready to do it. 
Please to make my compliments to Mrs. Garrick. 
I am, Sir, 
Your obliged, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Oct. 10, 1766. 


187. 


To lVIIss PORTER 3. 


DEAR MADAM, 
Soon after I had received your letter I went to Oxford 4, and 
did not return till last Saturday. I do not very clearly under- 
stand what need there is of my coming to Lichfield. It is now 
too late in the year to repair the poor old house, if the reparation 
can be delayed. N or can I very easily discover what I can do 
towards it when I come, more than pay the money which it shall 
cost. The days are now grown short, and a long journey will be 
uncomfortable, and I think it better to delay doing whatever 
is to be done till Spring. I will come down, however, if you 
desire it. 
I am sorry to have no better account of poor Kitty's health. 
I hope she will be better. Pray give my love to her, and desire 
her not to forget my request. 
I should take it kindly if you would now and then write to me, 


I Published in the Garrick Corre- 
sþondmce, i. 245. 
2 The editor of the Garrick Cor- 
resþmzdence suggests 'Tonson.' It 
is very likely that Jacob Tonson 
the younger published some of 


Garrick's plays. 
3 From the original in the posses- 
sion of the Rev. \V. E. Buller, The 
Vicarage, Chard. 
4 For this visit to Oxford see bye, 
ii.25. 


and 



128 


7"'0 Mrs. lñrale. 


[A.D. 1767. 


and give me an account of your own health, and let me know 
how you go on in your new house. 
I am, dear Madam, 
Your most affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Nov. 13, 1766. 
To Mrs. Lucy Porter, Lichfield. 


188. 


To MRS. SALUSBURY I. 
MADAM, February 14, 17 6 7. 
I hope it will not be considered as one of the mere formalities 
of life, when I declare, that to have heard nothing of Mrs. Thrale 
for so long a time has given me pain. My uneasiness is sincere, 
and therefore deserves to be relieved. I do not write to Mrs. 
Thrale, lest it should give her trouble at an inconvenient time 2. 
I beg, dear IVladam, to know how she does; and shall honestly 
partake of your grief if she is ill, and of your pleasure if she is 
well. 


I am, Madam, 
Your most obliged and 
most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


189. 
To \VILLIAM DRUMMOND. 
Johnson's Court, April 21, 1767. Published in the Life, ii. 29. 


190. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
MADAM, Lichfield, July 20, 1767. 
Though I have been away so much longer than I purposed 
or expected, I have found nothing that withdraws my affections 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 3. IVlrs. Salus- 
bury was Mrs. Thrale's mother, wife 
of John Salusbury of Bachy-craig, 
and daughter of Sir Thomas Cotton 
of Combermere. For Johnson's Latin 


epitaph on her see his Works, i. 152. 
2 On March 3 of this year Henry 
Salusbury Thrale was christened at 
St. Saviour's, Southwark. 
3 Pz"ozzi Letters, i. 4. 


desirous 



Aetat. 57.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


12 9 


from the friends whom I left behind, or which makes me less 
desirous of reposing at that place which your kindness and Mr. 
Thrale's allows me to call my home Io 
Miss Lucy 2 is more kind and civil than I expected, and has 
raised my esteem by many excellencies very noble and re- 
splendent, though a little discoloured by hoary virginity. Every 
thing else recals to my remembrance years, in which I proposed 
what, I am afraid, I have not done, and promised myself pleasure 
which I have not found 3. But complaint can be of no use; and 
why then should I depress your hopes by my lamentations? I 
suppose it is the condition of humanity to design what never will 
be done, and to hope what never will be obtained. But among 
the vain hopes, let me not number the hope which I have, of 
being long, 


I Seeþost, Letter of Oct. 15,1773. 
D. Lysons, describing the house at 
Streatham, says :-' On the side of 
the small common between Streat- 
ham and Tooting is a villa which 
belonged to the late Henry Thrale, 
Esq. . . . The kitchen-gardens are 
remarkably spacious, and surrounded 
by brick walls fourteen feet in height, 
built for the reception of forcing- 
frames. Adjoining the house is an 
enclosure of about 100 acres, sur- 
rounded with a shrubbery and gravel 
walk of nearly two miles in circum- 
ference.' Environs of London, ed. 
1800, iii. 482. Mrs. Piozzi later on 
fronted the house, so as to make 
it look 'wholly new.' Hayward's 
Piozzi, ii. 140. This interesting 
spot has unhappily been swept over 
by the advance of London. 
2 His step-daughter, Lucy Porter. 
Five years earlier, in a letter to 


YOLo I. 


Dear Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAlVI: JOHNSON. 


Baretti, he had written: - 'My 
daughter-in-law [ step-daughter], from 
whom I expected most, and whom I 
met with sincere benevolence, has 
lost the beauty and gaiety of youth, 
without having gained much of the 
wisdom of age.' Life, i. 370. She 
was born in January, 1717, and was 
only seven years younger than her 
step-father. 
3 In his Annates (Life, i. 74) he 
recorded :-' In '67, when I was at 
Lichfield, I went to look for my 
nurse's house; and inquiring some- 
what obscurely was told, "this is the 
house in which you were nursed." I 
saw my nurse's son, to whose milk I 
succeeded, reading a large Bible, 
which my nurse had bought, as I 
was then told, some time before her 
death.' An Account of the Life of 
Dr.Johnsoll, 1805, p. 12. 


K 


To 



13 0 


7'0 ]J[rs. T'hrale. 


lA.D.1767. 


191. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, Oct. 3, 1767. 
You are returned, I suppose, from Brighthelmstone, and 
this letter will be read at Streatham. 


-Sine me, liber, ibis in urbem 2. 
I have felt in this place something like the shackles of destiny. 
There has not been one day of pleasure, and yet I cannot get 
away 3. But when I do come, I perhaps shall not be easily 
persuaded to pass again to the other side of Styx, to venture 
myself on the irremeable road 4. I long to see you, and all 
those of whom the sight is included in seeing you. lVil mihi 
rcscribas; for though I have no right to say, ipsa ve11i, I hope 
that ipse ve1liam 5. Be pleased to make my compliments. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


192. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
Lichfield, October 10, 1767. Published in the Life, ii. 45. 


193. 


To 'VILLIAM DRUMMOND. 
Johnson's Court, October 24, 1767. Published in the Life, ii. 3 0 . 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 5. 
2 Ovid, Tristia, i. i. 1. Johnson often 
quotes Latin in his letters to Mrs. 
Thrale. Comparing her with her 
husband he said :-' She is more 
flippant, but he has ten times her 
learning; he is a regular scholar, 
but her learning is that of a school- 
boy in one of the lower forms.' Life, 
i. 494. 
3 In August he recorded at Lich- 
field in his Diary :-' I have been 
disturbed and unsettled for a long 
time, and have been without resolu- 
tion to apply to study or to business, 
being hindered by sudden snatches.' 
Pro and Med., p. 73. The fol- 


lowing spring he told Boswell that 
'he had lately been a good while at 
Lichfield, but had grown very weary 
before he left it. BOSWELL. "I 
wonder at that, Sir; it is your native 
place." JOHNSON. "vVhy so is 
Scotland your native place.'" Life, 
ii. 52. 
4 'The keeper charmed, the chief 
without delay 
Passed on and took the irremeable 
way.' 
Dryden's Æneid, vi. 424. See 
also Pope's Iliad, xix. 312. 
See þost, Letter of July 8, 17 8 4, 
, for the irremeable stream.' 
5 Ovid, Heroides, i. 2. 


To 



Aetat. 58.] 


To l1frs. A stOll. 


13 1 


194. 


To MRS. ASTON Y. 


l\iADAM, Nov. 17, 1767. 
If you impute it to disrespect or inattention, that I took no 
leave when I left Lichfield, you will do me great injustice. I 
know you too well not to value your friendship. 
When I came to Oxford I inquired after the product of our 
walnut-tree, but it had, like other trees this year, but very few 
nuts, and for those few I came too late. The tree, as I told you, 
Madam, we cannot find to be more than thirty years old, and, 
upon measuring it, I found it, at about one foot from the ground, 
seven feet in circumference, and at the height of about seven 
feet, the circumference is five feet and a half; it would have 
been, I believe, still bigger, but that it has been lopped 2. The 
nuts are small, such as they call single nuts; whether this 
nut is of quicker growth than better I have not yet inquired; 
such as they are, I hope to send them next year. 
You know, dear lVladam, the liberty I took of hinting that I 
did not think your present mode of life very pregnant with 
happiness. Reflection has not yet changed my opinion. Solitude 
excludes pleasure, and does not always secure peace 3. Some 
communication of sentiments is commonly necessary to give vent 
to the imagination, and discharge the mind of its own flatu- 
lencies. Some lady surely might be found, in whose conversa- 
tion you might delight, and in whose fidelity you might repose. 
The World, says Locke, has people of all sorts 4. You will for- 
give me this obtrusion of my opinion; I am sure I wish you 
well. 
Poor Kitty has done what we have all to do, and Lucy has 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 188. 
Mrs. (or rather Miss) Elizabeth 
Aston was the daughter of Sir 
Thomas Aston, Bart. Life, i. 83; 
ii. 466, 9. 
2 I t seems impossible that a wal- 
nut-tree, fast growing though it is, 


should have attained to such a size 
in so short a time. 
3 'The life of a solitary man will 
be certainly miserable, but not cer- 
tainly devout.' Rasselas, ch. 21. 
4 The Rambler, No. 160, opens 
with this quotation. 


K2 


the 



13 2 


To jJ,Irs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1768. 


the world to begin anew I: I hope she will find some way to 
more content than I left her possessing. 
Be pleased to make my compliments to l\1rs. Hinckley 2 and 
Miss Turton. 


I am, Madam, 
Your most obliged and most humble servant, 
SA:\!: JOHNSON. 


195. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAM, [New Inn Hall, Oxford 4], March 3, 1768. 
I thought Mr. W- had been secured. Since what I have 
done is ineffectual, I doubt the power of my solicitation; but, 
to leave nothing undone, I have written to him. 


I Kitty Chambers, with whom 
Lucy Porter had lived in Johnson's 
house, had lately died. 
2 She was related to Miss Seward. 
Letters of Anna Seward, iv. 113, 
37 8 . 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 6. 
This and some of the following 
letters refer chiefly to the General 
Election of 1768. Horace \Valpole 
wrote on March 8 :-' Our, and my 
last, Parliament will be dissolved the 
day after to-morrow.' Letters, v. 
89. Mr. Thrale had been elected 
for Southwark at a bye-election in 
Dec. 1765 (Parl. Hist. xv. 1089) and 
sat till the dissolution of 1780 Life, 
iii. 442. He had stood, I believe, 
for Abingdon in 1754, for in the 
fragment of a manuscript diary in 
the possession of Mr. Mathews of St. 
Giles's, Oxford, I have seen the fol- 
lowing entry :-' 1754, April 15. Mr. 
Morton was chosen for Abingdon, 
after a long opposition of first Col- 
lington, Esq., who left ye town and 
his Debts unpaid. Next Thrale, 
Esq., who notwithstanding ye Super- 
fluity of his money was rejected to 
ye Honour of Abingdon.' 
4 Johnson was visiting' his friend 
Mr. Chambers, who was now 


Vinerian Professor, and lived in 
New Inn HaIl.' Life, ii. 46. As 
Principal of the Hall he had suc- 
ceeded Blackstone, the author of 
the Commentaries, in 1766 j he held 
the post till his death in 1803, in 
spite of his long absence in India as 
Chief-Justice of Bengal. But as 
there do not seem to have been any 
students this mattered little. He 
was succeeded by Blackstone's son 
\Villiam, who was Principal till 1831, 
'himself generally non-resident, with- 
out a single member on the books 
but himself. There were no rooms 
in the Hall except the Head's dwell- 
ing-place.' Cox's Recollections oj 
Oxford, ed. 1870, pp. 64, 193. Hearne, 
writing in 1732, tells how George 
\\Tigan, who was elected Principal in 
1726, 'hath not had so much as one 
gownsman entered at it ever since 
he had it, but shutting up the 
gate altogether wholly lives in 
the country.' Bliss's Remains of 
Thomas Hearne, iii. 84. After 183 I 
students, or rather undergraduates, 
were once more admitted. In 1887 
the Hall, in virtue of a statute made 
by the University Commissioners, be- 
came complctely united with Balliol 
College. 


Mr. Pennick 



. 


Aetat. 58.] 


To the Reverend Richard Pennick. 


133 


l\ir. Pennick I have seen, but with so little approach to inti- 
macy that I could not have recollected his name; yet to him I 
have inclosed a letter, which, after this information, you may use 
as you think is best. I suppose it can do no harm. 
Do you think there is any danger, that you are thus anxious 
for a single vote? Pray let me know, as often as you can find 
a little time; for I love to see a letter. 
Be pleased to make my compliments to Mr. Thrale and IVlrs. 
Salusbury, and Miss Hetty, and every body. How does the 
poor little maid I ? 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To THE REVEREND RICHARD PENNICK 2. 


196. 


SIR, 
I am flattered by others with an honour with which I dare 
not presume to flatter myself, that of having gained so much of 
your kindness or regard, as that my recommendation of a 
Candidate for Southwark may have some influence in determin- 
ing your vote at the approaching election. 
As a man is willing to believe well of himself, I now indulge 


I Miss Hetty was Mrs. Thrale's 
eldest daughter, Esther, the Quemey 
of these letters. In 1808 she married 
Admiral Lord Keith. Allardyce's 
Life of Lord Keith, p. 348. In 1854 
it was stated that she was the last 
survivor of all the persons mentioned 
in Boswell. Gentleman's filàgazine, 
1854, ii. 322. She died on March 31, 
1857. 'The poor little maid' is men- 
tioned again, þost, p. 134. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 7; republished 
with corrections from the original 
in Notes and Queries, 5th S. vii. 101. 
'The Rev. Richard Pennick was 
chaplain to the Earl of Bristol in his 
embassy to Spain in 1760, and Rec- 
tor of Abinger in Surrey from 1764 
to 1803. He had also the living of 
St. John, Southwark [which would 
give him his vote], and was Keeper 
r)f the Reading Room in the British 


Museum; ob. Jan. 29, 180).' Ib. p. 102. 
Miss Burney (who spells his name 
Penneck) writing of him in 1775 
says :-' He took so violent a passion 
for a Miss Miller, an actress, that 
upon suspecting Mr. Colman was 
his rival, this pious clergyman, who 
is twice the heightt [sic] at least of 
Mr. Colman, one night, in the 
streets, knocked him down when he 
was quite unprepared for any attack. 
. . . He is half a madman; he looks 
dark and designing and altogether 
ill- favoured.' Early Diary of 
Frances Burney, ii. 2,9, where in an 
interesting note the editor shows the 
better side of this divine's character. 
Horace \Valpole wrote on Feb. I I, 
1773: -' Colman has been half- 
murdered by a divine out of jealousy, 
who keeps Miss Miller.' Letters, 
v.435. 


my 



134 


Fo llIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1768. 


my vanity, by soliciting your vote and interest for Mr. Thrale, 
whose encomium I shall make very compendiously, by telling 
you that you would certainly vote for him if you knew him. 
I ought to have waited on you with this request, even though 
my right to make it had been greater. But, as the election 
approaches, and I know not how long I may be detained here, 
I hope you will not impute this unceremonious treatment to any 
want of respect in, Sir, 
Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHKSON. 


New Inn Hall, Oxford, 
rarch 3, 1768. 
To the Rev. "Mr. Pennick at the Museum. 


197. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 


MADAM, 
My last letter came a day after its time, by being carried 
too late to the post. This I mention, that you may not suspect 
me of negligence. I wrote at the same time to Mr. W. in more 
forcible terms than perhaps he thinks I had a right to: he has 
not answered me. He and his wife are on such terms, that I 
know not whether his inclination can be inferred from hers. 
If I can be of any use, I will come directly to London; but 
if 1\1r. Thrale thinks himself certain, I have no doubt. That 
they all express the same certainty, has very little effect on those 
who know how many men are confident without certainty, and 
positive without confidence. \Ve have not any reason to suspect 
Mr. Thrale of deceiving us or himself. 
I hope all our friends at Streatham are well; and am glad to 
hope that the poor maid will recover. \Vhen the mind is drawn 
toward a dying bed, how small a thing is an election? But on 
death we cannot be always thinking, and, I suppose, we need 
not 2. The thought is very dreadful! 
This little dog does nothing, but I hope he will mend; he is 


[Oxford], March 14, 1768. 


1 Piozzl Letters, i. 8. 
, If one was to think constantly 


of death,' he said,' the business of 
life would stand stilL' Life, v. 316. 
now 



Aetat. 58.] 


To -- Aþþerley. 


135 


now reading Jack the Giant-killer I. Perhaps so noble a narra- 
tive may rouse in him the soul of enterprise. 
I am, &c., 
SA::\I: J OHXSO
. 


To - ApPERLEY 2. 


198. 


Sir, 
I do not think that you can live anywhere without gammg 
influence, and therefore believing that you cannot be without it 
in Oriel College, I take the liberty of entreating you to employ 
it at the approaching election of a Fellow, in favour of Mr. 
Crosse, a gentleman of great merit both literary and social, and 
one on whom some such benefaction is necessary in the prosecu- 
tion of his studies. 
This address to you I make merely from zeal to serve him, 
without any solicitation, and as he is a man whom I have a 
desire to forward, you will, by doing what you can for him, and 
doing it speedily, bestow a very great favour upon, 
Sir, 
Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Oxford, March 17, 1768. 


To - Apperley, Esq., at Sir W. \V. \Vynne's, Bart., 
in Grosvenor Square, London. 


1 'This little dog' is of course 
himself. For his uses of the term 
dog see Life, vi. 298, and for his de- 
fence of Jack the Giant-killer as a 
book for children, Ib. iv. 8, n. 3. 
, I t is,' said N orthcote in his old age, 
'the first book I ever read, and I 
cannot describe the pleasure it gives 
me even now. I cannot look into it 
without my eyes filling with tears. 
I do not know what it is (whether 
good or bad), but it is to me, from 
early impressions, the most heroic of 
performances. I remember once not 
having money to buy it, and I tran- 
scribed it all out with my own hand.' 
Conversations of North,,'ote, p. 96. 


2 From the original in the pos- 
session of Mr. George Pritchard, 
I, Connaught Street, Hyde Park. 
Who were ApperIey and Crosse I 
do not know for certain, but most 
probably they are found in the fol- 
lowing list:- 
ApperIey, Anthony, Jesus College, 
B.A. 1733, M.A. 1735. 
James, Jesus College, B.A. 
1728, M.A. 1731, B.M. 
1734. 
Crosse, John, of St. l\1artin's-in-the- 
Fields, St. Edmund Hall, 
matric. Oct. 2 I, 1762; 
B.A. Dec. I, 1768. 
Crosse was not elected Fellow of 
To 



13 6 


To ilfrs. Th ra Ie. 


[A.D. 1768. 


199. 
To IvIRs. THRALE I. 
M [Oxford], March 18, 1768. 
ADAM, 
No part of Mr. Thrale's troubles would have been trouble- 
some to me, if any endeavours of mine could have made them 
less. But I know not that I could have done more for him, than, 
in your approaching danger, I can do for you. I wish you both 
well, and have little doubt of seeing you both emerge from your 
difficulties. 
When the election is decided, I entreat to be immediately 
informed; and when you retreat to Streatham, if I shall not 
have returned to town, I hope that Mrs. Salusbury will favour 
me now and then witb an account of you, when you can less 
conveniently give it of yourself. To be able to do nothing in 
the exigence of a friend is an uneasy state, but in the most 
pressing exigencies it is the natural state of humanity, and in all 
has been commonly that of, 


Dear l\1adam, 
Your, &c. 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


200. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
Oxford, March 23, q68. Published in the Life, ii. 58. 


DEAR lYIADAl\I, 
You serve me very sorrily. 


201. 
To MRs. THRALE 2. 
Oxford, March 24, 1768. 


Oriel. He was not qualified for' the 
approaching election,' which was 
held on the Friday after Easter, as 
he was not a B.A.; but from his 
standing he might have qualified had 
he wished. No doubt he would have 
done so had he had any chance of 
success. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 9. 
Two days before this letter was 
written six followers of John \Vesley 
were expelled from St. Edmund 


You may write every day to 
Hall for their active Methodism. 
Johnson justified their expulsion. 
'BOSWELL. "But, was it not hard, 
Sir, to expel them; for I am told 
they were good beings?" JOHNSON. 
"I believe they might be good 
beings; but they were not fit to be 
in the University of Oxford. A cow 
is a very good animal in the field, 
but we turn her out of a garden." , 
Life, ii. 187. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 10. 


thi
 



Aetat.58.] 


To flIrs. Thrale. 


137 


this place I; and yet I do not know what is the event of the 
Southwark election, though, I am sure, you ought to believe 
that I am very far from indifference about it"l. Do let me know 
as soon as you can. 
Our election was yesterday. Every possible influence of hope 
and fear was, I believe, enforced on this occasion; the slaves of 
power, and the solicitors of favour, were driven hither from the 
remotest corners of the kingdom, but judex honestulll prætulit 
utili 3. The virtue of Oxford has once more prevailed. 
The death of Sir \Valter Bagot, a little before the election 4, 
left them no great time to deliberate, and they therefore joined 
to Sir Roger N ewdigate their old representative, an Oxfordshire 
gentleman, of no name, no great interest, nor perhaps any other 
merit, than that of being on the right side. Yet when the poll 
was numbered, it produced 
For Sir R. Newdigate 
Mr. Page 
Mr. Jenkinson 
Dr. Hay 
I In the list of daily posts (Sun- 
days excepted) established on Oct. 
10, 1763, Oxford is entered. The 
charge was threepence for a single 
letter of one sheet. Cottrt and City 
Register for 1765, p. 130. It was 
raised to fourpence in 1784; five- 
pence in 1797; sixpence in 1801; 
seven pence in 1805 ; and eightpence 
in 1812. Penny Cyclo., article Post- 
Office. 
2 The poll had closed the day 
before with the following result :- 
Henry Thrale . 1 2 48 
Sir Joseph Mawbey . . 1159 
\Villiam Belcher 994 
Jackson's OxfordJournal, March 
26, 1768. 
3 Horace, 4 Odes, ix. 4 1 . 
4 Five days after Bagot's death, on 
Jan. 25 of this year, a new writ had 
been ordered, when Sir \\'illiam 
Dolben was returned. Parl. Hist. 
xv. 1085. 
5 The contest had been between 


352 
29 6 
J9 8 
62 5 


the High Church party, which in the 
reign of the first two Georges had 
been the Jacobite party, and the new 
party of the King's Friends. 'The 
Court,' wrote Horace ,\\-Yalpol e , 'had 
set up Jenkinson, one of the favourite 
cabal, for Oxford, where he had 
been bred, but he lost the election 
by a considerable majority, though 
the favours of the Crown were now 
showered on that University.' jlfe- 
1Jloirs of the Reign of George III, 
iii. 191. In his Letters (vi. 282) \Val- 
pole describes N ewdigate as a 
man who' formerly would have been 
proud to be chief mourner at the 
Pretender's funeral.' Jenkinson had 
been Lord Eute's private secretary,- 
, one of the Jesuits of the Treasury,' 
as \Valpole calls him. He rose 
through royal favour to be Earl of 
Liverpool. Life, iii. 146. Hay (after- 
wards Sir George Hay) was a Fellow 
of St. John's College. He had taken 
his degree of D.C.L. in 17..P-2, and 
Of 



13 8 


To 
fiss Porter. 


[A.D. 1768. 


Of this I am sure you must be glad; for, without enquiring 
into the opinions or conduct of any party, it must be for ever 
pleasing to see men adhering to their principles against their 
interest, especially when you consider that these voters are poor, 
and never can be much less poor but by the favour of those 
whom they are now opposing. 


I am. &c., 
SAX[: JOHNSON. 


202. 


To MIss PORTER I. 


Oxford, April 18, 1768. 


My DEAR, DEAR LOVE, 
You have had a very great loss 2 To lose an old friend, is 
to be cut off from a great part of the little pleasure that this life 
allows. But such is the condition of our nature, that as we live 
on we must see those whom we love drop successively, and find 


was known as Dr. Hay. He was 
one of the Lords of the Admiralty 
(with a brief interval) from 1756 to 
17 6 5, when he was made Dean of 
the Arches. Both men, in spite of 
their defeat, were returned to this 
Parliament, Jenkinson being elected 
for two places. ParI. His!. xvi. 
432, 442, 445. In Balliol, Brasenose, 
Pembroke, University, and Wor- 
cester not a single vote was given 
against N ewdigate. In Christ Church, 
and in Merton which had always 
been a Hanoverian stronghold, Jen- 
kinson had a large majority. Hay's 
stronghold was St. John's, where he 
received double as many votes as 
Newdigate. On the list of voters is 
entered Jeremy Bentham, M.A., of 
Queen's College, with a ' Q , [query] 
against his name, for his right to vote 
was disputed. Though he had taken 
the degree of M.A. he was under age. 
He voted for Jenkinson and Hay. 
As there was no scrutiny the legality 
of his vote was never settled. He 
had been engaged, he says, partly 
in reading :\10ntcsquieu and partly 


in \vatching a chemical experiment, 
when the Archbishop of York called 
on him to solicit his vote for these 
two candidates. Bentham's Works, 
x. 48, 54. Johnson's name is not 
given in the polling-list, and it is clear 
that he had no vote. By his diploma 
of M.A. he was entitled to one, so 
long as he paid the yearly University 
dues. He was doubtless hindered 
by his poverty. In the Bodleian a 
list of the poll is preserved, from 
which I have got much of this in- 
formation. Among the 493 voters I 
noticed only three names of any 
great distinction-Blackstone, Bent- 
ham, and \Villiam Scott, afterwards 
Lord Stowell. Only I4 of the voters 
had two Christian names-not quite 
1 in every 35. 
I First published in Malone's 
edition of Boswell. 
2 'The death of her aunt, Mrs. 
Hunter, widow of Johnson's school- 
master.' CROKER. ' She was with 
my poor mother when she died,' 
wrote Johnson. Ante, p.87. 


our 



Aetat. 58.] 


To Miss Porter. 


139 


our circle of relation grow less and less, till we are almost 
unconnected with the world; and then it must soon be our turn 
to drop into the grave. There is always this consolation, that 
we have one Protector who can never be lost but by our own 
fault, and every new experience of the uncertainty of all other 
comforts should determine us to fix our hearts where true joys 
are to be found I. All union with the inhabitants of earth must 
in time be broken; and all the hopes that terminate here, must 
on [ one] part or other end in disappointment. 
I am glad that Mrs. Adey and l\lrs. Cobb 2 do not leave you 
alone. Pay my respects to them, and the Sewards, and all my 
friends. \Vhen IVlr. Porter 3 comes, he will direct you. Let me 
know of his arrival, and I will write to him. 
\Vhen I go back to London, I will take care of your 
reading-glass. \Vhenever I can do anything for you, remember, 
my dear darling, that one of my greatest pleasures is to please 
you. 
The punctuality of your correspondence I consider as a proof 
of great regard. When we shall see each other, I know not, but 


I '-that so, among the sundry 
and manifold changes of the world, 
our hearts may surely there be fixed 
where true joys are to be found.' 
Collect for the Fourth Sunday after 
Easter. 
2 'Mrs. Cobb and her niece, Miss 
Adey, were great admirers of Dr. 
Johnson.' Life, ii. 466. Miss Seward 
(unhappily one of the most untruthful 
of writers) says that Johnson ex- 
claimed: 'How should Moll Cobb 
be a wit? Cobb has read nothing, 
Cobb knows nothing; and where 
nothing has been put into the brain 
nothing can come out of it to any 
purpose of rational entertainment.' 
Anna Seward's Letters, iii. 330. It is 
probable that Mrs. Cobb and Mrs. 
Adey had been with their brother 
joint-owners of Edial Hall when 
Johnson rented it for his academy. 
J Her surviving brother, who 
died in 1783. Life, iv. 256. Miss 


Seward in April, 1764, describes him 
as 'a thin, pale personage, some- 
what below the middle height, with 
rather too much stoop in the 
shoulders, and a little more withered 
by I talian suns than are our English 
sober bachelors after an elapse of 
only forty years, in a black velvet 
coat, and a waistcoat richly em- 
broidered with coloured flowers upon 
gold tissue; a bag wig in crimp 
buckle powdered white as the new- 
shorn fleece.' Miss Porter she de- 
scribes on the same occasion as 
'rustling into the drawing-room in 
all the pomp of blue and white tissue 
and Brussels lace, with the most 
satisfied air.' Anna Seward's Poeti- 
cal Works, ed. 1810, i. cxv. There 
was this excuse for the finery, that 
1Ir. Porter was paying a formal call 
on Miss Sarah Seward, to whom he 
was engaged. 


Jet 



I4 0 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1768. 


let us often ihink on each other, and think with tenderness. Do 
not forget me in your prayers. I have for a long time back been 
very poorly; but of what use is it to complain? 
Write often, for your letters always give great pleasure to 
lVly dear, 
Your most affectionate 
and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


203. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
l\ 'T Oxford, April 19, 1768. 
'LADAM, 
If I should begin with telling you what is very true, that I 
have of late been very much disordered, you might perhaps 
think that in the next line I should impute this disorder to my 
distance from you; but I am not yet wen enough to contrive 
such stratagems of compliment. I have been really very bad, 
and am glad that I was not at Streatham, where I should have 
been troublesome to you, and you could have given no help 
to me. 
I am not, however, without hopes of being better, and there- 
fore hear with great pleasure of the welfare of those from whom 
I always expect to receive pleasure when I am capable of 
receiving it, and think myself much favoured that you made so 
much haste to ten me of your recovery. 
I design to love little Miss Nanny very well; but you must 
let us have a Bessy some other time 2. I suppose the Borough 
bells rung for the young lady's arrival 3. I hope she will be 
happy. I will not welcome her with any words of ill-omen. 
She will certainly be happy, if she be as she and an friends are 
wished to be by, Madam, 


Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 12. 
2 On the 17th the child had been 
christened Anna Maria. No doubt 
Johnson had asked that one of Mrs. 
Thrale's daughters should bear the 
name of his wife-Elizabeth. The 


next child was named Lucy Eliza- 
beth and he was godfather. 
3 :Mr. Thrale's brewery and town- 
house were in the Dorough of South- 
wark. 


Tn 



Aetat.58.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


I4 1 


204. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 


Oxford, April 28, 1768. 


MADA
I, 
It is indeed a great alleviation of sickness to be nursed by 
a mother, and it is a comfort in return to have the prospect 
of being nursed by a daughter, even at that hour when all 
human attention must be vain. From that social desire of being 
valuable to each other, which produces kindness and officious- 
ness, it proceeds, and must proceed, that there is some pleasure 
in being able to give pain 2. To roll the weak eye of helpless 
anguish, and see nothing on any side but cold indifference, will, 
I hope, happen to none whom I love or value; it may tend to 
withdraw the mind from life, but has no tendency to kindle those 
affections which fit us for a purer and a nobler state. 
Yet when any man finds himself disposed to complain with 
how little care he is regarded, let him reflect how little he 
contributes to the happiness of others, and how little, for the 
most part, he suffers from their pains. It is perhaps not to be 
lamented, that those solicitudes are not long nor frequent, which 
must commonly be vain; nor can we wonder that, in a state 
in which all have so much to feel of their own evils, very few 
have leisure for those of another 3. However, it is so ordered, 
that few suffer from want of assistance; and that kindness which 
could not assist, however pleasing, may be spared. 
These reflections do not grow out of any discontent at 
C-'s 4 behaviour: he has been neither negligent nor trouble- 
some; nor do I love him less for having been ill in his house 5. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 13. 
2 He means, I suppose, that there 
is some pleasure in finding that one's 
sufferings are a cause of pain to 
another. 
3 Adam Smith in his Theory of 
flforal Sentiments, published in 1759, 
had said (ed. 1801, ii. 27) :-' Before 
we can feel much for others we 
must in some measure be at ease 
ourselves.' Cf. ib. i. 281, where he 
attacks 'those whining and melan- 
choly moralists who are perpetually 


reproaching us with our happiness, 
while so many of our brethren are in 
misery,' and Life, ii. 94, where" J ohn- 
son maintains that an excess of 
sympathy 'would be misery to no 
purpose.' 
4 Chambers. 
5 'Johnson said, "How few of his 
friends' houses would a man choose 
to be at when he is sick." He men- 
tioned one or two. I recollect only 
Thrale's.' Life, iv. 181. He would not 
have been a troublesome patient any- 
There 



14 2 


T'o F. A. Barnard. 


[A.D. 1768. 


There is no small degree of praise. I am better, having scarce 
eaten for seven days. I shall come home on Saturday. 
I am, &c., 
SA:\l: JOHNSON. 


205. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
1\ ,J [Oxford], May 23, 1768. 
'.LADAM, 
Though I purpose to come home to-morrow 2, I could not 
omit even so long, to tell you how much I think myself favoured 
by your notice. Every man is desirous to keep those friends 
whom he is proud to have gained, and I count the friendship 
of your house among the felicities of life. 
I th'ank God that I am better, and am at least within hope of 
being as well as you have ever known me. Let me have your 
prayers. 


I am, &c., 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 


206. 
To F. A. BARNARD 3. 
S May 28, 1768. 
IR, 
I t is natural for a scholar to interest himself in an expedi- 
tion, undertaken, like yours, for the importation of literature; 


where, for, according to Mrs. Piozzi 
(A nee. p. 275), 'he required less 
attendance, sick or well, than ever I 
sa w any human creature.' 
I Piozzl Letters, i. 15. 
2 For his arrival in London and 
his surprising Boswell one morning 
with a visit at his lodgings see Life, 
ii. 59. He might have returned 
either by the Oxford Post-Coach, 
which left at 8 a.m.; fare 15s., no 
outside passengers; or by the Ox- 
ford Machine which left the Bear 
Inn, High Street, every Monday, 
\Vednesday, and Friday at 6 a.m. 
\Vhat time these coaches reached Lon- 
don we are not told. The Machine 
was licensed by the Vice-Chancellor; 
carried six inside passengers at IOS. 


each; outside passengers half-price. 
Each inside passenger was allowed 
201bs. of luggage; above that weight 
a penny per lb. was charged. Had 
Johnson had heavy luggage he might 
have sent it by the University Old 
Stage \Vagon, which left Oxford 
every Tuesday morning at one 
o'clock [i. e. one hour after mid- 
night], and arrived at the Oxford 
Arms in \Varwick Lane every Wed- 
nesday at three. It returned on 
Thursdays at nine [in the morning], 
and was at Oxford on Fridayeven- 
ings. Jackson's Oxford Journal, 
Feb. 20, 1768. 
3 First published in the Reþort of 
the Committee on Paþers relating to 
the Royal Library which his 
Majesty 
and 



Aetat. 58.] 


To r: A. Barnard. 


143 


and therefore, though, having never travelled myself, I am very 
little qualified to give advice to a traveller; yet, that I may not 
seem inattentive to a design so worthy of regard, I will try 
whether the present state of my health will suffer me to lay 
before you what observation or report have suggested to me, 
that may direct your inquiries, or facilitate your success. 
Things of which the mere rarity makes the value, and which are 
prized at a high rate by a wantonness rather than by use, are 
always passing from poorer to richer countries; and therefore, 
though Germany and Italy were principally productive of typo- 
graphical curiosities, I do not much imagine that they are now 
to be found there in great abundance. An eagerness for scarce 
books and early editions, which prevailed among the English 
about half a century ago, filled our shops with all the splendour 
and nicety of literature; and when the Harleian Catalogue I was 
published, many of the books were bought for the library of the 
King of France. 
I believe, however, that by the diligence with which you have 
enlarged the library under your care, the present stock is so 
nearly exhausted, that, till new purchases supply the booksellers 
with new stores, you will not be able to do much more than 
glean up single books, as accident shall produce them; this, 
therefore, is the time for visiting the continent. 
What addition you can hope to make by ransacking other 
countries we will now consider. English literature you will not 
seek in any place but in England. Classical learning is diffused 
everywhere, and is not, except by accident, more copious in one 


has þresented to the Nation. See 
Gentleman's flfagazine, 1823, part i. 
p. 347. 
In a note in Croker's Boswell, p. 
196, Barnard is described as' Mr., 
afterwards Sir Francis, Barnard, 
Librarian to King George II I.' 
According to Nichols his name was 
not Francis, but Frederick Augustus. 
See Nichols's Lit. Hist. iv. 699. I 
learn from Mr. R. R. Holmes, the 
Librarian at \Vindsor Castle, that 
Nichols also is mistaken, for he was 


not Frederick Augustus, but Frede- 
rick Augusta. So he is given in the 
first volume of the Catalogue of the 
Royal Library. 
Boswell had been shown this letter, 
but had been refused leave to print 
it. Life, ii. 33, n. 4. It was Barnard 
who arranged Johnson's interview 
with the King. Ib. There can be 
little question that the present letter 
was written to be shown to the King. 
I See Life, i. 153. 


part 



144 


To F. A. Barnard. 


[A.D. 1768. 


part of the polite world than in another. But e\rery country has 
literature of its own, which may be best gathered in its native 
soil. The studies of the learned are influenced by forms of 
government and modes of religion; and, therefore, those books 
are necessary and common in some places, which, where different 
opinions or different manners prevail, are of little use, and for 
that reason rarely to be found. 
Thus in Italy you may expect to meet with canonists and 
scholastic divines, in Germany with writers on the feudal laws, 
and in Holland with civilians. The schoolmen and canonists 
must not be neglected, for they are useful to many purposes; 
nor too anxiously sought, for their influence among us is much 
lessened by the Reformation. Of the canonists at least a few 
eminent writers may be sufficient. The school men are of more 
general value. But the feudal and civil law I cannot but 
wish to see complete I. The feudal constitution is the original 
of the law of property, over all the civilised part of Europe; 
and the civil law, as it is generally understood to include the 
law of nations, may be called with great propriety a regal 
study. Of these books, which have been often published, and 
diversified by various modes of impression, a royal library 
should have at least the most curious edition, the most splendid, 
and the most useful. The most curious edition is commonly 
the first, and the most useful may be expected among the last. 
Thus, of Tully's Offices, the edition of Fust is the most curious, 
and that of Graevius the most useful 2. The most splendid the 
eye will discern. \Vith the old printers you are now become 
well acquainted; if you can find any collection of their pro- 
ductions to be sold, you will undoubtedly buy it; but this can 
scarcely be hoped, and you must catch up single volumes 


I Johnson wrote to Boswell on 
Aug. 31, 1772 :-' The leisure which 
I cannot enjoy, it will be a pleasure 
to hear that you employ upon tbe 
antiquities of the feudal establish- 
ment. The whole system of ancient 
tenures is gradually passing away; 
and I wish to have the knowledge of 
it preserved adequate and complete; 
for such an institution makes a very 


important part of the history of man- 
kind. Do not forget a design so 
worthy of a scholar who studies the 
law of his country, and of a gentle- 
man who may naturally be curious 
to know the condition of his own 
ancestors.' Life, ii. 202. See also ib. 
iii.4 1 4. 
2 Fust's edition was published in 
1465, and Graevius's in 1688. 
whcre 



Aetat. 58.] 


To F. A. Barnard. 


145 


where you can find them. In every place things often occur 
where they are least expected. I was shown a Welsh grammar 
written in Welsh, and printed at l\1ilan, I believe, before any 
grammar of that language had been printed here I. Of pur- 
chasing entire libraries, I know not whether the inconvenience 
may not overbalance the advantage. Of libraries connected 
with general views, one will have many books in common with 
another. \Vhen you have bought two collections, you will find 
that you have bought many books twice over, and many in 
each which you have left at home, and, therefore, did not want; 
and when you have selected a small number, you will have the 
rest to sell at a great loss, or to transport hither at perhaps a 
greater. It will generally be more commodious to buy the few 
that you want, at a price somewhat advanced, than to encumber 
yourself with useless books. But libraries collected for particu- 
lar studies will be very valuable acquisitions. The collection 
of an eminent civilian, feudist 2, or mathematician, will perhaps 
have very few superfluities. Topography or local history pre- 
vails much in many parts of the continent. I have been told 
that scarcely a village of Italy wants its historian 3. These 
books may be generally neglected, but some will deserve 
attention by the celebrity of the place, the eminence of the 
authors, or the beauty of the sculptures 4. Sculpture has always 
been more cultivated among other nations than among us. The 
old art of cutting on wood, which decorated the books of ancient 
impression, was never carried here to any excellence; and the 
practice of engraving on copper, which succeeded, has never been 
much employed among us in adorning books. The old books 
with wooden cuts are to be diligently sought; the designs were 
often made by great masters, and the prints are such as cannot 


1 In the Brit.lI/us. Catalogue is en- 
tered :-'vVelsh Grammar. By G. 
Roberts. Milan (?), 8 0 . 1567.' See 
also \YiIIiam Rowlands' Cambria1Z 
Bibliograþhy, p. 22. 
2 Feudist is not in Johnson's Dic- 
tionary. He formed the word, I 
conjecture, from the Frenchfi'1tdiste. 
3 Johnson is thinking of a passage 
in Baretti's Italian Library, ed. 


VOL. I. 


1757, p. 177, where it is stated that 
'there is scarce a village in Italy 
but there is a particular history of 
it.' It is strange that Johnson, who 
generally would not listen in silence 
to an exaggeration, here circulates 
one so gross. 
4 Johnson does not give this use 
of sculþtures in his DÙtionmy. 


L 


be 



14 6 


T'o r
 A. Barnard. 


[A.D. 1768. 


be made by any artist now living. It wi11 be of great use to 
collect in every place maps of the adjacent country, and plans of 
towns, buildings, and gardens. By this care you will form a 
more valuable body of geography than can otherwise be had. 
Many countries have been very exactly surveyed, but it must 
not be expected that the exactness of actual mensuration will be 
preserved, when the maps are reduced by a contracted scale, 
and incorporated into a general system. 
The king of Sardinia's Italian dominions are not large, yet the 
maps made of them in the reign of Victor fill two Atlantic 
folios I. This part of your design will deserve particular regard, 
because, in this, your success will always be proportioned to 
your diligence. You are too well acquainted with literary 
history not to know that many books derive their value from the 
reputation of the printers. Of the celebrated printers you do 
not need to be informed, and if you did: might consult Baillet, 
Jugemens des Sçavans 2. The productions of Aldus are enu- 
merated in the Bibliotheca Graeca 3, so that you may know 
when you have them all; which is always of use, as it prèvents 
needless search. The great ornaments of a library, furnished 
for magnificence as well as use, are the first editions, of which, 
therefore, I would not willingly neglect the mention. You 
know: sir, that the annals of typography begin with the Codex, 
] 4574; but there is great reason to believe, that there are 
latent, in obscure corners, books printed before it. The secular 
feast, in memory of the invention of printing, is celebrated in 
the fortieth year of the century; if this tradition, therefore, is 
right, the art had in ]457 been already exercised nineteen 
years 5. 


I Théâtre des États du Due de 
Savoie, published in 1700 at the 
Hague. Johnson gives as one of the 
meanings of Atlas, 'a large square 
folio.' By' Atlantic folios' he means 
folios of this large square size. They 
are still called' Atlas folios.' 
2 Adrien Baillet's Jugements des 
savants sur les þrinciþaux O1tVrages 
des auteurs, 9 vols., 168 5- 6 . 
3 J. A. Fabricius's Bibliotheea 


Graeea, ed. 1726 j xiii. 606. 
4 Johnson most likely got his in- 
formation from Maittaire's Annales 
Tyþograþhici, 1719. On P.35 we 
find given as the first printed book, 
'PsaIJJlO1'u11l Codex; per Joannem 
Fust et Petrum Schoeffer. Mogun- 
tiae,1457.' Moguntia is Mainz. 
S Early in 1740 'the third hun- 
dred year's feast of the noble art 
and mystery of printing, discovered 
There 



Aetat. 58.] 


To J

 A. Barnard. 


I47 


There prevails among typographical antiquaries a vague 
opinion, that the Bible had been printed three times before the 
edition of 1462, which Calmet calls' La première édition bien 
avérée.' One of these editions has been lately discovered in a 
convent, and transplanted into the French king's library x. 
Another copy has likewise been found, but I know not whether 
of the same impression, or another. These discoveries are 
sufficient to raise hope and instigate inquiry. In the purchase 
of old books, let me recommend to you to inquire with great 
caution, whether they are perfect. In the first edition the loss 
of a leaf is not easily observed. You remember how near 
we both were to purchasing a mutilated Missal at a high 
price. 
All this perhaps you know already, and, therefore, my letter 
may be of no use. I am, however, desirous to show you, that I 
wish prosperity to your undertaking. One advice more [ will 
give, of more importance than all the rest, of which I, therefore, 
hope you will have still less need. You are going into a part of 
the world divided, as it is said, between bigotry and atheism: 
such representations are always hyperbolical, but there is cer- 
tainly enough of both to alarm any mind solicitous for piety 
and truth; let not the contempt of superstition precipitate you 
into infidelity, or the horror of infidelity ensnare you in super- 
stition.-I sincerely wish you successful and happy, for 
I am, Sir, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


207. 


To FRANCIS BARBER. 
[London], May 28, 1768. Published in the Lift, ii. 62. 


in 1440, was celebrated in Stras- 
burg.' Gentleman's Magazine, 1740, 
p. 95. 'Nineteen years' seems a 
mistake for 'seventeen years.' 
I Augustin Calmet published at 
Paris in 1709-16 C01llmentaire sur 
tous les It"vres de l'ancien et dtt 
nouveau Testament, in 25 vols. 


quarto. In the Bodleian there are 
two Bibles earlier than the edition of 
1462, one published as early as 1456, 
and the other in 1460-1. The copy 
in the French King's library J ohn- 
son saw when he visited Paris in 
1775, but he had doubts about it. 
Life, ii. 397. 
L2 To 



14 8 


lò Miss Porter. 


[A.D. 1768. 


208. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
MADAM, [Johnson's Court, London,] June 17, 17 68 . 
I know that you were not displeased to find me gone 
abroad, when you were so kind as to favour me with a visit. 
I find it useful to be moving; but whithersoever I may wander, 
I shall not, I hope, leave behind me that gratitude and respect, 
with which your attention to my health, and tenderness for my 
weakness, have impressed my heart. May you be long before 
you want the kindness which you have shown to, 
Madam, 
Your &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


209. 
To MIss PORTER 2. 


Mv LOVE, 
I t gives me great pleasure to find that you are so well 
satisfied with what little things it has been in my power to 
send you. I hope you will always employ me in any office 
that can conduce to your convenience. My health is, I thank 
God, much better; but it is yet very weak; and very little 
things put it in a troublcsome state; but still I hope all will be 
well. Pray for me. 
My friends at Lichfield must not think that I forget them. 
Neither Mrs. Cobb, nor l\1rs. Adey, nor l\1iss Adey, nor l\1iss 
Seward, nor l\1iss Vise, are to suppose that I have lost all 
memory of their kindness. l\1ention me to them when you see 
them. I hear l\1r. Vise 3 has been lately very much in danger. 
I hope he is better. 
When you write again, let me know how you go on, and what 
company you keep, and what you do all day. I love to think 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 15. 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 197; corrected by me 
from the original in the possession 
of Mr. Frederick Barker, of 41 Gun- 
terstone Road, West Kensington. 
One of Johnson's letters of this date, 
probably this very one, was sold at 


Mr. A. Hayward's sale on March 21, 
18<)0, for 1;8 5s. The Times, March 
22, 1890. 
3 Boswell, who writes the name 
lýse, speaks of him as 'the respect- 
able clergyman at Lichfield, who was 
contemporary with Johnson.' Life, 
iii. 124. 


on 



Aetat.59.] 


To llIrs. Thrale. 


149 


on you, but do not know when I shall see you. Pray, write 
very often. I am, 


June 18, 1768. 


Dearest, 
Your humble Servant, 
SAM; J OIIKSON. 


210. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
MADA11, [Johnson's Court, London], Nov. II, 1768. 
I am sincerely sorry for you both; nor is my grief dis- 
interested; for I cannot but think the life of Mrs. Salusbury 
some addition to the happiness of all that know her. How 
much soever I wish to see you, I hope you will give me no 
pleasure at the expence of one to whom you have so much 
reason to be attentive. 


am, &c., 
SA:\I: JOHNSON. 


211. 
To MRS. THRALE 2. 
l\1ADAM, Dec. 2, 1768. 
I can readily find no paper that is not ruled for juridical 
use 3. You will wonder that I have not written, and indeed 
I wonder too; but I have been oddly put by 4 my purpose. If 
my omission has given you any uneasiness, I have the mortifica- 
tion of paining that mind which I would most wish to please. 
I am not, I thank God, worse than when I went; and you have 
no hope that I should grow better here. But I will show my- 
self to-morrow, and only write in hope that my letter will come 
before me, and that you will have forgiven the negligence of, 
Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
To write to W, Lucy, ZoIcher [? Tol- 
cher. See ante, p. 93, n. 3] Boswell.'" 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 17. 
3 Perhaps Johnson was visiting 
his friend Mr. \VeIch, the Magistrate. 
Life, iii. 216. 
4 'Put by
. to turn off, to divert.' 
Johnson's Dictionary. 


t Piozzi Letters, i. 16. 
Mrs. Salusbury, whose life seems 
to have been in great danger, lived 
till 1773. 
In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's 
Auction Catalogue of March 16, 1852, 
Lot 437 is as follows :-' In Dr. John- 
son's Autograph. "Liber Memora- 
bilis [? Memorialis 1. N ov. 14, 1768. 


To 



ISO 


To lJIiss Flint. 


[A.D. 1769. 


212. 


To DAVID GARRICK. 


Jan. 17, 17 6 9. 
In Messrs. Sotheby's Auction Catalogue of May 10, 1875, Lot 89 
is an autograph letter of Johnson to David Garrick, It pages quarto, 
dated Jan. 17, 1769. 'He speaks of his kind promise of a benefit 
for Mrs. \Villiams; asks him to select an appropriate play, and 
hopes he will continue to make his favour as efficatious as he can.' 
17 6 9, I suspect, is a misprint for 1756, for in January of that year 
Garrick gave Miss \Villiams a benefit. I find no mention of a second. 


213. 
To MISS FLINT I. 
MADEMOISELLE, A Londres, Mars 3 1 , 17 6 9. 
11 faut avouer que la lettre que vous m'avez fait l"honeur de 
m'ecrire, a eté long-terns sans rêponse. Voici mon apologie. 
J'ai eté affligé d'une maladie de violence peu supportable, & 
d'un lenteur bien ennuiant. Tout êtat a ses droits particuliers. 
On compte parmi les droits d'un malade ce de manquer aux 
offices de respect, et aux devoirs de reconoissance. Géné par 
ses dOll leurs, il ne scait veiller qu'à soi-même. 11 ne pense qu'à 
se soulager, et à se retablir, peu attentif à tout autre soin, et peu 
sensible à la gloire d'etre traduit d'une main telle que la 
vôtre. 
N eanmoins, Mademoiselle, votre merite auroit eXlge que je 
m'efforcasse à vous rendre graces de vos egards, si je l'aurois pu 
faire sans y meler des querelles. lVlais comment m'empescher 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 18. Mrs. 
Piozzi says in a note :-' Miss Flint 
was a very young lady, who had 
translated Johnson's Strictures at the 
end of Shakespeare's Plays.' Miss 
Reynolds had accompanied her to 
Paris. According to N orthcote, 
'she subsequently married a M. de 
Reveral; being left a widow she was 
guillotined with her only son in the 
Reign of Terror.' Northcote's Rey- 
nolds, i. 201. Whatever may have 
been the fate of her son, she escaped 


the guillotine. In a list of the Eng- 
lish prisoners I find her name 
entered as follows :-' Louise Mather 
Flint Rivarol, wife of the royalist 
pamphleteer. Arrested as wife of 
emigré. At Luxembourg, Austin 
Convent and Port Royal, April 22, 
1794 to July 23, 1794. Her father 
was a teacher of languages. She 
died 1821.' Englishmen in the 
French Revolution, by John G. 
Alger, 188 9, p. 345. 


de 



Aetat. 59.] 


To llfrs. Thrale. 


ISI 


de me plaindre de ces appas par lesquelles vous avez gagné sur 
l'esprit de .l\Iademoiselle Reynolds jusqu'a ce qu'elle ne se sou- 
vient plus ni de sa patrie ni de ses amis. C'est peu de nous 
louer, c'est peu de repandre nos ouvrages par des traductions les 
plus belles, pendant que vous nous privez du plaisir de voir 
IVl.ademoiselle Reynolds & de l'ecouter. Enfin, Mademoiselle, 
il faut être moins aimable, afin que nous vous aimions plus. 
J e suis, 
Mademoiselle, 
Vôtre tres humble & 
Obeissant Serviteur, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


214. 
To l\IRS. THRALE I. 
MADAM, [London], May 18, 1769 
N ow I know you want to be forgetting me, but I do not 
want to be forgotten, and would rather send you letters, like 
Presto's 2, than suffer myself to slip out of your memory. That 
I should forget you, there is no danger; for I have time enough 
to think both by night and day; and he that has leisure for any 
thing that is not present, always turns his mind to that which he 
likes best. 
One reason for thinking on you is, that I must for a while be 
content with thinking, for our affairs will not suffer me to come 
home till Saturday. 


I am, &c., 
SAl\1: JOHNSON. 


215. 


To THE REVEREND THOMAS \V ARTON. 
[London], May 31, 1769. Published in the Life, ii. 67. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 19. 
2 'August 2, 1711. The Secretary 
and I have been walking three or 
four hours to-day. The Duchess of 
Shrewsbury asked him, was not that 
Dr. Dr., and she could not say my 
name in English, but said Dr. Presto, 
which is Italian for Swift.' Swift's 


Journal to Stella, Works, ed. 1803, 
x.xi.27 0 . Johnson said that the Letters 
which composed this Journal' have 
some odd attraction.' Life, iv. 177,11. 
2. By Deane Swift's edition of Swift's 
Letters (1768) Presto had lately be- 
come known as Swift's name. 


To 



I5 2 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1769. 


216. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR lVIADAM, New Inn Hall, [Oxford,] June 27, 17 6 9. 
I had your note sent hither; and can easily spare the pine- 
apple, and be satisfied with the reason for which it was sent. 
Though I hope I shall never want any new memorials to keep 
you in my mind, yet I am glad to find you solicitous not to be 
forgotten, though I should not deserve to be remembered if there 
could be any reason for such solicitude. 
The pain and sickness which you suffer, you may bear to feel 
and I to think on with less impatience on your part, and less 
grief on mine, because the crisis is within view. I will not 
encrease your uneasiness with mine. I hope I grow better. I am 
very cautious, and very timorous 2. Whether fear and caution 
do much for me, I can hardly tell. Time will perhaps do more 
than both. 
I purpose to come to town in a few days, but I suppose 
I must not see you. I will, however, call on Mr. Thrale in the 
Borough, and shall hope to be soon informed that your trouble 
is over, and that you are well enough to resume your care 
for that which yet continues, and which your kindness may 
sometimes alleviate. 


I am, &c., 
SA
I: JOHKSON. 


217. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
MADAM, Oxford, June 29, 17 6 9. 
Hesiod, who was very wise in his time, though nothing to 
such wise people as we, says, that the evil of the worst times has 
some good mingled with it 4. Hesiod was in the right. These 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 20. 
Johnson had been at Oxford 
almost a month, perhaps longer (Lift, 
ii. 67),so that it is probable that some 
of his letters to Mrs. Thrale are 
missing. He was the guest no doubt 
of Chambers (ante, p. 132, n. 4). 
2 'During this visit he seldom or 
never dined out.' Life, ii. 68, n. 1. 


On September 18 he recorded in 
his journal :-' This year has been 
wholly spent in a slow progress of 
recovery.' Pro and Med., p. 85. 
3 Pioz:d Letters, i. 21. 
4 'ùÀÀ' Êp.7r1J
 Kllì 7"oí(TL P.ffJ.í.
f7"CU 
lu8Àà KaKoíuLv,' HESIOD, Works 
and Days, I. 179. 


times 



Aetat. 59.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


153 


times are not much to my mind; I am not well; but in these 
times you are safe, and have brought a pretty little Miss. 
I always wished it might be a Miss, and now that wish is 
gratified, nothing remains but that I entreat you to take care of 
yourself; for whatever number of girls or boys you may give us, 
we are far from being certain that any of them will ever do for 
us what you can do; it is certain that they cannot now do 
it, and the ability which they want, they are not likely to gain 
but by your precepts and your example; by an example of 
excellence, and by the admonitions of truth. 
Mr. Thrale tells me, that my furlough is shortened; I am 
always ready to obey orders; I have not yet found any place 
from which I shall not willingly depart to come back to 
you. 


I am, dearest Lady, 
Your, &c., 
SA::\I: JOHNSON. 


218. 
To MR. THRALE I. 
S New Inn Hall, Oxford, June 29, 1769. 
IR, 
That lVlrs. Thrale is safely past through her danger is 
an event at which nobody but yourself can rejoice more than I 
rejoice. I think myself very much honoured by the choice that 
you have been pleased to make of me to become related to the 
little maiden 2. Let me know when she will want me, and 
I will very punctually wait on her. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


219. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAREST MADAM, July 6, 17 6 9. 
Though I am to come home to-morrow, I would not let the 
alarming letter which I received this morning be without notice. 
Dear Madam, take all possible care of your health. How near 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 23. 
2 She was born on June 22, and 
christened Lucy Elizabeth. He had 
asked that he might have a Bessy. 


Ante, p. 140. For her death, see 
þost, Letter of Nov. 18, 1773. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 23. 


we 



15.1. 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1769. 


we always are to danger 1 I hope your danger is now past; 
but that fear, which is the necessary effect of danger, must 
remain always with us. I hope my little lVliss is well. Surely 
I shall be very fond of her. In a year and half she will run 
and talk. But how much ill may happen in a year and half! 
Let us however hope for the better side of possibility, and think 
that I may then and afterwards continue to be, 
Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 


220. 
To MRS. THR.\LE I. 
MADAYI, Lichfield, August 14, 1769. 
I set out on Thursday morning, and found my companion, 
to whom I was very much a stranger, more agreeable than 
I expected. We went cheerfully forward, and passed the night 
at Coventry 2. We came in late, and went out early; and 
therefore I did not send for my cousin Tom 3; but I design to 
make him some amends for the omission. 
Next day we came early to Lucy, who was, I believe, glad to 
see us. She had saved her best gooseberries upon the tree 
for me; and, as Steele says, I was neither too proud nor too wise 
to gather them. I have rambled a very little inter f01ltes et 
flu11lilla 110ta 4, but I am not yet well. They have cut down the 
trees in George Lane 5. Evelyn, in his book of Forest Trees, 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 24. 
2 Coventry is ninety miles from 
London; Lichfield is twenty-six 
miles farther. Paterson's British 
Itinerary, i. 149. 
3 Johnson mentions his cousin, 
Tom Johnson, in his Letters of 
May 1, 1770, wheré he calls him' my 
nearest relation,' of Dec. 6, 1774,and 
May 29, 1779. In his will be left a 
bequest to his descendants. Lift, iv. 
4 0 3, 44 0 . 
4 'Hic inter flumina nota 
Et fontes sacros frigus captabis 
opacum.' 
VIRGIL. Edog1tes, i. 52. 


Johnson again quotes these lines 
inaccurately, þost, Letter of July 8, 
1771. In 1783 be said :-' I have 
this year read all Virgil through; 
the Eclogues I have almost all by 
heart.' Lift, iv. 218. 
5 'I was,' says Johnson, 'by my 
father's persuasion put to one Mar- 
clew, commonly called BeIIison, the ser- 
vant, or wife of a servant of my father, 
to be nursed in George Lane, where I 
used to call when I was a bigger boy, 
and eat fruit in the garden, which 
was full of trees. Here it was dis- 
covered that my eyes were bad. . . . 
?vly mother visited me every day. 
tells 



Aetat. 59.] 


To .J.'I1rs. Aston. 


155 


tells us of wicked men that cut down trees. and never prospered 
afterwards I; yet nothing has deterred these audacious alder- 
men from violating the Hamadryads of George Lane. As an 
impartial traveller I must however tell, that in Stow-street, 
where I left a draw-well, I have found a pump; but the lading- 
well in this ill-fated George Lane lies shamefully neglected. 
I am going to-day or to-morrow to Ashbourne; but I am at 
a loss how I shall get back in time to London. Here are only 
chance coaches, so that there is no certainty of a place. If I do 
not come, let it not hinder your journey. I can be but a 
few days behind you; and I will follow in the Brighthelmstone 
coach. But I hope to come. 
I took care to tell Miss Porter, that I have got another Lucy. 
I hope she is well. Tell lVlrs. Salusbury, that I beg her stay at 
Streatham, for little Lucy's sake. 


221. 
To MRS. ASTON 2. 


I am, &c., 
SAM:: JOHNSON. 


MADAM, Brighthelmstone, August 26, 1769. 
I suppose you have received the mill: the whole apparatus 
seemed to be perfect, except that there is wanting a little tin 
spout at the bottom, and some ring or knob, on which the bag that 
catches the meal is to be hung. When these are added, I hope 
you will be able to grind your own bread, and treat me with a 
cake made by yourself, of meal from your own corn of your own 
grinding 3. 
I was glad, Madam, to see you so well, and hope your health 
will long increase, and then long continue. 
I am, Madam, 
Your most obedient servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
I Silva: or a Discourse of Forest 
Trees. By John Evelyn, ed. 1776, 
pp.633- 6 43. 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 198. 
For Mrs. Aston, see alzte, p.13I,n.l. 
3 In the April number of the 
Gmtlemall.s I.JfagazÙte for this year 
To 


and used to go different ways, that 
her assiduity might not expose her 
to ridicule, and often left her fan or 
glove behind her that she might 
have a pretence to come back un- 
expected; but she never discovered 
any token of neglect.' Anllals, 
p.l0. 



15 6 


lò the Reverend Tho7Jzas Percy. 


[A.D. 1769. 


222. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
Brighthelmstone, September 9, 1769. Published in the Life, ii. 7 0 . 
223. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I got very well to London, and went on the next Monday 
to Brighthelmston, from which I am now returned. I think you 
might write to me, and let me know what became of your 
dcmand of the living 2, and other occurrences of your life. I am 
not fully determined against coming this winter again into your 
corner of the world, but I have got no settled plan. Write 
to me however. 


Oct. 5, 17 6 9. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


224. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS PERCY 3. 


SIR, 
I am desired by some Ladies who support a Charity School 
on Snow hill, to solicit you for a Charity Sermon, to be 


(p. 177) there are a print and descrip- 
tion of a hand-cornmill invented by 
Samuel and Sampson Freeth of 
Birmingham. 
I From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Alan Stenning of St. 
Stephen's Club. 
It was franked by Mr. Thrale. 
2 Johnson, writing to Mrs. Thrale 
about Taylor on May 16, 1776, says: 
-' Livings and preferments, as if he 
were in want with twenty children, 
run in his head.' Taylor seems to 
have been successful in his demand, 
for I find in the Gentleman's flI aga- 
zine for October of this year (p. 511), 
under Ecclesiastical Preferments, 
'Rev. Dr. Taylor-to the living of 
St. Botolph, Aldersgate.' 
3 From the original in the Dyce 
and Forster Libraries, South Ken- 


sington Museum, sent me by Mr. 
R. F. Sketchley. 
The Ladies' Charity School which 
was founded in King Street, Snow 
Hill, in 1702, still flourishes, having 
been transferred first to John Street, 
Bedford Row, next to Queen Square, 
Bloomsbury, and lastly to Powis 
Gardens, Notting Hill. Boswell 
mentions Johnson's old friend Mrs. 
Gardiner, the wife of a tallow-chand- 
ler, 'not in the learned way, but a 
worthy good woman,' as very zealous 
for its support (Lift, i. 242; iv. 24 6 ). 
So also was Miss \\'illiams, who' left 
her little substance to the school' 
(ib. iv. 241)-amounting, as the old 
books of the Institution still show, 
to [357. In it are preserved her 
tea-spoons and portrait; also a set 
of spoons which in all likelihood 
preached 



Aetat. 60.] 


To the Reverend Henry Bright. 


157 


preached either the last Sunday of this month, or the first of the 
next. This application had been made sooner if you had been 
in town, but I hope it is not yet too late, and that if you 
can comply without great inconvenience you will not refuse. 
They meet on Wednesday, and desire to know your determina- 
tion to-morrow. I hope you will not refuse them, for I have a 
great esteem of some of them, and I think you may appear with 
great propriety on such occasions. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Nov. 5,1769. 
Please to send your answer to Mrs. Williams, for I shall not 
be in town. 
To the Reverend Mr. Percy. 


225. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, November 9, 1769. Published in the Life, ii. 110. 
226. 


To THE REVEREND HENRY BRIGHT I. 
Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, Jan. 9, 1770. 


SIR, 
I would gladly be informed if you are willing to take 
'Vicarage House, St. Sepulchre's, 
Nov. 8, 1769. 
The Rev. Mr. Percy, Chaplain to 
his Grace the Duke of Northumber- 
land and the Rev. Mr. Butler of 
Charlotte Street Chapel, have pro- 
mised to preach for these children 
on Sunday, 26 instant.' 
, Vicarage House, St. Sepulchre's, 
Dec. 13, 1769. 
Mr. Treasurer reported that there 
was collected at the Charity Sermons 
preached (Nov. 26 last) by the Rev. 
!\Ir. Percy and the Rev. Mr. Butler 
..-623 16s. lOd.' 
i am indebted for these extracts to 
Miss Anne C. Moore, the Honorary 
Secretary of the Charity. 
I From the original in the British 
Museum :--Stowe MSS., 68 5- 
Henry Bright was Master of 
another 


were Johnson's. He was one of the 
subscribers from the year 1777 till 
his death. 'It afforded a hint for 
the story of Betty Broom in the 
Idler, Nos. 26 and 29' (ib. iv. 246). 
On :\larch 12, 1783, as the Minutes 
show :-' 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. Thrale was both a subscriber 
and a manager. See an article in 
The Sþeaker for March 22, 1890, in 
which I have given an account of 
Johnson's connection with this in- 
stitution. 
The following extracts from the 
Minute Book of the Institution shew 
the result of Johnson's applica- 
tion :- 



15 g 


1''0 Miss Porter. 


[A.D. 1770. 


another pupil, in the same manner as Mr. Strahan was taken. 
You will, I think, have more trouble with him, and therefore 
ought to have a higher price. 
I shall [be] at Oxford on Fryday [sic] and Saturday next X, 
when if you cannot come over, I shall expect a letter from you. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servan t, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


227. 
To THE REVEREND DR. FARMER. 
Johnson's Court, March 21, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. 114. 


228. 
To MISS PORTER 2. 
DEAREST MADAM, May I, 177 0 . 
Among other causes that have hindered me from answering 
your last kind letter, is a tedious and painful rheumatism, that 
has afflicted me for many weeks, and still continues to molest 
me 3. I hope you are well, and will long keep your health and 
your cheerfulness. 
One reason why I delayed to write was, my uncertainty how 
to answer your letter. I like the thought of giving away the 
money very well; but when I consider that Tom Johnson 4 is my 
nearest relation, and that he is now old and in great want; that 
he was my playfellow in childhood, and has never done any thing 
to offend me; I am in doubt, whether I ought not rather give it 
him than any other. 
Of this, my dear, I would have your opinion. I would 
willingly please you, and I know that you will be pleased best 
with what you think right. Tell me your mind, and do not 


Abingdon Grammar School. Ante, 
P.95. 
1 Of this visit to Oxford there is 
no mention elsewhere. 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 214. 
3 He describes his sufferings from 
this illness in his Diary, and ends by 
saying :-' The pain harasses me 


much; yet many have the disease 
perhaps in a much higher degree, 
wi th want of food, fire, and covering, 
which I find thus grievous, with all 
the succours that riches and kind- 
ness can buy and give.' (He was 
staying at Mr. Thrale's.) Pro and 
l
,fed. p. 94. 
4 Ante, p. 154, n. 3. 


learn 



Aetat. 60.] 


To AIiss Porter. 


)59 


learn of me to neglect writing; for it is a very sorry trick, though 
it be mine. 
Your brother I is well; I saw him to-day, and thought it long 
since I saw him before: it seems he has called often, and could 
not find me. 
I am, my dear, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


229. 


To 1\fISS PORTER 2. 
MY DEAREST DEAR, London, May 29, 177 0 . 
I am very sorry that your eyes are bad ; take great care 
of them, especially by candlelight. Mine continue pretty good, 
but they are sometimes dim 3. My rheumatism grows gradually 
better. I have considered your letter, and am willing that the 
whole money should go where you, my dear, originally intended. 
I 110pe to help Tom some other way. So that matter is over. 
Dr. Taylor has invited me to pass some time with him at 
Ashboume; if I come, you may be sure that I shall take you 
and Lichfield in my way. When I am nearer coming, I will 
send you word. 
Of Mr. Porter I have seen very little, but 1 know not that it 
is his fault, for he says that he often calls, and never finds me; 
I am sorry for it, for I love him. I\Ir. Mathias 4 has lately had a 
great deal of money left him, of which you have probably heard 
already. 


I am. my dearest, 
Your most obedient servant, 
SAM: ]OHNSOX. 


230. 
To THE REVEREND THOMAS \V ARTON. 
London, June 23, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. 114. 


I Miss Porter's second brother, 
who died in 1783. Life, iv. 256. 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 214. 
3 See ante, p. 57, n. 5. 
4 Johnson mentions him again, 
þost, Letter of April 8, 1]80. A 


gentleman of this name and his 
sister are more than once mentioned 
in Miss Seward's Corresþondence. 
Miss Burney mentions also a Mr. 
Mathias as paying her at the end of 
1786 her salary at Court. 1\1 me. 
D'Arblay's Diary, iii. 257. 


To 



160 


To Mrs. 7ñrale. 


[A.D. 1770. 


231. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I hope the danger that has threatened you is now over, and 
that you have nothing now to overcome but that languor which 
must necessarily succeed a disorder so violent as yours. Re- 
covery is a state which requires great caution, and I entreat you 
not to be negligent of yourself. 
I am now at Lichfield, and if my company can afford you 
either help or entertainment I am ready to come to you. If you 
can write let me know from yourself the state of your health; 
if writing is difficult, let me hear by some other hand. Be very 
careful of yourself. 


I am, dear Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Lichfield, J nly 2, 177 0 . 


232. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, July 7, 177 0 . 
I thought I should have heard something to-day about 
Streatham; but there is no letter; and I need some consolation, 
for Rheumatism is come again, though in a less degree than 
formerly. I reckon to go next week to Ashbourne, and will try 
to bring you the dimensions of the great bull 3. The skies and 
the ground are all so wet, that I have been very little abroad; 
and Mrs. Aston is from home, so that I have no motive to walk. 
When she is at home, she lives on the top of Stow Hill 4, and I 


I First published in the Miscel- 
lanies of the Plzilobiblon Society, 
vi. 42. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 26. 
3 See þost, p. 166. 
4 Boswell describes Mrs. Aston 
and her widowed sister Mrs. Gastrell 
as having each' a house and garden 
and pleasure-ground, prettily situated 
upon Stow H ill, a gentle eminence, 
adjoining to Lichfield.' Life, ii. 47 0 . 
I t was in a pleasant house 'in the 
little green valley of Stow, that 


slopes from the east end of the 
Cathedral, and forms with its old 
grey tower on the banks of its lake 
so lovely a landscape,' that Thomas 
Day, the author of Sandford and 
Merton, was at this time educating 
an orphan girl of thirteen with the 
intention of fitting her to be his wife. 
He had given her the name of 
Sabrina Sidney, in honour of the 
river Severn and Algernon Sidney. 
Johnson might well have seen her, 
for' all the ladies of the place kindly 
commonly 



Aetat. 60.] 


T'o AIrs. Thrale. 


161 


commonly climb up to see her once a day. There is nothing 
there now but the empty nest. I hope Streatham will long be 
the place I. 
To write to you about Lichfield is of no use, for you never saw 
Stow-pool, nor Borowcop-hill. I believe you may find Borow or 
Boroughcop-hill in my Dictionary, under cop or cob 2. N 0- 
body here knows what the name imports. 
I have taken the liberty to enclose a letter; for, though you 
do not know it, three groats make a shilling 3. 
I am, dearest fdadam, 
Yours, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


233. 
To MRS. THRALE 4. 
MADAM, Lichfield, July II, 177 0 . 
Since my last letter nothing extraordinary has happened. 
Rheumatism, which has been very troublesome, is grown better. 
I have not yet seen Dr. Taylor, and July runs fast away. I shall 
not have much time for him, if he delays much longer to come 
or send. Mr. Grene, the apothecary 5, has found a book, which 
took notice of her.' The education English troops. 
which Day gave her was successful, 3 The postage on a letter to Lich- 
but she went counter to some of his field, a place more than 80 and less 
fancies, and he would not marry her. than 140 miles from London, was 
Seward's Memoirs of Dr. Darwin, at this time fourpence. Dodsley's 
p. 22, and Memoirs of R. L. Edge- London, v. 211. On the letter en- 
wortlt, pp. 135, ISO, 218. closed by Johnson an extra charge 
Johnson wrote some Latin verses of the same amount would have been 
on the little stream that flows in the made; but the packet no doubt was 
valley, which begin:- directed to Mr. Thrale, who, being a 
'Errat adhuc vitreus per prata member of Parliament, would recei ve 
virentia rivus, it free of charge. The enclosed 
Quo toties lavi membra tenella letter, being franked by Thrale, 
puer.' Works, i. 163. would also go free. A groat there- 
I The sentence seems imperfect. fore was saved either to Johnson, or 
2 Johnson defines Coþ as The more probably to his correspondent, 
head, the toþ of anythÙtg
. anythÙlg for letters were very rarely prepaid; 
arising to a head. He does not in- a groat, he seems to say, is of some 
stance Borowcop Hill. In the Ann. importance, for three make a shil- 
Reg. for 1775, part I, p. 134 &, men- ling. 
tion is made of Cop's HilI in Boston, 4 Piozzi Letters, i. 27. 
whence the Americans fired on the 5 For Mr. Green and his Museum 
4 In this volume of the An1t. Reg. there are three pages each numbered 134. 
VOL. I. 
1 tells 



r62 


To ltfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1770. 


tells who paid levies in our parish, and how much they paid, 
above an hundred years ago. Do you not think we study this 
book hard? Nothing is like going to the bottom of things. 
lVlany families that paid the parish rates are now extinct, like 
the race of Hercules I. P2llvis et umbra Slt1JlltS 2. \Vhat is 
nearest us touches us most. The passions rise higher at do- 
mestic than at imperial tragedies. I am not wholly unaffected 
by the revolutions of Sadler-street 3; nor can forbear to mourn a 
little when old names vanish away, and new come into their place. 
Do not imagine, Madam, that I wrote this letter for the sake 
of these philosophical meditations; for when I began it, I had 


see Life, ii. 465. Erasmus Darwin, 
writing on December 17,1790, says: 
-' I remember Mr. Green of Lich- 
field, who is now growing very old, 
once told me his retail business [as 
an apothecary] by means of his 
show-shop and many-coloured win- 
dow produced him lloo a year.' C. 
Darwin's Life of Erasmus Darwin, 
p. 38. In the same letter, speak- 
ing of a young man who was think- 
ing of settling at Lichfield as an 
apothecary or surgeon, and of the 
means of getting acquainted with 
people, Darwin says :-' Fourthly 
card assemblies,- I think at Lich- 
field surgeons are not admitted as 
they are here [Derby]; but they are 
to dancing assemblies.' 
I 'Ut tamen Herculeae superes- 
sent semina gentis,' &c. 
OVID, Fastl, ii. 237. 
2 HORACE, 4 Odes, vii. 16. 
3 At the corner of Sadler Street, 
now known as Market Street, John- 
son's house stood. Among the revo- 
lutions of the town the watchmen's 
bills had not disappeared. In a note 
in his Shakesþeare on Dogberry's 
charge to the Watch, 'only have a 
care that your biJIs be not stolen' 


(Much Ado About Nothing, Act iii. 
scene 4), he says :-' A bill is stiJI 
carried by the watchmen at Lich- 
field.' The Watch, as I was informed 
at Lichfield, used to be called 
"dozeners n." The twelve biJIs they 
bore were always carried tiJI very 
lately in the Court of Array; they 
are stiJI preserved in the Guild Hall. 
This Court of Array was a survival 
of old times. 'The Statutes of Array 
by which Commissioners were em- 
powered to take in each county a re- 
view of all the freemen able to bear 
arms, &c. were repealed in the 
reign of J ames I. Notwithstanding 
the Bailiffs have constantly held a 
manorial court on Green Hill at the 
same time as the view of men and 
arms according to ancient charter 
and prescription.' Harwood's His- 
tory of Lic1zjield, p. 354. 
John Howard, who visited the 
City Gaol three years later, describes 
it as having' the rooms too smaJI 
and close. No yard, no water, no 
straw. Allowance IS. 6d. a week.' 
Out of this allowance the wretched 
prisoner had to buy all that he 
needed. State of the Prisons, &c., 
ed. 1777, p. 3 2 9. 


a In Jersey there are in each parish several vinteniers, each of whom has the 
charge of a particular vintaine into which the parishes are divided. Cæsarea: The 
Isla1zd of Jersey, ed. 1840, p. 126. 


neither 



Aetat. 60.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


16 3 


neither l\1r.Grene, nor his book, in my thoughts; but was resolved 
to write, and did not know what I had to send, but my respects 
to Mrs. Salusbury, and Mr. Thrale, and Harry X, and the Misses. 
I am, dearest l\1adam, 
Yours, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


234. 
To MRS. THRALE 2. 


DEAR lVIADAM, 
When any calamity is suffered, the first thing to be re- 
membered is, how much has been escaped. The house might 
have been entered by ruffians when Mrs. Salusbury had been in 
it, and who can tell what horrours might have followed! 
I thought you would in time compliment your compliments 
away. Nothing goes well when I am from you, for when I am 
from you the house is robbed 3. You must therefore suppose, 
that if I had been with you, the robbery would not have been. 
But it was not our gang 4. I should have had no interest. 
Your loss, I am afraid, is very great; but the loss of patience 
would have been greater. 
My rheumatism torments me very much, though not as In 
the winter. I think I shall go to Ashbourne on Monday or 
Tuesday. 
You will be pleased to make all my compliments. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Lichfield, July 14, 1770. 


235. 
To MRS. THRALE 5. 
DEAR MADAl\I, Lichfield, July, [177 0 ]. 
Do not say that I never write to you, and do not think 
that I expected to find any friends here that could make me 


I Mrs. Thrale's son who died 4 Johnson's 'gang' must have 
suddenly six years later when J ohn- been a cant word of the Strcatham 
son was in Lichfield. Life, ii. 468. set. Baretti belonged to it, as Mrs. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 28. Thrale's answer showed. Piozzi 
3 · Mrs. Salusbury's house in town Letters, i. 30. 
was robbed of goods and linen to a 5 Piozzi Letters, i. 28 9. 
large amount, while she was absent This Letter Mrs. Piozzi carelessly 
at Streatham.' Note by Mrs. Piozzi. inserts among those of 1775, though 
1\1 2 wish 



16 4 


7ò itfrs. 7ñrale. 


[A.D. 1770. 


wish to prolong my stay. For your strawberries, however, I have 
no care. Mrs. Cobb has strawberries, and will give me as long 
as they last; and she has cherries too. Of the strawberries at 
Streatham I consign my part to Miss and Harry. I hope Susy 
grows, and Lucy begins to walk. Though this rainy weather 
confines us all in the house, I have ncither frolicked nor fretted. 
In the tumult, whatever it was, at your house, I hope my 
countrywomen either had no part, or behaved well. I told Mr. 
Heartwell, about three days ago, how well Warren was liked in 
her place. 
I have passed one day at Birmingham with myoId friend 
Hector-there's a name-and his sister, an old love I. My 
mistress is grown much older than my friend. 
- 0, quid habes iUius, iUius 
Quæ spirabat amores, 
Quæ me surpuerat mihi 2. 
Time will impair the body, and uses us well if it spares the 
mind. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


236. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAM, Ashbourne, July 20,177 0 . 
I hope your complaint 4, however troublesome, is without 
danger; for your danger involves us all. vVhen you were ill 
before, it was agreed that if you were lost, hope would be lost 
with you; for such another there was no expectation of 
finding. 
I came hither on Wednesday, having staid one night at a 


in it is mention of Johnson's little 
god-daughter, Lucy, who died in 
1773. It belongs no doubt to July, 
1770, when the child was thirteen 
months old, and might be beginning 
to walk. 
I Mrs. Careless, a clergyman's 
widow. Post, p. 202, and Life, 
ii. 459. 


2 'Of her, of her what now remains, 
\Vho breathed the loves, who 
charmed the swains, 
And snatched me from my 
heart? ' 
FRANCIS, Horace, Odes, iv. 13. 18. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 3 I. 
4 She had suffered from' an odious 
sore throat.' Ib. p. 3 0 . 


lodge 



Aetat. 60.] 


To llIrs. Thrale. 


r65 


lodge in the forest of Nedewood I. Dr. Taylor's is a very 
pleasant house, with a lawn and a lake, and twenty deer and 
five fawns upon the lawn 2. Whether I shall by any light see 
Matlock I do not yet know 3. 
Let us not yet have done rejoicing that :Mrs. Salusbury was 
not in the house. The robbery will be a noble tale when we 
meet again. 
That BareUi's book would please you all I made no doubt. 
I know not whether the world has ever seen such Travels before 4 . 


I 'June 6, 1785. There are not, I 
apprehend, less than a thousand 
acreS of oak timber now standing in 
Needwood Forest: a quantity of 
which few other forests of the king- 
dom can at present boast.' \V. 
Marshall's Rural Economy of the 
Midland Cou1zties, ii. 357. In 1798 
the forest was said to cover nearly 
ten thousand acres. Shaw's History 
oJ Staffordshire, p. 65. Landor in 
one of his Imaginary C01l'lIersa!ions 
makes Johnson say :-' In my English 
travels I saw gossamer formerly in 
Needwood Forest, five miles from 
Lichfield; latterly my travels were 
in Scotland, where there was no 
plant to support it.' Landor's Works, 
ed. 1876, iv. 221. 
2 For Boswell's description of Dr. 
Taylor's house see Life, ii. 473. In 
Nichols's Lit. Anec., ix. 62, there is 
the following note :- 
'Inscription by Dr. Johnson on 
Dr. Taylor's house at Ashbourn :- 
"Stet domus hæc donec Testudo 
perambulet orbem, 
Et donec fluctus ebibat Formica 
marinos." 
This is false metre; read 
" Ebibat et donec fluctus formica 
marinas.'" 
I am informed by the Rev. Francis 
Jourdain, Vicar of Ashbourne, that 
, Dr. Taylor's house is practically as 
he left it, the coat of arms still re- 
maining in the entrance hall. The 


garden, however, has been altered, 
the lake has been filled up, and the 
stream diverted.' 
3 Mrs. Thrale in a letter which he 
had just received had said: 'Mr. 
Thrale particularly vexes lest you 
should not see Matlock on a moon- 
light night.' Piozzi Letters, i. 3 I. 
He visited it in their company four 
years later. Life, v. 430. 
4 Baretti's Journey from London 
to Genoa, in four small volumes, is 
noticed in the Gentleman's Jl,faga- 
zine for July of this year (p. 323). It 
must have met with a quick sale, for 
at least two more editions were pub- 
lished before the end of the year. In 
his Preface he says :-' I have spared 
no pains to carry my reader in some 
measure along with me; to make 
him see what I saw, hear what I 
heard, feel what I felt, and even 
think and fancy whatever [ thought 
and fancied myself. Should this 
method prove agreeable, and procure 
the honour of a favourable reception 
to my work, [ shall owe it in a 
great part to my most revered friend, 
Dr. Samuel Johnson, who suggested 
it to me, just as I was setting out on 
my first journey to Spain.' In a 
marginal note on Johnson's letter 
Baretti says: - , Johnson does not 
tell it, but he never could think that 
the petty adventures told in it were 
true: they are however all true to 
a tittle in spite of his incredulity.' 
Those 



166 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1770. 


Those whose lot it is to ramble can seldom write, and those who 
know how to write very seldom ramble. If Sidney had gone, as 
he desired, the great voyage with Drake, there would probably 
have been such a narrative as would have equally satisfied the 
poet and philosopher I. 
I have learned since I left you, that the names of two of the 
Pleiades were Coccymo and Lampado 2. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


237. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAREST MADAM
 Ashbourne, July 23, 177 0 . 
There had not been so long an interval between my two 
last letters, but that when I came hither I did not at first under- 
stand the hours of the post. 
I have seen the great bull; and very great he is. I have seen 
likewise his heir apparent, who promises to inherit all the bulk 
and all the virtues of his sire. I have seen the man who offered 
an hundred guineas for the young bull, while he was yet little 
better than a calf4. Matlock, I am afraid, I shall not see, but I 


Johnson told Boswell that 'writers 
of travels were more defective than 
any other writers.' Life, ii. 377. See 
also þost, Letter of August 12, 1773. 
I 'The next step which Sir Philip 
Sidney intended into the world was 
an expedition of his own projecting, 
wherein he fashioned the whole body, 
with purpose to become head of it 
himself. I mean the last employ- 
ment but one of Sir Francis Drake 
to the West Indies.' Fulke Grevil's 
Life of Sir Philiþ Sidney, ed. 16 5 2 , 
p.8I. 
2 'The allusion,' writes Mrs. 
Piozzi, 'is to a search made at that 
time by the Streatham coterie for 
female names ending in 0.' 'I never 
heard a word of that Coterie.'- 
HARETTI. In the list of the Pleiades 
given by the scholiast of Theocritus 


(xiii. 25) are found Coccymo and 
Lampatho. Smith's Clas. Diet. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 32. 
4 'Dr. Taylor was remarkable for 
having the finest breed of milch 
cows in Derbyshire or perhaps in 
England ; he sold one some time 
before his death for 160 guineas, and 
a heifer for 70 guineas. Mr. Mar- 
shall [Rural Economy, &c., i. 18] 
says, "In the Midland District, 
where the land is titheable, the tithe 
is seldom taken in kind. I met with 
only one instance, Bosworth Field, 
by Dr. Taylor." He had frequently 
talked of leaving his .fortune to 
Johnson. He died February 29, 
1788, worth about 1),200 a year, 
besides personalities to a very con- 
siderable amount.' Nichols's Lit. 
Anee. ix. 63. See Life, iii. 150. 
purpose 



Aetat. 61.] 


7'0 Mr. Sl1zith. 


16 7 


purpose to see Dovedale; and after all this seeing, I hope to see 
you. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


238. 


To FRANCIS BARBER. 
London, September 25, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. II S. 
239. 
To THE REVEREND DR. JOSEPH \V ARTON. 
[ London], September z 7, 17 7 o. Published in the L(fe, ii. lIS. 
240. 
To MR. AND MRS. THRALE 1. 
l\1r. Johnson flatters himself that there is no need of informing 
Mr. Thrale that the application required was made to 1\1r. 
Burke, or Mrs. Thrale, that he wishes her every thing that friend- 
ship can wish her. He has sent her a pamphlet to amuse her in 
her confinement, which he would not have shown to more than 
I\Ir. Thrale, and 1\1rs. Salusbury. 
Johnson's Court, Oct. Z, [1770]. 
241. 
To FRANCIS BARBER. 
[London], December 7, 1770. Published in the Life, ii. II 6. 


242. 
To MR. SMITH 2. 


SIR, 
I beg leave to give you again the trouble which you were so 


[ From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mrs. Thomas, of Eyhorne 
House, Maidstone. 
I t seems probable. that this letter 
was written in 1770. Mrs. Salus- 
bury died on June 18, 1773. If 
the pamphlet was, as seems likely, 
one of Johnson's, it was Falkland's 
Islands, which was published in 
March, 177 I. It was neither The 
Patriot nor Taxation 110 Tyranny, 
both of which were written after 


1773; neither could it have been 
Tile .Fàlse Alarm, which was written 
at the Thrales' house, and read to Mr. 
Thrale the moment it was finished. 
Life, ii. I I 1. I am surprised to find 
that Falkland's Islands was written 
so long before its publication, though 
Johnson does speak of 'the much 
lingering of my own and much of 
the ministry' in getting it out. Ib. 
ii. 135. 
2 From the 01 iginal in the posses- 
kind 



168 


To John RivÙzgton. 


[A.D. 1771. 


kind as to take last year of cashing [?] these bills and paying 
them. 
Be pleased to send me some Irish Cloath for J 2 Shirts at 4 
yards to a shirt, the price may be from 3s. 6d. to 4S. the yard. 
The piece which you sent in the summer to Mrs. \Villiams, you 
may charge to me. 
I inclose, as I did last year, a bill of Æ 50 which I beg to know 
whether you receive. You need send back no money, but 
a state of the account between us. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
As I remember, there was a surplus of about ten pounds in 
your hands last year. 
January 25, 1771. 
To Mr. Smith. 


243. 
To JOHN RIVINGTON I. 


SIR, 
When Mr. Steevens treated with you about the new im- 
pression of Shakespeare, he agreed with [sic] the additions now 
made should be printed by themselves for the benefit of former 
purchasers. As some of my subscribers may think themselves 
ill treated, it is proper to advertise our intention, and I shall 
be glad to see it done in one or more of the papers next week. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Feb. 2, 1771. 
To Mr. Rivington, Bookseller. 


sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font- 
hill House. 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. 
Sotheby and Co., on May 10, 1875, 
for L2 10S. (Lot 90), and on June 5, 
1888, by Messrs. Christie and Co., for 
L4 10S. (Lot 43). 
Mr. Smith was perhaps Henry 
Smith, Thrale's relation and ex- 
ecutor. Post, Letters of April 5 
and 17, 1781. 


r From the original in the posses- 
sion of Messrs. Robson and Kars- 
lake, 23 Coventry Street, Hay- 
market. 
Johnson's Shakesþeare, which was 
first published in 1765 and had 
reached a second edition, was re- 
published by George Steevens in 
1773. Life, ii. 204. Rivington was 
one of the proprietors, and no doubt 
acted for the others. At the end of 
To 



Aetat. 61.] 


To Henry Thrale. 


16 9 


244. 
To THE REV. DR. RICHARD FARMER I. 


SIR, 
Some time ago l\fr. Steevens and I took the liberty of 
sending a catalogue in hope of some improvement and aug- 
mentation. Mr. Steevens, who undertakes the whole care of 
this impression, begins to fancy that he wants it. 
I have done very little to the book; but by the plunder of your 
pamphlet, and the authorities which Mr. Steevens has very 
diligently colIected, I think it will be somewhat improved. If 
you could spare us any thing we should think your communi- 
cation a great favour. I hope amongst us all Shakespeare will 
be better understood. You have already done your part, and 
when you have finished what I am told you are now projecting 
will leave I believe much fewer difficulties to future criticks. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SA
: JOHNSON. 


Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, Feb. 18, 1771. 
245. 
To HENRY THRALE 2. 
[London], March, 1771. 


DEAR SIR, 
In the Shrewsbury, an East India ship, commanded by 


vol. x is an Appendix of 45 unpaged 
leaves. Very possibly it was printed 
separately and sent to the sub- 
scribers to the 1\\0 earlier editions. 
No copy of such a separate publica- 
tion is in the British Museum. 
I From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Thomas Thring, of 2 
Thornhill Villas, \Veymouth. 'I 
bought it,' he informs me, 'of a 
bookseller at Salisbury some fifty 
years ago.' 
Though it bears no address, there 
is no doubt that it was written to 
the Rev. Dr. Farmer, Master of 
Emanuel College, Cambridge. Bos- 
well publishes a second letter to him 
written a month later, in which 
Johnson says :-' Mr. Steevens, a 
very ingenious gentleman, lately of 


King's College, has collected an 
account of all the translations which 
Shakspeare might have seen and 
used. He wishes his catalogue to be 
perfect, and therefore intreats that 
you will favour him by the insertion 
of such additions as the accuracy of 
your inquiries has enabled you to 
make.' Life, ii. 114. Farmer had 
published in 1767 All Essay OIl the 
Learning of Shakesþeare, which 
Johnson praised. Ib. iii. 38, ?t. 6. 
Steevens in the Advertisement to the 
Reader in his and Johnson's Shake- 
sþeare acknowledges Dr. Farmer's 
assistance. Appendix ii of vol. x 
consists of many pages of his' Ob- 
servations.' 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 33. 


Captain 



17 0 


To Bennet Langton. 


[A.D. 1771. 


Captain Jones, there is one Thomas Coxeter, who lately enlisted 
as a soldier in the Company's service I. He repents of his ad- 
venture, and has written to his sister, who brings this letter, to 
procure him his discharge. He is the son of a gentleman, who 
was once my friend 2; and the boy was himself a favourite with 
my wife. I shall therefore think it a great favour, if you will be 
pleased to use your influence with Sir George Colebrook 3, that 
he may be discharged. The request is not great; for he is 
slight and feeble, and worth nothing but to those who value him 
for some other merit than his own 4. 


I am
 &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To BENNET LANGTON. 


246. 


[London], March 20, 1771. Published in the Lift, ii. 135. 


I The Company must have had 
difficulty in raising troops in Eng- 
land, for in the Gelltleman's lIfaga- 
::;Ùze for March of this year (p. 141) 
it is stated that one of their recruit- 
ing officers had returned from Ger- 
many' bringing with him five hun- 
dred men from the Duchy of 
\Virtemburg only.' 
'" See Life, iii. 158, for the collec- 
tion of the minor poets which Coxeter 
had made. He was educated at 
Trinity College, Oxford, and coming 
to London worked for the book- 
sellers. He died on April 19, 1747. 
Johnson assisted his orphan daughter. 
Nichols's Lit. Anee. ii. 512. Among 
the ' Promotions' announced in the 
Gmt. 11-1 ago I find his name in the 
list for the February before his 
death (p. 103) entered for a very 
poor piece of preferment :-' Tho. 
Coxeter Esq.; elected secretary to 
the committee of subscribers for 
purchasing materials for Mr. Carte's 
History of England.' 


3 'May I, 1774. Sir George Col- 
brooke, a citizen, and martyr to what 
is called sþemlati01z, had his pic- 
tures sold by auction last week.' 
Walpole's Letters, vi. 81. 'I pro- 
fessed myself sincerely grieved when 
accumulated distresses crushed Sir 
G. Colebrook's family, and I was so. 
" Your own prosperity," said J ohn- 
son, "may possibly have so far 
increased the natural tenderness of 
your heart that for aught I know 
you may be a little sorry j but it is 
sufficient for a plain man if he does 
not laugh when he sees a fine new 
house tumble down all on a sudden, 
and a snug cottage stand by ready 
to receive the owner, whose birth 
entitled him to nothing better, and 
whose limbs are left him to go to 
work again with.' Piozzi Alzecdotes, 
p.89. 
4 See þost, Letter of December I, 
1776, for Johnson's attempt to get 
the young man admitted into a 
hospital. 


To 



Aetat. 61.] 


To lVIiss Langton. 


I7 1 


247. 


To MIss LANGTON I. 
London, April 17, 1771. 


l\IADAl\I, 
If I could have flattered myself that my letters could have 
given pleasure, or have alleviated pain, I should not have 
omitted to write to a lady to whom I do sincerely wish every 
increase of pleasure, and every mitigation of uneasiness. 
I knew, dear Madam, that a very heavy affliction 2 had fallen 
upon you; but it was one of those which the established course 
of nature makes necessary, and to which kind words give no 
relief. Success is, on these oécasions, to be expected only from 
time 3. 
Your censure of me, as deficient in friendship, is therefore too 
severe. I have neither been unfriendly, nor intentionally uncivil. 
The notice with which you have honoured me, I have neither 
forgotten, nor remembered without pleasure. 
The calamity of ill health, your brother will tell you that 
I have had, since I saw you, sufficient reason to know and to 
pity 4. But this is another evil against which we can receive 
little help from one another. I can only advise you, and I advise 
you with great earnestness, to do nothing that may hurt you, 
and to reject nothing that may do you good. To preserve 
health is a moral and religious duty: for health is the basis 
of all social virtues; we can be useful no longer than while we 
are well s. 
If the family knows that you receive this letter, you will be 
pleased to make my compliments. 


I First published in the Gentle- 
mall's il1àgazine for 1800, page 
9 1 5. 
Miss Langton was Bennet Lang- 
ton's sister. She died in 1791. Ib. 
2 I t is possible that Johnson refers 
to the death of her father, old Mr. 
Langton, which had taken place - in 
1769, as I learn from the Gmtle- 
man's Magazine, 1824, part ii. p. 8. 
3 'While grief is fresh every at- 
tempt to divert only irritates. You 
must wait till grief be digested, 


and then amusement will dissipate 
the remains of it.' Life, iii. 28. 
4 He recorded on his next birth- 
day (Sept. 18) :-' For the last year 
I have been slowly recovering both 
from the violence of my last illness, 
and, I think, from the general 
disease of my life.' Pro and "Wed. 
p. 104. 
5 See þost, Letter of March 15, 
1777, where he says :-' Gaiety is a 
duty when health requires it.' 


I flatter 



I7 2 


To AIrs. Fhrale. 


[A.D. 1771. 


I flatter myself with the hopes of seeing Langton after Lady 
Rothes's recovery I; and then I hope that you and I shall renew 
our conferences, and that I shall find you willing as formerly to 
talk and to hear; and shall be again admitted to the honour 
of being, 


IVladam, 
Your most obedient 
and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


248. 


To THE COUNTESS. DE BOUFFLERS. 
l\Iay 16, 1771. Published in the Life, ii. 405, and P/ozzi Letters, i. 34. 
For the date, see note in the Life. 
249. 
To l\IRS. THRAL.f<12. 
DEAR MADAM. [London], June 15, 1771. 
I t seems strange that I should live a week so near you, and 
yet never see you. I have been once to enquire after you, and 
when I have written this note am going again. The use of 
the pamphlet the letter will shew, which lies at the proper page. 
\;Vhen l\1r. L- shews so much attention. it cannot become me 
to shew less. \Vhat to think of the case I know not; the rela- 
tion has all appearance of truth; and one great argument is, that 
the only danger is in not believing. The water can, I think, do 
no harm; Dr. \Yall thinks it may do good 3. If IVlrs. Salusbury 


r 'Langton' which Johnson hoped 
to see was not his friend of that 
name, but the Lincolnshire village. 
His letter to Bennet Langton dated 
August 29 of this year (Life, ii. 142) 
shews that he had been expected 
there. Lady Rothes, who had been 
married on May 24, 1770 (Gmtle- 
man's Jfagazine, 1770, p. 278), was 
expecting to be confined; it was 
after her recovery that the visit was 
to be paid. There is no need for 
:Mr. Croker's conjectural alteration of 
the date of the letter. 
:> Piozzi Letters, i. 35. 
:'-Irs. Salusbury, :\Irs. Thrale's 


mother, to whom the letter refers, 
died of cancer on June 18, 1773. Pro 
a1zd 3Ied., p. 128. Probably the 
disorder had begun its attack. 
3 The water ,vas laurel-water; 
þost, p. 179. Dr. \\Tall was not 
Martin \\Tall the Oxford physician 
with whom Boswell and Johnson 
drank tea in 1784 (Life, iv. 292), for 
he had not by this time taken his 
degree in medicine; but his father, 
Dr. John \Vall, of \Vorcester. See 
Gentleman's JlágazÙlc, 175 6 , p. 57 2 , 
for his Treatise on the Malvern 
Waters. 


.should 



Aetat. 61 ] 


T'o All's. Tkrale. 


173 


should think fit to go before you can go with her, I wiII attend 
her, if she will accept of my company, with great readiness, at 
my own expence, and if I am in the country wiII come back. 
I need not tell you, that I hope you are with the necessary 
exceptions all well, or that 


I am, &c., 
SA)!: JOHNSON. 


250. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, June 20, 177 I. Published in the L
fe, ii. 140. 


251. 


To MRS. THR.\LE [. 
DEAR MADAM, Thursday, June 20, 1771. 
This night, at nine o'clock, Sam. Johnson and Francis Barber 
Esquires, set out in the Lichfield stage; Francis is indeed rather 
upon it. What adventures we may meet with who can tell? 
I shall write when I come to Lichfield, and hope to hear in 
return, that you are safe, and :Mrs. Salusbury better, and all the 
rest as well as I left them. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: J OHNSOX. 


252. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADA::\I, LichfieJd, June 22, 177 I. 
Last night I came safe to Lichfield; this day I was visited 
by l\frs. Cohb. This afternoon I went to Mrs. Aston, where I 
found IVIiss T _3, and waited on her home. IVliss T - wears 
spectacles, and can hardly climb the stiles. I was not tired at 
all, either last night or to-day. l\fiss Porter is very kind to me. 
Her dog and cats are all well. 
In all this there is nothing very memorable, but sands form 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 3 6 . 
The journey to Lichfie\d by the 
stage-coach-a distance of 116 miles 
-took twenty-six hours; þos!, p. 191. 
Barber was Johnson's black servant. 


2 Piozzi Letters, i. 37. 
3 Perhaps Miss Turton whose 
death is mentioned in the Letter of 
August 13, 1777. 


the 



174 


To flfrs. Th ra Ie. 


[A.D. 1771. 


the mozmtaÍ1l X. I hope to hear from Strcatham of a greater 
event, that a new being is born that shall in time write such 
letters as this, and that another being is safe that she may 
continue to write such. She can indeed do many other things; 
she can add to the pleasure of many lives, and among others to 
that of 


Her most obedient and 
most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


253. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, [Lichfield], June 25, 1771. 
All your troubles, I hope, are now past, and the little stranger 
safe in the cradle. You have then nothing to do but survey the 
lawn from your windows, and see Lucy try to run after Harry. 
Her
 things go wrong. They have cut down another tree 3, but 
they do not yet grow very rich. I enquired of my barber after 
another barber; that barber, says he, is dead, and his son has 
left off, to turn maltster. Maltsters, I believe, do not get much 
money. The price of barley and the king's duty are known, and 
their profit is never suffered to rise high 4.-But there is often 
a rise upon stock.-There may as well be a fall-.Very seldom. 
There are those in this town that have not a farthing less this 
year than fifty pounds by the rise upon stock 5. Did you think 
there had been yet left a city in England, where the gain of fifty 
pounds in a year would be mentioned with emphasis? 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


I 'Think nought a trifle, though it 
small appear; 
Small sands the mountains, mo- 
ments make the year, 
And trifles life.' 
Y OUNC'S Love of Fame, Satire vi. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 38. 
3 See ante, p. 154. 
4 Adam Smith says that 'the 
opportunities of defrauding the re- 
venue are much greater in a brewery 
than in a malt-house.' He adds that 


, the different taxes upon malt amount 
to six shillings a quarter.' Wealth 
of Nations, iii. 35 6 -7. 
5 Johnson refers, I suppose, to the 
rise in value of the stock of malt. 
He may however be speaking of 
the funds. The Three per Cents. 
Reduced which on Jan. 4 were at 
77
 had risen by June 26 to 88. 
Gentleman's Magazine, 177 1 , pp. 
48, 288. 


To 



Aetat.61.] 


To ftf-rs. Tkrale. 


175 


254. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR l\IADAl\l, Ashbourne, July 3, 177I. 
Last Saturday I came to Ashbourne; the dangers or the 
pleasures of the journey I have at present no disposition to 
recount; else might I paint the beauties of my native plains; 
might I tell of' the smiles of nature, and the charms of art 2:' 
else might I relate how I crossed the Staffordshire canal, one of 
the great efforts of human labour, and human contrivance; 
which, from the bridge on which I viewed it, passed a way on 
either side, and loses itself in distant regions, uniting waters that 
nature had divided, and dividing lands which nature had united 3. 
I might tell how these reflections fermented in my mind till the 
chaise stopped at Ashbourne, at Ashbourne in the Peak. Let 
not the barren name of the Peak terrify you; I have never 
wanted strawberries and cream. The great bull 4 has no disease 
but age. I hope in time to be like the great bull; and hope you 
will be like him too a hundred years hence. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


255. 
To MRS. THRALE 5. 
DEAR MADAM, Ashbourne, July 7, 1771. 
No news yet of * * * * *. Our expectations were premature. 
Poor Dr. Taylor is ill, and under my government; you know 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 39. 
2 'But what avail her unexhausted 
stores, 
Her blooming mountains and her 
sunny shores, 
\Vith all the gifts that heaven and 
earth impart, 
The smiles of nature and the 
charms of art, 
While proud oppression in her 
valleys reigns, 
And tyranny usurps her happy 
plains? ' 
ADDISON. A Letter from Italy, 
IVorks, i. 35. 


3 In the Gelltleman's J}IagazÙle for 
July of this year (p. 296) there is a 
plan of the Grand Canal from the 
Trent to the Mersey, of which about 
45 miles had been completed, from 
the mouth of the Derwent in Derby- 
shire to Stone in Staffordshire. It 
was this portion that Johnson crossed. 
'When the canal was completed in all 
its length the waters of the Irish 
Sea and the German Ocean were 
united. 
4 See allte, p. 160. 
S Piozzi Letters, i. 4 0 . 


that 



17 6 


To 1I1'rs. 7lzrale. 


[A.D. 1771. 


that the act I of government is learned by obedience; I hope I 
can govern very tolerably. 
The old rheumatism is come again into my face and mouth, 
but nothing yet to the lumbago; however, having so long thought 
it gone, I do not like its return. 
Miss Porter was much pleased to be mentioned in your letter, 
and is sure that I have spoken better of her than she desired. 
She holds that both Frank and his master are much improved. 
The master, she says. is not half so lounging and u1ltidy as he 
was, there was no such thing last year as getting him off his 
chair. 
Be pleased to make my compliments to every body. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: J OHNSOX. 


256. 


To MRS. THR.\LE 2 . 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, July 7 [?],177 1 . 
Once more I sit down to write, and hope you will once more 
be willing to read it. 
Last Sunday an old acquaintance found me out, not. I think, 
a school-fellow, but one with whom I played perhaps before I 
went to school. I had not seen him for forty years, but was 
glad to find him alive. He has had, as he phrased it, a matter 
of four wives 3, for which neither you nor I like him much the 
better; but after all his marriages he is poor, and has now, at 
sixty-six, two very young ch ildren. 
Such, Madam, are the strange things of which we that travel 
come to the knowledge. \Ve see mores h0711Ùw1ll 1llultorum 4. 


I Johnson, I believe, wrote not 
act but art, and not desired but de- 
serred. 
'" Piozzi Letters, i. 41. 
There is an error in the date of 
this letter. On July 7 of this year 
Johnson, as the last letter shews, 
was not at Lichfield but Ashbourne. 
3 Perhaps' the old acquaintance' 
was one Jackson mentioned by Bos- 
well, Life, ii. 463. 
Johnson in his Dictionary defines 


matter when thus used as sþace or 
quantity nearly comþuted. \\Te may 
compare Launcelot's' Here's a small 
trifle of wives,' in The Merchant of 
Venice, Act ii. sc. 2. 
4 Horace, Ars Poetica, 1. 142:- 
'Qui mores hominum multorum 

 vidit, et urbes.' 
'Manners and towns of various 
nations viewed.' 
FRANCIS, Horace, Ars Poet. 1. 
142. 


You 



Aetat. 61.] 


7ò l1frs. Tkrale. 


177 


You that waste your lives over a book at home, must take life 
upon trust. 


I am, &c" 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


257. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAREST MADAM, Ashbourne, July 8, 177 1 . 
Indifference is indeed a strange word in a letter from me to 
you 2. Which way could it possibly creep in? I do not re- 
member any moment, for a very long time past, when I could 
use it without contradiction from my own thoughts. 
This naughty baby stays so long that I am afraid it will be 
a giant, like king Richard. I suppose I shall be able to tell it, 
'Teeth hadst thou in thy head when thou wert born 3.' I wish 
your pains and your danger over. 
Dr. Taylor is better, and is gone out in the chaise. My rheu- 
matism is better too. 
I would have been glad to go to Hagley, in compliance with 
Mr. Lyttelton's kind invitation, for beside the pleasure of his 
conversation, I should have had the opportunity of recollecting 
past times, and wandering per 'montes 1lotos et flu1llÏ1za 1lota, of 
recalling the images of sixteen, and reviewing my conversations 
with poor Ford 4. But this year will not bring this gratification 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 42. Life, v. 456-7. See þost, Letter of 
2 Indijference does not occur in Aug. 13, 1777. Johnson at the age 
any previous letter. She referred, of fifteen, 'by the advice of his 
perhaps, to a passage in Letter 260, cousin, the Rev. Mr. Ford,' had been 
which is, I suspect, misdated. sent to school at Stourbridge, two or 
j '\Vhen thou wast born.' three miles from Hagley. There he 
3 Hmry VI, Act v. sc. 6. remained a little more than a year. 
4 Mr. Lyttelton was \Villiam Life i. 49. Speaking of Ford he 
Henry Lyttelton, created Lord vVest- said :-' Sir, he was my acquaintance 
cote in 1776, and Lord Lyttelton in and relation, my mother's nephew. 
1794. He was living at this time at He had purchased a living in the 
a house called Little Hagley. John- country, but not simoniacally. I 
son visiting him in September, 1774, never saw him but in the country. 
in company with the Thrales, re- I have been told he was a man of 
corded :-' vVe went to Hagley, great parts; very profligate, but I 
where we were disappointed of the never heard he was impious.' Ib. iii. 
respect and kindness that we ex- 348. 
pected. . . . \Ve made haste away For the Latin quotation in the 
from a place where all were offended.' text, see ante, p. 154, n. 4. 
YOLo I. N within 



17 8 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1771. 


within my power. I promised Taylor a month. Every thing is 
done here to please me; and his ill health is a strong reason 
against desertion. 
I return all the compliments, al)d hope I may add some at last 
to this wicked, tiresome, dilatory bantling I. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


258. 
To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAREST MADAM, Ashbourne, July 10, 177 1 . 
I am obliged to my friend Harry, for his remembrance; but 
think it a little hard that I hear nothing from Miss. 
There has been a man here to-day to take a farm. After 
some talk he went to see the bull, and said that he had seen 
a bigger 3. Do you think he is likely to get the farm? 
Toufours strawberries and cream 4. 
Dr. Taylor is much better, and my rheumatism is less painful. 
Let me hear in return as much good of you and of Mrs. Salus- 
bury. You despise the Dog and Duck; things that are at hand 
are always slighted. I remember that Dr. Grevil, of Gloucester, 
sent for that water when his wife was in the same danger; but he 
lived near Malvern, and you live near the Dog and Duck 5. Thus, 
in difficult cases, we naturally trust most what we least know. 
Why Bromfield 6, supposing that a lotion can do good, should 


I Johnson in his Dictionary intro- 
duces a conjectural and absurd de- 
rivation of this word by a sentence 
which would make the modern phi- 
logist smile-' If,' he says, 'it has 
any etymology.' 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 43. 
3 See ante, p. 166. 
4 Johnson no doubt is thinking of 
toujours þerdrix. Swift in the 
Preface to A Tale if a Tub, describ- 
ing how' a poor poet may ring the 
changes as far as it will go,' adds :- 
'but the reader quickly finds it all 
pork.' In a note Plutarch is referred 
to. Swift's Works, iii. 58. 
5 Lysons mentions a mineral 


spring at Streatham 'the water of 
which is sent,' he says, 'in consider- 
able quantities to some of the 
hospitals in London.' Environs of 
LOlldOll, ed. 1800, iii. 491. 
6 Bromfield is mentioned þost, 
Letter of June 14, 1779. Johnson 
recorded in his Diary on March 27, 
1782 :-' In the evening Dr. Brom- 
field and his family-Medin's steel- 
yard given me.' Pro and Med. p. 
209. In the Gelltleman's Magazine 
for 1786, p. 270, among the deaths I 
find, 'March 24, in Gerrard Street, 
Soho, in his 65th year, Robert Brom- 
field, M.D., F.R.S.' 


despise 



Aetat. 61.] 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


179 


despise laurel-water in comparison with his own receipt, I do not 
see; and see still less why he should laugh at that which Wall 
thinks efficacious. I am afraid philosophy will not warrant much 
hope in a lotion. 
Be pleased to make .my compliments from Mrs. Salusbury to 
S usy. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


259. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, Ashboume, July 15, 1771. 
\\Then we come together to practise chymistry 2, I believe 
we shall find our furnaces sufficient for most operations. We 
have a gentleman here reading philosophical lectures, who per- 
forms the chymical part with furnaces of the same kind with 
ours, but much less; yet he says, that he can in his little furnace 
raise a fire that will melt iron. I saw him smelt lead; and shall 
bring up some ore for our operations. The carriage will cost 
more than the lead perhaps will be worth; but a chymist is very 
like a lover; 
'And sees those dangers which he cannot shun.' 
I will try to get other ore, both of iron and copper, which are all 
which this country affords, though feracissima metallorum regio. 
The doctor has no park, but a little enclosure behind his 
house, in which there are about thirty bucks and does; and 
they take bread from the hand. Would it not be pity to kill 
them? It seems to be now out of his head. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


260. 
To lvlRS. THRALE 3. 
MA Ashbourne, July 17, 1771. 

 DAM, 
At Lichficld I found little to please me. One more of my 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 45. mistry-' an enchanting study' as he 
2 'It was about this time that a ca1Jed it-see Life, i. 140, 43 6 ; iii. 
laboratory was fitted up at Streat- 398; iv. 237. 
ham for Mr. Johnson's amusement.' 3 Piozzi Letters, i. 46. 
N ole by M?'S. Piozzi. See þost, p. Perhaps this letter is misdated, for 
18 3. For Johnson's love of che- it seems to have been written very 
N2 
w 



180 


T'o lVIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1771. 


few school-fellows is dead; upon which I might make a new 
reflection, and say, Mors o1'JZ1libus C011l1Jl1t1l'Ù I. Miss Porter was 
rather better than last year; but I think Miss Aston grows 
rather worse. I took a walk in quest of juvenile images, but 
caught a cloud instead of Juno. 
I longed for Taylor's chaise 2; but I think Lucy did not long 
for it, though she was not sorry to see it. Lucy is a philosopher; 
and considers me as one of the external and accidental things 
that are to be taken and left without emotion. If I could learn 
of Lucy would it be better? Will you teach me? 
I would not have it thought that I forget Mrs. Salusbury; but 
nothing that I can say will be of use; and what comfort she can 
have, your duty will not fail to give her. 
What is the matter that Queeney 3 uses me no better? I 
should think she might have written to me; but she has 
neither sent a message nor a compliment. I thank Harry for 
remembering me. 
Rheumatism teazes me yet. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


261. 


To SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
Ashbourne, July 17, 177 I. Published in the Lift, ii. 141. 


262. 
To MRS. THRALE 4 . 
DEAR MADAM, Ashbourne, July 20, 177 1 . 
Sweet meat and sour sauce.- \\lith your letter which was 


soon after Johnson's departure from 
Lichfield. He left it on June 29. 
I Baretti says that this was a say- 
ing of Pero Grulla (Verdad de Pero 
Grulla). ' SHALLOW. Certain, 'tis 
certain; very sure, very sure: death, 
as the Psalmist saith, is common to 
all: all shall die.' 2 Henry IV, Act 
iii. sc. 2. "Tis an inevitable chance, 
the first statute in Magna Charta, an 
everlasting Act of Parliament, all 


must die.' Anatomy of Melancholy, 
.ed. 1660, p. 344. 
2 For Taylor's' large roomy post- 
chaise, drawn by four stout plump 
horses, and driven by two steady 
jolly postillions,' see Life, ii. 473. 
3 'A kind of nickname given to 
Mrs. Thrale's eldest daughter, whose 
name being Esther she might be 
assimilated to a Queen.' lb. iii. 422. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 47. 


kind, 



Aetat. 61.] 


7ò .11írs. Fhrale. 


181 


kind, I received another from Miss * . * * * I, to let me know 
with what frzgz"dz"ty I have answered her; and to tell me, that 
she neither hopes nor desires to excite greater warmth. That 
my first salutation .J.
f adam surprised her, as if an old friend, 
newly meeting her, had thrown a glass of cold water in her face; 
and that she does not design to renew our conversations when 
I c01zdesce1zd to visit them, after * * * * gets up. 
'Tis not for nothing that we life persue 2. 
I have certainly now such a letter as I never had before, and 
such as I know not how to answer. I dare neither write with 
frigZ"dZ"ty, nor with fire. Our intercourse is something 
\Vhich good and bad does equally confound, 
And either horn of fate's dilemma wound 3. 
There was formerly in France a cour de t amour; but I fancy 
nobody was ever summoned before it after threescore: yet in 
this court, if it now subsisted, I seem likely to be nonsuited. 
I am not very sorry that she is so far off. There can be 
no great danger in writing to her. 
Of long walks I cannot tell you; for I have no companion; 
and the rheumatism has taken away some of my courage: but 
last night I slept well. 
To strawberries and cream which still continue, we now add 
custard and bilberry pye. 
Our two last fawns are well; but one of our swans is sick. 
Life, says Foresight, is chequer-work 4. 


I Miss Porter I think is meant. 
See þost, p. 184, where Johnson ex- 
presses his surprise that she detained 
him at Lichfield, and p. 191. 
2 'Johnson wrote þursue, but 
many women will write þersue.' 
BARETTI. 
3 , Hope, whose weak being ruined 
is 
Alike if it succeed, and if it 
miss; 
Whom good or ill does equally 
confound, 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
And both the horns of fate's 
dilemma wound.' 
COWLEy,TheA1útr
s:Againn 
Hoþe. 
4 'FORESIGHT. Nay I have had 
some omens. I got out of bed 
backwards too this morning without 
premeditation; pretty good that too. 
But then I stumbled coming down 
stairs and met a weasel; bad omens 
those. Some bad, some good; our 
lives are checquered.' Congreve, 
Love for Love Act ii. sc. 1. 


To 



182 


To llfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1771. 


263. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM [AshboumeJ, July 22, 177 1 . 
, 
Nothing new has happened, and yet I do not care to omit 
writing. Last post ] had four letters, all female. Besides yours, 
I had one from Mrs. Hervey 2, Miss * * * *, and Mrs. Williams. 
Mrs. Hervey must stay; and what to say to . * * * I cannot 
devise. 
My rheumatism continues to persecute me most importunately; 
and how to procure ease in this place, where there are no hot 
rooms, I do not see; but I always hope next day, or next night, 
will be better, and am not always disappointed. 
Queeney has not written yet; perhaps she designs that 
I should love Harry best. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


264. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR IVI:ADAM, Ashboume, July 24, 177 1 . 
We have no news here but about health and sickness. I am 
miserably harassed. Dr. Taylor is quite well. The sick swan is 
dead; and dead without an elegy 4, either by himself or his 
friends. The other swan swims about solitary, as Mr. Thrale, 
and I, and others should do, if we lost our mistress. 
The great bull, and his four sons, are all well. "Ve call the 
first of the young bulls the Dauphin; so you see, 1101l defidt alter 
altrezes 5. Care is taken of the breed. 
Naughty Queeny! no letter yet. I hope we shall teach little 
Lucy better. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 49. 
2 She was of the Aston family and 
the widow of Johnson's friend the 
Hon. Henry Hervey. Life, i. 83, n. 4. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 50. 
4 'So on Mæander's banks when 
death is nigh 
The mournful swan sings her own 
elegy.' 
DRYDEN; quoted in Johnson's 


Dictionary. 
S , Primo avulso non deficit alter 
Aureus, et simi1Ì frondescit virga 
metallo.' 
VIRGIL, Æneid, vi. 143. 
, The first thus rent, a second will 
arise, 
And the same metal the same 
room supplies.' 
DRYDEN. 


Be 



Aetat.61.] 


To Hen1)' Thrale. 


r83 


Be pleased to make my compliments to Mr. Thrale; and 
desire that his builders will leave about a hundred loose bricks. 
I can at present think of no better place for chymistry, in fair 
weather, than the pump-side in the kitchen garden I. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


265. 
To HENRY THRALE 2. 
DEAR SIR, July 3 1 , 177 1 . 
I am this morning come to Lichfield, a place which has 
no temptations to prolong my stay; but if it had more, would 
not have such as could withhold me from your house when I am 
at liberty to come to it. I hope our dear mistress is got up, and 
recovering 3. Pray tell her to mind, whether I am not got quite 
wild for want of government. My thoughts are now about get- 
ting to London. [shall watch for a place; for our carriages are 
only such as pass through the place, sometimes full, and some- 
times vacant 4. 


I Mrs. Piozzi says :-' \Ve made 
up a sort of laboratory at Streatham 
one summer, and diverted ourselves 
with drawing essences and colouring 
liquors. But the danger Mr. Thrale 
found his friend Dr. Johnson in one 
day, when he got the children and 
servants round him to see some ex- 
periments performed, put an end 
to all our entertainment.' Piozzi's 
Anecdotes, P.236. A writer in the 
Gentle1Jlíl1z's fifagazine (1830, part 
i. p. 295) gives the following anec- 
dote, which he had about twenty-five 
years earlier from Bishop \Vatson 
of Llandaff, who was Professor of 
Chemistry in Cambridge at the time 
of Johnson's visit in 1765. Johnson 
coming to the laboratory was asked 
by \Vatson 
whether there was any 
experiment in particular which he 
wished to see performed. He re- 
plied :-' I have been told that there 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


are two cold fluids which when mixed 
will take fire; I do not credit it.' 
Watson made his assistant pour 
into one crucible rectified spirit of 
turpentine and into the other con- 
centrated vitriolic acid with due 
proportion of the nitric. They were 
fastened to the end of long rods, 
held out of the window, and then 
mixed. The flame which ensued 
was such as to induce Johnson to be 
thankful that the explosion was on 
the outside.' 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 5 I. 
3 On July 23 she had given birth 
to a daughter-Sophia, who married 
Henry Merrick Hoare and died on 
Nov. 8, 1824. 
4 Lichfield was on the London and 
Chester Road that passed through 
Dunstable, Coventry, and Stafford. 
For the difficulty in getting a place 
in the passing carriages both here 
To 



18 4 


To 11Irs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1771. 


266. 


To MRS. THRALE r. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, Sat. Aug. 3, 1771. 
If you were well enough to write last Tuesday, you will 
surely be well enough to read on Monday; and therefore I will 
now write to you as before. 
Having stayed my month with Taylor, I came away on 
Wednesday, leaving him, I think, in a disposition of mind not 
very uncommon, at once weary of my stay, and grieved at my 
departure 2. 
My purpose was to have made haste to you and Streatham; 
and who would have expected that I should be stopped by 
Lucy3? Hearing me give Francis orders to take us places, she 
told me that I should not go till after next week. I thought it 
proper to comply; for I was pleased to find that I could please, 
and proud of shewing you that I do not come an universal 
outcast. Lucy is likewise a very peremptory maiden; and if 
I had gone without permission. I am not very sure that I might 
have been welcome at another time. 
When we meet, we may compare our different uses of this 
interval. I shall charge you with having lingered away, in 
expectation and disappointment, two months 4, which are both 
physically and morally considered as analogous to the fervid and 
vigorous part of human life; two months, in which Nature exerts 
all her powers of benefaction, and graces the liberality of her 
hand by the elegance of her smile; two months, which, as 
Doodle says, 'you never saw before 5,' and which, as La Bruyere 
says, , you shall never see again.' 
and at Oxford see þost, Letters of 
June 6, and July 26, 1775. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 52. 
2 'Dr. Johnson said to me of 
Dr. Taylor, "Sir, I love him; but 
I do not love him more; my regard 
for him does not increase. As it is 
said in the Apocrypha, " his talk is 
of bullocks:" I do not suppose he is 
very fond of my company. His 
habits are by no means sufficiently 
clerical: this he knows that I see; 


and no man likes to live under the 
eye of perpetual disapprobation.'" 
Lift, iii. 181. 
3 Miss Porter. See ante, p. 181, 
n. 1. 
4 Johnson, writing to Benn
t 
Langton on Aug. 29, said :-' The 
Queen and Mrs. Thrale, both ladies 
of experience, yet both missed their 
reckoning this summer.' Life, ii. 
14 2 . 
5 Doodle, an Alderman of London, 
But 



Aeta.t. 61.] 


To llIrs. Thrale. 


18 5 


But complaints are vain; we will try to do better another 
time.-To-morrowand to-morrow I._A few designs and a few 
failures, and the time of designing will be past. 
Mr. Seward left Lichfield yesterday, I am afraid, not much 
mended by his opium 2. He purposes to wait on you; and if 
envy could do much mischief, he would have much to dread, 
since he will have the pleasure of seeing you sooner than, 
Dear Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


267. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, Aug. 5, 1771. 
Though I have now been two posts without hearing from 
you, I hope no harm has befallen you. I have just been with 
the old Dean 4, if I may call him old who is but seventy-eight; 
and find him as well, both in mind and body, as his younger 


is a character in The London 
Cuckolds by Edward Ravenscroft; 
first acted in 1682. Till the year 
175 2 it was commonly acted on 
Lord Mayor's Day' in contempt and 
to the disgrace of the city. Mr. Gar- 
rick set the example of decorum by 
omitting to perform it on the ninth 
of November in 1752, though it was 
acted at Covent Garden that and 
the following year; but on that 
day, in 1754, the King commanded 
The Provoked Husband at Covent 
Garden, which, we believe, gave 
the death-blow to this obscenity.' 
Baker's Biog. Dram., ed. 1812, ii. 
375. See also Gentleman's 111àga- 
zine, 175 2 , p. 535, and 1754, p. 
53 2 . 
I Johnson perhaps has in his 
thoughts the line in Macbeth (Act v. 
sc. 5) :-' To-morrow, and to-morrow, 
and to-morrow.' 
2 Johnson speaking of the Rev. 
Mr. Seward said :-' Sir, he is a 
valetudinarian, one of those who are 
always mending themselves.' Lift, 


lll. 152. Johnson one evening at 
Mr. Seward's house heard "Me 
miserable!" in Paradise Lost (Bk. 
iv. 1. 73) commended as highly 
pathetic. He left the house with a 
Mr. Price. 'They had walked some 
way in silence, when Johnson sud- 
denly stopped, and turning to his 
companion exclaimed, "Sir, don't 
you think that 'Me miserable!' is 
miserable stuff?'" On another oc- 
casion he said to him :-' If I saw 
a Whig and a Tory drowning, I 
would first save the Tory; and when 
I saw that he was safe, not till then, 
I would go and help the Whig; but 
the dog should duck first; the dog 
should duck," laughing with plea- 
sure at the thought of the Whig's 
ducking.' Cary's Lives of English 
Poets, ed. 1846, p. 87. 
3 Piozzl Letters, i. 54. 
4 Addenbroke, who had been 
Dean since 1745. See þost, Letters 
of November 30, 1774, and August 
27, 1777. 


neighbours. 



186 


To David Garrick. 


[A.D. 1771. 


neighbours. I went with my Lucy this morning to a phi- 
losophical lecture I; and have been this evening to see Mr. 
Green's curiosities, both natural and artificial 2 ; and I am come 
home to write to my dear lady. 
So rolls the world away 3. 
The days grow visibly shorter.-Im7llortalia 7le sþerl's m01lel 
alZ1mS 4._ I think it time to return. Do you think that after all 
this roving you shall be able to manage me again? I suppose, 
like * * * * , that you are thinking how to reduce me; but you 
may spare your contrivances; and need not fear that I find any 
reception that gives me pleasure equal to that of being, 
Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


268. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London], August 29, I 77 J, Published in the Life, ii. 14 2 . 
269. 


To DAVID GARRICK 5. 
DEAR SIR, Streatham, Dec. 12, 1771. 
I have thought upon your epitaph but without much effect. 
An epitaph is no easy thing. 
I See þost, Letter of September 
21, 1773, for his being 'owned at 
table in Scotland by one who had 
seen him at a philosophical lecture' 
at Lichfield. 
2 See ante, p. 161, n. 5. 
3 'So runs the world away.' Ham- 
Id, Act iii. sc. 2, 1. 285. 
4 HORACE, 4 Odes, vii. 7. 
'Those circling hours and all the 
various year 
Convince us nothing is immortal 
here.' FRANCIS. 
5 Published in the Garrick Cor- 
resþondence, i. 446, and again from 
the original in Croker's Boswell (p. 
225), apparently more correctly. 
Garrick wrote to Dr. John Hoadley 
on January 4, 1772 :-' Mrs. Hogarth 
having desir'd me to write an 


Epitaph for her Husband our most 
Excellent friend-I have done it, as 
weIl as I can, and I am lucky enough 
to have it approv'd by those I w d 
wish to please-here it is for you :- 
EPITAPH. 
Farewel! great Painter of Mankind! 
Who reach'd the noblest point of 
Art, 
\\Those pictur'd Morals charm ye 
mind, 
And thro' the Eyes correct ye 
heart. 
H Genius fire thee, Reader, stay, 
If Nature touch thee, drop a tear, 
H N either move thee, turn away, 
For HOGARTH'S honoured dust 
lies here. 


"Vhat say you?' 
From the facsimile in Mr. Alfred 
Of 



Aetat. 62.] 


To David Garrick. 


I8] 


Of your three stanzas, the third is utterly unworthy of you. 
The first and third together give no discriminative character. If 
the first alone were to stand, Hogarth would not be distinguished 
from any other man of intellectual eminence. Suppose you 
worked upon something like this: 
'The Hand of Art here torpid lies 
That traced the essential form of Grace: 
Here Death has closed the curious eyes 
That saw the manners in the face. 
, If Genius warm thee, Reader, stay, 
If Merit touch thee, shed a tear; 
Be Vice and Dulness far away! 
Great Hogarth's honour'd dust is here.' 


In your second stanza. pictured morals is a beautiful expres- 
sion, which I would wish to retain; but leaI'll and mount cannot 
stand for rhymes. Art and nature have been seen together too 
often. In the first stanza is feeling, in the second feel. Feeling 
for tenderlless or sensibility is a word merely colloquial, of late 
introduction, not yet sure enough of its own existence to claim 
a place upon a stone I. If thou hast lleither, is quite prose, and 
prose of the familiar kind. Thus easy is it to find faults, but it 
is hard to make an Epitaph 2. 
When you have reviewed it, let me see it again: you are 


Morrison's Collection of Autograþhs, 
ii. 162. 
'Dr. Johnson,' writes Mrs. Piozzi, 
'made four lines on the death of 
poor Hogarth, which were equally 
true and pleasing: I know not why 
Garrick's were preferred to them. 
, The hand of him here torpid lies 
That drew th' essential form of 
grace; 
Here closed in death th' attentive 
eyes 
That saw the manners in the 
face.' 
Piozzi's Al1ecdotes, p. 135. 
In the Gentleman's Magazine for 
1772, p. 336, is given' the inscription 


on Hogarth's mausoleum in Chis- 
wick Churchyard.' It agrees with 
Garrick's in all but the fifth line, 
which runs :- 
'If thou hast genius, Reader, 
stay.' 
I Nevertheless Johnson in his 
Dictionary gives as the second mean- 
ing offee/ing, sensibility
. tenderness, 
and quotes examples from Shake- 
speare and Bacon. See Life, ii. 95, 
for his contempt for 'very feeling 
people. "They þay you by fæling," 
he said.' 
2 See Appendix C. for two sets of 
verses by Garrick. 


welcome 



188 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1771. 


welcome to any help that I can give, on condition that you 
make my compliments to Mrs. Garrick. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your most, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


270. 
l' 0 [? THOMAS CADELL]. 


1771. 
In Mr. Fletcher's Auction Catalogue of May 30, 1845, Lot II 5 is a 
, Note of Johnson to his Publisher to bind two copies of False Alarm 
and Falkland Islands. 177 I.' 


271. 
To SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
(J ohnson's Court], February 27, 177 2 . Published m the Life, ii. 
144. 


272. 
l' 0 JOSEPH BANKS. 
Johnson's Court, February 27, 1772. Published in the Life, ii. 144. 


273. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London], March 14, 1772. Published in the Life, ii. 146. 


274. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], March 15, 1772. Published in the Life, ii. 145. 


275. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
When I promised to dine with you to-morrow I did not 
sufficiently consider what I was promising. On the last day of 
Lent I do not willingly go out, and shall be glad to change to- 


I First published in the Miscel- 
lanies of the Philobiblon Society, vi. 
43. Dr. Taylor, , whose habits were 
by no means sufficiently clerical' 
(ante, p, 184, n. 2), in giving a 


dinner in Passion Week had the 
example of at least two Bishops of 
his age. See the Life, iv. 88, for 
Johnson's 'admirable sophistry' in 
his defence of his dining v,-ith them. 
morrow 



Aetat. 62.] 


T'o the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


18 9 


morrow for IVlonday, or any other day except Thursday next 
week. 


April 17, 1772. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


276. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], August 3 I, 1772. Pu blished in the Life, ii. 20 I. 
277. 
To THE REVEREND DR. T AYLOR [. 


DEAR SIR, 
I am sorry to find both from your own letter and from Mr. 
Langley 2 that your health is in a state so different from what 
might be wished. The Langleys impute a great part of your 
complaints to a mind unsettled and discontented. I know that 
you have disorders, though I hope not very formidable, in- 
dependent of the mind, and that your complaints do not arise 
from the mere habit of complaining. Yet there is no dis- 
temper, not in the highest degree acute, on which the mind 
has not some influence, and which is not better resisted by a 
cheerful than a gloomy temper. I would have you read when 
you can force your attention, but that perhaps will be not so 
often as is necessary to encrease the general cheerfulness of 
Life. If you could get a little apparatus for chimistry or ex- 
perimental philosophy it would offer you some diversion, or if 
you made some little purchase at a small distance, or took 
some petty farm into your own hands, it would break your 
thoughts when they become tyrannous and troublesome, and 
supply you at once with exercise and amusement. 
You tell me nothing of Kedlestone 3, which you went down 
with a design of visiting, nor of Dr. Butler 4, who seems to be 


I First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S., v. 383. 
2 The Head Master of Ashbourne 
School. Lift, iii. 138. He and 
Taylor, it seems, were at variance 
later on. Post, Letters of July 12, 
1775, and September 18, 1777. 
3 Lord Scarsdale's mansion near 


Derby, which Johnson and Boswell 
visited in Dr. Taylor's chaise on 
September 19, 1777. Lift, iii. 160. 
4 Johnson, no doubt, wrote Butter. 
A Scotch physician of that name 
living at Derby was visited by him 
and Boswell in 1776 and 1777. 
Lift, iii. 1, 163. 


a very 



19 0 


T'o the Reverend Dr. Ta)'lor. 


[A.D. 1772. 


a very rational man, and who told you with great honesty 
that your cure must in the greatest measure depend upon 
yourself. 
Your uneasiness at the misfortunes of your Relations, I 
comprehend perhaps too well. It was an irresistible obtrusion 
of a disagreeable image, which you always wished away but 
could not dismiss, an incessant persecution of a troublesome 
thought neither to be pacified nor ejected. Such has of late 
been the state of my own mind. I had formerly great command 
of my attention, and what I did not like could forbear to think 
on. But of this power, which is of the highest importance to 
the tranquillity of life, I have been some [sic] much exhausted, 
that I do not go into a company towards night, in which I 
foresee any thing disagreeable, nor enquire after any thing to 
which I am not indifferent, lest something, which I know 
to be nothing, should fasten upon my imagination, and hinder 
me from sleep I. Thus it is that the progress of life brings 
often with it diseases, not of the body only, but of the mind. 
\Ve must endeavour to cure both the one and the other. In 
our bodies we must ourselves do a great part, and for the 
mind it is very seldom that any help can be had, but what 
prayer and reason shall supply. 
I have got my work so far forward that I flatter myself 
with concluding it this month 2, and then shall do nothing so 
willingly as come down to Ashbourne. We will try to make 
October a pleasant month. 
I am, Sir, 
Yours affectionately, 
SAM: JOHKSON. 


August 31, 1772. 
I wish we could borrow of Dr. Bentley the Preces in usum 
Sarum 3. 
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbys. 


I See Life, ii. 440, for Johnson's 
directions for 'the managf:ment of 
the mind.' 
2 He was engaged on the fourth 
edition of his Dictionary. On Easter 
Eve of the following year he re- 


corded :-' Of the spring and summer 
I remember that I was able in those 
seasons to examine and improve my 
Dictionary.' Pro antillfed. p. 123. 
3 Dr. Bentley was Richard Bent- 
ley, D.D., nephew of the great 
To 



Aetat. 63.] 


To .i1frs. Th ra Ie. 


I9[ 


278. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
N ow you find yourself better consider what it is that has 
contributed to your recovery, and do it ever again. Keep 
what health you have and try to get more. 
I am now within a few hours of being able to send the whole 
dictionary to the press, and though I often went sluggishly to 
the work, I am not much delighted at the co[ mpletion ] 2. My 
purpose is to come down to Lichfield next week. I will send 
you word when I am to set out, and hope you will fetch me. 
Miss Porter will be satisfied with a very little of my company 3. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your affectionate Servant, 
Oct.6, 1772. SAM: J 0 HKSON. 
The Rev d Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbys. 


279. 
To MRS. THRALE 4. 
DEAR MADAM, [Lichfield], October 19, 1772. 
I set out on Thursday night at nine, and arrived at Lich- 
field on Friday night at eleven, no otherwise incommoded than 
with want of sleep, which however I enjoyed very comfortably 
the first night. I think a stage coach is not the worst bed 5. 


Bentley, Rector of Nailstone, 
Leicestershire, and Senior Fellow 
of Trinity College, Cambridge. On 
his death his library was sold by 
auction at Leicester in December, 
1786. The Catalogue of the Sale is 
in the Bodleian Library. The book 
which Johnson wished to borrow 
waS perhaps Lot 114, described as 
'Romish Rituale, very elegantly 
bound in morocco, printed at Paris 
by Francis Reynault, in red and 
black, and adorned with a number of 
curious wood-cuts, 1536.' It was sold 
apparently for half-a-crown ; the pre- 
sent price, I am told, of such a work 
would be from [IS to [20. 
I First published in Notes and 


Queries, 6th S., V. 422. Franked 
, Free' by Mr. Thrale. 
2 J obnson, I believe, found relief 
in the somewhat mechanical work of 
revising his Dictionary. Percival 
Stockdale records in his Memoirs, 
ii. 179, that about 1774 Johnson 
offered to edit a new edition of 
Chambers's Dictionary of the Arts 
and Sciences. \\'hen Stockdale ex- 
pressed his surprise that in his easy 
circumstances be should be ready to 
undertake so tedious a task, 'Sir 
(said he) I like that muddling work.' 
3 See ante, p. 181, 11. I. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 55. 
5 See þost, Letter of 
ray 6, 1776. 


I am 



19 2 


To .L
[rs. 7Ït ra Ie. 


[A.D. 1772. 


I am here at present a little wind-bound, as the paper will 
show you, and Lichfield is not a place of much entertainment; 
yet, though I have some thoughts of rambling a little, this is to 
be my home long enough to receive a letter, which will, I hope, 
tell me that you are busy in reformation, that dear l\Irs. Salus- 
bury is easy, that all the young people are well, and that Mr. 
Thrale brews at less expence than fourteen shillings a quarter. 
They have had in this country a very prosperous hay-harvest I, 
but malt is .five-and-sixpence a strike 2, or two pounds four 
shillings a quarter. Wheat is nine-and-sixpence a bushel. These 
are prices which are almost descriptive of a famine. Flesh is 
likewise very dear 3. 
I 'Aug. 3,1772. We bave had and 
have the summerest summer that I 
have known these hundred years. 
We had really begun to fancy that 
some comet had brushed us a little 
out of the sun's way.' Walpole's 
Letters, v. 403. 
2 'Strike. A bushel; a dry 
measure of capacity.' Johnson's 
Dictionary. 
j In the Letters of October 24, 
November 9, 19, we have further 
mention of Mr. Thrale's difficulties. 
'In a marginal note Mrs. Piozzi 
says: "Mr. Thrale was a very 
merry talking man in 1760 ; but the 
distress of 1772, which affected his 
health, his hopes, and his whole 
soul, affected his temper too.'" Hay- 
ward's Piozzi, i. 42. In her Auto- 
biograþhical Memoirs she gives a 
further account of these troubles. 
Her' extreme inaccuracy'-to use 
the term Boswell justly applies to her 
(Lift, i. 416, n. 2)-renders it how- 
ever untrustworthy. She says that 
, a vulgar fellow, by name Humphrey 
Jackson (þost, p. 213), had long 
practised on poor Thrale's credulity.' 
He had led him into enormous ex- 
pense in the manufacture of a stuff 
which should preserve ships' bottoms 
from the worm, and in brewing by 
some new process. Hayward'sPiozzi, 


i. 257. In June of this year the 
failure of the great banking-house 
of Neal, Fordyce & Co. was the 
beginning of a cOl;nmercial panic. 
'An universal bankruptcy was ex- 
pected. The whole city was in an 
uproar; many of the first families in 
tears.' Gentleman's J.Waf(azine for 
1772, pp. 292-3. 'Will you believe 
in Italy,' wrote Horace Walpole to 
Sir Horace Mann, 'that one rascally 
and extravagant banker had brought 
Britannia, Queen of the Indies, to 
the precipice of bankruptcy !' Letters, 
v. 395. See þost, Letter of August 
12, 1773. 'A sudden run,' writes 
Mrs. Piozzi, 'threatened the house of 
Thrale, and death hovered over the 
head of its principal.' Her mother, 
Mrs. SaInsbury, showed great firm- 
ness. 'Fear not,' said Johnson, 
, the menaces of suicide; the 
man who has two such females 
to console him never yet killed 
himself, and will not now. Of all 
the bankrupts made this dreadful 
year, none have destroy'ed them- 
selves but married men, who would 
have risen from the weeds un- 
drowned, had not the women clung 
about and sunk them, stifling the 
voice of reason with their cries.' Mrs. 
Piozzi adds that Mrs. SaIusbury lent 
Thrale all her savings, 13,000, and 
In 



Aeta.t. 63.] 


7ò Airs. Thrale. 


193 


In this wide-extended calamity let us try what alleviation can 
be found in our kindness to each other. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


280. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
l\IADAM, Lichfield, October 24, 1772. 
I would have you consider whether it will not be best to 
write to Sir T - 2, not taking notice of any thing proposed to 
Mr. B-; and only letting him know, that the report which 
terrified you so much has had little effect; and that you have 
now no particular need of his money. By this you will free him 
from solicitude; and, having nothing to fear from you, he will 
love you as before. I t will abate any triumph of your enemies, 
and dispose them less to censure, and him less to regard censure. 
When you wrote the letter which you call injudicious, I told 


that three other friends lent 
17,ooo 
among them. 'Our debts were 
.l130,ooo, besides borrowed money. 
Yet in nine years was every shilling 
paid.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 258. 
To add to the distress, there had 
been in late years a great rise in the 
price of grain. Hume writing in 
1755 says that thirty-two shillings a 
quarter for wheat, and sixteen for 
barley, which were regarded as low 
in the reign of James I, 'would 
rather pass for high by our present 
estimation.' In a note added to the 
edition of 1770 he says :-' In the 
short period of the last fifteen years 
prices have perhaps risen more than 
during the preceding hundred and 
fifty.' History, ed. 1773, vi. 177. 
Adam Smith writing in the year 
1775 attributes the high price of corn 
during the ten or twelve years past 
to the unfavourable seasons through 
the greater part of Europe. l-Vealth 
of Nations, ed. 181 I, i. 275. For the 
bad 
easons see þost, the second 
Letter of July, 1775. By 1776 good 
times had returned, with 'the best 
VOL. 1. 


brown malt laid in at thirty shillings 
and sixpence.' Post, Letter of May 
18, 1776. The price for wheat given 
by Johnson does not agree with that 
given in the Gentleman's Magazine, 
1772, p. 442. There the average 
price in Staffordshire from October 
5 to October 10 is stated to be seven 
shillings and sevenpence-one shil- 
ling and twopence dearer than in 
London. Perhaps - Johnson was 
speaking of the best wheat. In 
Staffordshire wheat was dearer than 
in any other county. For the dear- 
ness of flesh, remedies were sought in 
London. In May' the Committee 
at the Chapter Coffee-house sold beef 
from 3ld. to 4d. and mutton from 3!d. 
to 41d. per pound for ready money by 
the carcase.' Ib. p. 244. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 56. 
2 Sir Thomas Salusbury, Mrs. 
Thrale's uncle. It had been expected 
that she would inherit his property, 
but he married a second time, and 
disappointed her. Piozzi Letters, 
i. 201, 4, and Hayward's Piozzi, 
i. 25 I. 
o you 



194 


To ill YS. Thrale. 


{A.D. 1772. 


you that it would bring no money; but I do not see how, in 
that tumult of distress, you could have forborn it, without appear- 
ing to be too tender of your own personal connections, and to 
place your uncle above your family. You did what then seemed 
best, and are therefore not so reasonable as I wish my mistress 
to be, in imputing to yourself any unpleasing consequences. 
Your uncle, when he knows that you do not want, and mean not 
to disturb him, will probably subside in silence to his former 
stagnation of unactive kindness. 
Do not 
uffer little things to disturb you. The brewhouse 
must be the scene of action, and the subject of speculation. 
The first consequence of our I late trouble ought to be, an en- 
deavour to brew at a cheaper rate; an endeavour not violent 
and transient, but steady and continual, prosecuted with total 
contempt of censure or wonder, and animated by resolution 
not to stop while more can be done. Unless this can be done, 
nothing can help us; and if this be done, we shall not want 
hel p. 
Surely there is something to be saved; there is to be saved 
whatever is the difference between vigilance and neglect, between 
parsimony and profusion. 
The price of malt has risen again. I t is now two pounds 
eight shillings the quarter 2. Ale is sold in the public houses at 
sixpence a quart, a price which I never heard of before 3. 
This weather, if it continues, will certainly save hay 4; but it 
can but little balance the misfortune of the scanty harvest. 
This, however, is an evil which we only share with the whole 
nation, and which we did not bring upon ourselves. 


I Johnson's use of the words we 
and our here and in other Letters 
shows that not only was Streatham 
his l101Jle, but that he was indeed 
one of the household in its troubles 
and triumphs. 
2 Writing to Mrs. Thrale on Oc- 
tober 7 of the following year he calls 
forty shillings 'a frightful price for 
malt.' 
3 By the Mutiny Act the inn- 
keeper was required to find each 


soldier quartered on him lodging, 
diet, and five pints of small beer for 
fourpence a day. This was the law 
in 1741, and I believe in 1772. With 
the great rise in the price of malt- 
liquor this must have become a heavy 
tax on the publicans. Life, iii. 9, 
n. 4. 
4 It would save hay by making 
the grass grow so that there would 
be feed for the stock. See þost, p. 
19 8 . 


I fancy 



Aetat. 63.] 


To Mrs. Th ra Ie. 


195 


I fancy the next letter may be directed to Ashbourne. Pray 
write word how long I may have leave to stay. 
I sincerely wish Mrs. Salusbury continuance and increase of 
ease and comfort; and wish all good to you all. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


281. 


DEAR MADAM, 
In writing to your uncle you certainly did well; but your 
letter was hardly confident enough. You might have ventured 
to speak with some degree of indifference, about money which 
you know that you shall not have. I have no doubt of the 
present perverseness of his intention; but, if I mistake not his 
character, his intention and execution are not very near each 
other; and, as he acts by mere irritation, when the disturbance 
is over, he will lie still. 
What have I committed that I am to be left behind on 
Saturdays? The coach, I think, must go twice with the rest; 
and at one of the times you might make room for me, if you 
cared for me. But so am I served, that sit thinking and think- 
ing of you, and all of you. 
Poor dear Mrs. Salusbury! Is the place then open 2 ? I am 
however glad to hear that her vigour of mind is yet undiminshed. 
I hope she will now have less pain. 
Weare here as we used to be. Our bulIs and cows, if there 
is any change, seem to grow bigger. 
That you are to go to the other house I am inwardly pleased, 
however I may pretend to pity you; and I am of Mamma's 
opinion, that you may find yourself something to do there, and 
something of importance 3. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
Ashbourne, October 29, 1772. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


I Piozzz" Letters, i. 59. 
2 She was dying of cancer. 
3 The other house was Mr. 
Thrale's house in the Borough close 
to his Brewery, 'the scene of so 


many literary meetings,' where John- 
son had his own room as well as at 
Streatham. Life, i. 493 ; ii. 286, n. I. 
, It stood,' says Mrs. Piozzi, , in what 
is now Park Street, Southwark, but 
02 To 



19 6 


To J.Jirs. Tlzrale. 


LA.D.1772. 


282. 


To MRS. THRALE 1. 
M [Ashbourne], October 3 1 , 177 2 . 
ADA)!, 
Though I am just informed, that, by some accidental negli- 
gence, the letter which I wrote on Thursday was not given to 
the post, yet I cannot refuse myself the gratification of writing 
again to my mistress 2; not that I have any thing to tell, but 
that by showing how much I am employed upon you, I hope to 
keep you from forgetting me. 
Doctor Taylor asked me this morning on what I was think- 
ing? and I was thinking on Lucy 3. I hope Lucy is a good 
girl. But she cannot yet be so good as Queeney. I have got 
nothing yet for Queeney's cabinet 4. 
I hope dear Mrs. Salusbury grows no worse. I wish any 
thing could be found that would make her better. You must 
remember her admonition, and bustle in the brewhouse 5. When 
I come you may expect to have your hands full with all of us. 


then Deadman's Place; so called 
because of the pest houses which 
were established there in the Great 
Plague of London.' Hayward's 
Piozzi, ii. 107. In Dodsley's London 
and its Environs, ii. 220, we find 
, Deadman's Place, near Dirty Lane, 
Southwark.' There were ten Dirty 
Lanes in London at this time. Ib. 
p. 234. Johnson in 1779 reproached 
Mrs. Thrale with ' her despicable 
dread of living in the Borough.'. 
Post, Letter of November 16, 1779. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 60. 
2 Johnson used to call Mrs. Thrale 
Madam or fily mistress, and Mr. 
Thrale fil aster or lIfy master. Life, 
i.494. She called her second hus- 
band lI-fy master. Hayward's Piozzi, 
ii.69. 
3 His god-daughter. Ante, p. 155. 
4 See post, Letter of November 3, 
1773. \Vhat has become of the 
curiosities which Johnson collected 
for Mrs. Thrale's little girl ? 
S Mrs. Piozzi says that her mother 


and Johnson 'had disliked one 
another extremely.' She worried 
herself and him by 'her superfluous 
attention to foreign politics. He 
teased her by writing in the news- 
papers concerning battles and plots 
which had no existence. She was 
exceedingly angry, and scarcely, I 
think, forgave the offence till the 
domestic distresses of the year 1772 
reconciled them, and taught them 
the true value of each other; excel- 
lent as they both were, far beyond 
the excellence of any other man and 
woman I ever yet saw.' Anecdotes, 
p. 128. Bustle was a favourite word 
of Johnson's. See þost, Letters of 
April 25 and June 6, 1780. He did 
not however like the thing, and in 
the Isle of Skye was displeased at 
Boswell's bustling. 'It does not 
hasten us a bit,' he said. 'It is 
getting on horseback in a ship. All 
boys do it ; and you are longer a boy 
than others.' Boswell adds :-' He 
himself has no alertness.' Life, v. 307. 
Our 



Aetat.63.] 


To JlIrs. Thrale. 


197 


Our bulls and cows are all well; but we yet hate the man that 
had seen a bigger bull I. Our deer have died; but many arc 
left. Our waterfall at the garden makes a great roaring this 
wet weather 2. 
And so no more at present from, lYladam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


283. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR lYIADAl\I, Ashbourne, Nov. 4, 177 2 . 
\Ve keep writing to each other when, by the confession of 
both, there is nothing to be said; but, on my part, I find it very 
pleasing to write; and what is pleasing is very willingly con- 
tinued. 
I hope your prescriptions have been successful, and Mr. 
Thrale is well. What pity it is that we cannot do something 
for the dear lady! Since I came to Ashbourne I have been out 
of order. I was well at Lichfield. You know sickness will 
drive me to you; so perhaps you very heartily wish me better: 
but you know likewise that health will not hold me away; and 
I hope you think that, sick or well, 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


284. 


To MRS. THRALE 4. 
DEAR IVIADA
I, Ashbourne, Nov. 7, 177 2 . 
So many days and never a letter !-Fugere fides, Pietasque 
þudorque 5. This is Turkish usage. And I have been hoping 
and hoping. But you are so glad to have me out of your 
mind. 
I think you were quite right in your advice about the thousand 
pounds, for the payment could not have been delayed long; and 


J Ante, p. 178. 
2 Boswell describes this artificial 
waterfall. Life, iii. 190. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 62. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 63. 


5 This quotation seems to be a re- 
miniscence of Ovid, Meta1Jlorþhoses, i. 
129, which runs' fugere pudor, verum- 
que, fidesque,' and of vii. 72, which 
runs 'rectum, pietasque, pudorque.' 
a short 



19 8 


To lIfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1772. 


a short delay would have lessened credit, without advancing 
interest. But in great matters you are hardly ever mistaken. 
We have here very rainy weather; but it makes the grass 
grow, and makes our waterfall roar. I wish Queeney heard it; 
she would think it very pretty. I go down to it every day, for 
I have not much to do ; and have not been very well; but by 
physick am grown better. You and all your train may be 
supposed to keep me company in my walks. I wish I could 
know how you brew, and how you go on; but you tell me 
nothing. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


285. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, [Ashbourne], Nov. 9, 177 2 . 
After I had sent away my last letter, I received yours, 
which was an answer to it; but, being not fully directed, had 
lain, I think, two days at the office. 
I am glad that you are at last come home, and that you exert 
your new resolution with so much vigour. But the fury of 
housewifery will soon subside; and little effect will be produced 
but by methodical attention and even frugality; nor can these 
powers be immediately attained. You have your own habits, 
as well as those of others, to combat: you have yet the skill of 
management to learn, as well as the practice to establish. Do 
not be discouraged either by your own failures, or the perverse- 
ness of others; you will, by resolution frequently renewed, and 
by perseverance properly excited, overcome in time both them 
and yourself. 
Your letter to Sir. . * * 2 will, I doubt not, have the effect 
intended. When he is not pinched he will sleep. 
Mr. Thrale's money, to pay for all, must come from the sale 
of good beer. I am far from despairing of solid and durable 
prosperity. Nor will your success exceed my hopes, or my 
opinion of your state, if, after this tremendous year, you should 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 64. 
,. Sir Thomas Salusbury. Ante, p. 193, n. 2. 


annually 



Aetat.63.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


199 


annually add to your fortune three thousand pounds. This will 
soon dismiss all incumbrances; and, when no interest is paid, 
you will begin annually to lay up almost five thousand. This is 
very splendid; but this, I think, is in your power. 
Dear mamma, I hope, continues to be cheerful. Do the 
s take her house furnished? I think it a very proper 
habitation for them, out of the smoke of the city, and yet not in 
the blaze of the court. 
I am much obliged to you for your desire of my return; but 
if I make haste, will you promise not to spoil me? I do not 
much trust yet to your new character, which I have had only 
from yourself. 
Be pleased to direct your next letter to Lichfield; for I shall, 
J think, be contriving to find my way back. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


286. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, [Ashbourne], Nov. 19,177 2 . 
I longed for your letter to-day; for till that came I could 
not make any promises, or form any determinations. You need 
not doubt my readiness to return, but it is impossible to foresee 
all occasions of interruption, or all necessities of compliance. 
Be pleased to tell poor dear Mrs. Salusbury, that I wish her 
better; and to wish is all the power that we have. In the 
greatest exigencies we can only regret our own inability. I 
think Mrs. Queeney might write again. 
This year will undoubtedly be an year of struggle and diffi- 
culty; but I doubt not of getting through it; and the difficulty 
will grow yearly less and less. Supposing that our former mode 
of life kept us on the level, we shall, by the present contraction 
of ex pence, gain upon fortune a thousand a-year, even though 
no improvements can be made in the conduct of the trade. 
Every two thousand pounds saves an hundred pound interest, 
and therefore as we gain more we pay less. We have a rational 
hope of success; we have rather a moral certainty, with life and 


I Pio::zi Letters, i. 66. 


heal tho 



200 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1772. 


health. Let us therefore not be dejected. Continue to be a 
housewife, and be as frolicksome with your tongue as you 
please. 


I am, dearest Lady, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


287. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, [AshbourneJ, Nov. 23, 177 2 . 
I am sorry that none of your letters bring better news of 
the poor dear lady. I hope her pain is not great. To have a 
disease confessedly incurable and apparently mortal is a very 
heavy affliction; and it is still more grievous when pain is 
added to despair. 
Every thing else in your letter pleased me very weB, except 
that when I come I entreat I may not be flattered, as your 
letters flatter me 2. You have read of heroes and princes ruined 
by flattery, and I question if any of them had a flatterer so 
dangerous as you. Pray keep strictly to your character of 
governess. 
I cannot yet get well; my nights are flatulent and unquiet, 
but my days are tolerably easy, and Taylor says that I look 
much better than when I came hither. You will see when I 
come, and I can take your word. 
Our house affords no revolutions. The great buB is weB. 
But I write not merely to think on you, for I do that without 
writing, but to keep you a little thinking on me. I perceive 
that I have taken a broken piece of paper, but that is not the 
greatest fault that you must forgive in, Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


288. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAM, [Ashbourne], Nov. 27, 177 2 . 
If you are so kind as to write to me on Saturday, the day 
on which you will receive this, I shall have it before I leave 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 67. 
2 Johnson again complains of her 
flattery, þost, Letters of May 23 and 
24, 1773. Boswell describes' a coarse 


mode of flattery which she frequently 
practised.' Lift, ii. 349. See also 
ib. v. 440. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 68. 
Ashbourne. 



Aeta.t. 63.] 


To JJrlrs. Thrale. 


201 


Ashbourne. I am to go to Lichfield on Wednesday, and pur- 
pose to find my way to London through Birmingham and 
Oxford. 
I was yesterday at Chatsworth I. It is a very fine house. 
I wish you had been with me to see it; for then, as we are apt 
to want matter of talk, we should have gained something new 
to talk on. They complimented me with playing the fountain, 
and opening the cascade. But I am of my friend's opinion, 
that when one has seen the ocean, cascades are but little things. 
I am in hope of a letter to-day from you or Queeney, but the 
post has made some blunder, and the packet is not yet dis- 
tributed. I wish it may bring me a little good of you all. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: J OH
SON. 


289. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, Dec. 3, 177 2 . 
I found two letters here, to recompense my disappointment 
at Ashbourne. I shall not now be long before I hope to settle, 
for it is a fine thing to be settled. When one parts from friends 
it is uncertain when one shall come back, and when one comes 
back it is not very certain how long one shall stay. But hope, 
you know, was left in the box of Prometheus 3. 
Miss Aston claims kin to you, for she says she is some- 
how a-kin to the Cottons 4. In a little time you shall make 
them all yet prouder of their kindred. Do not be depressed. 
Scarce years will not last for ever; there will sometime be 
good harvests 5. Scarcity itself produces plenty by inciting 


I He visited it with the Thrales in 
1774, and alone in 1784. Life, iv. 
357; v. 4 2 9. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 69. 
3 E pimetheus. 
4 Sir Robert Cotton of Comber- 
mere, Cheshire, who was made a 
baronet in 1677, married Hester, 
heiress of Sir Thomas Salusbury, 
Bart., of Llewenny, Denbighshire. 
Mrs. Thrale was their great-grand- 
daughter. Burke's Peeraf:e, article 


Viscount C011lbermere, and Hay- 
ward's Piozzi, i. 241. 
5 John \-Vesley in an interesting 
letter dated 'Dover, December 9, 
1772,' examines the causes of the 
general scarcity. ,. I ask,' he writes, 
, why are thousands of people starv- 
ing, perishing for want, in every part 
of England? The fact I know; I 
have seen it with my eyes in every 
corner of the land. I have known 
those who could only afford to eat 
cultivation. 



202 


To Ed1JlU1ld Hector. 


[A.D. 1772. 


cultivation. I hope we shall soon talk these matters over very 
seriously, and that we shall talk of them again much less 
seriously many years hence. 
My love to all, 
Both great and small. 
These verses I made myself, though perhaps they have been 
made by others before me. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


290. 
To EDMUND HECTOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
When I came down into this country, I proposed to myself 
the pleasure of a few days passed in your company, but it has 
happened now as at many former times that I proposed enjoy- 
ments which I cannot obtain. I have a hasty summons to 
London, and can hope for little more than to pass a night with 
you and Mrs. Careless 2. 
I purpose to come to you on Monday, and to go away next 
day, if I can get a place in the Oxford coach. If by this notice 
you can secure a place for Tuesday to Oxford, it will be a 


a little coarse food every other day. 
I have known one picking up stink- 
ing sprats from a dunghill, and 
carrying them home for herself and 
her children. I have known another 
gathering the bones which the dogs 
had left in the streets, and making 
broth of them to prolong a wretched 
life.' Among the causes of the 
scarcity he places-( I) , The immense 
quantities of bread-corn consumed 
by distilling-converted into a deadly 
poison.' (2)' The monopolising of 
farms. The land which was for- 
merly divided among ten or twenty 
little fanners is now engrossed by one 
great farmer. Every one of those 
little farmers was glad to send his 
bacon, or pork, or fowls and eggs 
to market continually. But the 
great, the gentleman farmers, are 
.lbove attending to those little things 


Hence in the same town, where 
within my memory eggs were sold 
eight or ten a penny, they are now 
sold six or eight a groat [fourpence].' 
(3) 'The enormous taxes which are 
laid on almost everything that can 
be named. Not only abundant taxes 
are raised from earth, fire and water, 
but in England the ingenious states- 
men have found a way to tax the 
very light. The taxes are so high on 
account of the national debt.' Scots 
Magazine, 1772, p. 665. 
I First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S., iii. 361. 
2 Hector's widowed sister. 'She 
was,' said Johnson, 'the first woman 
with whom I was in love. It dropped 
out of my head imperceptibly, but 
she and I shall always have a kind- 
ness for each other.' Life, ii. 459. 


favour. 



Aetat. 63.] 


To the Rev. Ja1Jles Granger. 


20 3 


favour. I hope we shall meet again with more leisure, and 
revive past images, and old occurrences. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your faithful humble servant, 
Lichfield, Dec. 5, 177 2 . SAM: JOHNSON. 
To Mr. Hector, in Birmingham. 


291. 
To EDMUND HECTOR t. 


DEAR SIR, 
I got hither last night, full of your kindness and that of 
l\lrs. Careless, and full of the praises of Banstay (?), which though 
I had not many days before seen Chatsworth, keeps, I think, the 
upper place in my imagination. I return all my friends sincere 
thanks for their attention and civility. 
Yet perhaps I had not written so soon had I not had another 
favour to solicite (sic). Your case of the cancer and mercury 
has made such impression upon my friend 2, that we are very 
impatient for a more exact relation than I could give, and 
I therefore entreat, that you will state it very particularly, with 
the patient's age, the manner of taking mercury, the quantity 
taken, and all that you told or omitted to tell me. To this 
request I must add another that you will write as soon as 
you can. 


I am, dear Sir, 
Your affectionate servant, 
Dec. 12, 1772. SAM: JOHNSOK. 
To Mr. Hector, in Birmingham. 


292. 
To THE REV. JAMES GRANGER 3. 
SIR, [London, Dec. 15,1772.] 
\Vhen I returned from the country I found your letter; and 
would very gladly have done what you desire, had it been in my 


I First published in Notes and 
Querles, 6th S., iii. 361. 
2 Mrs. Salusbury. Ante, p. 195, 
n.2. 
3 Published in Croker's B(Js-wdl, 


page 471. Mr. Croker states in a 
note that 'this letter was found 
by Mr. P. Cunningham among 
Granger's, with the date of Decem- 
ber 15, 1772.' He does not explain 
power. 



20 4 


To fifrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


power. Mr. Farmer I is, I am confident, mistaken in supposing 
that he gave me any such pamphlet or cut. I should as soon 
have suspected myself, as l\1r. Farmer, of forgetfulness; but that 
I do not know, except from your letter, the name of Arthur 
O'Toole 2, nor recollect that I ever heard of it before. I think it 
impossible that I should have suffered such a total obliteration 
from my mind of any such thing which was ever there. This at 
least is certain, that I do not know of any such pamphlet; and 
equally certain I desire you to think it, that if I had it, you 
should immediately receive it from, 
Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


293. 


To 
IRs. THRALE 3. 
[London,] Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1773. 


lYIADAM, 
The inequalities of human life have always employed the 
meditation of deep thinkers, and I cannot forbear to reflect on 
the difference between your condition and my own. You live 
upon mock turtle, and stewed rumps of beef; I dined yesterday 
upon crumpets. You sit with parish officers, caressing and 
caressed, the idol of the table, and the wonder of the day4. 


why he inserted it under the date of 
1775. Johnson speaking of Granger 
said :-' His Biograþhical History is 
full of curious anecdote, but might 
have been better done. The dog is 
a 'Whig. I do not like much to see 
a \Vhig in any dress; but I hate to 
see a \Vhig in a parson's gown.' 
Life, v.255. 
I Farmer was Dr. Richard Far- 
mer, Master of Emanuel College, 
Cambridge. Ante, p. 169. 
2 In Granger's Biograþhical His- 
tory of England (ed. 1779, i. 397) 
in Class vii, under 'Men of the 
Sword,' is the following description 
of a print of O'Toole :-' Arthurus 
Severus Nonesuch O'Toole. Aet. 
80. 1618. An old man in armour, 


with a sword in his hand, on the 
blade of which are many crowns,' 
&c. 'I am infonned,' Granger con- 
tinues, 'that this print was prefixed 
to Taylor, the Water Poet's Honour 
of the noble Caþtain 0' Toole, first 
edition, 1622.' 
Johnson was careless about his 
own documents, and those of others. 
G. Steevens speaks of certain anno- 
tations being 'in Dr. Johnson's 
chaos of papers.' Garrick Corres. 
i. 586. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 71. 
4 Mr. Thrale, as member for 
Southwark, had to give treats to the 
electors. Mrs. Piozzi writing of this 
time says :-' I grew useful now, 
almost necessary; wrote the adver- 
I pine 



Aetat. 63.] 


7"0 .JIrs. T'h ra Ie. 


20 5 


I pine in the solitude of sickness, not bad enough to be pitied, 
and not well enough to be endUled. You sleep away the night, 
and laugh or scold away the day I. I cough and grumble, and 
grumble and cough. Last night was very tedious, and this day 
makes no promises of much ease. However I have this day put 
on my shoe, and hope that Gout is gone. I shall have only 
the cough to contend with, and I doubt whether I shall get rid 
of that without change of place. I caught cold in the coach as 
I went away, and am disordered by very little things. Is it ac- 
cident or age? 


I am, dearest Madam, &c., 
SA:\I: JOHNSON. 


294. 
To MRS. THRALE 2. 


Feb. 19,1773. 


MADAM, 
I think I am better, but cannot say much more than that 
I think so. I was yesterday with l\Iiss Lucy Southwell and 
l\lrs. \Villiams, at Mr. Southwell's. Miss Frances Southwell is 
not well 3. 


tisements, looked to the treats, and 
people to whom I was till then un- 
known admired how happy Mr. 
Thrale must be in such a 'Zvonder of 
a wife.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 257. 
I 'She was oftener scolding their 
children than laughing with her 
friends.' BARETTI. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 7 2 . 
3 The Southwells were, I conjec- 
ture, of the same family as Johnson's 
friend, the second Lord Southwell, 
whom he described as 'the highest- 
bred man without insolence that I 
ever was in company with; the most 
qualitied I ever saw.' Life, iv. 173. 
According to a story told by Horace 
\\'alpole (Letters, iii. 403) Lucy 
Southwell was little better than a 
card-sharper. 'Writing on May 14, 
1761, he says :-'JemmyLumleylast 
week had a party of whist at his own 
house; the combatants, Lucy South- 
well, that curtseys like a bear, Mrs. 
Prijean, and a Mrs. Mackenzy. They 


played from six in the evening till 
twelve next day; J emmy never 
winning one rubber, and rising a 
loser of two thousand pounds. How 
it happened I know not, nor why his 
suspicions arrived so late, but he 
fancied himself cheated, and refused 
to pay. However, the bear had no 
share in his evil surmises; on the 
contrary, a day or two afterwards he 
promised a dinner at H ampstead to 
Lucy and her virtuous sister.' There 
he met Mrs. Mackenzy, who, on his 
refusing to pay her, horsewhipped 
him 'in the garden at Hampstead. 
J emmy cried out murder; his ser- 
vants rushed in, rescued him from 
the jaws of the lioness, and carried 
him off in his chaise to town. The 
Southwe.1s, who were already arrived, 
and descended on the noise of the 
fray, finding nobody to pay for the 
dinner, and fearing they must, set 
out for London too without it, though 
I suppose they had prepared tin 
I have 



206 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


I have an invitation to dine at Sir Joshua Reynolds's on 
Tuesday. Ivlay I accept it? 
Do not think I am going to borrow the Roller. I have under- 
taken to beg from you the favour of lending to l\1iss Reynolds 
Newton on the Prophecies t, and to l\1iss 'VVilliams Burney's 
l\1usical Journey2. They are, I believe, both at Streatham. 
Be pleased to make my most respectful compliments to dear 
Mrs. Salusbury. I wish I could send her any thing better. 
Diz/crsas homÙw1Jl s{)rtes. Here am I, sitting by myself, 
uncertain whether I shall dine on veal or mutton; and there are 
you with the top dish and the bottom dish, all upon a card, and 
on the other side of the card Tom Lisgow 3. Of the rest that 
pockets to carry off all that should he pleased, to add to an ideal 
be left.' Letters, iii. 403. account subsisting between them the 
Neither did Lord Southwell bear a expense of a dinner.' Hawkins's 
good reputation. Mrs. Osborn wrote Johnson, p. 405. 
on June 29, 1751 :-' The town says I 'Tom's great work,' as Johnson 
Lord Tilney is gone with Lord South- described Bishop Newton's book. 
well and Strickland to Spaa, and Life, iv. 286. 
that they wiII fill their pockets before 2 The Present State of Music In 
they part with him.' Mrs. Osborn, France, Italy, and Germany, 3 vols., 
Political and Social Letters of a Lady 1771 -3. 
of/he Eighteenth Century, p. 107. ' Dr. Johnson gave much praise to 
Hawkins gives a curious account his friend Dr. Burney's elegant and 
of Edmund Southwell, Lord South- entertaining travels, and told Mr. 
well's younger brother, 'one of J ohn- Seward that he had them in his eye, 
son's distressed friends,' who had when writing his Journey /0 the 
quitted the anny, 'and trusted to Western Islands of Scotland.' Life, 
Providence for a support. He was a iv. 186. 
man of wonderful parts, of lively and 3 , Tom Lisgow was a voter at the 
entertaining conversation, and well- Southwark election. Mr. K- was 
acquainted with the world. His another. \\Then they were enter- 
practice was to wander about the tained at Mr. Thrale's table, the 
streets of London, and call in at Editor of these letters used to write 
such coffee-houses, for instance, the biII of fare on one side of a large 
the Smyrna and Cocoa-tree [Life, blank card in a small character, the 
v. 386, n. 1] in Pall Mall, and names of the company on the other 
Child's and Batson's [Ib. iii. 355, side, and refer to it from time to 
n. 2] in the City, as were frequented time as it lay by her plate, that no 
by men of intelligence, or where any- mistakes might be made, or offence 
thing like conversation was going given from ignorance or forgetful- 
forward; in these he found means to ness; to this practice Mr. Johnson 
make friends from whom he derived laughingly alludes.'-NoTE BY MRS. 
a precarious support. Mr. Bates, the PIOZZI. 
master of the Queen's Arms Tavern See þost, Letter of January 2, 
[Ib. iv. 87], suffered him, as often as 1775. Mr. K- was perhaps the 
dwell 



Aetat. 63.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


20j 


dwell in darker fame why should I make mention? Tom Lisgow 
is an assembly. But Tom Lisgow cannot people the world. 
Mr. K 
 must have a place. The lion has his jackall. They 
will soon meet. 
And when they talk, ye gods! how they will talk J. 
Pray let your voice and my master's help to fill the pauses. 
I am, &c., 
SA:\I: JOHKSON. 


295. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, February 24, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 20 4. 


296. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 2. 


DEAR SIR, 
Is it not a strange thing that we should visit, and meet, and 
live kindly together, and then part without any enquiry after 
each other? This is surely not quite right, and therefore I will 
this day put an end to it, by desiring YOll to inform me about 


Mr. Keep on whom she has the fol- 
lowing marginal note :-' When he 
heard I was a native of North \Vales 
he told me that his wife was a \Velsh 
woman, and desired to be buried at 
Ruthyn. "So," says the man, "I 
went with the corpse myself, because 
I thought it would be a pleasant 
journey, and indeed I found Ruthyn 
a very beautiful place.'" Hayward's 
Piozzi, i. 308. 
I '\"'hat can be more natural, 
more soft, or more passionate than 
that line in Statira's speech where 
she describes the charms of Alex- 
ander's conversation :- 
" Then he would talk :-Good Gods! 
how he would talk! " , 
ADDISON, The Sþectator, No. 39. 
The following is the passage in 
which this famous line is found :- 
, STATIRA. 
F rom every pore of him a perfume falls, 


He kisses softer than a southern 
wind, 
Curls liJ.-:e a vine, and touches like a 
God. 
SYSIGAl\IBIS. 
\Vhen will thy spirits rest, these tran. 
sports cease? 
STATIRA. 
\Vill you not give me leave to warn 
my sister? 
As I was saying-but I told his 
sweetness, 
Then he will talk, Good Gods, how 
he will talk ! ' 
The Rival Queens; or Alexander 
the Great, by Nathanael Lee, Act I. 
2 From the original in the posses- 
sion of Messrs. J. Pearson & Co., of 
5 Pall Mall Place, S.\V. 
This letter was sold by ;\lessrs. 
Christie & Co., on June 5, 1888, for 
[5 5 s . 


your 



208 


1''0 the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1773. 


your health and your quiet, of both which I shall willingly hear 
the improvement and encrease. 
As to my own health it has been pretty much interrupted by 
a cough which has hung on me about ten weeks, and for six a 
fever has been very violent. I have been sometimes near fainting, 
but have never fainted. My quiet nobody tries to interrupt, or 
if they try, I seldom hear of it. 

Then I had left you, I passed some days at Lucy's, and ICllt 
l\Ir. Greene the axe and lance I. I then went to Birmingham, 
and was a while with Hector. 
About three weeks ago the Schoolmaster who has dedicated 
his Spelling-book to you, came to me with a request that I would 
put my name to a printed recommendation, which was to stand 
before it 2. This, you see, was not fit for me to do. He was not 
importunate, but, I suppose, was not pleased. You will sometime 
let him see the impropriety of his request, that a man, who con- 
siders you as his friend, may not think himself unkindly treated. 
My cold was once so bad that I began to think of country air, 
but then what country. I doubt Derbyshire is not the place that 
cures coughs. \Vhile I deliberated, I grew better, but perceive 
myself now not the match that I once was for wind and weather 3. 
Dr. Lawrence 4 laughs at me when he sees me in a great coat. 
Infirmity has come somewhat suddenly, at least unexpectedly 
upon me, and I am afraid that I suffer myself to be corroded 
with vain and idle discontent. 
Let me hear from you. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
London, Feb. 27, 1773. SAM: JOHNSON. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 
I Johnson had left Taylor's house shivered from the coldness of the 
at Ashbourne for Lichfield about the night-air as he and Johnson sailed 
end of November. Ante, p. 201. Mr. up the Thames from Greenwich, 
Green had a Museum at Lichfield. ' Johnson,' he writes, 'whose robust 
Lift, ii.4 6 5. frame was not in the Jeast affected by 
2 In the list of books in the Gmtle- the cold, scolded me, as ifmyshiver- 
11Ian's 

fagazine for January of this ing had been a paltry effeminacy, 
year (p. 38) is The Rational Sþelling- saying," \V hy do you shiver?'" 
book. By John Clarke of Grantham. Lift, i. 462. 
J Ten years earlier, when Boswell 4 Ante, p. 47, n. 2. 


To 



Aetat.63.] To the Rev. W. S. Johnson, LL.D. 209 


297. 
To MR. B-. 
Johnson's Court, March 4, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 20 7. 


298. 
To THE REVEREND MR. 'VHITE. 
Johnson's Court, :March 4, 1773. Puhlished in the Life, ii. 20 7. 


299. 
To THE REVEREND 'V. S. JOHNSON, LL.D. I 


SIR, 
Of all those whom the various accidents of life have brought 
within my notice, there is scarce any man whose acquaintance 
I have more desired to cultivate than yours. I cannot indeed 
charge you with neglecting me, yet our mutual inclination could 
never gratify itself with opportunities. The current of the day 
always bore us away from one another, and now the Atlantic is 
between us. 
Whether you carried away an impression of me as pleasing as 
that which you left me of yourself, I know not; if you did, you 
have not forgotten me, and will be glad that I do not forget 
you. l\ierely to be remembered is indeed a barren pleasure, but 
it is one of the pleasures which is more sensibly felt as human 
nature is more exalted. 
To make you wish that I should have you in my mind, I 
would be glad to tell you something which you do not know; 
but all public affairs are printed; and as you and I have no 
common friend, I can tell you no private history. 
The Government, I think, grow stronger; but I am afraid the 


I First published in the Gentle- 
man's Magazine for 1825, part ii. 
P.3 20 . 
, William Samuel Johnson of 
Connecticut spent several years in 
England about the middle of the 
last century. He received the de- 
gree of Doctor of Civil Law from the 
University of Oxford; and this cir- 
cumstance, together with the acci- 
dental similarity of name, recom- 

OLI. p 


mended him to the acquaintance of 
Dr. Samuel Johnson. Several letters 
passed between them, after the 
American Dr. Johnson had returned 
to his native country; of which, how- 
ever, it is feared that this is the only 
one remaining.' Ib. W. S. Johnson 
is described in Alzmmt" Oxonienses 
as M.A. by diploma April 21, 175 6 ; 
D.C.L. by diploma, Jan. 23, 17 66 , 
'a Missionary.' 


next 



210 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


next general election will be a time of uncommon turbulence, 
violence, and outrage. 
Of Literature no great product has appeared, or is expected; 
the attention of the people has for some years been otherwise 
employed I. 
I was told a day or two ago of a design which must excite 
some curiosity. Two ships are in preparation, which are under 
the command of Captain Constantine Phipps, to explore the 
Northern Ocean; not to seek the north-east or the north-west 
passage, but to sail directly north, as near the pole as they can 
go. They hope to find an open ocean, but I suspect it is one 
mass of perpetual congelation 2. I do not much wish well to 
discoveries, for I am always afraid they will end in conquest and 
robbery 3. 
I have been out of order this winter, but am grown better. 
Can I never hope to see you again, or must I be always content 
to tell you that in another hemisphere, 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London, SAM: JOHNSON. 
March 4, 1773. 
To W. S. Johnson, LL.D., Stratford, Connecticut. 
300. 


DEAREST MADAM, 
Dr. James called on 
Our dialogue was this: 
I Adam Smith was writing his 
Weal/It of Nations and Gibbon his 
Decline and Fall, though neither 
work was published till three years 
later. 
2 Captain Phipps (afterwards Baron 
Mulgrave) set sail in the following 
May, and in the neighbourhood of 
Spitzbergen reached the latitude of 
more than 80 0 . He returned to 
England in the end of September. 
Gentleman' s Magazine, 1774, p. 420. 
'Talkmg of Phipps's voyage to the 


To MRS. THRALE 4. 
Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, 
March 9, 1773. 
me last night, deep, I think, in wine 5. 


North Pole, Dr. Johnson observed, 
that it was conjectured that our 
former navigators have kept too 
near land, and so have found the sea 
frozen far north, because the land 
hinders the free motion of the tide; 
but, in the wide ocean, where the 
waves tumble at their full conveni- 
ence, it is imagined that the frost 
does not take effect.' Life, v. 236. 
3 See ib. ii. 479. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 74. 
5 'I knew a physician,' said J ohn- 
-You 



Aeta.t. 63.] 


To j
Irs. Thrale. 


211 


-You find the case hopeless ?-Quite hopeless.-But I hope 
you can procure her an easier dismission out of life?- That, I 
believe, is in our power. 
The rest of his talk was about other things. 
If it can give the dear lady any comfort, be pleased to let her 
know that my grief for her is very serious and very deep. If 
I could be useful as you can be, I would devote myself to her as 
you must do. But all human help is little; her trust must be in 
a better Friend. 
You will not 
with A- I. 
system of life. 


let me burst in ignorance of your transaction 
Surely my heart is with you in your whole 


I am, dear Madam, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
I had written this letter before yours came. God bless you all. 
301. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
(Johnson's Court], 
DEAR MADAM, March 11,1773. 
Your negotiation will probably end as you desire. I wish 
your pious offices might have the same success, but death is 
necessary, and your tenderness will make it less painful. I am 
sorry that I can do nothing. The dear lady has my wishes, and. 


son, 'who for twenty years was not 
sober; yet in a pamphlet which he 
wrote upon fevers he appealed to 
Garrick and me for his vindication 
from a charge of drunkenness.' Life, 
iii. 389. I t has been stated, and 
perhaps rightly, that this physician 
was James. Mrs. Piozzi at Boulogne 
recalled 'the story she once heard of 
Miss Ashe, speaking of poor Dr. 
James, who loved profligate conver- 
sation dearly-" That man should 
set up his quarters across the water 
(said she); why Boulogne would be 
a seraglio to him.'" Piozzi's Journey, 
&c., i. 6. He disapproved of riding, 
for 'he once told a Prebendary of 
Canterbury that if God had meant 
men should ride so constantly he 
p 2 


would have sent them into the world 
booted and spurred.' G. M. Berke- 
ley's Poems, Preface, p. 426. See 
also Life, i. 81, 159. 
I A- is, I conjecture, the man 
mentioned in the following passage 
in Mrs. Thrale's letter of November 
11, 1779 ;-' Do you remember when 
Mr. Perkins told us of that fellow 
A-r, who would force us into a law- 
suit and then lost his cause-how I 
asked in what manner he looked? 
\Vhy, says Perkins, he looked like a 
man that was nonsuited.' Piozzi 
Letters, ii. 87. 
In an undated letter belonging to 
1773 she speaks of his 'callous 
cruelty.' Ib. i. 87. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 75. 
sometimcs 



212 


To Mrs. Th7/'ale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


sometimes my prayers. I hope our prayers will be heard for 
her, and her prayers for herself. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


302. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR l\iADAl\f, [Johnson's Court], March 17,1773. 
To tell you that I am sorry both for the poor lady and for 
you is useless. I cannot help either of you. The weakness of 
mind is perhaps only a casual interruption or intermission of the 
attention, such as we all suffer when some weighty care or urgent 
calamity has possession of the mind. She will compose hersel( 
She is unwilling to die, and the first conviction of approaching 
death raised great perturbation. I think she has but very lately 
thought death close at hand. She will compose herself to do 
that as well as she can, which must at last be done 2. l\Iay she 
not want the Divine assistance. 
You, IVladam, wi11 have a great loss; a greater than is common 
in the loss of a parent. Fill your mind with hope of her happi- 
ness, and turn your thoughts first to Him who gives and takes 
away, in whose presence the living and dead are standing to- 
gether. Then remember, that when this mournful duty is paid, 
others yet remain of equal obligation, and, we may hope, of less 
painful performance. Grief is a species of idleness 3, and the 
necessity of attention to the present preserves us, by the merciful 
disposition of Providence, from being lacerated 4 and devoured 
by sorrow for the past. You must think on your husband and 
your children, and do [for them] what this dear lady has done 
for you. 


I Pz'ozzi Letters, i. 76. 
2 Johnson talking of dying said :- 
'A man knows it must be so, and 
submits. It will do him no good to 
whine.' Life, ii. 107. 
3 'All unnecessary grief,' said 
Johnson, 'is unwise, and therefore 
will not be long retained by a sound 
mind.' Ib. iii. 136. 
4 Of the word lacerate Mrs. Piozzi 
says in her BritÙh SYlzonymy Cede 


1794, i. 345), 'that it should be so 
seldom used in conversation, though 
eminently pleasing, one might in- 
quire long and find no cause, unless 
its familiarity with the surgeon's pro- 
fession may be deemed one.' She 
had heard Johnson use it, for it 
seems a favourite term with him. 
See þost, Letters of March 30, 177 6 , 
and July 27, 1778, and Life, ii. 106 ; 
iii. 419. 


Not 



Aeta.t.63.] 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


21 3 


Not to come to town while the great struggle continues is 
undoubtedly well resolved. But do not harass yourself into 
danger; you owe the care of your health to all that love you, at 
least to all whom it is your duty to love. You cannot give such 
a mother too much, if you do not give her what belongs to 
another. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


303. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
(Johnson's Court], 
March 20, 1773. The Equinox. 


l\IADA:M, 
I have now heard twice to-day how the dear lady mends; 
twice is not often enough for such news. l\lay she long and 
long continue mending. "VVhen I see her again, how I shaUlove 
her. If we could keep a while longer together, we should all, I 
hope, try to be thankful. Part we must at last; but the last 
parting is very afflictive. \Vhen I see her I shall torment her 
with caressing her 2. Has she yet been down stairs? 
On Tuesday morning I hope to see you. I have not much to 
tell you, but will gather what little I can. 
I shall be glad to see you, for you are much in my head, not- 
withstanding your negotiations for my master, he has mended 
his share for one year, you must think of cutting in pieces and 
boiling him 3. We will at least keep him out of J -ck-n's 
copper 4. You will be at leisure now to think of blewing and 
negotiating, and a little of, 


I Piozzz' Letters, i. 7 8 . 
2 On June 18, the day of her death, 
he recorded in his Diary :-' Yester- 
day as I touched her hand and kissed 
it, she pressed my hand between her 
two hands, which she probably in- 
tended as the parting caress.' Pro 
and Med. p. 128. 
3 This sentence surely is not as 


Madam, 
Yours, &c., 
SAM: JOHKSON. 


Johnson wrote it. 
4 For the impostor Jackson see 
ante, p. 192, n. ]. 'He had persuaded 
Mr. Thrale,' writes Mrs. Piozzi, 'to 
build a copper somewhere in East 
Smithfield, the very metal of which 
cost [,2000, for the manufacture of 
his stuff which should preserve ships' 
bottoms.' Hayward's Piozzi, i. 257. 
To 



21 4 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


304. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
M ^ ^ March 25, 1773. 

'-1.D
'-1.l\'I, 
If my letters can do you any good, it is not fit that you 
should want them. You are always flattering me with the good 
that I do, without knowing it. 
The return of Mrs. Salusbury's appetite will undoubtedly 
prolong her life; I therefore wish it to continue or to improve. 
You did not say whether she went down stairs. 
Harry will be happier now he goes to school and reads 
lVIilton 2. Miss will want him for all her vapouring. 
Did not I tell you that I thought I had written to Boswell? 
he has answered my letter 3. 
I am going this evening to put young Otway to school with 
Mr. Elphinston 4. 
C- is so distressed with abuse about his play, that he has 
solicited Goldsmith to take him off the rack of the lle'Zvspapers 5 . 
M- is preparing a whole pamphlet against G-, and 
G- is, I suppose, collecting materials to confute M_6. 
J ennens has published Hamlet, but without a preface, and 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 79. 
2 The poor boy was but seven 
years old. He died at the age of ten. 
3 Boswell himself arrived in London 
a week later. Life, ii. 209. 
4 See ante, p. 17. 
5 C- was George Colman the 
elder, Manager of Covent Garden 
Theatre. 'His play' was She Stooþs 
to Conquer, which he had been' pre- 
vailed on at last by much solicitation, 
nay a kind of force, to bring on.' 
Life, iii. 320. Johnson wrote on 
March 4 of this year :-' Dr. Gold- 
smith has a new comedy in rehearsal 
at Covent Garden, to which the 
manager predicts ill success. I hope 
he will be mistaken. I think it 
deserves a very kind reception.' Ib. 
ii. 208. According to 1\1r. Forster, 
Colman would not go to the expense 
of new scenes or dresses. 'The actors 


and actresses had taken their tone 
from the manager,' and three of them 
refused to play. Forster's Goldsmith, 
ii. 334-6. How wrong they were in 
their forebodings is shown by a 
sentence in Horace \Yalpole's Letters 
(v. 452), who wrote on March 16 :- 
, There was a new play by Dr. Gold- 
smith last night, which succeeded 
prodigiously.' 
6 M - is 1\1 ickle, the translator 
of the Lusiad, and G- is Garrick. 
The play that was refused was The 
Siege of jJ,farseilles. Garrick wrote 
to Boswell on September 14 of this 
year :-' Your friend - threatens 
me much. I only wish that he would 
put his threats in e>..ecution, and, if 
he prints his play, I will forgive him.' 
Life, v. 349. See also ib. ii. 182, 
11. 3, and Appendix D of the present 
volume. 


s- 



Aeta.t.63.] 


To Oliver Golds'J'Jzith. 


21 5 


S- declares his intention of letting him pass the rest of 
his life in peace I. Here is news. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


305. 
To OLIVER GOLDSl\fITH 2. 


SIR, 
I beg that you will excuse my Absence to the Club; I am 
going this evening to Oxford. 
I have another favour to beg. It is that I may be considered 
as proposing Mr. Boswel for a candidate of our Society, and 
that he may be considered as regularly nominated. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 


April 23, 1773. 
To Dr. Goldsmith. 
I Charles J ennens published in 
1773 an edition of Hamlet collated 
with ancient and modern editions. 
Lowndes' Bib!. Man. iii. 2277. S- 
was George Steevens, who assisted 
Johnson in the revised edition of his 
Shakespeare (ante, p. 168), famous for 
the malignity of his attacks. Life, iii. 
281; iv. 274. Jennens, the year before, 
had published anonymously A vÙzdi- 
cation of I
ing Lear from the Abuse 
of the Critical Reviewers, in which 
(p. 2) he attacked Johnson and 
Steevens. Johnson he said 'had 
tacitly owned that he was the writer 
of a forged letter in the Public 
Advertiser, wherein the Doctor dis- 
covers his knowledge in the geography 
of his native country, by representing 
Gopsal (the seat of Mr. Jennens) as 
some city or large town.' 
2 Published in Croker's Boswell, 
page 255. Corrected by me from 
the original in the possession of 
Mr. Alfred Morrison of Fonthill 
House. 
, It is,' says Mr. Forster, 'the only 
fragment of correspondence between 
Johnson and Goldsmith that has been 


preserved.' The Club met on the 
evening of the day on which this 
letter was written, and Goldsmith 
was in the chair. Forster's Gold- 
smith, ii. 367. If Johnson went to 
Oxford his stay there waS brief, as 
on the morning of April 27 Boswell 
found him at home. Life, ii. 229. It 
is possible that he gave up his visit 
on finding that' several of the mem- 
bers wished to keep Boswell out.' Ib. 
v. 76. For Boswell's election on the 
30th see ib. ii. 235, 24 0 . 
Goldsmith was, it should seem, 
not given to letter-writing. Grainger, 
the author of the Sugar Cane, wrote 
to Dr. Percy on March 24, 1764;- 
'\Vhen I taxed little Goldsmith for 
not writing as he promised me, his 
answer was that he never wrote a 
letter in his life; and faith I believe 
him unless to a Bookseller for 
money.' Messrs. Sotheby's Auction 
Catalogue for November 27, 188 9. 
Lot 75. 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. 
Christie & Co. on June 5, 1888 for 
[4 0 . The high price waS in part 
due to the fact already mentioned 
To 



216 


To ivIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


306. 


To 
IRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, [Johnson's Court], April 27, 1773. 
Hope is more pleasing than fear, but not less fallacious; 
you know, when you do not try to deceive yourself, that the 
disease which at last is to destroy, must be gradually growing 
worse, and that it is vain to wish for more than that the descent 
to death may be slow and easy. In this wish I join with you, 
and hope it will be granted. Dear, dear lady, whenever she is 
lost she will be missed, and whenever she is remembered she 
will be lamented. Is it a good or an evil to me that she now 
loves me 2? It is surely a good; for you will love me better, 
and we shall have a new principle of concord ;. and I shall be 
happier with honest sorrow, than with sullen indifference; and 
far happier still than with counterfeited sympathy. 
I am reasoning upon a principle very far from certain, a 
confidence of survivance 3. You or I, or both, may be called 
into the presence of the Supreme Judge before her. I have 
lived a life of which I do not like the review. Surely I shall in 
time live better. 
I sat down with an intention to write high compliments, but 
my thoughts have taken another course, and some other time 
must now serve to tell you with what other emotions, benevo- 
lence, and fidelity, 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


307. 
To THE REVEREND 'V. BAGSHAW. 
[London,] May 8, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 25 8 . 


308. 
To MRS. THRALE 4. 
MADA
I, [Johnson's Court], May 17,1773. 
N ever imagine that your letters are long; they are always 


that it is the only Letter of J ohn- 
son to Goldsmith that is known to 
exist. 
J Piozzz" Letters, i. 81. 


2 See ante, p. 196, n. 5. 
3 Survivance is not in Johnson's 
Dictionary. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 82. 


too 



Aeta.t. 63.] 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


2I7 


too short for my curiosity. I do not know that I was ever 
content with a single perusal. 
Of dear Mrs. Salusbury I never expect much better news 
than you send me; de pis en pis is the natural and certain 
course of her dreadful malady. I am content when it leaves 
her ease enough for the exercise of her mind. 
\Vhy should l\1r. * * * * * suppose, that what I took the liberty 
of suggesting was concerted with you? He does not know how 
much I revolve his affairs, and how honestly I desire his pros- 
perity. I hope he has let the hint take some hold of his 
mind X. 
Your declaration to IVIiss * . * * is more general than my 
opinions allow. I think an unlimited promise of acting by the 
opinion of another so wrong, that nothing, or hardly any thing, 
can make it right. All unnecessary vows are folly, because they 
suppose a prescience of the future which has not been given us. 
They are, I think, a crime, because they resign that life to 
chance which God has given us to be regulated by reason; and 
superinduce a kind of fatality, from which it is the great privilege 
of our nature to be free 2. Unlimited obedience is due only to 
the Universal Father of Heaven and Earth. l\iy parents may 
be mad or foolish; may be wicked and malicious; may be 
erroneously religious, or absurdly scrupulous. I am not bound 
to compliance with mandates either positive or negative, which 
either religion condemns, or reason rejects. There wanders 
about the world a wild notion, which extends over marriage 
more than over any other transaction. If Miss * * * * followed 
a trade, would it be said that she was bound in conscience to 
give or refuse credit at her father's choice? And is not marriage 
a thing in which she is more interested, and has therefore more 
right of choice? When I may suffer for my own crimes, when 


I Mrs. Piozzi in a copy of the 
printed letters has filled up the 
blank with the name of Thrale, and 
has added :-' Concerning his con- 
nection with quack chemists, quacks 
of all sorts; jumping up in the night 
to go to l\larlbro' Street from South- 
wark, after some advertising mounte- 
bank, at hazard of his life.' Hay- 


ward's Piozzi, i. 65. 
2 'BOSWELL. "But you would 
not have me to bind myself by a 
solemn obligation." JOHNSON (much 
agitated): "\Vhat! a vow-O, no, 
Sir, a vow is a horrible thing, it is a 
snare for sin.'" Life, iii. 357. See 
also ib. ii. 2 I. 


1 may 



218 


To lJIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


I may be sued for my own debts, I may judge by parity of 
reason for my own happiness. The parent's moral right can 
arise only from his kindness, and his civil right only from his 
money I. 
Conscience cannot dictate obedience to the wicked, or com- 
pliance .with the foolish; and of interest mere prudence is the 
judge. 
If the daughter is bound without a promise, she promises 
nothing; and if she is not bound, she promises too much. 
\Vhat is meant by tying up money in trade I do not under- 
stand. No money is so little tied as that which is employed in 
trade. 1\1:r. * · · * perhaps only means, that in consideration of 
money to be advanced, he will oblige his son to be a trader. 
This is reasonable enough. Upon ten thousand pounds diligently 
occupied, they may live in great plenty and splendour, without 
the mischiefs of idleness. 
I can write a long letter as well as my mistress; and shall be 
glad that my long letters may be as welcome as her's. 
lVly nights are grown again very uneasy and troublesome. 
I know not that the country will mend them; but I hope your 
company will mend my days. Though I cannot now expect 
much attention, and would not wish for more than can be spared 
from the poor dear lady, yet r shall see you and hear you every 
now and then; and to see and hear you, is always to hear wit, 
and to see virtue 2. 
I shall, I hope, see you to-morrow, and a little on the two 
next days; and with that little I must for the present try to be 
contented. 


I Johnson more than once upheld 
stoutly the right of the child in mar- 
riage. See Life, i. 346; iii. 377. In 
Hudibras the Lady in her Answer 
to the Kmght had maintained much 
the same, where she says :- 
, This is the way all parents prove 
In managing their children's love; 
That force 'em l' intermarry and 
wed, 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
As if th' were burying of the dead: 
Cast earth to earth, as in the 
grave, 
To join in wedlock an they have.' 
Hudibras, ed. 1806, ii. 445. 
For Miss * * * * see the next 
letLer. 
2 , Poor Johnson! How careless in 
examining the nature and the con- 
duct of his Friends!' BARETTI. 
To 



Aetat. 63.J 


To .lJIrs. Thrale. 


21 9 


309. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR LADY, [Johnson's Court], May 22, 1773. 
Dr. Lawrence 2 is of your mind about the intermission, and 
thought the bark would be best; but I have had so good a night 
as makes me wonder. Dr. Lawrence is just gone. He says I 
have no fever, and may let bark alone, if I will venture, but it is 
meo periculo. 
:Make my compliments to the dear lady. 
I think Mr. T - has done right in not prohibiting at least 
F -'s flight with her lover. There is no danger of Mr. R-'s 
taking care of his son, and of his son's wife; and as he is willing 
to receive a daughter-in-law without a fortune, he has a right to 
provide for her his own way. The great motive to his consent 
is, that his son will engage in trade; and therefore no doubt can 
be made but he will enable him to do it; and whether at Mid- 
summer, or Michaelmas, we have no need to care, nor right to 
prescribe 3. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 88. 
2 Dr. Lawrence was one of the 
two physicians from whom Johnson 
got that 'knowledge of physic' 
which no doubt shortened his life. 
Boswell describes him as ' the 
learned and worthy Dr. Lawrence, 
whom Dr. Johnson respected and 
loved as his physician.' Life,ii.296,n. 
I; iii. 22; ante, p. 48. Johnson states 
in his Diary that he had at this time 
, attempted to learn the Low Dutch 
language. My progress,' he con- 
tinues, 'was interrupted by a fever, 
which by the imprudent use of a 
small print left an inflammation in 
my useful eye.' Pro and JIed. p. 129. 
3 Baretti, who was likely to be 
well-informed in this case, fills up 
the three blanks with the names of 
Thrale, Fanny Plumb, and Rice. In 
a marginal note on one of Mrs. 
Thrale's letters (Piozzi Letters, i. 


I am, &c., 
SA:\I: JOHNSON. 
95) he says :-' Young Rice, with 
l\Ir. Thrale's consent, if not by his 
advice, went away to France with 
Fanny, the daughter of Mr. Plumb, 
brother-in-law to Mr. Thrale, and 
there married her. The old Gripus 
would not consent she should marry 
during his life time.' BARETTI. 
l\lr. Thrale's sisters, 'all eminent for 
personal beauty,' were, according to 
Mr. Hayward, Mrs. Rice, Mrs. 
Nesbitt (afterwards Mrs. Scott), and 
Lady Lade. Hayward's Piozzi, i. 
255. Miss Burney (Diary, ii. 23) 
mentions 'a Mrs. Plumbe, one of 
poor Mr. Thrale's sisters,' so that 
Mr. Hayward's list is not complete. 
l\Irs. Thrale writing to Johnson 
begged him c to settle with Mr. Thrale 
about these lovers.' Piozzi Letters, 
i. 88. It seems probable that Mr. 
Plumb was dead, and that Mr. 
Thrale was Fanny's guardian. 


To 



220 


To llfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


310. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAREST LADY, May 23, 1773. 
Still flatter, flatter! Why should the poor be flattered? 
The doctor was with me again to-day, and we both think the 
fever quite gone. I believe it was not an intermittent, for I took 
of my own head physick yesterday; and Celsus says, it seems, 
that if a cathartick be taken the fit will return certo certills. 
I would bear something rather than Celsus should be detected 
in an error. But I say it was a febris cOlltinua, and had a 
regular crisis 2. 
What poor * * * * said, is worthy of the greatest mind, since 
the greatest mind can get no further. In the highest and the 
lowest things we all are equal. 
As to Mr. * * * * 3, let him see a couple of fellows within call ; 
and if he makes a savage noise, order them to come gradually 
nearer, and you will see how quiet he will grow. 
Let the poor dear lady know that I am sorry for her sorrows, 
and sincerely and earnestly wish her all good. 
vVrite to me when you can, but do not flatter me. I am 
sorry you can think it pleases me 4. It is enough for me to be, 
as Mr. * * * . phrases it, 


MADA:\I, 
Your friend and servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


311. 
To MRS. THRALE 5. 
DEAR MADAM, May 24, 1773. 
My fever has departed; but has left me a very severe 
inflammation in the seeing eye. I take physick, and do not 
eat. 
Recommend me to the poor dear lady, whom I hope to see 
again, however melancholy must be the interview 6. She has 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 89. 
2 Boswell justly called Johnson' a 
great dabbler in physic.' Life, iii. 
15 2 . 
3 The man, I conjecture, who was 


called A- in the Letter of March 9; 
ante, p. 211. 
4 Ante, p. 200. 
S Piozzi Letters, i. 93. 
6 He recorded in his Diary on 
now 



Aetat. 63.] 


To lIIrs. Thrale. 


221 


now quickly to do, what I cannot reasonably hope to put off 
long, 


Res si qua diu mortalibus ulla est I; 
and which is at no great distance from the youngest. I have 
the same hope with poor N-. 
You do not tell me whither the young lovers are gone. I am 
glad * * * . is gone with them. \Vhat a life do they image in 
futurity! how unlike to \vhat they are to find it ! But to-morrow 
is an old deceiver, and his cheat never grows stale 2. I suppose 
they go to Scotland. \Vas. * * * * dressed à la lVesbitie1l11C 3? 
I shall not, I think, go into the country till you are so kind 
as to fetch me, unless some stronger invitation should be offered 
than I have yet found. 
The difference between praise and flattery is the same as 
between that hospitality that sets wine enough before the guest, 
and that which forces him to be drunk. If you love me, and 
surely I hope you do, why should you vitiate my mind with a 
false opinion of its own merit 4? why should you teach it to be 
unsatisfied with the civility of every other place ? You know 
how much I honour you, and you are bound to use your in- 
fl uence well. 
Do not let your own dear spirits forsake you. Your talk at 
present is heavy, and yet you purpose to take me; but I hope I 
shall take from it one way what I add another. I purpose to 


Friday, June 18 :-' This day after 
dinner died Mrs. Salusbury.' Pro 
mid Med. p. 128. 
I Æneid, x. 861. 
, If life and long were terms that 
could agree.' 
DRYDEN. 
2 See Dryden's lines quoted in 
the Life, iv. 303, beginning 
, When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat.' 
3 See þost, Letter of May 25, 
1780, where Johnson writes :-' A 
lady has sent me a vial, like Mrs. 
Nesbitt's vial, of essence of roses. 
'Vhat am I come to?' l\1r. Nesbitt, 
Thrale's brother-in-law, is mentioned 
in Goldsmith's lines:- 


, So tell Horneck and Nesbitt, 
And Baker and his bit, 
And Kauffman beside, 
And the J essamy bride.' 
GOLDSl\UTH, Selected Poems, 
ed. Austin Dobson, pp. 
119,21I. 
4 Johnson speaking of the ap- 
plause which Swift constantly re- 
ceived says :-' He that is much 
flattered soon learns to flatter him- 
self; we are commonly taught our 
duty by fear or shame, and how can 
they act upon the man who hears 
nothing but his own praises? ' 
rVorks, viii. 217. 


watch 



222 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1773. 


watch the 11l0llia temþora faJzdi X, and to talk, as occasion offer, 
to * * * *. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: J OIIKSON. 


312. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR. 
[London], June 23, 1773. 
In Messrs. Christie & Co.'s Auction Catalogue of June 5, 1888, Lot 
44 is a Letter of Johnson to Dr. Taylor, two pages quarto, dated June 
23, 1773. 'Friendly letter of condolence. "Do not lie down, and 
s1.1.ffer without struggle or resistance. I fancy that neither of us uses 
exercise enough." , 
It was sold for Æ7 7 S . 


313. 


To J Al\'lES BOSWELL. 
Johnson's Court, July 5, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 26 4. 


314. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], August 3, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 26 5. 
315. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], August 3, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 266. 
316. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 2. 


DEAR SIR, 
Your solicitude for me is a very pleasing evidence of your 
friendship. My eye is almost recovered, but is yet a little dim, 
and does not much like a small print by candle light. You will 
however believe that I think myself pretty well, when I tell you 
my design. 
I have long promised to visit Scotland, and shall set out to- 
morrow on the journey. I have Mr. Chambers' 3 company as far 


I 'Mollissima fandi tempora.' 
Æneid, iv. 293. 
'Himself meantime the softest 
hours would choose.' 
DRYDEN. 
No doubt it was to Mr. Thrale 
that Johnson purposed to talk. 


2 First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S., v. 422. 
3 Chambers (allte, p. 132), 'who 
was going a judge, with six thousand 
a year, to Bengal,' was visiting New- 
castle, his native town, to take leave 
of his relations. Life, ii. 264; v. 16. 
as 



Aetat. 63.] 


To JJIrs. Thrale. 


223 


as Newcastle, and l\ir. Boswell an active lively fellow is to 
conduct me round the country. What I shall see, I know not, 
but hope to have entertainment for my curiosity, and I shall be 
sure at least of air and motion. vVhen I come back, perhaps a 
little invitation may call me into Derbyshire, to compare the 
mountains of the two countries. 
In the mean time I hope you are daily advancing in your 
health. Drink a great deal X, and sleep heartily, and think now 
and then of 


Dear Sir, 
Your Most humble Servant, 
Aug. 5, 1773. SA:\l: JOHNSON. 
To the Rev. Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 


317. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
Newcastle, August II, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 266. 


318. 
To l\iRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, [Newcastle], August 12, 1773. 
We left London on Friday the sixth, not very early, and 
travelled without any memorable accident through a country 
which I had seen before. In the evening I was not well, and 
was forced to stop at Stilton, one stage short of Stamford, where 
we intended to have lodged. 


I See þost, Letter of June 23, 1776, 
where Johnson writes to Taylor:- 
'I hope you persevere in drinking.' 
He himself was for the larger part of 
his life a water-drinker. Life, i. 1 0 3, 
n.3. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 103. 
For Johnson's journey to Scotland 
see Life, ii. 265, and the whole of 
vol. v. and my Footsteþs of Dr. 
Johnson in Scotland. The weather 
was bright and hot, as is shewn by 
the table given in the Gentleman's 
Magazine for 1774, p. 290. (In 
that Magazine 'a Meteorological 
Diary of the \Veather' is often given 


for the corresponding month of 
the previous year.) The French 
traveller Faujas Saint-Fond who 
made the same journey a few 
years later, writing of the road from 
London to Stilton says :-' Rien 
n'est au-dessus de la beauté et de la 
commodité du chemin pendant ces 
63 miIIes; c'est l'avenue d'un magni- 
fique jardin.' Voyage en A1zgleterre, 
ed. 1797, i. 146. Stilton is 75 miles 
from London. Johnson had seen 
this country early in 1764 when he 
visited the Langton family at their 
seat at Langton in Lincolnshire. 
Life, i. 476. 


On 



224 


fo Airs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


On the 7th, we passed through Stamford and Grantham., and 
dined at Newark, where I had only time to observe that the 
market-place was uncommonly spacious and neat. In London 
we should call it a square, though the sides were neither straight 
nor parallel. We came, at night, to Doncaster 2, and went to 
church in the morning, where Chambers found the monument of 
Robert of Doncaster, who says on his stone something like 
this :-What I gave, that I have; what I spent, that I had; 
what I left, that I lost.-So saith Robert of Doncaster, who 
reigned in the world sixty-seven years, and all that time lived 
not one 3. Here we were invited to dinner, and therefore made 
no great haste away. 
We reached York however that night; I was much disordered 
with old complaints. N ext morning we saw the Minster, an 
edifice of loftiness and elegance equal to the highest hopes of 
architecture. I remember nothing but the dome of St. Paul's 
that can be compared with the middle walk. The Chapter- 
house is a circular building, very stately, but I think excelled 
by the Chapter-house of Lincoln. 


I Stamford is 89 miles from Lon- 
don by the coach road, Grantham 
no, and Newark 124. Paterson's 
British Itinermy, i. 203-6. Accord- 
ing to Tristram Shandy (ed. 1767, i. 
92) between Stilton and Grantham, 
a distance of 35 miles, there were but 
two stages. 'These two stages my 
mother declared were so truly tragi- 
comical that she did nothing but 
laugh and cry in a breath from one 
end to the other of them all the way.' 
2 Doncaster is 160 miles and York 
197 miles from London. Smollett 
describes 'all the windows of all the 
inns from Doncaster northwards as 
scrawled with doggrel rhymes, in 
abuse of the Scotch nation.' HU1/l- 
þhry CIÙzker, ed. 1792, ii. 176. 
3 To the kindness of Dr. Sykes of 
Doncaster I owe the following copy 
of the inscription. The tomb 
perished in the fire which destroyed 
the church in 1853. 


'Howe: Howe: who: is : here: 
I : Robyn : of Doncaster : 
and : Margaret : my : feare : 
That : I : spent : that : I : 
had: 
That : I : gave : that: I : have: 
That : I : left : that : I : 
loste : 
A. D. 1579. 
Quod : Robertus : Byrkes 
vVho : in : this : world : did 
reigne : 
Threeskore : yeares : and 
seaven : 
And : yet : lived : not : one.' 
Gibbon quotes much the same epitaph 
on the grave of Edward Courtenay, 
Earl of Devon, , surn
med, from his 
misfortune, the blind, from his vir- 
tues, the good earl. It inculcates 
with much ingenuity a moral sen- 
tence, which may however be abused 
by thoughtless generosity.' The De- 
cline and Fall, ed. 1807, xi. 263. 
I then 



Aetat. 63.] 


To ilfrs. Th ra Ie. 


225 


I then went to see the ruins of the Abbey, which was almost 
vanished, and I remember nothing of them distinct. 
The next visit was to the jail, which they call the Castle; a 
fabrick built lately, such is terrestrial mutability, out of the 
materials of the ruined Abbey. The under jailor was very 
officious to show his fetters, in which there was no contrivance. 
The head jailor came in, and seeing me look I suppose fatigued, 
offered me wine, and when I went away would not suffer his 
servant to take money. The jail is accounted the best in the 
kingdom, and you find the jailer deserving of his dignity I. 
\Ve dined at York, and went on to Northallerton, a place of 
which I know nothing, but that it afforded us a lodging on 
Monday night, and about two hundred and seventy years ago 
gave birth to Roger Ascham 2. 
N ext morning we changed our horses at Darlington, where 
Mr. Cornelius Harrison, a cousin-german of mine, was perpetual 
curate. He was the only one of my relations who ever rose in 
fortune above penury, or in character above neglect 3. 
I John Howard thus describes as well. The allowance of food for 
York Gaol in 1774 :-' In the spacious each prisoner, whether debtor or 
area of the Castle is a noble prison felon, was a sixpenny loaf on Tues- 
for debtors which does honour to day and Friday. (Weight, Nov. 1774, 
the county. The rooms are airy and 3 lb. 2 oz.). Howard's Present State 
healthy. The Felons' court-yard is of the Prisons, ed. 1777, pp. 24, 396. 
down five steps; it is too small and 2 N orthallerton is 222 miles from 
has no water. The cells are in general London. Johnson in his Life 0/ 
about 7l feet by 6
, and 8l high; Ascham says that 'he was born in 
close and dark; having only either the year 1515 at Kirby \Viske (or 
a hole over the door about four Kirby Wicke) a village near Northal- 
inches by eight, or some perforations lerton, of a family above the vulgar.' 
in the door of about an inch dia- Works, vi. 504. H ume spent a 
meter; not any of them to the open night here nearly three years after 
air, but into passages or entries. In Johnson, on his last visit to London 
most of these cells hree prisoners shortly before his death. Letters of 
are locked up at night; in winter for Hume to Strahan, p. 320. 
fourteen to sixteen hours; straw on 3 Darlington is 238 miles from 
the stone floors; no bedsteads. A London. Cornelius Harrison was 
sewer in one of the passages often appointed Perpetual Curate in 1727 ; 
makes these parts of the gaol very he died on October 4, 1748. Sur- 
offensive.' The gaol or's pay de- tees' History 0/ Durham, iii. 364, 
pended chiefly on the fees, often and Gentleman's .J1agazine, 1748, p. 
wrung from the prisoners, and on 476. When Johnson was ten years 
the profits from the sale of spirituous old he and his brother visited his 
liquors, for every gaoler was a tapster Uncle Harrison at Birmingham. 
VOL. I. Q The 



226 


7ò lIIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


The church is built crosswise, with a fine spire, and might 
invite a traveller to survey it, but I perhaps wanted vigour, and 
thought I wanted time. 
The next stage brought us to Durham, a place of which Mr. 
Thrale bad me take particular notice. The Bishop's palace has 
the appearance of an old feudal castle I, built upon an eminence, 
and looking down upon the river, upon which was formerly 
thrown a draw-bridge, as I suppose to be raised at night, lest 
the Scots should pass it. 
The cathedral has a massiness and solidity such as I have 
seen in no other place; it rather awes than pleases, as it strikes 
with a kind of gigantick dignity, and aspires to no other praise 
than that of rocky solidity and indeterminate duration. I had 
none of my friends resident 2, and therefore saw but little. The 
library is mean and scanty. 
At Durham, beside all expectation, I met an old friend: Miss 
Fordyce is married there to a physician. We met, I think, with 
honest kindness on both sides. I thought her much decayed, 
and having since heard that the banker had involved her 
husband in his extensive ruin 3, I cannot forbear to think that I saw 
in her withered features more impression of sorrow than of time. 
Qua terra patet, fera regnat Erinnys4. 


'He did not much like us, nor did 
we like him. He was a very mean 
and vulgar man, drunk every night, 
but drunk with little drink, very 
peevish, very proud, very ostentatious, 
but luckily not rich.' Annals, p. 28. 
He had, I think, married the sister 
of Johnson's mother. Cornelius 
Harrison's son, Cornelius, matricu- 
lated at Trinity College, Oxford, on 
April 28, 1761. Alumni Oxonimses. 
I Durham is 256 miles from Lon- 
don, Pennant thus describes the 
old powers of the Bishops :-' They 
had power to levy taxes, make truces 
with the Scots, to raise defensible 
men within the bishopric from six- 
teen to sixty years of age. They 
could caIJ a parliament, and create 
barons to sit and vote in it. The 


Bishop could sit in his purple robes 
to pronounce sentence of death. 
He could coin money, hold courts 
in his own name, and all writs went 
in his name.' Tour in Scotland, 
ed. 1776, ii. 336. Romilly gives a 
curious account of 'the grandeur 
and magnificence and homage' 
'which he [Romilly] enjoyed as Chan- 
cellor of Durham. Life oj Romilly, 
ed. 1840, ii. 112. 
2 I do not know who were J ohn- 
son's friends in the Chapter. He 
knew v..' arburton and perhaps Lowth, 
both of whom, though they were 
Bishops, were also Prebendaries of 
Durham. Le Neve's Fast. Eat. 
Ang. iii. 309, 316. 
3 See ante, p. 192, n. 3. 
4 Ovid, Metamorþhoses, i. 241. 
He 



Aetat. 63. J 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


227 


He that wanders about the world sees new forms of human 
misery, and if he chances to meet an old friend, meets a face 
darkened with troubles. 
On Tuesday night we came hither; yesterday I took some 
care of myself, and to-day I am quÜe polite. I have been taking 
a view of all that could be shewn me, and find that all very near 
to nothing I . You have often heard me complain of finding 
myself disappointed by books of travels 2; I am afraid travel 
itself will end likewise in disappointment. One town, one 
country, is very like another: civilized nations have the same 
customs, and barbarous nations have the same nature: there 
are indeed minute discriminations both of places and of manners, 
which perhaps are not wanting of curiosity, but which a traveller 
seldom stays long enough to investigate and compare. The dull 
utterly neglect them, the acute see a little, and supply the rest 
with fancy and conjecture. 
I shall set out again to-morrow, but I shall not, I am afraid, 
see Alnwick, for Dr. Percy is not there. I hope to lodge to- 
morrow night at Berwick, and the next at Edinburgh, where I 
shall direct Mr. Drummond 3, bookseller at Ossian's head, to take 
care of my letters. 
I hope the little dears are all well, and that my dear master and 
mistress may go somewhither, but wherever you go do not forget, 
Madam, 
Your most humble servant, 
I am pretty well. SAM: JOHNSON. 


I Newcastle is 27 1 miles from Tozlr z'n Scotland, ed. 1776, ii. 3 0 3. 
London. Johnson had spent five Wesley who was in the town when 
days on the journey, sleeping on the news reached it of the Young 
Friday at Stilton, on Saturday at Pretender's victory at Prestonpans 
Doncaster, on Sunday at York, and gives a curious account of the general 
on Monday at N orthallerton. Pen- alarm. Three of the gates were 
nant, who visited Newcastle the year walled up, the waIJs were mounted 
before Johnson, describes it as 'a with cannon, while most of the best 
vast town. The lower street and houses in the street outside the 
chares, or alleys, are extremely walls, in which he lodged, 'were left 
narrow, dirty, and in general ill- without furniture or inhabitants. 
built. The Keelmen are a mutinous U 7 esley'sJounzal, i. 5 18 . 
race, for which reason the town is 2 See ante, p. 16 5. 
always garrisoned. In the upper 3 For 'old Mr. Drummond the 
part are several handsome streets.' bookseller' see Life, ii. 26 ; v. 3 8 5. 
Q 2 August 15. 



228 


To flfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


August 15 '. 
Thus far I had written at Newcastle. I forgot to send it. 
I am now at Edinburgh; and have been this day running about. 
I run pretty well. 


319. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[Edinburgh], August 14, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 266. 


320. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Edinburgh, August 17, 1773. 
On the 13th, I left Newcastle, and in the afternoon came to 
Alnwick, where we were treated with great civility by the Duke: 
I went through the apartments, walked on the wall, and climbed 
the towers 3. That night we lay at Belford, and on the next 
night came to Edinburgh. On Sunday (15th) I went to the 
English chapel. After dinner, Dr. Robertson came in, and 
promised to shew me the place. On Monday I saw their public 
buildings: the cathedral, which I told Robertson I wished to 
see because it had once been a church 4, the courts of justice, 
the parliament-house, the advocates' library, the repository of 
records, the college and its library, and the palace, particularly 
the old tower where the king of Scotland seized David Rizzio in 
the queen's presence. Most of their buildings are very mean; 


, August 15, which was Sunday, 
is probably a mistake for the 16th, 
Monday, on which day Johnson did 
run about Edinburgh. Life, v. 39. 
2 Piozzl Letters, i. 108. 
3 Alnwick is 304 miles from Lon- 
don. See Life, iii. 271, for' a scene 
of too much heat between Dr. 
Johnson and Dr. Percy' about Pen- 
nant's description of Alnwick. 'The 
Duke' was the first Duke of North- 
umberland, Sir Hugh Smithson, 
who had married the great-grand- 
daughter of the eleventh and last 
Earl of Northumberland, and had 
assumed the name of Percy. See 


the Grenville Paþers, iii. 329, for a 
curious account of the way in which 
Lord Chatham was compelled to 
give the Dukedom. Belford, J ohn- 
son's next halting-place, is 319 miles, 
and Edinburgh 388 miles from Lon- 
don. 
4 'Come (said Dr. Johnson jocu- 
larly to Principal Robertson) let me 
see. what was once a church.' Life, 
v. 41. St. Giles's was at this time 
divided into four divisions; the par- 
titions have in late years been swept 
away, so that Johnson would now 
probably allow that it is once more 
a church. 


and 



Aetat. 63.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


229 


and the whole town bears some resemblance to the old part of 
Birmingham. 
Boswell has very handsome and spacious rooms; level with 
the ground on one side of the house, and on the other four 
stories high I. 
At dinner on Monday were the Duchess of Douglas 2, an old 
lady, who talks broad Scotch with a paralytick voice, and is 
scarce understood by her own countrymen; the Lord Chief 
Baron 3, Sir Adolphus Oughton 4, and many more. At supper 
there was such a conflux of company that I could scarcely 
support the tumult. I have never been well in the whole journey, 
and am very easily disordered. 
This morning I saw at breakfast Dr. Blacklock, the blind poet, 
who does not remember to have seen light, and is read to, by 
I Boswe1l's house was in James's Daniel vVilson, ed. 1878, i. 255. See 
Court. Hume had occupied a flat Life, v. 43, n.4. 
in the same pile of building-land 3 Scotland had at this time a 
as it is ca1led in Edinburgh-up Court of Exchequer with a Chief 
to the spring of the previous year. Baron and four other Barons. The 
Life, v. 22; Letters of D. HU11le to chief Baron was named Ord. It was 
Strahan, p. 118, and Footsteþs of his daughter who chalked on the 
Dr. Johnson in SCùtland, p. 74. wall of Hume's house' St. David's 
2 Mrs. Sharpe of Hoddam, who Street,' and so gave that new street its 
was one of the company, said that name. Letters of Hume to Strahan, 
'the impression left on her mind of p. 25I. 
Johnson was summed up in the 4 Oughton was Deputy Com- 
laconic verdict of Mrs. Boswell. mander-in-Chief in Scotland. Life, 
"He was a great brute." _ The v. 45. On November 15 of this 
Duchess of Douglas was there with year he presided at a general meet- 
all her diamonds. She was notable ing of the Revolution Club, 'and 
among those of her own rank for her proposed that on purpose to cherish 
ostentation and her illiteracy. John- in the minds of the people a just 
son reserved his attentions during sense of the advantages derived to 
the whole evening almost exclusively them from the glorious Revolution. . 
for her. The pity waS that they did the members of the Club should for 
not fall out. The Doctor missed her the future on the 15th of November 
rebuff and she could be uncommonly walk in procession to church, where 
vulgar.' Mrs. Sharpe's 'most hu- a sermon should be preached on 
morOl1S :recollections of the scene Revolution principles. This pro- 
were' she says 'the efforts of Bos- posal was unanimously agreed to.' 
well, as their go-between, to translate Scots Magazine, 1773, p. 613. In 
the unintelligible gaucherie of her less than twenty years, by the dis- 
lady-ship into palatable common- orders in France, the word Revolu- 
places for his guest's ear.' Remi- tion in England was entirely to lose 
niscences of Old Edinburgh by Sir its character. 


a poor 



23 0 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


a poor scholar, in Latin, Greek, and French. He was originally 
a poor scholar himself. I looked on him with reverence x. To- 
morrow our journey begins; I know not when I shall write 
again. I am but poorly. & 
I am, c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


321. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Banff3, August 25, 1773. 
It has so happened that though I am perpetually thinking 
on you, I could seldom find opportunity to write; I have in 
fourteen days sent only one letter; you must consider the fatigues 
of travel, and the difficulties encountered in a strange country. 
August 18th, I passed, with Boswell, the Frith of Forth, and 
began our journey; in the passage we observed an island, which 
I persuaded my companions to survey. We found it a rock 
somewhat troublesome to climb, about a mile long, and half 
a mile broad; in the middle were the ruins of an old fort, which 
had on one of the stones-1\iaria Re. 1564. It had been only 
a blockhouse one story high. I measured two apartments, of 
which the walls were entire, and found them twenty-seven feet 
long, and twenty-three broad 4. The rock had some grass and 
many thistles, both cows and sheep were grazing. There was 
a spring of water. The name is Inchkeith. Look on your maps. 
This visit took about an hour. We pleased ourselves with being 
in a country all our own, and then went back to the boat, and 
landed at Kinghorn, a mean town, and travelling through Kirk- 
aldie 5, a very long town meanly built, and Cowpar, which 


I 'Dr. Johnson received Dr. Black- 
lock with a most humane compla- 
cency. "Dear Dr. Blacklock, I am 
glad to see you.'" Lift, v. 47. 
Hume magnified him as tbe Pindar 
of Scotland. Burton's Hume, ii. 32. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 110. 
3 'We found at Banff but an in- 
different inn. Dr. Johnson wrote a 
long letter to Mrs. Thrale. I won- 
dered to see him write so much so 
easily. He verified his own doctrine, 
that" a man may always write when 


he will set himself doggedly to it." J 
Lift, v. 109. 
4 With the remains of the fort a 
light-house was built. Life, v. 55. 
5 In Kirkcaldy Adam Smith was 
born on June 5, 1723. Hither he 
returned in 1766, and lived in great 
retirement for nearly ten years with 
study, as he said, for his business, 
and long solitary walks by the sea- 
side for his amusements. Here he 
wrote his Wealth of Nations. Let- 
ters of Hume to Strahan, p. 353. 
I could 



Aetat.63.] 


To lJlrs. Thrale. 


23 1 


I could not see because it was night, we came late to St. 
Andrew's, the most ancient of the Scotch universities, and once 
the see of the Primate of Scotland I. The inn was full, but 
lodgings were provided for us at the house of the professor 
of rhetorick, a man of elegant manners, who showed us, in the 
morning, the poor remains of a stately cathedral, demolished in 
Knox's reformation 2, and now only to be imaged by tracing its 
foundation, and contemplating the little ruins that are left. 
Here was once a religious house. Two of the vaults or cellars 
of the subprior are even yet entire. In one of them lives an old 
woman, who claims an hereditary residence in it, boasting that 
her husband was the sixth tenant of this gloomy mansion, in 
a lineal descent, and claims by her marriage with this lord of the 
cavern an alliance with the Bruces. l\Ir. Boswell staid a while 
to interrogate her, because he understood her language; she told 
him, that she and her cat lived together; that she had two sons 
some where, who might perhaps be dead; that when there were 
quality in the town notice was taken of her, and that now she 
was neglected, but did not trouble them. Her habitation con- 
tained all that she had; her turf for fire was laid in one place, 
and her balls of coal dust in another, but her bed seemed to 
be clean. Boswell asked her if she never heard any noises, but 
she could tell him of nothing supernatural, though she often 
wandered in the night among the graves and ruins, only she had 
sometimes notice by dreams of the death of her relations. We 
then viewed the remains of a castle on the margin of the sea, in 
which the archbishops resided, and in which Cardinal Beatoun 
was killed. 
The professors who happened to be resident in the vacation 
made a publick dinner, and treated us very kindly and respect- 
fully. They shewed us their colleges, in one of which there 
is a library that for luminousness and elegance may vie at least 


I Cupar is 30 miles, and St. 
Andrew's 37 miles, from Edinburgh. 
The Professor at whose house they 
were lodged was Dr. Watson, the 
author of a His/my of Pltiliþ II. 
Life, v. 58. 
2 'Dr. Johnson was affected with 


a strong indignation, while he be- 
held the ruins of religious magnifi- 
cence. I happened to ask where 
John Knox was buried. Dr. J olm- 
son burst out, 'I hope in the high- 
way. I have been looking at his 
reformations." , Lift, v. 61. 


with 



23 2 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


with the new edifice at Streatham I. But learning seems not to 
prosper among them; one of their colleges has been lately 
alienated, and one of their churches lately deserted. An experi- 
ment was made of planting a shrubbery in the church, but it did 
not thrive 2. 
Why the place should thus fall to decay I know not; for 
education, such as is here to be had, is sufficiently cheap. Their 
term, or, as they call it, their session, lasts seven months in 
the year, which the students of the highest rank and greatest 
expence may pass here for twenty pounds, in which are included 
board, lodging, books, and the continual instruction of three 
professors 3. 
20th, We left St. Andrew's, well satisf.ed with our reception, 
and, crossing the Frith of Tay, came to Dundee, a dirty, despi- 
cable town 4. We passed afterwards through Aberbrothick, 
famous once for an abbey, of which there are only a few 
fragments left, but those fragments testify that the fabrick was 
once of great extent, and of stupendous magnificence 5. Two 
of the towers are yet standing, though shattered; into one of 


I 'It was the library of St. Mary's 
College which they saw. 'The 
doctor by whom it was shewn 110ped 
to irritate or subdue my English 
vanity by telling me that we had no 
such repository of books in England.' 
Johnson's Works, ix. 5. Round the 
library at Streatham were hanging 
thirteen portraits by Reynolds of Mr. 
and Mrs. Thrale and their friends. 
, It was in this room that the family 
lived. It used to be the parlour, and 
there they breakfasted, &c.' Nine 
years later Johnson was to make his 
, parting use' of it, and in the prayer 
which he composed to mention ' the 
comforts and conveniences which he 
had enjoyed in that place.' Lift, iv. 
158, and Prior's 1I1àlolle, p. 259. 
2 Of the library of St. Salvator's 
College 'the key,' says Boswell, 
, could not be found, for Professor 
Hill, who was out of town, had taken 
it with him.' Life, v.65. It was St. 


Leonard's College which had been 
lately alienated, and it was in one of 
the buildings which had belonged to 
it that Johnson and Boswell were 
lodged. The church which had been 
lately deserted was the College chapel. 
3 'St. Andrew's seems to be a 
place eminently adapted to study and 
education. . . . The students, how- 
ever, are represented as, at this time, 
not exceeding a hundred. I saw no 
reason for imputing their paucity to 
the present professors.' Johnson's 
Works, ix. 4. 
4 Johnson in his published nar- 
rative spares the feelings of the 
citizens, for he merely says :-cWe 
stopped awhile at Dundee, where I 
remember nothing remarkable.' Ib. 
p.8. 
5 'I should scarcely have re- 
gretted my journey, had it afforded 
nothing more than the sight of 
Aberbrothick.' Ib. p. 9. 


thcm 



Aetat. 63.] 


To l1Irs. Thrale. 


233 


them Boswell climbed, but found the stairs broken: the way 
into the other we did not see, and had not time to search; 
I believe it might be ascended, but the top, I think, is open. 
vVe lay at Montrose, a neat I place, with a spacious area for 
the market, and an elegant town-house. 
21St, vVe travelled towards Aberdeen, another University, and 
in the way dined at Lord Monboddo's, the Scotch judge, who 
has lately written a strange book about the origin of language, 
in which he traces monkeys up to men, and says that in some 
countries the human species have tails like other beasts. He 
enquired for these long-tailed men of Banks, and was not well 
pleased that they had not been found in all his peregrination. 
He talked nothing of this to me, and I hope we parted friends; 
for we agreed pretty well, only we disputed in adjusting the 
claims of merit between a shopkeeper of London, and a savage of 
the American wildernesses. Our opinions were, I think, main- 
tained on both sides without full conviction; lVlonboddo declared 
boldly for the savage, and I, perhaps for that reason, sided with 
the citizen 2. 
vVe came late to Aberdeen, where I found my dear mistress's 
letter, and learned that all our little people were happily re- 
covered of the measles. Every part of your letter was pleasing 3. 


I \\-hen last century a town was 
called 1zeat the force of praise was 
almost exhausted. \Vhat the tenn 
meant is shown in Johnson's nar- 
rative where he describes Montrose 
as 'well-built, airy and clean.' Ib. 
P.9. Montrose by the direct road 
was 70 miles from Edinburgh. 
2 'Dr. J obnson was much pleased 
with Lord l\1onboddo to-day. He 
said, he would have pardoned him 
for a few paradoxes, when he found 
he had so much that was good: but 
that, from his appearance in London, 
he thought him all paradox; which 
would not do. He observed that his 
lordship had talked no paradoxes to- 
day. " And as to the savage and the 
London shopkeeper, (said he) J don't 
know but I might have taken the side of 


the savage equally, had any body else 
taken the side of the shopkeeper.'" 
Lift, v. 83. For Lord Monboddo's 
strange opinions see ib. ii. 74; v. 
46, and Footsteþs of Dr. Jolmson Ùe 
Scotla1ul, p. 111. Banks (afterwards 
Sir Joseph Banks) had in 1768 ac- 
companied Captain Cook in his first 
voyage round the world. Ib. v. 328, 
n.2. 
3 Aberdeen is 106 miles from 
Edinburgh, and 494 from London. 
Thirteen years later the letters from 
London to Aberdeen were six days 
on the road (Scottish l\Totes and 
Queries, i. 31) ; perhaps in 1773 they 
were still longer. The next letters 
which Johnson received were at 
Glasgow, nearly ten weeks later. 


Thcre 



234 


To lVIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


There are two cities of the name of Aberdeen: the old town, 
built about a mile inland, once the see of a bishop, which 
contains the King's College, and the remains of the cathedral, 
and the new town, which stands, for the sake of trade, upon 
a frith or arm of the sea, so that ships rest against the key I. 
The two cities have their separate magistrates, and the two 
colleges are in effect two universities, which confer degrees in- 
dependently on each other 2. 
New Aberdeen is a large town, built almost wholly of that 
granite which is used for the new pavement in London 3, which, 
hard as it is, they square with very little difficulty. Here I first 
saw the women in plaids 4. The plaid makes at once a hood 
and cloak, without cutting or sewing, merely by the manner of 


I Johnson in his Dictionary gives 
the word both under Key and Quay. 
Down to the present year (1891) the 
two cities have been distinct, each 
having its own Town Council; that 
of the New Town elected by popu- 
lar vote, but that of the Old Town 
the same self-elective body that, on 
the Abolition of Episcopacy, re- 
placed the Bishop's Consistory Court. 
The oldest charter either city can 
show is one of 1189 granting right of 
markets &c. to (' New') Aberdeen. 
Aberdeen on Don would be naturally 
called the Old Town, when Aber- 
deen on Dee had been rebuilt after 
its burning about 1330 by the Eng- 
lish a. 
2 King's College and Marischal 
College, which were each a Univer- 
sity in itself, were incorporated into 
one body in 1860. 
3 'The paving of the streets of 
London has enabled the owners of 
some barren rocks on the coast of 
Scotland to draw a rent from what 
never afforded any before.' Wealth 
of Nations, ed. 1811, i. 226. \VilIiam 
Hutton in his Journey to London in 
1784 (p. 16), describing the improve- 
a This information I owe to my friend Mr. John Wight Duff, B.A., of Pembroke 
College, Oxford. 


ments made in the previous thirty- 
five years, says :-' Every street and 
passage in the wbole city and its 
environs has been paved in one 
regular and convenient style; an ex- 
pense equal in value to the whole 
dominions of some sovereign princes.' 
Pennant says that' the small pieces 
of granite for the middle of the 
streets are put on board for seven 
shillings per ton, the long stones at 
tenpence per foot.' Tour in Scot- 
land, ed. 1774, i. 125. 
4 Ramsay of Ochtertyre says that 
in 1747 when he first knew Edin- 
burgh, nine-tenths of the ladies there 
still wore plaids. A few years later, 
he adds, 'One could hardly see a 
lady in that piece of dress. In the 
course of seven or eight years the 
very servant-girls were ashamed of 
being seen in that ugly antiquated 
garb.' Scotland and Scotsmen in 
the Eiglzteentlz Century, ii. 88. J ohn- 
son apparently thought that it was a 
Highland dress only; in his Diction- 
ary he defines þlaid as 'an outer 
loose weed worn much by the high- 
landers in Scotland.' 


drawing 



Aetat. 63.] 


To lIIrs. Thrale. 


235 


drawing the opposite sides over the shoulders. The maids at 
the inns run over the house barefoot, and children, not dressed 
in rags, go without shoes or stockings. Shoes are indeed not 
yet in universal use, they came late into this country. One 
of the professors told us, as we were mentioning a fort built by 
Cromwell, that the country owed much of its present industry to 
Cromwell's soldiers. They taught us, said he, to raise cabbage 
and make shoes. How they lived without shoes may yet be 
seen; but in the passage through villages, it seems to him that 
surveys their gardens, that when they had not cabbage they had 
nothing I. 
Education is here of the same price as at St. Andrews, only 
the session is but from the 1st of November to the 1st of April. 
The academical buildings seem rather to advance than decline. 
They shewed their libraries, which were not very splendid, but 
some manuscripts were so exquisitely penned that I wished my 
dear mistress to have seen them. I had an unexpected pleasure, 
by finding an old acquaintance now professor of physick in the 
King's College 2: we were on both sides glad of the interview, 
having not seen nor perhaps thought on one another for many 
years; but we had no emulation, nor had either of us risen 
to the other's envy, and our old kindness was easily renewed. 
I hope we shall never try the effect of so long an absence, 
and that I shall always be, 


Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


322. 
To MRS. THRALE 3 . 
DEAR MADAM, Inverness, Aug. 28, 1773. 
August 23rd, I had the honour of attending the Lord 
Provost of Aberdeen, and was presented with the freedom of the 
city, not in a gold box, but in good Latin. Let me pay Scotland 
one just praise! there was no officer gaping for a fee; this could 


· See Footsteþs of Dr. Johnson Í1t 
Scotland, pp. 35,44. 
2 Sir Alexander Gordon. Lift, 
v.86. 


3 Piozzi Letters, i. 117. 
Inverness by the road through 
Banff and Aberdeen is 221 miles 
from Edinburgh. 


have 



23 6 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


have been said of no city on the English side of the Tweed. 
I wore my patent of freedom pro more in my hat, from the new 
town to the old, about a mile I. I then dined with my friend the 
professor of physick at his house, and saw the King's College. 
Boswell was very angry that the Aberdeen professors would not 
talk 2. vVhen I was at the English church in Aberdeen I hap- 
pened to be espied by Lady Di. Middleton 3, whom I had 
sometime seen in London; she told what she had seen to l\Tr. 
Boyd, Lord Errol's brother, who wrote us an invitation to Lord 
Errol's house, called Slanes Castle. vVe went thither on the 
next day (24th of August), and found a house, not old, except 
but one tower, built upon the margin of the sea upon a rock, 
scarce accessible from the sea; at one corner a tower makes 
a perpendicular continuation of the lateral surface of the rock, 
so that it is impracticable to walk round; the house inclosed 
a square court, and on all sides within the court is a piazza 
or gallery two stories high 4. \Ve came in as we were invited to 
dinner, and after dinner offered to go; but Lady Errol sent 
us word by lVIr. Boyd, that if we went before Lord Errol came 
home we must never be forgiven, and ordered out the coach 
to shew us two curiosities. We were first conducted by Mr. 
Boyd to Dunbuys, or the yellow rock. Dunbuys is a rock 


I 'Dr. Johnson was much pleased 
with this mark of attention, and 
received it very politely. There was 
a pretty numerous company as- 
sembled. It was striking to hear all 
of them drinking "Dr. Johnson! 
Dr. Johnson!" in the town-hall of 
Aberdeen, and then to see him with 
his burgess-ticket, or diploma, in his 
hat, which he wore as he walked 
along the street, according to the 
usual custom.' Life, v. 90. John 
\Vesley, who a year earlier had been 
made a freeman of Perth, in like 
manner praised the Latinity of his 
diploma. 'I doubt,' he wrote, 
'whether any diploma from the City 
of London be more pompous or 
expressed in better Latin.' \Vesley's 
Journal, iii. 461. Pomþ01u, po 


doubt, he used much in the sense 
given in Johnson's Dictionary- 
sþlendid, magnificent, grand. For 
Johnson's burgess-ticket see Life, v. 
9 0 , 1Z. 2, and Þòotsteþs of Dr. Jolm- 
son in Scotland, pp. 18, 116. 
2 '\V e had little or no conversation 
in the morning; now [i. e. at dinner] 
we were but barren. The professors 
seemed afraid to speak.' Life, v. 
9 2 . The Glasgow professors were 
almost as timid. Ib. p. 371. 
3 She was, perhaps, of the family 
of the Earl of Middleton who in 
16 93 threw in his lot with James I I. 
Mr. Boyd, Lord Errol's brother, was 
also a Jacobite, and had been' out in 
the '45.' Ib. p. 99. 
4 The house has been rebuilt. 


consisting 



Aetat.63.1 


To llfrs. Thrale. 


23ï 


consisting of two protuberances, each perhaps one hundred yards 
round, joined together by a narrow neck, and separated from the 
land by a very narrow channel or guIJy. These rocks are the 
haunts of sea-fowl, whose clang, though this is not their season, 
we heard at a distance. The eggs and the young are gathered 
here in great numbers at the time of breeding. There is a bird 
here called a coote, which though not much bigger than a duck 
lays a larger egg than a goose. We went then to see the Buller 
or Boulloir of Buchan: Buchan is the name of the district, 
and the Buller is a small creek or gulf into which the sea flows 
through an arch of the rock. vVe walked round it, and saw 
it black at a great depth I. It has its name from the violent 
ebullition of the water, when high winds or high tides drive it up 
the arch into the bason. \Valking a little further I spied some 
boats, and told my companions that we would go into the Buller 
and examine it. There was no danger; all was calm; we went 
through the arch, and found ourselves in a narrow gulf sur- 
rounded by craggy rocks, of height not stupendous, but to 
a Mediterranean 2 visitor uncommon. On each side was a cave, 
of which the fishermen knew not the extent, in which smugglers 
hide their goods 3, and sometimes parties of pleasure take a 
dinner. 


I think I grow better. 


I 'We walked round this mon- 
strous cauldron. In some places, 
the rock is very narrow; and on 
each side there is a sea deep enough 
for a man of war to ride in; so that 
it is somewhat horrid to move along. 
However, there is earth and grass 
upon the rock, and a kind of road 
marked out by the print of feet; so 
that one makes it out pretty safely: 
yet it alarmed me to see Dr. J ohn- 
son striding irregularly along.' Life, 
v. 100. 'No man can see the Buller 
of Buchan with indifference, who 
has either sense of danger or delight 
in rarity. . . . He that ventures to 
look downward sees that, if his foot 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


should slip, he must fall from his 
dreadful elevation upon stones on 
one side or into the water on the 
other.' Johnson's Works, ix. 16. 
Burns thus mentions the place in his 
Eþistle to Robert Graham :- 
'The stubborn Tories dare to die; 
As soon the rooted oaks would fly 
Before th' approaching fellers : 
The vVhigs come on like Ocean's 
roar, 
When all his wintry billows pour 
Against the Buchan Bullers.' 
2 Johnson in his Dictionary gives 
as the second meaning of mediter- 
ranean, , inland; remote from the sea.' 
3 When I visited this spot nearly 
To 



23 8 


To llIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


323. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAREST MADAM, Skie, Sept. 6, 1773. 
I am now looking on the sea from a house of Sir Alexander 
Macdonald 2 in the isle of Skie. Little did I once think of 
seeing this region of obscurity, and little did you once expect 
a salutation from this verge of European life, I have now the 
pleasure of going where nobody goes, and seeing what nobody 
sees. Our design is to visit several of the smaller islands, and 
then pass over to the south-west of Scotland. 
I returned from the sight of Buller's Buchan to Lord Errol's, 
and, having seen his library, had for a time only to look upon the 
sea, which rolled between us and Norway 3. Next morning, 
August 25th, we continued our journey through a country not 
uncultivated, but so denuded of its woods, that in all this journey 
I had not travelled an hundred yards between hedges, or seen 
five trees fit for the carpenter. A few small plantations may be 
found, but I believe scarcely any thirty years old; at least, as 
I do not forget to tell, they are all posteriour to the Union 4. 


forty years ago I was told that it 
was often called 'Lord Errol's 
punch-bowl.' The tradition ran that 
one of the Earls had seized there a 
smuggler's cargo of whisky and had 
had the kegs emptied into the 
water. 
x Piozzi Letters, i. 120. 
2 Seeþost, pp. 244, 252. 
3 'From the windows the eye 
wanders over the sea that separates 
Scotland from Norway, and when 
the winds beat with violence, must 
enjoy all the terrifick grandeur of 
the tempestuous ocean. I would 
not for my amusement wish for a 
storm; but as storms, whether 
wished or not, will sometimes hap- 
pen, I may say, without violation of 
humanity, that I should willingly 
look out upon them from Slanes 
Castle.' Johnson's U'orks, ix. 15. 
'The King of Denmark is Lord 
Errol's nearest neighbour on the 
north-east: Life, v. 100. The 


latitude of Slains Castle is a very 
little south of the northemmost point 
of Denmark. 
4 'To vex the poor Scotch out of 
mere malignity. Johnson was a real 
true-born Englishman. He hated 
the Scotch, the French, the Dutch, 
the Hanoverians, and had the 
greatest contempt for all other Eu- 
ropean Nations: such were his 
early prejudices, which he never 
attempted to conquer.' BARETTI. 
, From the banks of the Tweed to 
St. Andrews I had never seen a 
single tree which I did not believe 
to have grown up far within the 
present century.' Johnson's lVorks, 
ix. 7. 'Dr. Johnson persevered in 
his wild allegation, that he ques- 
tioned if there was a tree between 
Edinburgh and the English border 
older than himself. I assured him 
he was mistaken, and suggested that 
the proper punishment would be 
that he shoul.d receive a stripe at 
This 



Aetat.63.] 


To fifrs. Thrale. 


239 


This day we dined with a country gentleman, who has in his 
grounds the remains of a Druid's temple, which when it is 
complete is nothing more than a circle or double circle of stones, 
placed at equal distances, with a flat stone, perhaps an altar, 
at a certain point, and a stone taller than the rest at the opposite 
point. The tall stone is erected I think at the south. Of these 
circles there are many in all the unfrequented parts of the island. 
The inhabitants of these parts respect them as memorials of the 
sepulture of some illustrious person. Here I saw a few trees I. 
"VVe lay at Banff. 
August 26th, We dined at Elgin, where we saw the ruins 
of a noble cathedral; the chapter-house is yet standing 2. A 
great part of Elgin is built with smaIl piazzas to the lmver story. 
\Ve went on to Foris, over the heath where :Macbeth met the 
witches, but had no adventure 3; only in the way we saw for the 
first time some houses with fruit trees about them. The improve- 
ments of the Scotch are for immediate profit, they do not yet 
think it quite worth their while to plant what will not produce 
something to be eaten or sold in a very little time. We rested 
at Foris. 
A very great proportion of the people are barefoot, and if one 
may judge by the rest of the dress, to send out boys without 


every tree above a hundred years 
old, that was found within that 
space. He laughed, and said, "I 
believe I might submit to it for a 
baubee J'" Life, ii. 311. 
I 'We dined this day at the house 
of Mr. Fraser of Strichen, who 
showed us in his grounds some 
stones yet standing of a druidical 
circle, and what I began to think 
more worthy of notice, some forest- 
trees of full growth.' Johnson's 
Works, ix. 17. 
2 Banff by the direct road was 44 
miles from Aberdeen, and Elgin 33 
miles from Banff. F or the curious 
suppression in Johnson's account of 
the ruins at Elgin, see Life, vol. vi. 
Addenda, p. xxxiv. At the inn at 
Elgin they' fared but ill; Dr. J ohn- 


son said that this was the first time 
he had seen a dinner in Scotland 
that he could not eat.' Ib. v. 115. 
See Footsteþs of Dr. Joh11son in 
Scotland, p. 130, for the explanation 
of this bad dinner. 
3 Hannah More says that the fol- 
lowing year Johnson told her 'that 
when he and Boswell stopt a night 
at the spot (as they imagined) where 
the \Veird Sisters appeared to Mac- 
beth, the idea so worked upon their 
enthusiasm, that it quite deprived 
them of rest. However they learnt 
the next morning, to their mortifica- 
tion, that they had been deceived, 
and were quite in another part of 
the country.' H. l\Iore's Memoirs, 
i.5 0 . 


shoes 



24 0 


T'o Alrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


shoes into the streets or ways I; there are however more beggars 
than I have ever seen in England, they beg if not silently yet 
very modestly 2. 
Next day we came to Nairn, a miserable town, but a royal 
burgh, of which the chief annual magistrate is styled Lord 
Provost 3. In the neighbourhood we saw the castle of the old 
Thane of Cawdor. There is one ancient tower with its battle- 
ments and winding stairs yet remaining; the rest of the house is, 
though not modern, of later erection 4. 
On the 28th, we went to Fort George, which is accounted the 
most regular fortification in the island s. The major of artillery 
walked with us round the walls, and shewed us the principles 
upon which every part was constructed, and the way in which it 
could be defended. We dined \vith the Governor Sir Eyre 
Coote 6 and his officers. I t was a very pleasant and instructive 
day, but nothing puts my honoured Mistress out of my mind. 


I A writer in the Gentleman's 
Magazine, 1802, p. 1111, asks Mrs. 
PiozzÌ to explain how this unintel- 
ligible passage stands in the original. 
She replied that as the passage 
stands in Murphy's edition of John- 
son's Works, 'the words are well 
arranged, and the paragraph cleared 
from all embarrassment. That 
nevertheless in the original not a 
particle could be found different from 
her publication.' Ib., 1803, p. 607. 
Murphy prints the passage as fol- 
lows, having apparently conjecturally 
emended it :-' A very great propor- 
tion of the people are barefoot; shoes 
are not yet considered as necessaries 
of life. I t is still the custom to send out 
the sons of gentlemen without them 
into the streets and ways.' J olm- 
son's Works, ed. 1796, xii. 360. 
2 , In Edinburgh the proportion of 
beggars is, I think, not less than in 
London, and in the smaller places it 
is far greater than in English towns 
of the same extent.' Works, ix. 9. 
3 'At N aim we may fix the verge 
of the Highlands; for here I first 


saw peat fires and first heard the 
Erse language.' Ib. p. 21. I am 
informed that 'at each meeting of 
the Convention of Royal Burghs the 
Provost of Elgin formally claims to 
be called the Lord Provost, but that 
it is not known that N aim has ever 
put forward the claim.' 
4 Johnson passes over in silence 
his visit to Cawdor Manse, where he 
was entertained by Lord Macaulay's 
great-uncle, and where he met the 
Rev. Mr. Grant, the grandfather of 
Colonel Grant who, with Captain 
Speke, discovered the sources of the 
Nile. Life, v. 118, and Footsteþs of 
Dr. Johnson in Scotland, p. 135. 
5 \Volfe, who saw it in 1751, when 
it was partly made, writes :-' I 
believe there is still work for six or 
seven years to do. When it is 
finished one may venture to say 
(without saying much) that it will be 
the most considerable fortress, and 
the best situated in Great Britain.' 
Wright's Life of Major- General 
James Wolfe, p. 178. 
6 Seven years later Coote com- 
At 



Aetat. 63.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


24 1 


At night we came to Inverness, the last considerable town 
in the north, where we staid all the next day, for it was 
Sunday X, and saw the ruins of what is called Macbeth's 
castle 2. It never was a large house, but was strongly situated. 
From Inverness we were to travel on horseback. 
August 30th, we set out with four horses 3 . We had two High- 
landers to run by us, who were active, officious, civil, and hardy. 
Our journey was for many miles along a military way made 
upon the banks of Lough Ness, a water about eighteen miles 
long, but not I think half a mile broad 4. Our horses were not 
bad, and the way was very pleasant; the rock out of which the 
road was cut was covered with birch trees, fern, and heath. The 


manded the army which defeated 
Hyder Ali at Porto Novo. 'Among 
the native soldiers his name was 
great and his influence unrivalled. 
N or is he yet forgotten by them. 
N ow and then a white-bearded old 
sepoy may still be found who loves to 
talk of Porto Novo and Pollilore. It 
is but a short time since one of 
those aged men came to present a 
memorial to an English officer, who 
holds one of the highest employ- 
ments in India. A print of Coote 
hung in the room. The veteran re- 
cognised at once that face and figure 
which he had not seen for more than 
half a century, and forgetting his 
salam to the living, halted, drew 
himself up, lifted his hand, and with 
solemn reverence paid his military 
obeisance to the dead.' Macaulay's 
Essays, ed. 1843, iii. 385. It was to 
Coote and his officers that Johnson, 
as he afterwards owned to Boswell, 
, talked ostentatiously' about granu- 
lating gunpowder, just as many 
years later Johnson's editor, Mr. 
Croker, talked about percussion caps 
to the Duke of \\Tellington. John- 
son perhaps had picked up his 
information in writing the article on 
granulation in his Dictionary. 
I The Rev. Mr. Grant, who supped 
VOL, I. 


with the two travellers this Sun- 
day, 'used to relate that Johnson, 
who was in high spirits,' gave an 
account of the kangaroo, which had 
lately been discovered in New South 
Wales,' and volunteered an imitation 
of the animal. The company stared; 
Mr. Grant said nothing could be 
more ludicrous than the appearance 
of a tall, heavy, grave-looking man 
like Dr. Johnson standing up to 
mimic the shape and motions of a 
kangaroo. He stood erect, put out 
his hands like feelers, and gathering 
up the tails of his huge brown coat 
so as to resemble the pouch of the 
animal made two or three vigorous 
bounds across the room.' Boswell's 
Journal, ed. by R. Carruthers, p. 96. 
2 Of this building nothing re- 
mains. 
3 'We might have taken a chaise 
to Fort Augustus, but, had we not 
hired horses at Inverness, we should 
not have found them afterwards: so 
we resolved to begin here to ride. 
We had three horses, for Dr. John- 
son, myself, and Joseph, and one 
which carried our portmanteaus.' 
Lift, v. 131. 
4 Loch Ness is twenty - three 
miles long, one and three - tenths 
broad. Encyclo. Brit. xiv. 217. 
R lake 



24 2 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


lake below was beating its bank by a gentle wind, and the rocks 
beyond the water on the right stood sometimes horrid and wild, 
and sometimes opened into a kind of bay, in which there was 
a spot of cultivated ground yellow with com. In one part of 
the way we had trees on both sides for perhaps half a mile.- 
Such a length of shade perhaps Scotland cannot shew in any 
other place. 
You are not to suppose that here are to be any more towns or 
inns. We came to a cottage which they call the general's hut X, 
where we alighted to dine, and had eggs and bacon, and mutton, 
with wine, rum, and whiskey. I had water. 
At a bridge over the river, which runs into the Ness, the rocks 
rise on three sides, with a direction almost perpendicular, to 
a great height; they are in part covered with trees, and exhibit 
a kind of dreadful magnificence ;-standing like the barriers of 
nature placed to keep different orders of being in perpetual 
separation. Near this bridge is the Fall of Fiers 2, a famous 
cataract, of which, by clambering over the rocks, we obtained 
a view. The water was low, and therefore we had only the 
pleasure of knowing that rain would make it at once pleasing 
and formidable; there will then be a mighty flood, foaming along 
a rocky channel, frequently obstructed by protuberances and 
exasperated by reverberation, at last precipitated with a sudden 
descent, and lost in the depth of a gloomy chasm. 
vVe came somewhat late to Fort Augustus, where the lieutenant 
governor met us beyond the gates, and apologised that at that 
hour he could not, .by the rules of a garrison, admit us otherwise 
than at a narrow door which only one can enter at a time. We 
were well entertained and well lodged, and next morning, after 
having viewed the fort, we pursued our journey. 
Our way now layover the mountains, which are not to be 
passed by climbing them directly, but by traversing 3, so that as 
we went forward we saw our baggage following us below ill 


I It was called after General 
Wade who had lodged there' while 
he superintended the works upon the 
road.' It was eighteen miles from 
Inverness, near the modern Foyers 


Hotel. Footsteþs of Dr. Johnson z"n 
Scotland, p. ISO. 
2 It is commonly written Foyers. 
3 Johnson does not give traverse 
in this sense in his Dictionary. 
a direction 



Aetat. 63.] 


7ò Mrs. Thrale. 


243 


a direction exactly contrary. There is in these ways much 
labour but little danger, and perhaps other places of which very 
terrifick representations are made are not in themselves more 
formidable. These roads have all been made by hewing the 
rock away with pickaxes, or bursting it with gunpowder I. The 
stones so separated are often piled loose as a wall by the way- 
side. We saw an inscription importing the year in which one 
of the regiments made two thousand yards of the road eastward 2. 
After tedious travel of some hours we came to what I believe 
we must call a village, a place where there were three huts built 
of turf, at one of which we were to have our dinner and our bed, 
for we could not reach any better place that night. This place 
is called Enock in Glenmorrison 3. The house in which we 
lodged was distinguished by a chimney, the rest had only a hole 
for the smoke. Here we had eggs, and mutton, and a chicken, 
and a 'Sausage, and rum. In the afternoon tea was made by 
a very decent girl in a printed linen; she engaged me so much. 
that I made her a present of Cocker's arithmetick 4. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
I 'To make this way the rock has following the course of the River 
been hewn to a level with labour Moriston avoids the mountain. 
that might have broken the persever- 3 Anoch or Aonach, in Glen- 
ance of a Roman legion.' Works, moriston, nine miles from Fort Au- 
iX.3 0 . gustus and forty-one from Inverness. 
2 Mr. G. J. Campbell of Inver- 4 'One day, when we were dining 
ness has kindly made enquiries for at General Oglethorpe's, I ventured 
me about the old road. It is known to interrogate Dr. Johnson. "But, 
to the people of the Glen as the Sir, is it not somewhat singular that 
Turnings, and can still be traced. you should haþþen to have Cocker's 
The site of the soldiers' camp can Arithmetù:k about you on your 
even be distinguished. But of the journey? What made you buy such 
stone with the inscription on it no- a book at Inverness?" He gave me 
thing is remembered by them. It was a very sufficient answer. "\Vhy, Sir, 
probably used for building purposes, if you are to have but one book with 
or for a hearth-stone. An old shep- you upon a journey, let it be a book 
herd at Anoch remembers hearing of science. When you have read 
'the old Bard that was living there through a book of entertainment, 
speak of the Green Officers' Graves, you know it, and it can do no more 
that is up a bit from our steading.' for you; but a book of science is in- 
The new road, along which I drove exhaustible." , Life, v. 138. For 
in the summer of 1889, starts from Johnson's fondness for calculation, 
Invermoriston on Loch Lomond, and see lb. iii. 20 7. 
R2 To 



244 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


324. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAREST MADAM, Skie, Sept. 14, 1773. 
The post, which comes but once a week into these parts, is 
so soon to go that I have not time to go on where I left off in 
my last letter. I have been several days in the island of Raarsa 2,_ 
and am now again in the isle of Skie, but at the other end of it. 
Skie is almost equally divided between the two great families 
of Macdonald and Macleod, othér proprietors having only small 
districts. The two great lords do not know within twenty square 
miles the contents of their own territories. 
-- 3 kept up but ill the reputation of Highland hospitality; 
we are now with Macleod, quite at the other end of the island, 
where there is a fine young gentleman and fine ladies 4. The 
ladies are studying Earse. I have a cold, and am miserably deaf 
, 


I Pz"ozzi Letters, i. 126. This 
letter was written from Dunvegan 
Castle, where Johnson was the guest 
of Macleod of Macleod. The fol- 
lowing table of his movements in 
Skye may be found convenient. 
Sept. 2-6. Life. Works. 
Armidale . v.147-156 ix.45 
Sept. 6-8. 
Corrichata- 
chin . . " 15 6 - 162 " 49 
Sept. 8-12. 
Raasay. . ,,162-179 " 54-62 
Sept. 12-13. 
Portree and 
Kings- 
burgh . ,,180-187 " 63 
Sept. 13-21. 
Dunvegan. ,,207-234 " 63-67 
Sept. 21-23. 
Ulinish. . ,,235-248 " 67 
Sept. 23-25. 
Talisker . " 250-256 " 71 
Sept. 25-28. 
Corrichata- 
chin . . ,,257- 26 5 " 73 
Sept. 28-0ct. 1. 
Ostig " 26 5- 2 75,, 73 
Oct. 1-3. 
Armidale . ,,275- 2 79 " 73 


2 Johnson in his .I {Jurney calls the 
island Raasay, as the name is now 
written; Boswell calls it Rasay. 
Johnson in his letter was perhaps 
following Buchanan, who spells it 
Raarsa. 
3 Sir Alexander Macdonald. For 
his inhospitality, see Life, v. 148, 
415, n. 4, and þost, p. 25 2 . 
4 'Lady Macleod, who had lived 
many years in England, was newly 
come hither with her son and four 
daughters, who knew all the arts of 
southern elegance, and all the modes 
of English economy.' Johnson's 
Works, ix.63' The title which Lady 
Macleod bore was one of courtesy. 
Up to this time the wives of High- 
land lairds and also of Scotch judges 
were commonly addressed as Lady. 
Ramsay of Ochtertyre, speaking of 
the year 1769, says that' Somebody 
asked Lord Auchinleck before his 
second marriage if the lady was to 
be called Mrs. Boswell, according to 
the modern fashion.' Scotland and 
Scotsmen of the Eighteenth Century, 
i. 173. 


and 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


245 


and am troublesome to Lady 1'Iacleod; I force her to speak loud, 
but she will seldom speak loud enough. 
Raars
 is an island about fifteen miles long and two broad, 
under the dominion of one gentleman who has three sons and 
ten daughters; the eldest is the beauty of this part of the world, 
and has been polished at Edinburgh "[: they sing and dance, and 
without expence have upon their table most of what sea, air, or 
earth can afford. I intended to have written about Raarsa, but 
the post will not wait longer than while I send my compliments 
to my dear master and little mistresses. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


325. 


To LORD EUBANIÇ. 
Skie, September 14, 1773. Published in the Life, v. 182. 


326. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAREST MADAM, Skie, Sept. 21, 1773 3 . 
I am so vexed at the necessity of sending yesterday so short 
a letter, that I purpose to get a long letter beforehand by writing 
something every day, which I may the more easily do, as a cold 
makes me now too deaf to take the usual pleasure in conversa- 
tion. Lady Macleod is very good to me 4, and the place at which 
we now are, is equal in strength of situation, in the wildness of 


I See þost, p. 257, and Life, v. 178. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 128. 
3 The date no doubt, in accordance 
with Johnson's general custom, came 
at the end of the letter. The opening 
lines show that he began to write on 
September Is-the day after his last 
letter was posted. 
4 'September 16. Last night much 
care was taken of Dr. Johnson, who 
was still distressed by his cold. He 
had hitherto most strangely slept 
without a night-cap. Miss Macleod 
made him a large flannel one.' Life, 
v.214. The following anecdote I had 
from Lady Macleod's grand-daughter 


when I visited Dunvegan. 'One day 
he had scolded the maid for not 
getting good peats, and had gone out 
in the rain to the stack to fetch in some 
himself. Lady Macleod went up to 
his room to see how he was, and 
found him in bed, with his wig turned 
inside out, and the wrong end fore- 
most. On her return to the drawing- 
room she said, "I have often seen 
very plain people, but anything as 
ugly as Dr. Johnson, with his wig 
thus stuck on, I never have seen.'" 
Footsteþ.$ of Dr. Johnson in Scotland, 
P.3. 


the 



24 6 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


the adjacent country, and in the plenty and elegance of the 
domestick entertainment, to a castle in Gothick romance I. The 
sea with a little island is before us; cascades play within view. 
Close to the house is the formidable skeleton of an old castle 
probably Danish 2, and the whole mass of building stands upon 
a protuberance of rock, inaccessible till of late but by a pair of 
stairs 3 on the sea side, and secure in ancient times against any 
enemy that was likely to invade the kingdom of Skie. 
Macleod has offered me an island 4; if it were not too far off 
I should hardly refuse it: my island would be pleasanter than 
Brighthelmstone, if you and my master could come to it; but 
I cannot think it pleasant to live quite alone. 
Oblitusque meorum, obliviscendus et illis 5. 
That I should be elated by the dominion of an island to forget- 
fulness of my friends at Streatham I cannot believe, and I hope 
never to deserve that they should be willing to forget me. 
It has happened that I have been often recognised in my 
journey where I did not expect it. At Aberdeen I found one 
of my acquaintance professor of physick 6; turning aside to dine 
with a country gentleman, I was owned at table by one who 
had seen me at a philosophical lecture 7; at lVlacdonald's I was 
claimed by a naturalist, who wanders about the islands to pick 
up curiosities 8; and [ had once in London attracted the notice 
of Lady Macleod. I will now go on with my account 9. 
The Highland girl made tea, and looked and talked not in- 
elegantly; her father was by no means an ignorant or a weak man; 


I Gothick last century is often the 
same in meaning as medieval this 
century. Medieval is not in Johnson's 
Dictionary. 
2 'It is so nearly entire that it 
might have easily been made habit- 
able, were there not an ominous 
tradition in the family that the owner 
shall not long outHve the reparation.' 
Johnson's Works, ix. 64. See Life, 
v.233. 
3 I t seems odd to find this staircase 
in Skye described as if it were in an 
9xford College or the Temple. 


4 'There is a beautiful little island 
in the Loch of Dunvegan, called Isa. 
MCLeod said, he would give it to 
Dr. Johnson, on condition of his 
residing on it three months in the 
year; nay one month.' Life, v. 249. 
5 'Your friends forgetting, by your 
friends forgot.' 
FRANCIS. Horace, Eþis. I. xi. 9. 
6 Ante, p. 235. 
7 Life, v. 108 ; ante, p. 186. 
8 Life, v. 149. 
9 He takes it up from p. 243, at 
Anoch. 


there 



Aetat. 64.] 


To 
.frs. Thrale. 


247 


there were books in the cottage, among which were some volumes 
of Prideaux's Connection I: this man's conversation we were glad 
of while we staid. He had been out, as they call it, in forty-five, 
and still retained his old opinions. He was going to America, 
because his rent was raised beyond what he thought himself able 
to pay. 
At night our beds were made, but we had some difficulty in 
persuading ourselves to lie down in them, though we had put on 
our own sheets; at last we ventured, and I slept very soundly in 
the vale of Glenmorrison, amidst the rocks and mountains. Next 
morning our landlord liked us so well, that he walked some miles 
with us for our company, through a country so wild and barren 
that the proprietor does not, with all his pressure upon his tenants, 
raise more than four hundred pounds a-year for near one hundred 
square miles, or sixty thousand acres. He let us know that he 
had forty head of black cattle, an hundred goats, and an hundred 
sheep, upon a farm that he remembered let at five pounds a-year, 
but for which he now paid twenty 2. He told us some stories of 
their march into England 3. At last he left us, and we went for- 
ward, winding among mountains, sometimes green and sometimes 
naked, commonly so steep as not easily to be climbed by the 
greatest vigour and activity: our way was often crossed by little 
rivulets, and we were entertained with small streams trickling 
from the rocks, which after heavy rains must be tremendous 
torrents. 
About noon we came to a small glen, so they call a valley, 
which compared with other places appeared rich and fertile; 
here our guides desired us to stop, that the horses might graze, 
for the journey was very laborious, and no more grass would be 
found. We made no difficulty of compliance, and I sat down to 
take notes on a green bank, with a small stream running at my 


I 'Our landlord was a sensible 
fellow; he had learned his grammar, 
and Dr. J ohnsor. justly observed, that 
" a man is the better for that as long 
as he lives.'" Life, v. 135. See also 
Johnson's Works, ix. 3I. 
2 Adam Smith shows that the 
Union had raised the price of cattle, 


and that this rise had raised the 
value of all Highland estates. 
Wealth oj Nations, ed. 181 I, i.309. 
3 'As he narrated,' writes Bos- 
well, 'the particulars of that ill- 
advised but brave attempt I could not 
refrain from tears.' Life, v. 140. 


feet, 



24 8 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


feet, in the midst of savage solitude, with mountains before me, 
and on either hand covered with heath. I looked around me, 
and wondered that I was not more affected, but the mind is not 
at all times equally ready to be put in motion I; if my mistress 
and master and Queeney had been there we should have pro- 
duced some reflections among us, either poetical or philosophical, 
for though solitude be the 1l1trSe of woe 2, conversation is often the 
parent of remarks and discoveries. 
In about an hour we remounted, and pursued our journey. 
The lake by which we had travelled for some time ended in a 
river, which we passed by a bridge, and came to another glen, 
with a collection of huts, called Auknashealds; the huts were 
generally built of clods of earth, held together by the intertexture 
of vegetable fibres, of which earth there are great levels in Scot- 
land which they call mosses. Moss in Scotland is bog in Ireland, 
and moss-trooper is bog-trotter 3: there was, however, one hut 
built of loose stones, piled up with great thickness into a strong 
though not solid wall. From this house we obtained some great 
pails of milk, and having brought bread with us, were very 
liberally regaled. The inhabitants, a very coarse 4 tribe, ignorant 


I 'I sat down on a bank, such as a 
writer of romance might have de- 
lighted to feign. I had, indeed, no 
trees to whisper over my head; but 
a clear rivulet streamed at my feet. 
The day was calm, the air soft, and 
all was rudeness, silence, and solitude. 
Before me, and on either side, were 
high hills, which, by hindering the 
eye from ranging, forced the mind to 
find entertainment for itself. Whether 
I spent the hour well, I know not; 
for here I first conceived the thought 
of this narration.' Johnson's Works, 
iX.36. For my attempt to discover 
this stream, see Footsteþs oj Dr. 
Johnson in Scotland, p. 156. 
2 'The silent heart, which grief 
assails, 
Treads soft and lonesome o'er 
the vales, 
Sees daisies open, rivers run, 


And seeks, as I have vainly 
done, 
Amusing thought; but learns to 
know 
That solitude's the nurse of 
woe.' 
PARNELL. A Hymn t(J Con- 
tentment. 
Pope in his Satt:res oj Donne, iv. 
185, has 'wholesome solitude, tbe 
nurse of sense.' 
3 Moss-trooper is not in Johnson's 
Dictionary. 
4 Johnson in his Dictionary gives 
as the third meaning of coarse, ' rude, 
uncivil, rough of manners'; but he 
does not give any instance. It was 
also applied to weather at this time; 
thus May 30, 1772, is described as 'a 
gloomy, hot morning; coarse after- 
noon.'-Gentleman'sMagazine,1773, 
p. 15 8 . 


of 



Aetat.64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


249 


of any language but Earse, gathered so fast about us, that if we 
had not had Highlanders with us, they might have caused more 
alarm than pleasure I; they are called the Clan of Macrae. 
We had been told that nothing gratified the Highlanders so 
much as snuff and tobacco 2, and had accordingly stored our- 
selves with both at Fort Augustus. Boswell opened his treasure, 
and gave them each a piece of tobacco roll. We had more bread 
than we could eat for the present, and were more liberal than 
provident. Boswell cut it in slices, and gave them an opportunity 
of tasting wheaten bread for the first time 3. I then got some 
halfpence for a shilling, and made up the deficiencies of Boswell's 
distribution, who had given some money among the children. 
We then directed that the mistress of the stone house should be 
asked what we must pay her: she, who perhaps had never before 
sold any thing but cattle, knew not, I believe, well what to ask, 
and referred herself to us: we obliged her to make some de- 
mand, and one of the Highlanders settled the account with her 
at a shilling. One of the men advised her, with the cunning 
that clowns never can be without, to ask more; but she said 
that a shilling was enough. We gave her half a crown, and she 
offered part of it again. The Macraes were so well pleased with 
our behaviour, that they declared it the best day they had seen 
since the time of the old Laird of Macleod, who, I suppose, like 
us, stopped in their valley, as he was travelling to Skie. 
We were mentioning this view of the Highlander's life at Mac- 
donald's, and mentioning the Macraes with some degree of pity, 
when a Highland lady informed us that we might spare our 
tenderness, for she doubted not but the woman who supplied us 
with milk was mistress of thirteen or fourteen milch cows. 
I cannot forbear to interrupt my narrative. Boswell, with 
some of his troublesome kindness, has informed this family and 


x 'I observed to Dr. Johnson, it 
was much the same as being with a 
tribe of Indians. JOHNSON." Yes, 
Sir; but not so terrifying.'" Life, v. 
142, and Footsteþs of Dr.Johnson in 
Scotland, p. 162. 
2 Knox recorded a few years later 
that 'any stranger who cannot take 
a pinch of snuff or give one is looked 


upon with an evil eye.' J. Knox's 
Tour through tlte Highlands in 1786, 
P.255. 
3 So uncommon was wheaten bread 
even a quarter of a century later that 
Dr. Garnett, after leaving Inverary, 
tasted none till he reached Inverness. 
T. Garnett's Observations on a Tour 
through the Highlands, 1800, ii. 12. 
reminded 



25 0 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


reminded me that the 18th of September is my birth-day I. The 
return of my birth-day, if I remember it, fills me with thoughts 
which it seems to be the general care of humanity to escape. I 
can now look back upon threescore and four years, in which little 
has been done, and little has been enjoyed; a life diversified by 
misery, spent part in the sluggishness of penury2, and part under 
the violence of pain, in gloomy discontent or importunate dis- 
tress 3. But perhaps I am better than I should have been if I 
had been less afflicted. With this I will try to be content. 
In proportion as there is less pleasure in retrospective con- 
siderations, the mind is more disposed to wander forward into 
futurity; but at sixty-four what promises, however liberal, of 
imaginary good can futurity venture to make? yet something 
will be always promised, and some promises will always be 
credited. I am hoping and I am praying that I may live better 
in the time to come 4, whether long or short, than I have yet 
lived, and in the solace of that hope endeavour to repose. Dear 
Queeney's day is next 5, I hope she at sixty-four will have less to 
regret. 
I will now complain no more, but tell my mistress of mf 
travels. 
After we left the Macraes we travelled on through a country 
like that which we passed in the morning. The Highlands are 
very uniform, for there is little variety in universal barrenness 6 ; 


x 'Before breakfast, Dr. Johnson 
came up to my room to forbid me to 
mention that this was his birth-day; 
but I told him I h<td done it already; 
at which he was displeased.' Life, v. 
222. Johnson made the following 
record in his Diary :-' On last Satur- 
day was my sixty-fourth birthday. I 
might perhaps have forgotten it had 
not Boswell told me of it; and, what 
pleased me less, told the family at 
Dunvegan.' Pro and Med., p. 131. 
See Lt]è, iii. 157, where Boswell four 
years later again offended Johnson 
by recalling his birthday, and þost, 
Letter of September 16, 1783. 
2 'Chill penury repressed their 
noble rage, 


And froze the genial current of 
the soul.' 
Gray's Elegy. 
3 'Poor Johnson! All this was 
too true.' BARETTI. 
4 'He means little more than that 
he shall pray more, and go oftener to 
church.' BARETTI. On July 22 of 
this year Johnson had recorded :- 
"Whether I have not lived resolving 
till the possibility of performance is 
past, I know not. God help me, I 
will yet try.' Pro and .JIed., p. 130. 
S She had kept hers the day before. 
See Life, iii. 157, n. 3. 
6 'An eye accustomed to flowery 
pastures and waving harvests is 
astonished and repelled by this wide 
the 



Aetat. 64.] 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


25 1 


the rocks, however, are not all naked, some have grass on their 
sides, and birches and alders on their tops, and in the valUes are 
often broad and clear streams, which have little depth, and com- 
monly run very quick: the channels are made by the violence of 
the wintry floods; the quickness of the stream is in proportion 
to the declivity of the descent, and the breadth of the channel 
makes the water shallow in a dry season. 
There are red deer and roebucks in the mountains, but we 
found only goats in the road I, and had very little entertainment 
as we travelled either for the eye or ear. There are, I fancy, no 
singing birds in the Highlands 2. 
Towards night we came to a very formidable hill called Ratti- 
ken 3, which we climbed with more difficulty than we had yet 
experienced, and at last came to Glenelg, a place on the sea-side 
opposite to Skie. We were by this time weary and disgusted, 
nor was our humour much mended by our inn, which, though it 
was built of lime and slate, the Highlander's description of a 
house which he thinks magnificent, had neither wine, bread, 
eggs, nor any thing that we could eat or drink. When we were 
taken up stairs, a dirty fellow bounced out of the bed where one 
of us was to lie 4. Boswell blustered, but nothing could be got. 


extent of hopeless sterility.' John- 
son's Works, ix. 35. Beattie de- 
scribes the Highlands as 'a pictur- 
esque, but in general a melancholy 
country.' Essays on Poetry and 
lIlÚsic, p. 169. See Footsteþs of 
Dr. Johnson in Scotland, pp. 24-33. 
t See Life, v. 144, for the attempt 
made by one of his guides to divert 
him by making the goats jump. 
2 It is odd that he should have 
looked for singing-birds on the first 
of September. Goldsmith twenty 
years earlier describing southern 
Scotland said :-' Every part of the 
country presents the same dismal 
landscape. No grove nor brook lend 
their music to cheer the stranger, or 
make the inhabitants forget their 
poverty.' Forster's Life of Goldsmith, 
i. 433. \\Thether the music was the 


song of birds or the rustling of the 
leaves is not clear. \\ esley, who 
visited Inverness early in May, 
, heard abundance of birds welcom- 
ing the return of spring.' Wesley's 
Journal, iv. 275. 
3 Rattachan or Rattagan. 
4 'Out of one of the beds on which 
we were to repose started up at our 
entrance a man black as a Cyclops 
from the forge.' Johnson's Works, 
ix. 44. .Macaulay says :-' It is 
dear that Johnson himself did not 
think in the dialect in which he 
wrote. The expressions which came 
first to his tongue were simple, ener- 
getic, and picturesque. When he 
wrote for publication, he did his sen- 
tencesout of English into J ohnsonese. 
His letters from the Hebrides to 
1\1 rs. Thrale are the original of that 
At 



25 2 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


At last a gentleman in the neighbourhood, who heard of our 
arrival, sent us rum and white sugar. Boswell was now pro- 
vided for in part, and the landlord prepared some mutton chops, 
which we could not eat, and killed two hens, of which Boswell 
made his servant broil a limb, with what effect I know not. We 
had a lemon and a piece of bread, which supplied me with my 
supper. When the repast was ended, we began to deliberate 
upon bed; Mrs. Boswell had warned us that we should catch 
something, and had given us sheets for our security, for - and 
-, she said, came back from Skie. so scratching themselves. 
I thought sheets a slender defence against the confederacy with 
which we were threatened, and by this time our Highlanders 
had found a place where they could get some hay: I ordered 
hay to be laid thick upon the bed, and slept upon it in my great 
coat": Boswell laid sheets upon his bed, and reposed in linen like 
a gentleman. The horses were turned out to grass, with a man 
to watch them. The hill Rattiken and the inn at Glenelg were 
the only things of which we, or travellers yet more delicate, could 
find any pretensions to complain. 
Sept. 2nd, I rose rustling from the hay, and went to tea, which 
I forget whether we found or brought. We saw the isle of Skie 
before us, darkening the horizon with its rocky coast. A boat 
was procured, and we launched into one of the straits of the 
Atlantick ocean. We had a passage of about t\velve miles to 
the point where - J: resided, having come from his seat in the 
middle of the island to a small house on the shore, as we believe, 
that he might with less reproach entertain us meanly. If he 
aspired to meanness, his retrograde ambition 2 was completely 
gratified, but he did not succeed equally in escaping reproach. 
He had no cook, nor I suppose much provision, nor had the 


work of which the Journey to the 
Hebrides is the translation; and it 
is amusing to compare the two ver- 
sions.' Macaulay thereupon quotes 
these two passages. Macaulay's 
Essays, ed. 1843, i. 404. 
I Sir Alexander Macdonald. See 
ante, p. 244. 
2 Johnson perhaps had in mind 
the following passage in Bacon's 


Essay on AmbÜt"on :-' If ambitious 
men be checked in their desires they 
become secretly discontent, and look 
upon men and matters with an evil 
eye, and are best pleased when 
things go backward. . . Therefore it 
is good for princes, if they use 
ambitious men, to handle it so as 
they be still progressive and not re- 
trograde.' 


Lady 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


253 


Lady the common decencies of her tea-table: we picked up our 
sugar with our fingers. Boswell was very angry, and reproached 
him with his improper parsimony; I did not much reflect upon 
the conduct of a man with whom I was not likely to converse as 
long at any other time. 
You will now expect that I should give you some account of 
the isle of Skie, of which, though I have been twelve days upon 
it, I have little to say. It is an island perhaps fifty miles long, 
so much indented by inlets of the sea that there is no part of it 
removed from the water more than six miles. No part that I 
have seen is plain; you are always climbing or descending, and 
every step is upon rock or mire. A walk upon ploughed ground 
in England is a dance upon carpets compared to the toilsome 
drudgery of wandering in Skie. There is neither town nor village 
in the island, nor have I seen any house but Macleod's, that is 
not much below your habitation at Brighthelmstone. In the- 
mountains there are stags and roebucks, but no hares, and few 
rabbits I; nor have I seen any thing that interested me as a 
zoologist, except an otter, bigger than I thought an otter could 
have been 2. 
You are perhaps imagining that I am withdrawn from the gay 
and the busy world into regions of peace and pastoral felicity, and 
am enjoying the reliques 3 of the golden age; that I am survey,- 
ing nature's magnificence from a mountain, or remarking her 
minuter beauties on the flowery bank of a winding rivulet; that 
I am invigorating myself in the sunshine, or delighting my 
imagination with being hidden from the invasion of human evils 
and human passions in the darkness of a thicket; that I am busy 
in gathering shells and pebbles on the shore, or contemplative 


I 'That they have few or none of 
either [i. e. hares and rabbits] in 
Sky, they impute to the ravage of 
the foxes, and have therefore set, for 
some years past, a price upon their 
heads, which, as the number was 
diminished, has been graduaUy 
raised, from three shillings and six- 
pence to a guinea, a sum so great in 
this part of the world, that in a short 
time Sky may be as free from foxes, 


as England from wolves. The fund 
for these rewards is a tax of sixpence 
in the pound, imposed by the farmers 
on themselves, and said to be paid 
with great willingness.' Johnson's 
Works, ix. 57. 
2 See Johnson's Works, ix. 57. 
3 Johnson in his Dz"ctz"onary has 
relicks but not reliques. Percy had 
perhaps made the other spelling 
familiar by his Reliques. 


on 



254 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


on a rock, from which I look upon the water, and consider how 
many waves are rolling between me and Streatham. 
The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and 
instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are I. 
Here are mountains which I should once have climbed, but to 
climb steeps is now very laborious, and to descend them danger- 
ous 2; and I am now content with knowing, that by scrambling 
up a rock, I shall only see other rocks, and a wider circuit of 
barren desolation. Of streams, we have here a sufficient number, 
but they murmur not upon pebbles, but upon rocks. Of flowers, if 
Chloris herself were here, I could present her only with the bloom 
of heath 3. Of lawns and thickets, he must read that would 
know them, for here is little sun and no shade. On the sea I 
look from my window, but am not much tempted to the shore; 
for since I came to this island, almost every breath of air has 
been a storm, and what is worse, a storm with all its severity, 
but without its magnificence, for the sea is here so broken into 
channels that there is not a sufficient volume of water either for 
lofty surges or a loud roar 4. 
On Sept. 6th, we left - 5 to visit Raarsa, the island which 
I have already mentioned. \Ve were to cross part of Skie on 
horseback; a mode of travelling very uncomfortable, for the 
road is so narrow, where any road can be found, that only one 
can go, and so craggy that the attention can never be remitted; 
it allows, therefore, neither the gaiety of conversation, nor the 
laxity of solitude; nor has it in itself the amusement of much 
variety, as it affords only all the possible transpositions of bog, 


I See his Works, ix. 35, where he 
enlarges upon this. 
2 'Upon one of the precipices [on 
Rattachan] my horse, weary with the 
steepness of the rise, staggered a 
little, and I called in haste to the 
Highlander to hold him. This was 
the only moment of my journey in 
which I thought myself endangered.' 
Johnson's Works, ix. 44. 
3 The modern traveller would 
think that having heath she would 
have had everything. 


4 , \Ve had here more wind than 
waves, and suffered the severity of a 
tempest, without enjoying its magni- 
ficence. The sea being broken by 
the multitude of islands, does not 
roar with so much noise, nor beat 
the storm with such foamy violence, 
as I have remarked on the coast of 
Sussex. Though, while I was in the 
Hebrides, the wind was extremely 
turbulent, I never saw very high 
billows.' Ib. p. 65. 
5 Armidale. 


rock, 



. 


Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


255 


rock, and rivulet. Twelve miles, by computation, make a reason- 
able journey for a day. 
At night we came to a tenant's house, of the first rank of 
tenants, where we were entertained better than at the landlord's I. 
There were books both English and Latin 2. Company gathered 
about us, and we heard some talk of the second sight 3, and some 
talk of the events of forty-five; a year which will not soon be 
forgotten among the islanders. The next day we were confined 
by a storm. The company, I think, encreased, and our enter- 
tainment was not only hospitable but elegant. At night, a 
minister's sister, in very fine brocade, sung Earse songs; I 
wished to know the meaning, but the Highlanders are not 
much used to scholastick questions, and no translations could 
be obtained 4. 
N ext day, Sept. 8th, the weather allowed us to depart; a good 
boat was provided us, and we went to Raarsa under the conduct 
of Mr. Malcolm Macleod, a gentleman who conducted Prince 
Charles through the mountains in his distresses. The Prince, 
he says, was more active than himself; they were, at least, one 
night without any shelter 5. 
The wind blew enough to give the boat a kind of dancing 
agitation 6, and in about three or four hours we arrived at 


1 Their host was Lachlan Mac- 
kinnon, who lived at Corrichatachin, 
near Broadford (Boswell calls the 
place Broadfoot). '\Ve here en- 
joyed the comfort of a table plenti- 
fully furnished, the satisfaction of 
which was heightened by a numerous 
and cheerful company; and we for 
the first time had a specimen of the 
joyous social manners of the inhabi- 
tants of the Highlands.' Life, v. 
157. On the ruins of Mackinnon's 
house I saw his initials carved on 
a stone over the door. Footsteþs 
of Dr. Johnson in Scotland, p. 169. 
2 'I never was in any house of the 
islands where I did not find books in 
more languages than one, if I staid 
long enough to want them, except 
one from which the family was re- 


moved.' Johnson's Works, ix. 50. 
He is speaking of 'the higher rank 
of the Hebridians,' for on p. 61 
he says :-' The greater part of the 
islanders make no use of books.' 
3 See lb. p. 104, and Life, v. 159. 
4 Post, p. 260. 
sLife, v. 161, 191-2, 195. 
6 'After we were out of the shelter 
of Scalpa, and in the sound between 
it and Rasay, which extended about 
a league, the wind made the sea very 
rough. I did not like it. JOHNSON. 
"This now is the Atlantick. If I 
should tell at a tea table in London, 
that I have crossed the Atlantick in 
an open boat, how they'd shudder, 
and what a fool they'd think me to 
expose myself to such danger!" , 
Ib. p. 163. 


Raarsa, 



. 


25 6 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


Raarsa, where we were met by the Laird and his friends upon 
the shore. Raarsa, for such is his title I, is master of two islands; 
upon the smaller of which, called Rona, he has only flocks and 
herds. Rona gives title to his eldest son. The money which 
he raises annually by rent from all his dominions, which contain 
at least fifty thousand acres, is not believed to exceed two 
hundred and fifty pounds; but as he keeps a large farm in his 
own hands, he sells every year great numbers of cattle, which 
· add to his revenue, and his table is furnished from the farm and 
from the sea, with very little expence, except for those things 
this country does not produce, and of those he is very liberal. 
The wine circulates vigorously, and the tea, chocolate, and coffee, 
however they are got 2, are always at hand. 
I am, &c., 
SAM : JOHNSON. 
Weare this morning trying to get out of Skie 3. 


327. 


To MRS. THRALE 4. 
DEAR MADAM, Skie, Sept. 24, 1773 5 . 
I am still in Skie. Do you remember the song? 
Ev'ry island is a prison, 
Strongly guarded by the sea. 


I 'I t is usual to call gentlemen 
in Scotland by the name of their 
possessions, as Raasa y, Bernera, 
Loch Buy, a practice necessary in 
countries inhabited by clans, where 
all that live in the same territory 
have one name, and must be there- 
fore discriminated by some addition.' 
Johnson's Works, ix. 66. The Laird's 
name was John Macleod. 
2 There was no custom-house on 
the island. Post, p. 271. 
3 This was written on September 
21, on which day they left Dun- 
vegan. Life, v. 232. 
4 Piozzt' Letters, i. 143. 
S It was on September 25 that 
this letter was written. Boswell re- 
cords on that day: -' Dr. Johnson 


remained in his chamber writing a 
letter, and it was long before we 
could get him into motion. He did 
not come to breakfast, but had it 
sent to him. When he had finished 
his letter, it was twelve o'clock, and 
we should have set out at ten. When 
I went up to him, he said to me, 
"Do you remember a song which 
begins, 
Every island is a prÏson 
Strongly guarded by the sea; 
Kings and princes, for that reason, 
Prisoners are, as well as we ? " , 
Life, v. 256. 
The song is by Coffey, and is 
given in Ritson's English Songs 
(1813), ii. 122. It begins:- 


\Ve 



Aetat. 64.] 


To .i}'Irs. Titrate. 


257 


We have at one time no boat, and at another may have too 
much wind; but of our reception here we have no reason to 
complain. Weare now with Colonel Macleod, in a more 
pleasant place than I thought Skie could afford I. Now to the 
narrative. 
\Ve were received at Raarsa on the sea-side, and after clamber- 
ing with some difficulty over the rocks, a labour which the 
traveller, wherever he reposes himself on land, must in these 
islands be contented to endure, we were introduced into the 
house, which one of the company called the Court of Raarsa, 
with politeness which not the Court of Versailles could have 
thought defective. The house is not large, though we were 
told in our passage that it had eleven fine rooms, nor magni- 
ficently furnished, but our utensils were most commonly silver 2. 
We went up into a dining room, about as large as your blue 
room 3, where we had something given us to eat, and tea and 
coffee. 
Raarsa himself is a man of no inelegant appearance, and of 
manners uncommonly refined. Lady Raarsa makes no very 
sublime appearance for a sovereign, but is a good housewife, 
and a very prudent and diligent conductress of her family. Miss 
Flora Macleod is a celebrated beauty; has been admired at 
Edinburgh; dresses her head very high; and has manners so 


, Welcome, welcome, brother debtor, 
To this poor but merry place, 
Wh
re no bailiff, dun, nor setter, 
Dares to show his frightful face.' 
Perhaps Coffey had read Burton, 
who says in The Anatomy if lIfelan- 
choly (ed. 1660, p. 339), '\Vhat I 
have said of servitude I say again of 
imprisonment. \Ve are all prisoners. 
\Vhat's our life but a prison? \Ve 
are all imprisoned in an island.' 
Howell has the same thought in his 
Letter of August 2, 1643 :-' Let the 
English people flatter themselves as 
long as they will that they are free, 
yet they are in effect but prisoners, 
as all other islanders are.' 
I They were at Talisker; fast, 
p.268. 
YOLo r. 


2 Johnson seems to use utensils in 
much the same sense as Caliban does 
when he speaks of Prospero's 'brave 
utensils.' ( The Temþest, Act iii. 
SC. 2.) 'In the Hebrides,' he says, 
'they use silver on all occasions 
where it is common in England, nor 
did I ever find a spoon of horn but 
in one house.' It was at Grissipol 
in Coll where the spoons were of 
horn. Works, ix. 53, 119. 
3 'The drawing-room at Streat- 
ham,' writes Dr. Burney, , if memory 
does not deceive me, was hung with 
plain bright sky-blue paper, orna- 
mented with a very gay border, 
somewhat tawdry.' Prior's lJIalO1ze, 
P.259. 



 lady 



25 8 


To ltfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


lady like, that I wish her head-dress was lower 1. The rest of 
the nine girls are all pretty; the youngest is between Queeney 
and Lucy. The youngest boy, of four years old, runs barefoot, 
and wandered with us over the rocks to see a mill. I believe 
he would walk on that rough ground without shoes ten miles 
in a day. 
The Laird of Raarsa has sometimes disputed the chieftainry 
of the clan with Macleod of Skie, but being much inferior in 
extent of possessions, has, I suppose, been forced to desist. 
Raarsa and its provinces have descended to its present possessor 
through a succession of four hundred years, without any increase 
or diminution 2. It was indeed lately in danger of forfeiture, 
but the old Laird joined some prudence with his zeal, and when 
Prince Charles landed in Scotland, made over his estate to his 
son, the present Laird, and led one hundred men of Raarsa into 
the field, with officers of his own family3. Eighty-six only came 


1 'At a very elegant masquerade 
at Richmond a gentleman appeared 
in women's clothes with a head-dress 
four feet high, composed of greens 
and garden stuff, and crowned with 
tufts of endiff nicely blanched. The 
force of the ridicule was felt by some 
of the ladies.' Gelltleman's Maga- 
zine, 1776, p. 188. Later on in this 
same year Foote as Lady Pentweazle 
in Taste wore 'a head-dress stuck 
full of feathers, in the utmost ex- 
travagance of the present mode, 
being at least a yard wide. Their 
Majesties, who were present, laughed 
immoderately. The elegant, becom- 
ing manner in which her Majesty's 
head was dressed was however the 
severest satire on the present filthy 
fashion.' Ib. p. 334. See þost, 
Letter of August 27, 1777. The 
fashion was not a new one, for on 
February 10, 1767, Mrs. Osborn, of 
Chicksands Priory, wrote of a young 
lady :-' Her dress is the wonder of 
the town, her head a yard high, and 
filled or rather covered with feathers 
to an enormous size, fitter for a mas- 


querade than a drawing-room.' Poli- 
tical and Sodal Letters of a Lady 
of the Eighteenth Century, p. 160. 
According to J. T. Smith in his 
Nollekens and his Times, i. 18,' it 
was in 1772 that the head-dress be- 
came preposterously high under the 
fashionable leader of the day, D. 
Ritchie, hair-dresser and dentist then 
living in Rupert Street, two doors 
from Coventry Street.' 
2 Macaulay, as I have shown (ante, 
p. 251), charges Johnson with turning 
the simple English of his Letters 
into J ohnsonese in his Journey. It 
might be shown that the change was 
sometimes to greater simplicity. Of 
this we have an.instance here, for he 
thus paraphrases the above para- 
graph :-' The estate has not during 
four hundred years gained or lost a 
single acre.' Works, ix. 55. 
3 Johnson in his Journey thus de- 
licately alludes to this :-' Not many 
years ago the late Laird led out one 
hundred men upon a military ex- 
pedition.' Works, ix. 59. See Life, 
v. 17 1 , 4. 


back 



Aetat. 64.] 


To .11lrs. Thrale. 


259 


back after the last battle. The Prince was hidden, in his distress, 
two nights at Raarsa, and the king's troops burnt the whole 
country, and killed some of the cattle. 
You may guess at the opinions that prevail in this country; 
they are, however, content with fighting for their king; they do 
not drink for him I. \Ve had no foolish healths. At night, un- 
expectedly to us who were strangers, the carpet was taken up ; 
the fiddler of the family came up, and a very vigorous and 
general dance was begun. As I told you, we were two-and- 
thirty at supper 2; there were full as many dancers; for though 
all who supped did not dance, some danced of the young people 
who did not sup. Raarsa himself danced with his children, and 
old l\lalcolm, in his filibeg, was as nimble as when he led the 
Prince over the mountains 3. vVhen they had danced them- 
selves weary, two tables were spread, and I suppose at least 
twenty dishes were upon them. In this country some prepara- 
tions of milk are always served up at supper, and sometimes in 
the place of tarts at dinner. The table was not coarsely heaped, 
but [ was] at once plentiful and elegant. They do not pretend 
to make a loaf; there are only cakes, commonly of oats or 
barley, but they made me very nice cakes of wheat flour. I 
always sat at the left hand of Lady Raarsa, and young Macleod 
of Skie, the chieftain of the clan 4, sat on the right. 


I 'They disdain to drink for their interest when there was a possibility 
principles, and there is no disaffec- of success, they betrayed no appre- 
tion at their tables.' Johnson's hension in celebrating the memory 
Works, ix. 103. Johnson was think- of its last efforts amidst the tumult 
ing of the English J acobites. Smol- of a riot and the clamours of intem- 
lett tells how on the Pretender's perance.' He charges especially 
march to England 'they were men living in the neighbourhood of 
elevated to an insolence of hope Johnson's native city, Lichfield, with 
which they were at no pains to con- folly of this kind. History of Eng- 
ceal.' Nevertheless,' except a few land, iii. 17 0 , 259. 
that joined the Prince at Manchester, ,. There is no mention of this 
not a soul appeared in his behalf; before. 
one would have imagined that all the 3 'Raasay himself danced with 
J acobites of England had been an- as much spirit as any man, and 
nihilated.' Writing of them two years Malcolm bounded like a roe.' Life, 
later, he says :-' Though they in- v. 166. 
dustriously avoided exposing their 4 Johnson in his Journey stated 
lives and fortunes to the chance of that Macleod of Raasay acknow- 
war in promoting their favourite ledged Macleod of Dunvegan as his 
S 2 After 



260 


To lVIacleod of .11lacleod. 


[A.D. 1773. 


After supper a young lady, who was visiting, sung Earse 
songs, in which Lady Raarsa joined prettily enough, but not 
gracefully; the young ladies sustained the chorus better. They 
. are very little used to be asked questions, and not well prepared 
with answers. When one of the songs was over, I asked the 
princess that sat next me, What is that about? I question if 
she conceived that I did not understand it. For the entertain- 
ment of the company, said she. But, Madam, what is the 
meaning of it? It is a love song. This was all the intelligence 
that I could obtain; nor have I been able to procure the trans- 
lation of a single line of Earse I. 
At twelve it was bed time. I had a chamber to myselP, 
which, in eleven rooms to forty people, was more than my 
share. How the company and the family were distributed is 
not easy to tell. Macleod the chieftain, and Boswell, and I, 
had all single chambers on the first floor. There remained eight 
rooms only for at least seven-and-thirty lodgers. I suppose 
they put up temporary beds in the dining room, where they 
stowed all the young ladies. There was a room above stairs 
with six beds, in which they put ten men 3. The rest in my next. 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


328. 
To MACLEOD OF MACLEOD 4. 


DEAR SIR, 
We are now on the margin of the sea, waiting for a boat 
chief. For the correspondence which likeness. Footsteþs of Dr. Johnson 
this led to with Raasay see þost, in Scotland, p. 176. 
Letter of May 12, 1775, and Life, 3 Sir \Valter Scott, describing 
v. 409. Scotland in general at this time, 
x It was not till October 16 that says :_c For beds many shifts were 
he was able to find a translation. On made, and the prospect of a dance 
that day he said of a Miss Maclean:- in particular reconciled damsels to 
'She is the first person whom I sleep in the proportion of half-a- 
have found that can translate Erse dozen to each apartment, while their 
poetry literally.' Life, v. 318. He gallant partners would be sometimes 
mentions her in his Journey' as the contented with- an outhouse, a barn, 
only interpreter of Erse poetry that or a hayloft: Quarterly Revi
w, 
he could ever find.' TYorks, ix. 134. No. 71, p. 192. 
See ante, p. 255. 4 First published in Croker's Bos- 
2 His chamber is still shown. On well, page 356. 
one of the waIls I saw hanging his I saw the original in the drawing- 
and 



Aetat. 64,] 


To Mrs. T'/zrale. 


261 


and a wind. Boswell grows impatient; but the kind treatment 
which I find wherever I go, makes me leave, with some heavi- 
ness of heart, an island which I am not very likely to see again. 
Having now gone as far as horses can carry us, we thankfully 
return them. My steed will, I hope, be received with kindness; 
he has borne me, heavy as I am, over ground both rough and 
steep, with great fidelity; and for the use of him, as for your 
other favours, I hope you will believe me thankful, and willing, 
at whatever distance we may be placed, to show my sense of 
your kindness, by any offices of friendship that may fall within 
my power. 
Lady Macleod and the young ladies have, by their hospitality 
and politeness, made an impression on my mind, which will not 
easily be effaced. Be pleased to tell them, that I remember 
them with great tenderness, and great respect. 
I am, 
Sir, 
Your most obliged 
and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
\Ve passed two days at Talisker very happily, both by the 
pleasantness of the place and elegance of our reception. 
Ostig, Sept. 28, 1773. 


329. 


To MRS. THR:\.LE I. 


DEAREST MADAM, Ostich 2 in Skie, Sept. 3 0 , 1773. 
I am still confined in SIde. We were unskilful travellers, 
and imagined that the sea was an open road which we could 
pass at pleasure; but we have now learned with some pain, that 
we may still wait for a long time the caprices of the equinoctial 
winds, and sit reading or writing as I now do, while the tempest 
is rolling the sea, or roaring in the mountains. I am now no 


room of Dunvegan Castle, endorsed 
'Dr. Johnston's letter.' By it was 
hung a small portrait of him by 
Zoffany. 


I Piozzz" Letters, i. 148. 
2 Ostig, the residence of the 
Minister of Slate. Life, v. 265. 


longer 



262 


To gfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


longer pleased with the delay; you can hear from me but 
seldom, and I cannot at all hear from you. It comes into my 
mind that some evil may happen, or that I might be of use 
while I am away I. But these thoughts are vain; the wind is 
violent and adverse, and our boat cannot yet come. I must 
content myself with writing to you, and hoping that you will 
sometime receive my letter. Now to my narrative. 
Sept. 9th 2: Having passed the night as is usual, I rose, and 
found the dining room full of company; we feasted and talked, 
and when the evening came it brought musick aNd dancing. 
Young Macleod, the great proprietor of Skie and head of his 
clan, was very distinguishable; a young man of nineteen; bred 
a while at St. Andrews, and afterwards at Oxford; a pupil of 
G. Strahan 3. He is a young man of a mind as much advanced 
as I have ever known; very elegant of ma.nners: and very grace- 
ful in his person. He has the full spirit of a feudal chief; and 
I was very ready to accept his invitation to Dunvegan. All 
Raarsa's children are beautiful. The ladies, all except the 
eldest, are in the morning dressed in their hair. The true 
Highlander never wears more than a riband on her head till 
she is married. 
On the third day Boswell went out with old Malcolm to see 
a ruined castle, which he found less entire than was promised, 
but he saw the country. I did not go, for the castle was 
perhaps ten miles off, and there is no riding at Raarsa 4, the 


I Boswell records on this same 
day :-' There was something not 
quite serene in his humour to-night 
after supper, for he spoke of hasten- 
ing away to London without stopping 
much at Edinburgh.' Life, v. 272. 
He reproached Boswell later on for 
indulging in 'an uneasy apprehen- 
sion' about his wife and children, 
who were at a distance. Ib. iii. 4. 
,. He returns to his account of his 
visit to Raasay. 
3 In Croker's Boswell, ed. 1835, 
iv. 320, is an interesting fragment of 
Macleod's autobiography. He says: 
-' My tutor, Mr. George Strahan, 


zealously endeavoured to supply my 
deficiency in Greek, and I made 
some progress; but approaching now 
to manhood, having got a tincture 
of more entertaining and pleasing 
knowledge, and a taste for the Latin, 
French, and English classics, I could 
never sufficiently labour again as a 
schoolboy, which I now, and will for 
ever lament.' He matriculated on 
November 27, 1770, aged sixteen. 
Alzmmi OX01t. p. 898. For George 
Strahan see ante, p. 113. 
4 Boswell says that there were a 
good many horses which were used 
for works of husbandry, but that he 
whole 



Aetat.64,] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


26 3 


whole island being rock or mountain, from which the cattle 
often fall and are destroyed. It is very barren, and maintains, 
as near as I could collect, about seven hundred inhabitants, 
perhaps ten to a square mile I. In these countries you are 
not to suppose that you shall find villages or inclosures. The 
traveller wanders through a naked desart, gratified sometimes, 
but rarely, with the sight of cows, and now and then finds 
a heap of loose stones and turf in a cavity between rocks, 
where a being born with all those powers which education 
expands, and all those sensations which culture refines, is 
condemned to she! ter itself from the wind and rain. Philoso- 
phers there are who try to make themselves believe that this 
life is h appy 2; but they believe it only while they are saying 
it, and never yet produced conviction in a single mind; he, 
whom want of words or images sunk into silence, still thought, 
as he thought before, that privation of pleasure can ncver please, 
and that content is not to be much envied, when it has no other 
principle than ignorance of good. 
This gloomy tranquillity, which some may call fortitude, and 
others wisdom, was, I believe, for a long time to be very fre- 
quently found in these dens of poverty: every man was content 
to live like his neighbours, and never wandering from home, saw 
no mode of life preferable to his own, except at the house of the 
laird, or the laird's nearest relations, whom he considered as a 
superior order of beings, to whose luxuries or honours he had no 
pretensions. But the end of this reverence and submission seems 
now approaching; the Highlanders have learned that there are 
countries less bleak and barren than their own, where, instead of 
working for the laird, every man may till his own ground, and 
eat the produce of his own labour 3 . Great numbers have been 


believed the people never rode. Life, v. 
173. For the old castle seeib. p. 17 2 . 
I The people had never been 
numbered, Johnson says. In his 
Journey he estimated the population 
at nine hundred, basing his calcula- 
tion on the number of men who had 
borne arms in 1745. Works, ix. 59. 
The population in 1881 was, I was 
told, 750. 


,. See Life, ii. 74, for his scorn for 
, the nonsense' which Rousseau 
talked on this subject. 
3 'The great business of insular 
policy is now to keep the people in 
their own country. As the world 
has been let in upon them they 
have heard of happier climates and 
less arbitrary government.' Johnson's 
Works, ix. 128. 


induced 



26 4 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


induced by this discovery to go every year for some time past 
to America. Macdonald and Macleod of Skie have lost many 
tenants and many labourers, but Raarsa has not yet been for- 
saken by a single inhabitanP. 
Rona is yet more rocky and barren than Raarsa, and though 
it contains perhaps four thousand acres, is possessed only by a 
herd of cattle and the keepers. 
I find myself not very able to walk upon the mountains, but 
one day I went out to see the walls yet standing of an ancient 
chapel. In almost every island the superstitious votaries of the 
Romish church erected places of worship, in which the drones of 
convents or cathedrals performed the holy offices, but by the 
active zeal of Protestant devotion, almost all of them have sunk 
into ruin 2. The chapel at Raarsa is now only considered as the 
burying-place of the family, and I suppose of the whole island. 
We would now have gone away and left room for others to 
enjoy the pleasures of this little court, but the wind detained us 
till the 12th, when, though it was Sunday, we thought it proper 
to snatch the opportunity of a calm day. Raarsa accompanied 
us in his six-oared boat, which he said was his coach and six. 
It is indeed the vehicle in which the ladies take the air and pay 
their visits, but they have taken very little care for accommoda- 
tions 3 . There is no way in or out of the boat for a woman, but 
by being carried; and in the boat thus dignified with a pompous 
name, there is no seat but an occasional bundle of straw. Thus 
we left Raarsa; the seat of plenty, civility, and cheerfulness 4 . 


1 Perhaps this was in part due to 
the fact that 'on the large tract of 
land possessed as a common every 
man put upon it as many cattle as he 
chose.' Life, v. 171. 
2 , It has been for many years 
popular to talk of the lazy devotion 
of the Romish clergy; over the 
sleepy laziness of men that erected 
churches we may indulge our supe- 
riority with a new triumph, by com- 
paring it with the fervid activity of 
those who suffer them to fall.' J ohn- 
son's Works, ix.61. 
3 Johnson commonly says a[C011l- 


11l0datiolls where we should say con- 
veniencies. 
4 It is not clear in what sense 
Johnson here uses civility, for with 
him that word included civilization. 
Civilizati01t he would not admit into 
his Dictionary. Life, ii. 155. He 
thus takes leave of Raasay in his 
Journey :-' Raasay has little that 
can detain a traveller except the 
Laird and his family; but their 
power wants no auxiliaries. Such a 
seat of hospitality amidst the winds 
and waters fills the imagination with 
a delightful contraricty of images. 
\Ve 



Aetat.64.] 


To .lVlrs. Thrale. 


26 5 


We dined at a publick house at Port Re; so called because 
one of the Scottish kings landed there, in a progress through the 
western isles I. Raarsa paid the reckoning privately2. We then 
got on horseback, and by a short but very tedious journey came 
to Kingsburgh, at which the same king lodged after he landed. 
Here I had the honour of saluting 3 the far famed ]\IIiss Flora 
Macdonald, who conducted the Prince, dressed as her maid, 
through the English forces from the island of Lewes; and, when 
she came to Skie, dined with the English officers, and left her 
maid below. She must then have been a very young lady; she 
is now not old; of a pleasing person, and elegant behaviour. 
She told me that she thought herself honoured by my visit; and 
I am sure that whatever regard she bestowed on me was liberally 
repaid 4. 'If thou likest her opinions, thou wilt praise her virtue.' 
She was carried to London, but dismissed without a trial, and 
came down with Malcolm Macleod, against whom sufficient 
evidence could not be procured. She and her husband are poor, 
and are going to try their fortune in America 5. 
Sic rerum volvitur orbis. 


\Vithout is the rough ocean and the 
rocky land, the beating billows and 
the howling storm; within is plenty 
and elegance, beauty and gaiety, the 
song and the dance. In Raasay, if I 
could have found an Ulysses, I had 
fancied a Phæacia.' Works, ix. 62. 
· 'Portree has its name from King 
James the Fifth having landed there 
in his tour through the \Vestern Isles, 
Ree in Erse being King, as Re is in 
Italian; so it is Port Royal.' Life, 
v. 181. 
2 Ib. v. 18 3. 
3 By saluting Johnson, I believe, 
meant kissing. In his Dictionary 
he gives it as one of the meanings of 
the word. Topham, writing in 1774, 
says :-' The Scotch have still the 
custom of salutation on introduction 
to strangers. I t very seldom happens 
that the salute is a voluntary one, 
and it frequently is the cause of dis- 
gust and embarrassment to the fair 


sex.' Letters from Edinburgh, pp. 
33, 37. 
Flora Macdonald was the wife of 
Macdonald of Kingsburgh. 
4 In his Journey he celebrates 
her as 'a name that will be men- 
tioned in history, and if courage and 
fidelity be virtues, mentioned with 
honour.' Works, ix. 63. 
S That after saving the Prince's 
life she should be driven by poverty 
to America seems incredible did we 
not know his character. The J a- 
cobite Dr. King, Principal of St. 
Mary Hall, OÀford, tells us in his 
Anecdotes (p. 201) that 'the most 
odious part of the Prince's character 
is his love of money. I have known 
him with two thousand Louis-d'ors 
in his strong box pretend he was in 
great distress, and borrow money 
from a lady in Paris who was not in 
affluent circumstances. His most 
faithful servants, who had closely at- 
J\t 



266 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


At Kingsburgh we were very liberally feasted, and I slept in 
the bed on which the Prince reposed in his distress; the sheets 
which he used were never put to any meaner offices, but were 
wrapped up by the lady of the house, and at last, according to 
her desire, were laid round her in her grave. These are not 
\Vhigs. 
On the ] 3th, travelling partly on horseback where we could 
not row, and partly on foot where we could not ride, we came to 
Dunvegan, which I have described already I. Here, though poor 
Macleod had been left by his grandfather overwhelmed with 
debts 2 , we had another exhibition of feudal hospitality. There 
were two stags in the house, and venison came to the table every 
day in its various forms. l\lacleod, besides his estate in Skie, 
larger I suppose than some English counties, is proprietor of 
nine inhabited isles; and of his islands uninhabited I doubt if 
he very exactly knows the number. I told him that he was 
a mighty monarch. Such dominions fill an Englishman with 
envious wonder; but when he surveys the naked mountain, and 
treads the quaking moor, and wanders over the wild regions of 
gloomy barrenness, his wonder may continue, but his envy 
ceases 3. The unprofitableness of these vast domains can be 
conceived only by the means of positive instances. The heir 


tended him in all his difficulties, 
were ill rewarded.' Flora Macdonald 
and her husband returned before the 
end of the \Var of Independence. 
On the way back she showed great 
spirit when their ship was attacked 
by a French man of war. Chambers's 
Rebellion in Scotland, ii. 329. 
I Ante, p. 245. 
2 , Dr. Johnson was much pleased 
with the Laird of Macleod, who is 
indeed a most promising youth, and 
with a noble spirit struggles with 
difficulties, and endeavours to pre- 
serve his people. He has been left 
with an incumbrance of forty thou- 
sand pounds debt, and annuities to 
the amount of thirteen hundred 
pounds a year. Dr. Johnson said, 
"If he gets the better of all this. 


he'll be a hero; and I hope he will." , 
Life, v. 176. Macleod, in his Auto- 
biograþhy, says that his grandfather, 
whom he succeeded as Laird, had 
entered upon his inheritance in the 
most prosperous condition. 'He 
was the first of our family who was 
led by the change of manners to 
leave the patriarchal government of 
the clan, and to mix in the pursuits 
and ambition of the world.' Hence 
arose his indebtedness. Croker's 
Boswell, ed. 1835, iv. 322. 
3 'When Mr. Edmund Burke 
shewed Johnson his fine house and 
lands near Beaconsfield, Johnson 
coolly said, " Non eqltidem invideo 
. 
miror magis." , L
ïe, iii. 310. The 
quotation is from Virgil's Eclogues, 
i. II. 


of 



Aeta.t.64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


26 7 


of Cot, an island not far distant, has lately told me how wealthy 
he should be if he could let Rum, another of his islands, for two- 
pence half-penny an acre; and Macleod has an estate, which the 
surveyor reports to contain eighty thousand acres, rented at six 
hundred pounds a-year I. 
vVhile we were at Dunvegan, the wind was high, and the rain 
violent, so that we were not ab]e to put forth a boat to fish in 
the sea, or to visit the adjacent islands, which may be seen from 
the house; but we filled up the time as we could, sometimes by 
talk, sometimes by reading 2 . I have never wanted books in the 
isle of Skie. 
We were visited one day by the Laird and Lady of Muck, one 
of the western islands, two miles long, and three quarters of a 
mile high 3. He has half his island in his own culture, and upon 
the other half live one hundred and fifty dependents, who not 
only live upon the product, but export corn sufficient for the 
payment of their rent. 
Lady Macleod has a son and four daughters; they have lived 
long in England, and have the language and manners of English 
ladies. We lived with them very easily. The hospitality of 
this remote region is like that of the golden age. We have 


I It was not for many a year after 
this that the game on an estate in 
the Highlands added much to its 
value. Lord Malmesbury speaking 
of the year 1833 says :-' At that 
time a stranger could fish and shoot 
over almost any part of the High- 
lands without interruption, the letting 
value of the ferae naturae being un- 
known to their possessors.' J."':femoirs 
of an Ex-lJlinister, ed. 188 5, p. 41. 
2 'I t was wonderful how well 
time passed in a remote castle, and 
in dreary weather. . . . \Ve were so 
comfortably situated at Dunvegan 
that Dr. Johnson could hardly be 
moved from it. I proposed to him 
that we should leave it on Monday. 
" No, Sir, (said he,) I will not go 
before Wednesday. I will have some 
more of this good.'" Life, v. 221, 4. 


3 Johnson must have written, or 
have meant to write, not Izigh but 
broad. The Rev. John Sinclair, 
Minister of Eigg, in whose parish 
the island is, informs me that its 
breadth is about three-quarters of a 
mile, and its height 372 feet. 
, I t was somewhat droll,' writes 
Boswell, 'to hear this Laird called 
by his title. fifuck would have 
sounded ill; so he was called Isle of 
,Muck, which went off with great 
readiness. The name, as now writ- 
ten, is unseemly, but it is not so bad 
in the original Erse, which is j
louach, 
signifying the Sows' Island. Buchanan 
calls it INSULA PORCORUM. It is so 
caUed from its form. Some call it 
Isle of lJ:fonk. The Laird insists 
that this is the proper name.' Life, 
V.225. 


found 



268 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


found ourselves treated at every house as if we came to confer 
a benefit. 
We were eight days at Dunvegan, but we took the first oppor- 
tunity which the weather afforded, after the first days, of going 
away, and on the 21st, went to Ulinish, where we were well en- 
tertained, and wandered a little after curiosities. In the after- 
noon I an interval of calm sunshine courted us out to see a cave 
on the shore famous for its echo. When we went into the boat, 
one of our companions was asked in Earse, by the boatmen, who 
they were that came with him? He gave us characters, I sup- 
pose, to our advantage, and was asked, in the spirit of the High- 
lands, whether I could recite a long series of ancestors 2? The 
boatmen said, as I perceived afterwards, that they heard the cry 
of an English ghost. This, Boswell says, disturbed him. We 
came to the cave, and clambering up the rocks, came to an arch, 
open at one end, one hundred and eighty feet long, thirty broad 
in the broadest part, and about thirty high. There was no echo; 
such is the fidelity of report; but I saw what I had never seen 
before, muscles and whilks 3 in their natural state. There was 
another arch in the rock, open at both ends. 
Sept. 23rd: We removed to Talisker, a house occupied by 
lVlr. Macleod, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Dutch service 4. 


I Of the 22nd. Life, v. 237. 
2 'I can hardly tell who was my 
grandfather,' Johnson once said to 
Boswell. Ib. ii. 261. Of his 
father's father not even the Christian 
name is known. It was not, says 
Boswell, Ulinish's boatmen, but those 
who rowed them from Sconser, three 
days later, who asked about the 
genealogy. Croker's Boswell, p. 826. 
3 Johnson only gives this word in- 
cidentally in his Dictionary" Under 
to welk he says, 'whilk is used for a 
small shell-fish.' Whelk he defines 
as (I) an inequality J' a þrotuber- 
allce J " (2) a þustule. 
4 Pennant, writing in the year 
1774, thus describes these Scotch 
regiments in the Dutch service:- 
'They were formed out of some 


independent companies sent over 
either in the reign of Elizabeth or 
J ames VI. At present the common 
men are but nominally national, for 
since the scarcity of men occasioned 
hy the late war, Holland is no longer 
permitted to draw her recruits out of 
North Britain. But the officers are 
all Scotch, who are obliged to take 
oaths to our government, and to 
qualify in presence of our ambassa- 
dor at the Hague.' Voyage to the 
}{ebride
 ed. 1774,P. 289. 
In the war which broke out be- 
tween England and Holland in 1781, 
this curious system, which had sur- 
vived the great naval battles between 
the two countries in the seventeenth 
century, at last came to an end. In 
the Gelltlel1lrllz'S lVIll/{flzÍ1le for De- 
T alisker 



Aeta.t. 64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


26 9 


Talisker has been long in the possession of gentlemen, and 
therefore has a garden well cultivated; and, what is here very 
rare, is shaded by trees: a place where the imagination is more 
amused cannot easily be found X. The mountains about it are 
of great height, with waterfalls succeeding one another so fast, 
that as one ceases to be heard another begins. Between the 
mountains there is a small valley extending to the sea, which is 
not far off, beating upon a coast very difficult of access. 
Two nights before our arrival two boats were driven upon 
this coast by the tempest, one of them had a pilot that knew 
the passage, the second followed, but a third missed the true 
course, and was driven forward with great danger of being 
forced into the vast ocean, but, however, gained at last some 
other island. The crews crept to Talisker, almost lifeless with 
wet, cold, fatigue, and terrour, but the lady took care of them. 
She is a woman of more than common qualifications; having 
travelled with her husband, she speaks four languages. 
You find that all the islanders, even in these recesses of life, 
are not barbarous. One of the ministers who has adhered to us 
almost all the time is an excellent scholar 2. \Ve have now with 
us the young Laird of Col, who is heir, perhaps, to two hundred 
square miles of land. He has first studied at Aberdeen, and 
afterwards gone to Hertfordshire to learn agriculture, being 
much impressed with desire of improvement 3: he likewise has 


cember, 1782, p. 595, we read, that 
on the first of that month 'the 
Scotch Brigade in the Dutch service 
renounced their allegiance to their 
lawful Sovereign, and took a new 
oath of fidelity to their High Mighti- 
nesses. They are for the future to 
wear the Dutch unifonn, and not to 
carry the arms of the enemy any 
longer in their colours, nor to beat 
their march. They are to receive 
the word of command in Dutch, and 
their officers are to wear orange- 
coloured sashes, and the same sort of 
spontoons as the officers of other 
Dutch regiments.' Colonel Macleod 
used the experience he had gained in 


Holland in draining the vaJIey- bottom 
and in making his garden. 
I 'Talisker is the place beyond all 
that I have seen from which the gay 
and the jovial seem utterly excluded; 
and where the hermit might expect 
to grow old in meditation without 
possibility of disturbance or interrup- 
tion.' Johnson's Works, ix. 71. 
2 The Rev. Donald MrQueen. 
Life, v. 224. 
'I saw not one pastor in the 
islands whom I had reason to think 
either deficient in learning or ir- 
regular in life.' Johnson's TVorks, 
ix. 102. 
3 See Life, v. 293, and þost, p. 277. 
the 



27 0 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


the notions of a chief, and keeps a piper. At Macleod's the 
bagpipe always played while we were dining I. 
Col has undertaken, by the permission of the waves and wind, 
to carry us about several of the islands, with which he is ac- 
quainted enough to shew us whatever curious is given by nature 
or left by antiquity; but we grew afraid of deviating from our 
way home. lest we should be shut up for months upon some 
little protuberance of rock, that just appears above the sea, and 
perhaps is scarcely marked upon a map. 
You remember the Doge of Genoa, who being asked what 
struck him most at the French court, answered, 'MyseIP.' I 
cannot think many things here more likely to affect the fancy 
than to see Johnson ending his sixty-fourth year in the wilder- 
ness of the Hebrides. But now I am here, it will gratify me 
very little to return without seeing, or doing my best to see 
what those places afford. I have a desire to instruct myself in 
the whole system of pastoral life; but I know not whether I 
shall be able to perfect the idea. However, I have many 
pictures in my mind, which I could not have had without this 
journey, and should have passed it with great pleasure had you, 
and Master, and Queeney been in the party. vVe should have 
excited the attention and enlarged the observation of each other, 
and obtained many pleasing to picks of future conversation. As 
it is, I travel with my mind too much at home, and perhaps miss 
many things worthy of observation, or pass them with transient 
notice; so that the images, for want of that re-impression 
which discussion and comparison produce, easily fade away; but 


I 'The solace which the bagpipes 
can give they have long enjoyed.' 
Johnson's vVorks, ix. 100. C \Ve had 
the musick of the bagpipe every day, 
at Armidale, Dunvegan, and Co!. 
Dr. Johnson appeared fond of it, and 
used often to stand for some time 
with his ear close to the great drone.' 
Life, v. 3 1 5. 
2 Genoa was besieged by the 
French in 1684. 'Alors, il fallut 
s'humilier pour prévenir une ruine 
totale. Le roi [Louis XIV] exigea 


que Ie doge de Gênes et quatre 
principaux sénateurs vinssent im- 
plorer sa clémence dans son palais 
de VersaiIles... Ce doge était un 
homme de beau coup d'esprit. Tout 
Ie monde sait que Ie marquis de 
Seignelai lui ayant demandé ce qu'il 
trouvait de plus singulier à Versailles, 
il répondit: C' est de my voir.' 
Voltaire, Siècle de Louis XIV, 
ch. xiv. Johnson quotes this story 
again in his Letter of April 26, 1784, 
but substitutes Paris for Versailles. 


I 



Aetat. 64.] 


lò lJIrs. Thrale. 


27 1 


I keep a book of remarks, and Boswell writes a regular journal 
of our travels, which, I think, contains as much of what I say 
and do as of all other occurrences together; 'for such a faithful 
chronicler as Griffith I.' 
I hope, dearest Madam, you are equally careful to reposite 
proper memorials of all that happens to you and your family, 
and then when we meet we shall tell our stories. I wish you 
had gone this summer in your usual splendour to Brighthelm- 
stone. 
Mr. Thrale probably wonders how I live all this time without 
sending to him for money. Travelling in Scotland is dear enough, 
dearer in proportion to what the country affords than in Eng- 
land, but residence in the isles is unexpensive. Company is, I 
think, considered as a supply of pleasure, and a relief of that 
tediousness of life which is felt in every place, elegant or rude 2 . 
Of wine and punch they are very liberal, for they get them 
cheap; but as there is no custom-house on the island, they 
can hardly be considered as smugglers 3. Their punch is made 
without lemons, or any substitute. 
Their tables are very plentiful; but a very nice man would 
not be pampered. As they have no meat but as they kill it, 
they are obliged to live while it lasts upon the same flesh 4. 


I 'After my death I wish no other 
herald, 
No other speaker of my living 
actions, 
To keep mine honour from cor- 
ruption, 
But such an honest chronicler as 
Griffith.' 
SHAKSPEARE, Henry VIII, Act 
IV. Sc. 2. 
Boswell quotes this in the Life, 
i. 24. 
2 'I was glad to go abroad, and, 
perhaps, glad to come home; which 
is, in other words, I was, I am afraid, 
weary of being at home, and weary 
of being abroad. Is not this the 
state of life? But, if we confess this 
weariness, let us not lament it, for 
all the wise and all the good say, 


that we may cure it.' Life, ii. 382. 
3 Sir Walter Scott, describing 
Scotland in general at a period a few 
years earlier than this time, says :- 
, French wine and brandy were had 
at a cheap rate, chiefly by infractions 
of the revenue laws, at which the 
Government were contented to wink 
rather than irritate a country in 
which there was little money and 
much disaffection.' Quarterly Re- 
view, No. 71, p. 192. In 1786 Knox 
found a custom-house at Oban. J. 
Knox, Tour through the Highlands, 
P.44. 
4 Johnson describing the petty 
peasants and the tenants says:- 
, They seldom taste the flesh of land 
animals; for here are no markets. 
What each man eats is from his own 
They 



27 2 


To J1Irs. 7ïzrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


They kill a sheep, and set mutton boiled and roast on the table 
together. They have fish both of the sea and of the brooks; 
but they can hardly conceive that it requires any sauce. To 
sauce in general they are strangers; now and then butter is 
melted, but I dare not always take, lest I should offend by dis- 
liking it. Barley-broath is a constant dish, and is made well in 
every house. A stranger, if he is prudent, will secure his share, 
for it is not certain that he will be able to eat any thing elsex, 
Their meat being often newly killed is very tough, and as 
nothing is sufficiently subdued by the fire, is not easily to be 
eaten. Carving is here a very laborious employment, for the 
knives are never whetted. Table-knives are not of long sub- 
sistence in the Highlands; every man, while arms were a re- 
gular part of dress, had his knife and fork appendant to his 
dirk. Knives they now lay upon the table 2 , but the handles 
are apt to shew that they have been in other hands, and the 
blades have neither brightness nor edge. 
Of silver there is no want; and it will last long, for it is 
never cleaned. They are a nation just rising from barbarity; 
long contented with necessaries, now somewhat studious of con- 
venience, but not yet arrived at delicate discriminations. Their 
linen is, hO\vever, both clean and fine. Bread, such as we mean 
by that name, I have never seen in the isle of Skie. They have 
ovens, for they bake their pies, but they never ferment their 
meal, nor mould a loaf. Cakes of oats and barley are brought 
to the table, but I believe wheat is reserved for strangers. They 
are commonly too hard for me, and therefore I take potatoes to 
my meat, and am sure to find them on almost every table. 


stock. The great effect of money 
is to break property into small parts. 
In towns, he that has a shilling may 
have a piece of meat; but where 
there is no commerce, no man can 
eat mutton but by killing a sheep.' 
Works, ix. 98. 
I 'At dinner [at Aberdeen] Dr. 
Johnson ate several plate-fulls of 
Scotch broth, with barley and peas 
in it, and seemed very fond of the 
dish. I said, " You never ate it 


before." JOHNSON. "No, Sir; but 
I don't care how soon I eat it 
again.'" Life, v. 87. 
2 Dr. Alexander Carlyle, in the 
year 1742, notices as a sign of in- 
creasing refinement, that at the 
tavern in Haddington, where the 
Presbytery dined, knives and forks 
were provided for the table. A. Car- 
lyle's Autobiograþhy, p. 64. See 
Footsteþs of Dr. Johnson in S[otland, 
pp. 43, 25 2 . 


They 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Th ra Ie. 


273 


They retain so much of the pastoral life, that some preparation 
of milk is commonly one of the dishes both at dinner and supper. 
Tea is always drunk at the usual times; but in the morning the 
table is polluted with a plate of slices of strong cheese. This is 
peculiar to the Highlands; at Edinburgh there are always honey 
and sweet-meats on the morning tea-table X. 
Strong liquors they seem to love. Every man, perhaps woman, 
begins the day with a dram; and the punch is made both at 
dinner and supper 2. 
They have neither wood nor coal for fuel, but burn peat or 
turf in their chimnies. It is dug out of the moors or mosses, 
and makes a strong and lasting fire, not always very sweet, and 
somewhat apt to smoke the pot. 
The houses of inferior gentlemen are very small, and every 
room serves many purposes. In the bed-rooms, perhaps, are 
laid up stores of different kinds; and the parlour of the day 
is a bed-room at night. In the room which I inhabited last, 
about fourteen feet square, there were three chests of drawers, 
a long chest for larger clothes, two closet cupboards, and the 
bed. Their rooms are commonly dirty, of which they seem 
to have little sensibility, and if they had more, clean floors 
would be difficultly kept, where the first step from the door 
is into the dirt 3. They are very much inclined to carpets, 


I Tea-table had not yet come to 
mean necessarily the table for the 
afternoon or evening meal. Addison 
in The Sþectator, No. X, boasts that 
he had brought philosophy out of 
colleges 'to dwell at tea-tables,' and 
goes on to advise that every morning 
his paper should 'be looked upon as 
a part of the tea equipage.' 
2 'A man of the Hebrides, for of 
the women's diet I can give no 
account, as soon as he appears in 
the morning, swallows a glass of 
whisky; yet they are not a drunken 
race, at least I never was present at 
much intemperance; but no man is 
so abstemious as to refuse the morn- 
ing dram, which they call a skalk.' 
Johnson's Works, ix. 51. In the 
VOL. I. T 


earliest Gaelic Dictionary, published 
by W. Shaw in 1780, this word is 
spelt sgailc, 'a bumper of whisky 
in a morning.' A Highland friend 
writes to me :-' The practice of the 
morning dram is dying out very 
much, but I believe it still not un- 
common among farmers, who keep 
their " keg" very often in the glens, 
duty unpaid.' 
3 'With want of cleanliness it 
were ingratitude to reproach them. 
The servants having been bred upon 
the naked earth, think every floor 
clean, and the quick succession of 
guests, perhaps not always over- 
elegant, does not allow much time for 
adjusting their apartments.' John- 
son's Works, ix. 97. 


and 



274 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


and seldom fail to lay down something under their feet, better 
or worse as they happen to be furnished. 
The Highland dress, being forbidden by law, is very little 
used; sometimes it may be seen X, but the English traveller is 
struck with nothing so much as the 1lltdité des Pieds of the 
common people. 
Skie is the greatest island, or the greatest but one, among 
the Hebrides 2. Of the soil I have already given some account, 
it is generally barren, but some spots are not wholly unfruitful. 
The gardens have apples and pears, cherries, strawberries, rasp- 
berries, currants, and gooseberries, but all the fruit that I have 
seen is small. They attempt to sow nothing but oats and barley. 
Oats constitute the bread corn of the place. Their harvest is 
about the beginning of October; and being so late, is very much 
subject to disappointments from the rains that follow the equi- 
nox. This year has been particularly disastrous. Their rainy 
season lasts from Autumn to Spring. They have seldom very 
hard frosts; nor was it ever known that a lake was covered with 
ice stong enough to bear a skater. The sea round them is 
always open. The snow falls but soon melts; only in 1771, 
they had a cold Spring 3 in which the island was so long covered 
with it, that many beasts, both wild and domestick, perished, 
and the whole country was reduced to distress, from which I 
know not if it is even yet recovered. 
The animals here are not remarkably small; perhaps they 


I 'I have seen only one gentleman 
completely clothed in the ancient 
habit, and by him it was worn only 
occasionally and wantonly.' lVorks, ix. 
47. This gentleman was Macdonald 
of Kingsburgh. Life, v. 184. After 
the Rebellion of 1745 it had been 
enacted that no person whatsoever 
should wear the Highland dress. 
Any offender 'not being a landed 
man, or the son of a landed man,' 
was to be tried before a justice of 
the peace 'in a summary way, and 
delivered over to serve as a soldier.' 
A n A ct to A mend tIle Disarming Act 
0/ the 19 Geo. II, made in the 21 


Geo. II. Pitt (Earl of Chatham), 
when he raised the Highland regi- 
ments 'to allure men into the army,' 
aJIowed the soldiers to wear the 
national dress. Johnson's Works, 
ix. 94, and Footsteps 0/ Dr. Johnson 
in Scotland, p. 171. 
2 Sky is the largest of the Inner 
Hebrides, and contains 411,703 acres. 
Lewis and Harris is the largest of 
the Outer Hebrides, and contains 
492,800 acres. Encyclo. Brit., 9th 
ed., xiv. 492 ; xxii. 127. 
3 , It was remembered by the name 
of the Black Spring.' Johnson's 
Works, ix. 74. 


recruit 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Hen1)' Th1/'ale. 


275 


recruit their breed from the main land. The cows are some- 
times without horns I. The horned and unhorned cattle are not 
accidental variations, but different species, they will however 
breed together. 
October 3d: The wind is now changed, and if we snatch the 
moment of opportunity, an escape from this island is become 
practicable 2; I have no reason to complain of my reception, 
yet I long to be again at home. 
You and my master may perhaps expect, after this descrip- 
tion of Skie, some account of myself. IVly eye is, I am afraid, 
not fully recovered 3; my ears are not mended; my nerves seem 
to grow weaker, and I have been otherwise not as well as I 
sometimes am, but think myself lately better. This climate per- 
haps is not within my degree of healthy latitude. 
Thus I have given my most honoured mistress the story of 
me and my little ramble. We are now going to some other 
isle, to what we know not, the wind will tell us. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
Compliments to Queeney, and Jack 4, and Lucy, and all. 


330. 


To HENRY THRALE 5. 
DEAR SIR, Isle of MulJ, Oct. 15,1773. 
Since I had the honour of writing to my mistress, we have 
been hindered from returning, by a tempest almost continual. 


I Life, v. 380. Tobermory, a small harbour in the 
2 They embarked on a small ship Isle of Mull. Boswell, writing on the 
in the hope of reaching lona that same day, says :-'We this morn- 
night, but they were carried by a ing found that we could not proceed, 
storm to the island of ColI. Ib. there being a violent storm of wind 
v. 279. and rain, and the rivers being im- 
3 Ante, p. 219, n. 2. passable. When I expressed my 
4 Jack, I conjecture, was Thrale's discontent at our confinement, Dr. 
nephew, John Lade, 'that rich, ex- Johnson said, "Now that I have had 
travagant young gentleman' on whose an opportunity of writing to the 
coming of age Johnson wrote some main land, ] am in no such haste." 
spirited Jines. Life, iv. 413. I was amused with his being so 
S Piozzi Letters, i. 166. easily satisfied; for the truth was, 
This letter was written at the house that the gentleman who was to con- 
of Dr. Maclean, who lived near vey our letters, as I was now in- 
T 2 We 



27 6 


To lJf1'S. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


\Ve tried eight days ago to come hither, but were driven by the 
wind into the Isle of Col, in which we were confined eight days. 
We hired a sloop to bring us hither, and hope soon to get to 
Edinburgh. 
Having for many weeks had no letter, my longings are very 
great to be informed how all things are at home, as you and 
mistress allow me to call it X. A letter will now perhaps meet 
me at Edinburgh, for I shall be expected to pass a few days at 
Lord Auchinleck's, and I beg to have my thoughts set at rest 
by a letter from you or my mistress. 
Be so kind as to send either to Mrs. Williams or Mr. Levett 2, 
and if they want money, advance them ten pounds. 
I hope my mistress keeps all my very long letters, longer than 
I ever wrote before. I shall perhaps spin out one more before I 
have the happiness to tell you at home that I am 
Your obliged humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


331. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAM, Mull, Oct. 15,1773. 
Though I have written to Mr. Thrale, yet having a little 
more time than was promised me, I would not suffer the mes- 
senger to go without some token of my duty to my mistress, 
who, I suppose, expects the usual tribute of intelligence, a tribute 
which I am not now very able to pay. 
October 3d: After having been detained by storms many 
days at Skie, we left it, as we thought, with a fair wind; but 
a violent gust, which BOS.4 had a great mind to call a tempest, 
forced us into ColI, an obscure island; on which 


formed, was not to set out for 
Inverary for some time; so that it 
was probable we should be there as 
soon as he: however, I did not un- 
deceive my friend, but suffered him 
to enjoy his fancy.' Life, v. 314. 
I Ante, p. 12 9. 
2 'The obscure practiser in physic' 


to whom he gave lodging for many 
years. Life, i. 243. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 167. 
4 , Johnson had a way of contract- 
ing the names of his friends; as 
Beauc1erk, Beau; Boswell, Bozzy; 
Langton, Lanky; Murphy, Mur; 
Sheridan, Sherry.' Life, ii. 258. 
-- nulla 



Aeta.t. 64.] 


To M1'S. Thrale. 


277 


- nulla campis 
Arbor æstiva recreatur aura I. 


There is literally no tree upon the island 2, part of it is a sandy 
waste, over which it would be really dangerous to travel in dry 
weather and with a high wind 3. It seems to be little more than 
one continued rock, covered from space to space with a thin 
layer of earth. It is, however, according to the Highland notion, 
very populous4, and life is improved beyond the manners of 
Skie; for the huts are collected into little villages, and every 
one has a small garden of roots and cabbage. The laird has a 
new house built by his uncle, and an old castle inhabited by his 
ancestors. The young laird entertained us very liberally; he is 
heir, perhaps, to three hundred square miles of land, which, at 
ten shillings an acre, would bring him ninety-six thousand 
pounds a-year. He is desirous of improving the agriculture 
of his country; and, in imitation of the Czar, travelled for im- 
provement, and worked with his own hands upon a farm in 
Hertfordshire, in the neighbourhood of your uncle, Sir Thomas 
Salusbury. He talks of doing useful things, and has introduced 
turnips for winter fodders. He has made a small essay towards 
a road. 


'never summer breeze 
Unbinds the glebe or warms the 
trees.' 
FRANCIS. HORACE, Odes, 1. x.xii. 17. 
2 'Perhaps in the whole island 
nothing has ever yet grown to the 
height of a table.' Johnson's Works, 
ix. 121. 'We walked a little in the 
laird's garden, in which endeavours 
have been used to rear some trees; 
but, as soon as they got above the 
surrounding wall, they died.' Life, 
V.293. 
3 '\V e passed close by a large 
extent of sand-hills, near two miles 
square. Dr. Johnson said, "he never 
had the image before. It was horrible, 
if barrenness and danger could be so." 
I heard him, after we were in the 
house of Breacacha, repeating to 
himself, as he walked about the room, 


'And smother'd in the dusty whirl- 
wind, dies." I 
[Cato, Act ii. sc. 6]. Ib. p. 291. 
4 The population was estimated at 
a thousand. Johnson's IVorks, ix. 123. 
S 'Col and I rode out this morning, 
and viewed a part of the island. In 
the course of our ride, we saw a 
turnip-field, which he had hoed with 
his own hands. He first introduced 
this kind of husbandry into the 
Western islands.' Life, v. 293. Even 
in the South of Scotland the turnip 
had only lately been introduced. 
'Mr. Drummond, of Blair, sent over 
one of his ploughmen to learn drill 
husbandry, and the culture of turnips 
from Lord Eglinton's English ser- 
vants. The very next year he raised 
a field of turnips, which were the first 
in the country. About the year 1771 
ColI 



27 8 


To lVIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


Coll is but a barren place. Description has here few oppor- 
tunities of spreading her colours. The difference of day and 
night is the only vicissitude. The succession of sunshine to rain, 
or of calms to tempests, we have not known; wind and rain 
have been our only weather. 
At last, after about nine days, we hired a sloop; and having 
lain in it all night, with such accommodations as these miserable 
vessels can afford, were landed yesterday on the isle of Mull ; 
from which we expect an easy passage into Scotland. I am sick 
in a ship, but recover by lying down. 
I have not good health; I do not find that travelling much 
helps me. My nights are flatulent, though not in the utmost 
degree, and I have a weakness in my knees, which makes me 
very unable to walk I. 
Pray, dear Madam, let mc have a long letter. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


332. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
HONOURED MISTRESS, Inverary, Oct. 23,1773. 
My last letters to you and my dear master were written 
from Mull, the third island of the Hebrides in extent 3. There 
is no post, and I took the opportunity of a gentleman's passage 
to the main land. 
In Mull we were confined two days by the weather; on 
the third we got on horse-back, and after a journey difficult 


our tenants were well-disposed to the 
culture of turnips. They begin to have 
an idea of property in winter as well 
as in summer.' Scotland and Scots- 
men of the Eiglzteenth Century, ii. 
23 1 , 27 2 , 277. See Footsteþs of 
Dr. Joltnson in Scotland, p. 34. 
I 'Ever since his last illness in 1766, 
he has had a weakness in his knees, 
and has not been able to walk easily.' 
It was this weakness which made him 
complain so bitterly, the day after he 
wrote this letter, of the loss of his 


walking-stick. 'I could not persuade 
him,' writes Boswell, 'out of a sus- 
picion that it had been stolen. "N 0, 
no, my friend (said he), it is not to be 
expected that any man in T\1 ull, who 
has got it, will part with it. Consider, 
Sir, the value of such a þiece of timber 
here!'" Life, v. 318. 
,. Piozzi Letters, i. 170. 
3 Mull contains about 235,000 
acres, of which only about 13,000 
are arable. Encyclo. Brit., 9th ed., 
J\.vii. 16. 


and 



Aetat. 64.] 


To lVIrs. Thrale. 


279 


and tedious, over rocks naked and valleys untracked, through 
a country of barrenness and solitude, we came, almost in the 
dark, to the sea side, weary and dejected, having met with 
nothing but water falling from the mountains that could raise 
any image of delighP. Our company was the young Laird of 
Col and his servant. Col made every Maclean open his house 
where we came, and supply us with horses when we departed; 
but the horses of this country are small, and I was not mounted 
to my wish. 
At the sea side we found the ferry-boat departed 2; if it had 
been where it was expected, the wind was against us, and the 
hour was late, nor was it very desirable to cross the sea in dark- 
ness with a small boat. The captain of a sloop that had been 
driven thither by the storms, saw our distress, and as we were 
hesitating and deliberating, sent his boat, which, by Col's order, 
transported us to the isle of Ulva. vVe were introduced to lVlr. 
Macquarry, the head of a small clan, whose ancestors have 
reigned in Viva beyond memory, but who has reduced himself, 
by his negligence and folly, to the necessity of selling this vener- 
able patrimony 3. 
On the next morning we passed the strait to Inch Kenneth, 
an island about a mile in length, and less than balf a mile broad; 
in which Kenneth, a Scottish saint, established a small clerical 
college, of which the chapel walls are still standing4. At this 
place I beheld a scene which I wish you and my master and 
Queeney had partaken. 


I 'Dr. Johnson said it was a dreary 
country, much worse than Sky. I 
differed from him. "0, Sir (said he), 
a most dolorous country.'" Life, v. 
3 18 . He had in mind the march of 
'the adventurous bands' in Paradise 
Lost, Bk. ii. 1. 618 :- 
'Through many a dark and dreary 
vale 
They passed, and many a region 
dolorous.' 
In his J oltrney he speaks of this 
tract as 'this gloom of desolation.' 
JVorks, ix. 136. 
2 They had hopcd to crosS over to 


Inch Kenneth, where they were to 
stay a night on their way to Iona. It 
was in the Sound of VIva that poor 
Col was drowned on September 25 
of the following year. Post, p. 331, 
and Life, v. 331. 
3 Lzfe, iii. 126,7; v.319. 
4 'Inch Kenneth was once a 
seminary of ecclesiastics, subordinate, 
I suppose, to Icolmkill. Sir AIl2.n 
had a mind to trace the foundations 
of the college, but neither I nor Mr. 
Boswell, who bends a keener eye on 
vacancy, were able to perceive them.' 
Johnson's IVorÃ:s, ix. 141. 


The 



280 


To Mrs. Th ra Ie. 


[A.D. 1773. 


The only family on the island is that of Sir Allan, the chief of 
the ancient and numerous clan of IVlaclean; the clan which 
claims the second place, yielding only to Macdonald in the 
line of battle I. Sir Allan, a chieftain, a baronet, and a soldier, 
inhabits in this insulated desart a thatched hut with no cham- 
bers 2. Young Col, who owns him as his chief, and whose cousin 
was his lady, had, I believe, given him some notice of our visit; 
he received us with the soldier's frankness and the gentleman's 
elegance, and introduced us to his daughters, two young ladies 
who have not wanted education suitable to their birth, and who, 
in their cottage, neither forgot their dignity, nor affected to re- 
member it. Do not you wish to have been with us? 
Sir Allan's affairs are in disorder by the fault of his ancestors, 
and while he forms some scheme for retrieving them, he has re- 
treated hither 3. 
When our salutations were over, he showed us the island. We 
walked uncovered into the chapel, and saw in the reverend ruin 
the effects of precipitate reformation. The floor is covered with 
ancient grave-stones, of which the inscriptions are not now legible; 
and without some of the chief families still continue the right of 
sepulture 4. The altar is not yet quite demolished; beside it, on 
the right side, is a bas-relief of the Virgin with her child, and an 
angel hovering over her. On the other side still stands a hand- 


I Johnson wrote to Boswell on 
November 27 of this year :- 
'Enquire, if you can, the order 
of the Clans: Macdonald is first, 
Maclean second; further I cannot 
go.' Boswell replied: ' You shall 
have what information I can procure 
as to the order of the Clans. A 
gentleman of the name of Grant tells 
me, that there is no settled order 
among them.' Sir vValter Scott in 
a note on this passage says :-' The 
Macdonalds always laid claim to be 
placed on the right of the whole Clans, 
and those of that tribe assign the 
breach of this order at Culloden as 
one cause of the loss of the day. 
The Macdonalds, placed on the left 
wing, refused to charge, and posi- 


tively left the field unassailed and un- 
broken.' Life, ii. 269. 
2 By chambers he means, I con- 
jecture, rooms on an upper floor. 
Boswell describes the place as 'a 
commodious habitation, though it 
consisted but of a few small buildings, 
only one story high.' He mentions 
'little apartments.' Ib. v. 323. 
3 Ib. v. 343, n. 3. 
4 What Johnson means by with- 
out in this passage, which at first sight 
is perhaps not clear, is shown in 
his Journey where he says :-' The 
ground round the chaþel is covered 
with grave-stones of chiefs and ladies; 
and still continues to be a place of 
sepulture.' U
Jrks, ix. 141. 


bel]. 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


281 


bell, which, though it has no clapper, neither Presbyterian bigotry 
nor barbarian wantonness has yet taken away. The chapel is 
thirty-eight feet long, and eighteen broad Y. Boswell, who is very 
pious, went into it at night to perform his devotions, but came 
back in haste, for fear of spectres. Near the chapel is a fountain, 
to which the water, remarkably pure, is conveyed from a distant 
hill, through pipes laid by the Romish clergy, which still perform 
the office of conveyance, though they have never been repaired 
since Popery was suppressed 2. 
We soon after went in to dinner, and wanted neither the com- 
forts nor the elegancies of life. There were several dishes, and 
variety of liquours. The servants live in another cottage; in 
which, I suppose, the meat is dressed. 
Towards evening, Sir Allan told us that Sunday never passed 
over him like another day. One of the ladies read, and read 
very well, the evening service ;-and Paradise was opened in the 
wild 3. 
Next day, 18th, we went and wandered among the rocks on 
the shore, while the boat was busy in catching oysters, of which 
there is a great bed. Oysters lie upon the sand, one I think 
sticking to another, and cockles are found a few inches under 
the sand. 
We then went in the boat to Sondiland, a little island very near. 
We found it a wild rock, of about ten acres 4; part naked, part 
covered with sand, out of which we picked shells; and part 
clothed with a thin layer of mould, on the grass of which a few 
sheep are sometimes fed. We then came back and dined. I 
passed part of the afternoon in reading, and in the evening one 


I In hisJourney he makes it about 
sixty feet in length, and thirty in 
breath. Works, ix. 14I. 
,. In the summer of 1889 I saw the 
fountain still running with a pure 
stream. 
3 , You raised these hallowed 
walls; the desert smil'd, 
And Paradise was open'd in 
the wild.' 
POPE. Eloisa to Abelard,!. 134. 
, Dr. Johnson said that it was the 


most agreeable Sunday he had ever 
passed.' Life, v. 325. See ib. for 
his Latin verses on Inch Kenneth. 
4 'Even Inch Kenneth has a sub- 
ordinate island, named Sandiland, 
I suppose in contempt, where we 
landed, and found a rock with a sur- 
face of perhaps four acres.' J ohn- 
son's Works, ix. 141. The boatman, 
who took me to the island, called it, 
so far as I could catch the sound, 
Sameilan. 


of 



282 


To lIIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


of the ladies played on her harpsichord, and Boswell and Col 
danced a reel with the other. 
On the 19th, we persuaded Sir Allan to launch his boat again, 
and go with us to Icolmkill X, where the first great preacher of 
Christianity to the Scots built a church, and settled a monastery. 
In our way we stopped to examine a very uncommon cave on 
the coast of Mull 2. vVe had some difficulty to make our way 
over the vast masses of broken rocks that lie before the entrance, 
and at the mouth were embarrassed with stones, which the sea 
had accumulated, as at Brighthelmstone; but as we advanced, 
we reached a floor of soft sand, and as we left the light behind 
us, walked along a very spacious cavity, vaulted over head 
with an arch almost regular, by which a mountain was sustained, 
at least a very lofty rock. From this magnificent cavern went 
a narrow passage to the right hand, which we entered with a 
candle, and though it was obstructed with great stones, clam- 
bered over them to a second expansion of the cave, in which 
there lies a great square stone, which might serve as a table. 
The air here was very warm, but not oppressive, and the flame 
of the candle continued pyramidal. The cave goes onward to 
an unknown extent, but we were now one hundred and sixty 
yards under ground; we had but one candle, and had never 
heard of any that went further and came back; we therefore 
thought it prudent to return. 
Going forward in our boat, we came to a cluster of rocks, 
black and horrid, which Sir Allan chose for the place ,vhere 
he would eat his dinner. We climbed till we got seats. The 
stores were opened, and the repast taken 3. 
We then entered the boat again; the night came upon us; 
the wind rose; the sea swelled ; and Boswell desired to be set 
on dry ground: we, however, pursued our navigation, and passed 
by several little islands, in the silent solemnity of faint moon- 
shine, seeing little, and hearing only the wind and the water. 


Ilona. 
,. Mackinnon's Cave. Life, v. 331, 
Johnson's Works, ix. 142, and Foot- 
steþs 0/ Dr. Johnson in Scot/and, p. 
225. 
.
 , We hoped to have procured 


some rum or brandy for our boatmen 
and servants, from a publick-house 
near where we landed; but unfor- 
tunately a funeral a few days before 
had exhausted all their store.' Life, 
v.33 2 . 


At 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Henry Thrale. 


28 3 


At last we reached the island; the venerable seat of ancient 
sanctity; where secret piety reposed, and where fallen greatness 
was reposited I. The island has no house of entertainment, and 
we manfully made our bed in a farmer's barn. The description 
I hope to give you another time 2. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


333. 
To HENRY THRALE 3. 
DEAR SIR, Inverary, Oct. 23,1773. 
We have gotten at last out of the Hebrides. Some account 
of our travels I have sent to my mistress; and have inclosed an 
ode which I wrote in the isle of Skie. 
Yesterday we landed, and to-day came hither. \Ve purpose 
to visit Auchinleck, the seat of Mr. Boswell's father, then to 
pass a day at Glasgow4, and return to Edinburgh. 
About ten miles of this day's journey were uncommonly 
amusing 5. We travelled with very little light, in a storm of 
wind and rain; we passed about fifty-five streams that crossed 
our way, and fell into a river that, for a very great part of our 
road, foamed and roared beside us; all the rougher powers of 
nature, except thunder, were in motion, but there was no danger. 
I should have been sorry to have missed any of the incon- 
veniencies: to have had more light or less rain, for their co-opera- 
tion crowded the scene and filled the mind 6. 
I beg, however, to hear from you, and from my mistress. I 


I For the fine passage in which he 
describes the thoughts which stirred 
him as 'he trod that illustrious island,' 
see his Works, ix. 145, and Life, v. 
334. 
,. If the description was given the 
letter must have been lost. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 177. 
4 He was not aware apparently 
that he would have to pass through 
Glasgow on his way to Auchinleck. 
5 Johnson uses amusing in the 
same sense as Parnell in the passage 
quoted,ante, p. 248. In hisDictionary 
he defines it, 'to entertain with tran- 


quillity; to fill with thoughts that en- 
gage the mind without distracting it.' 
See þost, Letter of April 12, 1781, 
where writing of his affliction at Mr. 
Thrale's death, he says :-' I give my 
uneasiness little vent and amuse it 
as I can.' 
6 'The wind was loud, the rain was 
heavy, and the whistling of the blast, 
the fall of the shower, the rush of the 
cataracts, and the roar of the torrent 
made a nobler chorus of the rough 
music of nature than it had ever been 
my chance to hear before.' Johnson's 
Works, ix. 155. 


have 



28 4 


To Henry 71zrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


have seen nothing that drives you from my thoughts, but con- 
tinue in rain and sunshine, by night and day, dear Sir, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


ODEI 
Inclosed in the preceding Letter. 
Permeo terras, ubi nuda rupes 
Saxeas miscet nebulis minas, 
Torva ubi rident steriles coloni 
Rura labores. 
Pervagor gentes hominum ferorum, 
Vita ubi nullo decorata cultu 
Squallet informis, tugurîque fumis 
Foeda latescit 
Inter erroris salebrosa longi, 
Inter ignotae strepitus loquelae, 
Quot modis mecum, quid agat, requiro, 
Thralia dulcis. 
Seu viri curas, pia nupta, mulcet, 
Seu fovet mater sobolem benigna, 
Sive cum libris novitate pascit 
Sedula mentem; 
Sit memor nostri, fideique merces 
Stet fides constans, meritoque blandum 
Thraliae discant resonare nomen 
Littora Skiae. 


Scriptum in Skiâ, Sept. 6. 


334. 
To HENRY THRALE 2. 
DEAR SIR, Inverary, Oct. 26, 1773. 
The Duke kept us yesterday, or we should have gone for- 
ward. Inverary is a stately place 3 . We are now going to 
Edinburgh by Lochlomond, Glasgow, and Auchinleck. 
I wrote to you from Mull, to send for l\lr. Levett or Mrs. 
Williams, and let them have ten pounds, if it was wanted 4. I 


I The original manuscript of this 
Ode with corrections was sold by 
Messrs. Sotheby & Co., on April 8, 
1891, for LI9 5 s . 


2 Piozzi Letters, i. 181. 
3 "What I admire here,' said J ohn- 
son, 'is the total defiance of expense.' 
L[(c, v. 355. 4 Ante, p. 276. 
find 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Tkrale. 


28 5 


find that the passage of these insular letters is not very certain, 
and therefore think it necessary now to write again. 
I do not limit them to ten pounds; be pleased to let them 
have what is necessary. 
I have now not heard from London for more than two 
months I ; surely I shall have many letters in Edinburgh. I 
hope my dear mistress is well, with all her tribe. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


335. 


To THE DUKE OF ARGYLE. 
Rosedow, Lochlomond, October 27, 1773. Published in the Lije, v. 
3 6 3. 
This letter is misdated by Boswell, October 29. It was written either 
on the 26th or 27th. 


336. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Glasgow, Oct. 28,1773. 
I have been in this place about two hours. On Monday, 
25th, we dined \\lith the Duke and Duchess of Argyle, and the 
Duke lent me a horse for my next day's journey 3. 
26th: We travelled along a deep valley between lofty moun- 
tains, covered only with barren heath; entertained with a suc- 
cession of cataracts on the left hand, and a roaring torrent 
on the right 4. The Duke's horse went well; the road was 


I Dr. Percy wrote from Alnwick 
on October 15 of this year to Sir 
Robert Chambers :-' By a gentle- 
man who called here last week in his 
return out of the Highlands I am in- 
formed that our friend, Dr. Johnson, 
together with his conductor, Mr. 
Boswell, are detained prisoners in 
the Isle of Sky, and have their return 
cut off by the Torrents, &c., and that 
Sir Alexander Macdonald and his 
Lady (at whose house our Friend is 
a captive) had made their escape 
before the floods cut off their Retreat; 
so that possibly we may not see our 


Friend till next sum r releases him.' 
From the original in the possession 
of Mr. W. R. Smith, of Greatham 
Moor, West Liss. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 182. 
3 'The Duke was obliging enough 
to mount Dr. Johnson on a stately 
steed from his grace's stable. My 
friend was highly pleased, and 
Joseph said, "He now looks like a 
bishop." , Life, v. 362. 
4 The valley was Glen Croe, 
through which a military road had 
been made. 


good : 



286 


To Mrs. Tkrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


good; and the journey pleasant; except that we were incom- 
moded by perpetual rain. In all September we had, according 
to Boswell's register, only one day and a half of fair weather; 
and October perhaps not more I. At night we came to the 
house of Sir James Cohune 2, who lives upon the banks of Loch- 
lomond; of which the Scotch boast, and boast with reason. 
27th: We took a boat to rove upon the lake, which is in 
length twenty-four miles, in breadth from perhaps two miles 
to half a mile 3. It has about thirty islands, of which twenty 
belong to Sir J ames. Young Cohune went into the boat with 
us, but a little agitation of the water frighted him to shore 4. 
We passed up and down, and landed upon one small island, on 
which are the ruins of a castle; and upon another much larger, 
which serves Sir J ames for a park, and is remarkable for a large 
wood of eugh trees 5. 
\Ve then returned, very wet, to dinner, and Sir James lent us 
his coach to Mr. Smollet's, a relation of Dr. Smollet 6, for whom 
he has erected a monumental column on the banks of the Leven, 
a river which issues from the Loch. This was his native place 7. 
I was desired to revise the inscription. 
When I was upon the deer island, I gave the keeper who 


I In London that year rain fell on 
eighteen days in September, and on 
thirteen in October.-Ge1Ztlema1z's 
Magazine, 1774, pp. 338, 394. 
2 Johnson writes the name as it is 
pronounced. It is spelt Colquhoun. 
3 Its length is twenty miles, and its 
greatest breadth four miles. Encyclo. 
Brit., 9th ed., xiv. 217. 
4 Just one hundred years later, on 
the night of December 18, 1873, that 
very fate befell one of his descend- 
ants which the young Colquhoun 
dreaded for himself. His boat was 
upset as he was coming home from 
Yew Island, and he was drowned 
with three of his gamekeepers and a 
boy. 
S 'Eugh. [This word is so written 
by most writers, but since the 
original Ip Saxon, or Welsh ywen 


more favours the easier othography 
of yew, I have referred it thither.] A 
tree.' Johnson's Dictionary. These 
yew trees were planted, it was said, 
on the advice of King Robert Bruce, 
in order to furnish the Lennox men 
with bows. Irving's Book of Dum- 
barto1Zshire, i. 347. 
6 Baretti has this curious note 
on Smollett :-' A Scotch wit, who 
had some name in his day.' For 
Johnson's revision of the inscription, 
see Life, v. 367. The copy with the 
corrections in his handwriting is pre- 
served at Cameron, the seat of the 
Smolletts. Irving's Book of DltJ1l- 
bartonshire, ii. 200. 
7 For Smollett's Ode to Leven- 
Water, see Campbell's British Poets, 
ed. 18 45, p. 514. 


attended 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


28 7 


attended me a shilling, and he said it was too much. Boswell 
afterwards offered him another, and he excused himself from 
taking it, because he had been rewa!'tied already. 
This day I came hither, and go to Auchinleck on Monday. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


337. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
HONOURED MISTRESS, Auchinleck, Nov. 3,1773. 
At Glasgow I received six letters, of which the first was 
written August 23d 2. I am now at leisure to answer them in 
order. 
August 23d. Mrs. B_3 has the mien and manners of a 
gentlewoman; and such a person and mind as would not be in 
any place either admired or contemned. She is in a proper 
degree inferior to her husband: she cannot rival him; nor can 
he ever be ashamed of her. 
Little Miss, when I left her, was like any other Miss of seven 
months 4. I believe she is thought pretty; and her father and 
mother have a mind to think her wise. 
Your letter brought us the first certain intelligence of Dr. 
Beattie's pension s. He will now be a great man at Aberdeen, 
where everyone speaks well of him. 
August 25th. I am obliged to dear Queeney for her letter, 
and am sorry that I have not been able to collect more for her 
cabinet 6, but I shall bring her something. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 194. 
2 He had not received a single 
letter since he left Aberdeen on 
August 24. 
3 Mrs. Boswell. She was alive 
when this was published by Mrs. 
Piozzi. 
4 No doubt Boswell's daughter 
Veronica; but she was only about 
four" months old when Johnson saw 
her. Life, v. 26. 
5 She had written to him :-'Every 
body rejoices that the Doctor will get 
his pension; everyone loves him but 
Goldsmith, who says he cannot bear 


the sight of so much applause as we 
all bestow upon him. Did he not 
tell us so himself, who could believe 
he was so amazingly in-natured?' 
Piozzi Letters, i. 186. Goldsmith, 
with immeasurably superior merit and 
greater need, received no pension. 
He was indignant moreover at the 
absurd praise bestowed on Beattie as 
if he had overcome Hume. Life, v. 
273, n. 4. For the pension see ib. ii. 
264, ?t. 2; v. 360. Beattie was Pro- 
fessor of Moral Philosophy at Aber- 
deen. 
6 Ante, p. 196. 


What 



288 


To J1/rs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


What should * * * I and his wife do at the wrong end of the 
town, whither they can carry nothing that will not raise con- 
tempt, and from which they can bring nothing that will not 
excite aversion. He is not to be either wit or statesman; his 
genius, if he follow his direction, will bid him live in Lothbury, 
and measure brandy 2. 
Sept. 8th. I first saw the account of Lord Littelton's death 
in the isle of Raarsa, and suspected that it had been hastened by 
the vexation which his son has given him. We shall now see 
what the young man will do, when he is left to himself3. 
I am at a loss what to judge of Sir * * *. To doubt whether 
six thousand pounds have or have not been paid, as was directed, 
is absurd and childish; he to whom they were due can answer 
the question; and he by whom they were remitted can confirm 
or confute the answer. You should surely write to l\1r. B-. 
Of Sir * * * you had not left me any high notions; but I 
supposed him to be at least commercially honest, and incapable 
of eluding his own bond by fraudulent practices, yet I think Mr. 
T -'s suspicion not to be slighted. Principles can only be 
strong by the strength of understanding, or the cogency of 
religion. 
I do not see how you can much offend by putting Harry's life 


I 'Rice.' BARETTI. Ante, p. 219. 
2 Mrs. Piozzi publishes a letter of 
hers written apparently before J ohn- 
son's, in which she says :-' * * * * 
and her husband set out very prettily, 
and will, I hope, stick to the city. 
Lothbury, as you say.-How in the 
world came you to think of Loth- 
bury?' Piozzi Letters, i. 186. This 
passage clearly seems an answer to 
Johnson's letters. If hers is in any 
sense genuine, it is, I conjecture, 
made up of two or three letters 
written at different times. 
3 Lord Lyttelton died on August 
22. Gentleman's Magazine, 1773, p. 
414. Johnson was at Raasay from 
September 8-12. Horace Walpole 
wrote on September 2: - 'Lord 
Lyttelton is dead. His worthy son 


has added so much to his mass of 
character by histories too opprobrious 
to be entertaining, that even this age 
has the grace to shun him; but then 
he is neither a monarch nor a nabob.' 
Letters, v. 499. He was commonly 
known as 'the wicked Lord Lyttel- 
ton.' See Life, iv. 298, n. 3. Samuel 
Rogers thus described one of the 
tricks which he used to play in his 
boyhood. 'When he knew that the 
larder at H agley happened to be ill- 
supplied, he would invite, in his 
father's name, a large party to dinner; 
and as the carriages drove up the 
avenue, the old Lord (concealing his 
vexation as much as possible) would 
stand bowing in the hall, to welcome 
his unwelcome guests.' Table Talk 
of Samuel Rogers, p. 118. 


into 



Aetat.64.] 


To jlIrs. Thrale. 


28 9 


into the lease, it puts no life out, and therefore does not lessen 
Sir * * *'s interest I. I believe, however, you may depend better 
for peace upon the indifference of his indolence, than the 
approbation of his judgment. I think it should not be 
neglected. 
Sept. 14th: I take great delight in your fifteen thousand trees; 
the greater, for having been so long in a country where trees and 
diamonds are equal rarities. 
Poor V -! There are not so many reasons as he thinks 
why he should envy me, but there are some; he wants 
what I have, a kind and careful mistress; and wants likewise 
what I shall want at my return. He is a good man; and, when 
his mind is composed, a man of parts 2. 
Sept. l.Rth: When I wrote an account of my intention to 
return, I little thought that I should be so long the plaything 
of the wind. Of the various accidents of our voyage I have 
been careful to give you an account, and hope you have received 
it. My deafness went away by degrees. Miss Macleod made 
me a great flannel night-cap, which perhaps helped to set me 
righ t. 
If Sir * * * 3 goes to Bath, it may deserve consideration 
whether you should not follow him. If you go, take two foot- 
men, and dress in such a manner as he may be proud to see. 


I On October 7 Mrs. Thrale wrote with the flea in the story to which she 
to Johnson :-' Harry's life is put in here alludes, see Life, ii. 194, n.2. 
the lease; may he hold it, as my 3 'Her uncle, Sir Thomas Salus- 
father's mother did, for seventy-three bury.'-BARETTI. See ante, p. 193. 
years!' Piozzi Letters, i. 193. He On the death of his first wife, Mrs. 
died in two years and a half from Piozzi writes, 'he said he had no 
this time. Life, ii. 468. kindness but for me. I think I did 
2 V -, says Baretti, was Van- share his fondness with his stud; 
sittart. See Life, 1. 348 ; v.460. J ohn- our stable was the first for hunters of 
son is answering the following pas- enormous value.' He yielded how- 
sage in Mrs. Thrale's letter :-' Mean- ever to 'the blandishments' of a 
time I have seen little except the widow, the Hon. Mrs. King, whom 
man that saw the mouse. He seems he married, 'and then scarce ever 
very ill, and very wild; I fancy he saw or wrote to me or my husband.' 
wants a governess; your merits, as Hayward's Piozzi, i.25O--4. He was 
usual, were talked of; and he made no doubt going to Bath for his health. 
choice of your health as the subject He died on the following October 
of his eulogium.' Pt"ozzt" Letters, i. 30. Gentleman's ivlagazi1ze, 1773, 
185. For her confusion of the mouse p. 581. 
YOL. I. U The 



290 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


The money that you stake is no great venture, nor will the want 
of it be felt, whether you gain or lose the purpose of your 
journey. 
My poor little Lucy is, I hope, now quite recovered I; for I 
have brought no little maiden from the Highlands, though I 
might perhaps have had one of the princesses of Raarsa, who 
are very pretty people, and in that wilderness of life put me in 
mind of your little tribe, by the propriety of their behaviour. 
Oct. 7th. This is the last letter. I have done thinking of 
* * * 2 whom we now call Sir Sawney; he has disgusted all 
mankind by injudicious parsimony, and given occasion to so 
many stories, that * * * has some thoughts of collecting them, 
and making a novel of his life 3. Scrambling I have not willingly 
left off; the power of scrambling has left me 4; I have however 
been forced to exert it on many occasions. I am, I thank 
God, better than I was. I am grown very much superior to 
wind and rain; and am too well acquainted both with mire and 
with rocks, to be afraid of a Welch journey 5. I had rather 
have Bardsey than Macleod's island, though I am told much of 
the beauty of my new property, which the storms did not suffer 
me to visit 6. Boswell will praise my resolution and perseverance; 


I She was his god-daughter. Mrs. 
Thrale had written to him :-' What 
ails dear Lucy I cannot guess, but 
her ear is affected sure enough, and 
she goes about with her head on one 
side.' Piozzi Letters, i. 188. 
2 Sir Alexander Macdonald. Ante, 
p. 244. He was alive when these Let- 
ters were published. It is probable 
tha t Johnson wrote, not 'thinking l!/,' 
but' thinking on.' 
3 * * * * is, no doubt, Boswell, 
who records on October 15 :-' The 
penurious gentleman of our acquaint- 
ance, formerly alluded to, afforded us 
a topick of conversation to-night. 
Dr. Johnson said, I ought to write 
down a collection of the instances of 
his narrowness, as they almost ex- 
ceeded belief.' Life, v. 315. 
4 Ante, p. 254 


5 Mrs. Thrale on the death of 
her uncle would become possessed 
of the Welsh estates of her family. 
Hayward's Piozzi, i. 254. In the 
following summer Johnson accom- 
panied her and l\Ir. Tbrale when they 
went to Wales to take possession. 
Life, ii. 281 ; V.427. 
6 Mrs. Thrale had written :- 
'\Vhen you sigh for an island of 
your own, remember that Rasselas 
could never settle the limits of his 
imaginary dominion, but when I am 
grown rich, we will buy Bardsey for 
you; perhaps a sight of Wales in 
the mean time may not be amiss.' 
Plozzl Letters, i. 190. Bardsey Island 
lies off that part of Carnarvon shire 
where she was born. Life, v. 449. 
For Johnson's island see ante, p. 
246. 


and 



Aetat. 64.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


29 I 


and I shall in return celebrate his good humour and perpetual 
cheerfulness. He has better faculties than I had imagined; more 
justness of discernment; and more fecundity. of images. It is 
very convenient to travel with him, for there is no house where 
he is not received with kindness and respect I. 
I wish B- success in his new mine, and hope that the vein 
will be as rich as his wants prompt him to wish it 2. I con- 
gratulate you likewise on the rising reputation of the brewery; 
and hope that the sweets of doing right will so much engage us, 
that we shall never more allow ourselves to do wrong. Forty 
shillings is a frightful price for malt, but we must brew on and 
brew well, and hold out to better times 3. 
Thus, Dear Madam, I have answered your six letters, in part 
too late to be of any use. The regard which you are pleased to 
express, and the kindness which you always show, I do not 
pretend to return otherwise than by warm wishes for your 
happiness. 
I will now continue my narrative. 
Oct. 29th was spent in surveying the city and college of 
Glasgow. I was not much pleased with any of the professors 4. 
The town is opulent and handsome 5. 
30th : We dined with the Earl of Loudon, and saw his mother 
the Countess; who, at ninety-three, has all her faculties, helps at 
table, and exerts all the powers of conversation that she ever 
had 6. Though not tall, she stoops very much. She had lately 
a daughter, Lady Betty, whom, at seventy, she used to send 


I See J ohnson's 
Vorks, ix. I; 
Life, v. 52, and þost, Letter of June 
23, 1784. 
2 She had written to him on 
October 7 :-' Our old friend B-, 
by the way, has found a vein of lead 
ore on his estate, and I feel very glad 
to hear it somehow. You used to hate 
that poor fellow, because he could 
not wait for his dinner till four 
o'clock, but he may have it now to a 
minute, and I doubt not but the wild 
fowl will be done to a fUr/t.' Piozzi 
Letters, i. 192. 
3 Ante, p. 194. 


4 'The general impression upon 
my memory,' writes Boswell, 'is that 
we had not much conversation at 
Glasgow, where the professors, like 
their brethren at Aberdeen, did not 
venture to expose themselves much to 
the battery of cannon which they knew 
might play upon them.' Life, v. 371. 
5 'Dr. Johnson told me, that one 
day in London, when Dr. Adam 
Smith was boasting of Glasgow, he 
turned to him and said, "Pray, Sir, 
have you ever seen Brentford?'" Ib. 
P.3 6 9. 
6 Life, iii. 366: v.371. 


U 2 


after 



29 2 


To ./lfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


after supper early to bed, for girls must not use late hours, while 
she sat up to entertain the company. 
31st, Sunday, we passed at Mr. Campbell's, who married Mr. 
Boswell's sister '. 
Nov. 1st: We paid a visit to the Countess of Eglington, a lady 
who for many years gave the laws of elegance to Scotland. She 
is in full vigour of mind, and not much impaired in form. She 
is only eighty-three. She was remarking that her marriage was 
in the year eight; and I told her my birth was in nine. Then, 
says she, I am just old enough to be your mother, and I will take 
you for my son. She called Boswell the boy: yes, Madam, 
said I, we w1ll send him to school. He is already, said she, in a 
good school; and expressed her hope of his improvement. At 
last night came, and I was sorry to leave her 2. 
2nd : We came to Auchinleck. The house is like other houses 
in this country built of stone, scarcely yet finished, but very 
magnificent and very convenient. We purpose to stay here some 
days; more or fewer as we -are used 3. I shall find no kindness 
such as will suppress my desire of returning home. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOH
SON. 


338. 
To MRS. THRALE 4. 
DEAREST MADAM, Edinburgh, Nov. 12,1773. 
Among the possibilities of evil which my imagination sug- 
gested at this distance, I missed that which has really happened. 
I never had much hope of a will in your favour, but was willing 
to believe that no will would have been made. The event is 
now irrevocable, it remains only to bear its. Not to wish it had 


I He had married Mrs. Boswell's 
sister. Life, v. 372. 
2 Ib. v. 374, 401. 
3 Boswell, after stating the great 
differences in character and opinion 
between Dr. Johnson and his father, 
adds :-' Knowing all this, I should 
not have ventured to bring them 
together, had not my father, out of 
kindness to me, desired me to invite 
Dr. Johnson to his house.' Ib. v. 376. 


Johnson says 'as we are used,' being 
well aware that Boswell himself never 
was at his ease with his father. Ib. ii. 
382, n. 1 ; iii. 93, n. I. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 201. 
In the Table of Contents she 
describes this letter as 'a letter of 
consolation on her uncle's having 
bequeathed his estate to another.' 
5 'We had once expected,' writes 
1\1 rs. Piozzi, , Gffiey Place in Hertford- 
been 



Aetat. 64.] 


To l/IIrs. Thrale. 


293 


been different is impossible; but as the wish is painful without 
use, it is not prudent, perhaps not lawful, to indulge it. As life, 
and vigour of mind, and sprightliness of imaginatoin, and flexi- 
bility of attention, are given us for valuable and useful purposes, 
we must not think ourselves at liberty to squander life, to ener- 
vate intellectual strength, to c10ud our thoughts, or fix our atten- 
tion, when by all this ex pence we know that no good can be 
produced. Be alone as little as you can; when you are alone, do 
not suffer your thoughts to dwell on what you might have done, 
to prevent this disappointment. You perhaps could not have 
done what you imagine, or might have done it without effect. 
But even to think in the most reasonable manner, is for the 
present not so useful as not to think I. Remit yourself solemnly 
into the hands of God, and then turn your mind upon the busi- 
ness and amusements which lie before you. ' All is best,' says 
Chene, 'as it has been, excepting the errours of our own free 
will 2.' Burton concludes his long book upon melancholy with 
this important precept, 'Be not solitary; be not idle 3.' Re- 
member Chene's position and observe Burton's precept. 
We came hither 011 the ninth of this month 4. I long to come 
under your care, but for some days cannot decently get away. 
They congratulate our return as if we had been with Phipps or 
Banks; I am ashamed of their salutations 5. 


shire and all its wide domain.' Hay- 
ward's Piozzi, i. 293. In Chauncy's 
History of Hertjordshire, ed. 1700, p. 
407, is a curious print of the old house. 
'It is situated,' writes Chauncy, , on 
the great ledge of hills which crosses 
the northerly part of that County, 
called by some the Alps of England.' 
See also Cussan's History C!f Hcrt- 
fordshire, ii. 96. According to 
Baretti, 'Sir T. Salusbury disin- 
herited Mrs. Thrale on account of 
her superlative impertinence to his 
wife.' 
x Life, iii. 136, n. 2. 
2 See lb. v. 154 for another quota- 
tion from Dr. Cheyne. 
3 Ib. iii. 415, and þost, Letter of 
March 30, 1776. 


4 Boswell records on this day:- 
'We arrived this night at Edinburgh, 
after an absence of eighty-three days. 
For five weeks together, of the tem- 
pestuous season, there had been no 
account received of us. I cannot 
express how happy I was on finding 
myself again at home.' Life, v. 385. 
5 'Every body had accosted us 
with some studied compliment on 
our return. Dr. Johnson said, "I 
am really ashamed of the congratu- 
lations which we receive. We are 
addressed as if we had made a 
voyage to Nova Zembla, and suffered 
five persecutions in Japan." , Life, v. 
392. For Phipps, see ante, p. 210, 
and Danks, Life, ii. 144. 


I have 



294 


To jJl[rs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1773. 


I have been able to collect very little for Queeney's cabinet; 
but she will not want toys I now, she is so well employed. I wish 
her success; and am not without some thought of becoming her 
school-fellow. I have got an Italian Rasselas. 
Surely my dear Lucy will recover; I wish I could do her 
good. I love her very much; and should love another god- 
child, if I might have the honour of standing to the next 
baby. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


339. 
To MRS. THRALE 2 . 
My DEAREST l\iISTRESS, Edinburgh, Nov. 18, 1773. 
This is the last letter that I shall write; while you are 
reading it, I shall be coming home. 
I congratulate you upon your boy 3; but you must not think 
that I will love him all at once as well as I love Harry, for 
Harry you know is so rational. I shall love him by degrees. 
Poor, pretty, dear Lucy! Can nothing do her good? I am 
sorry to lose her. But if she must be taken from us, let us 
resign her with confidence into the hands of Him who knows, 
and who only knows, what is best both for us and her. 
Do not suffer yourself to be dejected 4. Resolution and dili- 
gence will supply all that is wanting, and all that is lost. But 
if your health should be impaired, I know not where to find a 



 By toys he does not mean play- 
things, but the curiosities of her 
cabinet. She had probably begun 
the study of Italian under Baretti, 
and perhaps Johnson 
eans to say 
that he will take lessons with her. 
Baretti has the following note on the 
Italian Rasselas :-' And a damned 
one it is, by a foolish fellow who 
called himself Cavalier Mei. I knew 
him a beggar at Padua. He neither 
knew English, nor Italian, though a 
Tuscan by birth.' 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 206. 
3 Her second son, Ralph, was 


born on November 8. 'He died 
within the year of the inoculated 
small-pox, during which the mother 
used to wash him in cold water in 
consequence of her great skill in 
physick.'-BARETTI. He lived a year 
and eight or nine months, and does 
not seem to have died of inoculation. 
Post, Letters of July 6, 13,20,1775. 
4 'She was not at all dejected at 
poor Lucy's death, and in a day or 
two thought no more of her than she 
would of a puppy-dog.'- BARETTI. 
The child was buried on the day on 
which Johnson arrived in London. 
substitute. 



Aetat. 64.] 


To lVlrs. jJ"Iontagze. 


295 


substitute. I shall have no mistress; Mr. Thrale will have no 
wife; and the little flock will have no mother. 
I long to be home, and have taken a place in the coach for 
Monday; I hope therefore to be in London on Friday the 26th, 
in the evening I. Please to let lVlrs. Williams know. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


340. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], November 27, 1773. Published in the Life, ii. 268. 


34l. 
To MRS. MONTAGU 2. 
MADAM, Jan. II, 1774. 
Having committed one fault by inadvertency, I will not 
commit another by sullenness. \Vhen I had the honour of your 
card, I could not comply with your invitation, and must now 
suffer the shame of confessing that the necessity of an answer 
did not come into my mind. 
This omission, lVladam, you may easily excuse, as the con- 
sciousness of your own character must secure you from suspect- 
ing that the favour of your notice can never miss a suitable 
return, but from ignorance or thoughtlessness; and to be igno- 
rant of your eminence is not easy, but to him who lives out of 
the reach of the public voice. 
I am, Madam, 
Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


I On Saturday the 27th he wrote to 
Boswell :-' I came home last night, 
without any incommodity, danger, or 
weariness, and am ready to begin a 
new journey. I shall go to Oxford on 
l\Ionday.' Life, ii. 268. 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 410. 
For Mrs. Montagu see Life, ii. 
88; iv. 275. 
I n the first page of a copy of 
Johnson's Dictionary the following 


description of him was written this 
year :-' As to his person he is full 
six feet high, of an athletic make, but 
stoops as he walks, which diminishes 
his stature. He is rather of a sallow 
complexion, with a cast in his eye, 
and appears wrapt in contemplation. 
He is above sixty years of age; but 
time does not seem as yet to have 
made any depredations on his con- 
stitution. He is very communicative 
in company, and without anyaffecta- 
Ta 



29 6 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1774. 


342. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
When I was at Edinburgh I had a letter from you, telling 
me that in answer to some enquiry you were informed that I 
was in the Sky. I was then I suppose in the western islands 
of Scotland; I set out on the northern expedition August 6, 
and came back to Fleet Street, November 26. I have seen 
a new region. 
I have been upon seven of the islands 2, and probably should 
have visited many more, had we not begun our journey so late 
in the year, that the stormy weather came upon us, and the 
storms have I believe for about five months hardly any inter- 
mission. 
Your Letter told me that you were better. When you write 
do not forget to confirm that account. I had very little ill 
health while I was on the journey, and bore rain and wind 
tolerably well. I had a cold and deafness only for a few days, 
and those days I passed at a good house 3 . I have traversed 
the east coast of Scotland from south to north, from Edinburgh 
to Inverness, and the west coast from north to south, from the 
Highlands to Glasgow, and am come back as I went, 
Sir, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
Jan. IS, 1774. SAM: JOHNSON. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor, in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 


343. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], January 29, I7 74. Published in the Life, ii. 27 I. 


tion of pedantry. He is a widower, 
and will probably remain in that 
state. Add to this that his manner of 
speaking in conversation is slow, 
but nervous in delivery, and per- 
fectly correct and elegant in diction.' 
Quoted in the Gentleman's Magazine 
for 1849, i. 247. 
I First published in my edition of 


the Life, volume v, page 405, from 
the original in the possession of Mr. 
M. M. Holloway of Hillbrow, Streat- 
ham. For a fae-simile of this Letter, 
see Footsteþs of Dr.Joh1zson in Scot- 
land, page 308. 
2 Sky, Raasay, ColI, Mull, VIva, 
lnehkenneth and lona. 
3 Dunvegan Castle. Ante, p. 245. 
To 



Aetat. 64.] 


To lJ1"rs. Thrale, 


297 


344, 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, February 7, T 774. Published in the Life, ii. 27 2 . 


345. 


To GEORGE STEEVENS. 
[London], February 7, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 273. 


346. 


To GEORGE STEEVENS. 
[London], February 21,1774. Published in the Lift, ii. 273. 


347. 


To GEORGE STEEVENS. 
[London], March 5, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 273. 


348. 


To J AMES BOSWELL. 
[London], March 5, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 274. 


March 7, 1774. 
In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's Auction Catalogue of July 30, 
1886, Lot 1 109 is a letter of Johnson's, four pages quarto, dated March 
7, 1774. 'Containing his ideas as to the laws of literary copyright.' 
This use of the word ideas Johnson would have censured. Life, iii. 196. 
For copyright see zo. i. 437 ; ii. 259, and Hume's Letters to Strahan, 
pp. 17 6 , 274- 28 1. 


349. 
To [? \VILLIAM STRAHAN]. 


360. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
MADAM, March II, 1774. 
Our master is a very good man, and contrives well for me. 
I have now a reason for doing on Monday what I might have 
been persuaded against my wiI] to have delayed till Tuesday. I 
hope on 1\tlonday to be your slave in the morning, and !vlrs. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 208. 


Smith's 



29 8 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1774. 


Smith's I in the evening, and then fall agaîn to my true mistress, 
and be the rest of the week, 
Madam, 
Your most obedient, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


351. 


To MRs. THRALE 2. 
MADAM, Thursday. 
Master is very kind in being very angry; but he may spare 
his anger this time. I have done exactly as Dr. Lawrence 
ordered, and am much better at the expence of about thirty-six 
ounces of blood 3. Nothing in the world! For a good cause I 
have six-and-thirty more. I long though to come to Streatham, 
and you shall give me no solid flesh for a week; and I am to 
take physick. And hey boys, up go we. I was in bed all last 
night, only a little sitting up 4. The box goes to Calcutta 5. 
I am, 
Dearest, dearest Madam, 
Yours, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Let me come to you to-morrow. 


352. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], about March 15, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 27 6 . 


353. 


To \V ARREN HASTINGS. 
[London], March 30, 1774. Published in the Life, iv. 68. 


I Perhaps the Mrs. Smith whom 
Miss Burney describes two years later 
as 'very little, ugly, and terribly de- 
formed, but quick, clever, and enter- 
taining.' Early Diary 0/ Frances 
Burney, ii. 138. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 209. In Mrs. 
Piozzi's volume this letter follows 


the last, and therefore I insert it here. 
3 For Dr. Lawrence, see Life, ii. 
296, and for bleeding, lb. iii. 152. 
4 He sat up when he was oppressed 
by asthma. 
S Johnson writing to Warren Hast- 
ings on March 30, 1774, says that he 
is sending him a book. Ib. iv. 69. 
To 



Aetat. 64.] 


To J a'JJles Boswell. 


299 


354. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], May 10, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 277. 
355. 


[May 27, 1774.] 
* * · The Lady being interested in some suits desires a 
letter of introduction to you. That which you have received 
without understanding it was written for her, and by mistake 
given to the post. 
She flatters me by telling me that when you know that I wish 
her well, you will be more zealous in her causes. I know that 
you need no incitements to zeal or fidelity, but are willing to do 
[rest missing]. 


To [JAMES BOSWELL] 1. 


356. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
Streatham, June 2 I, 1774. Published in the Lift, ii. 278. 


357. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
fLondon], July 4, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 279. 


358. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
r London], July 5, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 280. 


359. 
To ROBERT LEVETT. 
Llewenny, August 16, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 282. 


I From the original fragment in the 
possession of Mr. G. J. Campbell, of 
12 Lombard Street, Inverness. At 
the foot of the letter is written in a 
last-century hand, 'original letter and 
writing of Dr. Samuel Johnson, May 
27, 1774.' 
In the Life of Joh1lson, ii. 277, is 


the letter which the lady ought to 
have delivered, but which 'by misd 
take was given to the post.' There 
can be little doubt that this second 
letter was never delivered, for had 
Boswell received it he would have 
published it. 


To 



3 00 


To lVillia1n Strahan. 


[A.D. 1774. 


360. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, October I, 1774. Published in the Life, ii, 284. 


361. 


To - PERKINS. 
[London], October 25, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 286. 


362. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, October 27, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 287. 


363. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], Novemuer 26, 1774. Published in the Life, ii. 288. 


364. 


To \VILLIAM STRAHAN 1. 


SIR, 
I waited on you this morning having forgotten your new 
engagement; for this you must not reproach me, for if I 
had looked upon your present station with malignity I could 
not have forgotten it 2. I came to consult you upon a little 
matter that gives me some uneasiness. In one of the pages 
there is a severe censure of the clergy of an English Cathedral 
which I am afraid is just, but I have since recollected that from 
me it may be thought improper, for the Dean did me a kindness 
about forty years ago. He is now very old, and I am not young. 
Reproach can do him no good, and in myself I know not 


I First published in my edition of 
the Life, vol. vi. Addmda, p. xxxiii, 
from the original in the possession of 
Messrs. Pearson & Co., 46 Pall Mall. 
2 Strahan, to quote H ume's words 
( H ume's Letters to StraJzan, p. 287), 
the day before Johnson's letter was 
written, 'had ceased to be a specula- 
tive politician, and become a practical 
one.' He had been chosen member 


for Malmesbury in the new Parlia- 
ment which met on November 29, 
1774. Johnson was so far from look- 
ing on his station with malignity 
that he always employed him to 
frank his letters to Scotland, 'that he 
might have the consequence of ap- 
pearing a Parliament-man among his 
countrymen.' Life, iii. 365. 


whether 



Aetat. 65.] 


To Willia1Jl Strahan. 



OI 


whether it is zeal or wantonness. Can a leaf be cancelled with- 
out too much trouble? tell me what I shall do. I have no 
scttled choice, but I would not wish to allow the charge. To 
cancel it seems the surer side I. Determine for me. 
I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, 
Nov. 30, 1774. SAM: JOHNSON. 
T ell me your mind: if you will cancel it I will write some- 
thing to fill up the vacuum. Please to direct to the borough 2. 


I The leaf which Johnson cancelled 
contained pages 47, 48 in the first 
edition of his Journry to the Western 
Islands. It corresponds with pages 
19-20 in vol. ix. of Johnson's Works 
(ed. (825), beginning with the words 
'could not enter,' and ending 'im- 
perfect constitution.' The excision is 
marked by a ridge of paper, which 
was left that the revised leaf might be 
attached to it. Johnson describes 
how the lead which covered the 
cathedrals of Elgin and Aberdeen 
had been stripped off by the order of 
the Scottish Council, and shipped to 
be sold in Holland. He continues ;- 
'Let us not however make too much 
haste to despise our neighbours. Our 
own cathedrals are mouldering by 
unregarded dilapidation. It seems 
to be part of the despicable philo- 
sophy of the time to despise monu- 
ments of sacred magnificence, and 
we are in danger of doing that de- 
liberately, which the Scots did not 
do but in the unsettled state of an 
imperfect constitution.' 
In the copy of the first edition in 
the Bodleian Library, which had be- 
longed to Gough the antiquary, there 
is written in his hand, as a foot-note 
to 'neighbours': 'There is now, as I 
have heard, a body of men not less 
decent or virtuous than the Scottish 
Council, longing to melt the lead of 
an English Cathedral. What they 
shall melt, it were just that they 
should swallow.' It can scarcely be 


doubted that this is the suppressed 
passage. The English cathedral to 
which Johnson refers was Lichfield. 
'The roof,' says Harwood (History 
0/ Lic/zjìcld, p. 75), 'was formerly 
covered with lead, but now with 
slate.' That Addenbroke, who had 
been Dean since 1745, had at a still 
earlier date done Johnson a kindness, 
I have learnt from a letter of his 
published in Notes and Queries, 6th 
S., x. 421. It is dated Stafford (of 
which town he was Rector), May 10 
(the year is not given), and is ad- 
dressed to Thomas Whitby of Hey- 
wood, to whom he recommended 
Johnson as tutor to his son. His 
services had been required for half a 
year, 'but,' wrote Addenbroke, 'his 
affairs won't give him leave to be 
with your son so long. . . . I can only 
say that if Mr. Johnson will do what 
He is capable of doing in that time 
He wiII be of more service to your 
son than a year spent in the usual 
way at the University.' In a note to 
this letter, dated November 18, 1824, 
Mr. T. \Vhitby, of Creswell Hall, 
says; - 'I have frequently heard 
Mrs. \Vells, my father's youngest 
sister, say, that she remembered Mr. 
Johnson being at Heywood as tutor to 
her brother, and that he frequently in- 
structed her in the English language.' 
For an anecdote of Addenbroke and 
Bentley see Monk's Life 0/ Bentley, 
ii. 212. See ante, p. 185. 
2 Johnson was staying at Thrale's 
To 




02 


To -- Hollyer. 


[A.D. 1774. 


365. 


To - HOLLYER I. 


SIR, 
I take the liberty of writing to you, with whom I have no 
acquaintance, and whom I have therefore very little right to 
trouble; but as it is about a man equally or almost equally 
related to both of us, I hope you will excuse it. 
I have lately received a letter from our cousin Thomas 
Johnson complaining of great distress. His distress, I suppose, 
is real; but how can it be prevented? In 1772, about Christ- 
mas, I sent him thirty pounds, because he thought he could do 
something in a shop: many have lived who began with less. In 
the summer 1773 I sent him ten pounds more, as I had pro- 
mised him. What was the event? In the spring 1774 he wrote 
me, and 2 that he was in debt for rent, and in want of clothes. 
That is, he had in about sixteen months consumed forty pounds, 
and then writes for more, without any mention of either miscon- 
duct or misfortune. This seems to me very strange, and I shall 
be obliged to you if you can inform me, or make him inform me, 
how the money was spent; and give your advice what can be 
done for him with prudence and efficacy. 
He is, I am afraid, not over sensible of the impropriety of his 
management, for he came to visit me in the summer. I was in 
the country, which, perhaps, was well for us both: I might have 
used him harshly, and then have repented. 
I have sent a bill for five pounds, which you will be so kind 
to get discounted for him, and see the money properly applied, 
and give me your advice what can be done. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
Dec. 6, 1774. SAoM: JOHNSON. 
To .Mr. Hollyer of Coventry. 


town-house in the Borough of South- 
walk. 
I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 427. 
According to .Mr. Croker, Hollyer 
was the son of one of the sisters of 
Johnson's mother. The tone of the 


letter however is not that of a man 
who is writing to so near a relation 
as his first cousin. F or Thomas 
Johnson see ante, p. 154, n. 3. 
2 Perhaps for and we should read 
7i./ord. 


Tu 



Aetat. 65.] 


To J/Villia1Jl Strahan. 


""0." 
,.... "-) 


366. 
To JOHN HOOLE. 
[London], December 19, 1774. Published in the Lift, ii. 28 9. 
367. 
To \V ARREN HASTINGS. 
London, December 20, 1774. Published in the Life, iv.69' 


368. 
To \VILLlAM STRAHAN I. 


SIR, 
When we meet we talk, and I know not whether I always 
recollect what I thought I had to say. 
You will please to remember that I once asked you to receive 
an apprentice, who is a scholar, and has always lived in a clergy- 
man's house, but who is mishapen, though I think not so as to 
hinder him at the case 2. It will be expected that I should 
answer his Friend who has hitherto maintained him, whether I 
can help him to a place. He can give no money, but will be 
kept in c1oaths. 
I have another request which it is perhaps not immediately in 
your power to gratify. I have a presentation to beg for the 
blue coat hospital. The boy is a non-freeman, and has both his 
parents living. We have a presentation 3 for a freeman which 


I First published in my edition of 
the Life, vol. vi. Addenda, p. xxxv, 
from the original in the possession of 
Messrs. Robson and Kerslake, 25 
Coventry Street, Haymarket. 
2 The apprentice was young 
\Villiam Davenport, the orphan son 
of a clergyman. His friend was the 
Rev. W. Langley, the master of Ash- 
bourne School. Strahan received him 
as an apprentice. Life, ii. 324, n. I. 
See also Nichols's Literary Anec- 
dotes, vol. iii. p. 287. 
The C case' is the frame contain- 
ing boxes for holding type. 
3 In the original Johnson divides 
this word þresentati-on. I am in- 
formed by Mr. W. Lempriere, of 
Christ's Hospital, that' in 1774 the 


Governors were allowed (by Order of 
Court of the Governors, 1 760) to 
exercise one Presentation in three 
in favour of a child whose father was 
not a Freeman of London. Clergy- 
men's children were however ac- 
counted free, by Order of Court, 28 
March, 1765. The restriction as to 
Freemen's children has long since 
been removed.' Boswell writing to 
Temple in 1789 about another child 
says, , I am very sorry to find that it 
is the most difficult thing you can 
imagine to get a boy, not the son 
of a citizen, into Christ's Hospital.' 
Läters of Boswell, p. 269. Coleridge 
and Lamb obtained presentations in 
17 82 . 


we 



3 0 4 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1774. 


we can give in exchange. If in your extensive acquaintance 
you can procure such an exchange, it will be an act of great 
kindness. Do not let the matter slip out of your mind, for 
though I try others I know not any body of so much power 
to do it. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Dec. 22, 1774. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


369. 


DEAR SIR, 
I have upon me in some measure the care of getting a boy 
into the Bluecoat Hospital, and beg your interest with Mr. 
Harley2 or any other man. Our boy is a non-freeman whose 
parents are both living. We have a presentation for a freeman 
which we can give in exchange. 
Charles Congreve 3 is here, in an ill state of health, for advice. 
How long he has been here I know not. He sent to me one 
that attends him as an humble friend, and she left me a 
direction. He told me he knew not how to find me. He is in 
his own opinion recovering, but has the appearance of a man 
much broken. He talked to me of theological points, and is 
going to print a sermon, but I thought he appeared neither very 
acute nor very knowing. His room was disordered and oppres- 
sive, he has the appearance of a man wholly sunk into that 


I From the original in the pos- 
session of Mr. Alfred H. H uth, of 
Bolney House, Ennismore Gardens, 
London. 
2 Harley was an Alderman of 
London. He had been Lord Mayor 
in 1768, and 'had acted with great 
spirit against \\-ilkes.' Horace \Val- 
pole caned him' another Sir \\Tilliam 
Walworth.' Letters, iv. 142; v. 92. 
Junius, writing on July 9, 1771, says 
that 'the whole interest of govern- 
ment in the City was committed to 
his conduct.' For the Bluecoat 
Hospital see last letter. 


3 He had been in the same form 
as Johnson at Lichfield School. Life, 
i. 45. Johnson gave the following 
account of him a year or so later:- 
, He has an elderly woman, whom he 
calls cousin, who lives with him, and 
jogs his elbow when his glass has 
stood too long empty, and encourages 
him in drinking, in which he is very 
willing to be encouraged; not that 
he gets drunk, for he is a very pious 
man, but he is always muddy. He 
confesses to one bottle of port every 
day, and he probably drinks more.' 
Ib. ii. 460. 


sordid 



Aetat. 65.] 


To the ReVere1'ld Dr. Taylor. 


3 0 5 


sordid self-indulgence which disease, real or imaginary, is apt to 
dictate I. He has lived, as it seems, with no great frequency of 
recollection. He asked me, and told me he had forgot, whether 
I was bred at Oxford or at Cambridge. The mind that leaves 
things so fast behind it, ought to have gone forward at no 
common rate. I believe he is charitable, yet he seems to have 
money much in his thoughts; he told me that this ilness [sic] 
would cost him fifty pound [sic], and told it with some appear- 
ance of discontent: he seemed glad to see me, and I intend to 
visit him again. I rather wonder that he sent to me. I men- 
tioned Hector 2 to him whom I saw about ten weeks ago, but he 
heard the name without emotion or enquiry, nor has ever spoken 
of any old companions or past occurrences. Is not this an odd 
frame of understanding? I asked him how long it was since we 
had seen one another, and he answered me roundly, fifty years. 
The greatest pleasure that I have had from him is to find him 
pious and orthodox; yet he consorts with John Wesley 3. 
You and I have had ill health, yet in many respects we bear 
time better than most of our friends 4. I sincerely wish that you 
may continue to bear it with as little diminution as is possible 
either of body or mind, and I think, you return the wish to 
Dear Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
London, Dec. 22,1774. SAM: JOHNSON. 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourn, Derbyshire. 


I For Johnson's dislike of the 
character of a valetudinarian, see Life, 
iii. 152. He had Charles Congreve 
in his mind when he said :-' There 
is nothing against which an old man 
should be so much upon his guard as 
putting himself to nurse.' lb. ii. 474. 
2 It was to Hector that Johnson 
gave the account of Congreve quoted 
above. 
3 Johnson liked \Yesley's society. 
, His conversation,' he said, 'is good, 
but he is never at leisure. He is 


VOL. I. 


always obliged to go at a certain 
hour. This is very disagreeable to 
a man who loves to fold his legs and 
have out his talk, as I do.' lb. iii. 
23 0 . 
4 On his birth-day in 1780 he re- 
corded in his Diary :- 
, I am now beginning the seventy- 
second year of my life, with more 
strength of body, and greater vigour 
of mind, than I think is common at 
that age.' Life oj]OhllS01Z, iii. 44 0 . 


\.. 


Tu 



"'06 
,) 


To Henry Thralc. 


[A.D. 1775. 


370. 


To HENRY THRALE I. 
DEAR SIR, Jan. 2, 1775. 
I have taken the liberty of enclosing a letter, which contains 
a request of which I cannot know the propriety. Nothing, I 
suppose, can be done till the present master of the tap 2 has 
given notice of his resignation; and whether even then it is fit 
for you to recommend, there may be reason to doubt. I shall 
tell Heely 3, that I have laid his letter before you, and that he 
must inform you when he is certain of the intended resignation. 
You will then act as you judge best. There seems to be nothing 
unreasonable in Heely's desire. He seems to have a genius for 
an alehouse, and if he can get this establishment, may thank his 
friend that sent him to the Marshalsea 4. 


· Piozzi Letters, i. 210. 
The date of this letter IS there 
given as June 2. I t is however 
printed earlier than the letter dated 
February 3. On June 2 moreover 
Johnson was in Oxford, and not ' at 
home.' It seems likely that June is 
a misprint for Jan. 
2 'At Ranelag:l House,' as we are 
told by Mrs. Piozzi in a note. 'Heely,' 
writes Hawkins, 'was by Sir Thomas 
Robinson made keeper of the Tap at 
Ranelagh, but was not able to endure 
the capricious insolence with which 
he was treated.' Hawkins's Johnson, 
p. 601. Hawkins merely repeats 
Heely's own account. Horace \Val- 
pole wrote on April 22, 1742 :-' I 
have been breakfasting this morning 
at Ranelagh Gardens; they have 
built an immense amphitheatre with 
balconies full of little alehouses.' 
Letters, i. 158. On June 29, 1744, 
he wrote, 'Every night constantly I 
go to Ranelagh, which has totally 
beat Vauxhall. . . . My Lord Chester- 
field is so fond of it, that he says he 
has ordered all his letters to be 
directed thither.' Ib. p. 309. The 
, tap' would not be very profitable if 


we can trust the account given of 
Ranelagh in 1761 in Dodsley's En- 
virmzs, v. 244, where it is stated that 
, the regale is tea and coffee.' 
3 Heely's first wife was Johnson's 
, near relation '-a first cousin. Life 
of Johnson, ii. 30; iv. 370. He had 
married a second time. Nevertheless 
Hawkins calls him Johnson's rela- 
tion, and speaks of the neglect with 
which he was treated. Hawkins's 
Johnson, p. 599. 
4 The Marshalsea was on St. 
Margaret's Hill, Southwark, near to 
Thrale's Brewery. It was a prison 
for debtors, and for persons who had 
committed crimes at sea, as pirates. 
Debtors within twelve miles of West- 
minster {the City of London excepted} 
might be carried to this prison for a 
debt of forty shillings. Dodsley's 
Environs if London, iv. 265. "Tesley 
described it as 'a picture of hell 
upon earth.' Journal, ii. 267. Heely's 
gratitude was, I suppose, due to the 
creditor who had arrested him, be- 
cause he had brought him so near 
Thrale's house that some interest was 
taken in his fate. 


Th is, 



Aetat. 65.] 


To J a7lleS Jll acþherso1Z. 


3 0 7 


This, I know, is a happy week; you will revel with your con- 
stituents in plenty and merriment I; I must be kept at home by 
my wicked mistress, out of the way of so much happiness. You 
shall however have my good wishes. I hope every man will go 
from your table more a friend than he came. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: J OH
SO
. 


371. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
rLondon], January 14. [775. Published in the Life, ii. 29 0 . 


372. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR. 
rLondon ], January 14, 1775. 
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue of June 14, 18 7 0 , 
Lot 471 is a Letter of Johnson to Taylor, dated January 14, 1775. 
, Offers to send him his Journey to the TVestern Islands-mentions his 
having been to see Congreve, whom he did not find at home.' On the 
same day Johnson wrote to Boswell about his Journey j Life, ii. 29 0 . 
For Congreve see ante, p. 304. 


373, 
To JAMES MACPHERSON. 
l London
, January 20, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 29 8 . 
The Letter published by Boswell was dictated to him from memory 
by Johnson, who added: - 'This, I think, is a true copy.' The original 
was sold for 1:50, on May 10, 1875, at the great sale of Mr. Lewis 
Pocock's Johnsoniana, by Messrs. Sotheby & Co. It is dated January 
20, 1775. In the Catalogue the opening sentence is quoted. It is as 
follows :- 
, Mr. James Macpherson, I received your foolish and impudent note. 
\Vhatever insult is offered me, I will do my best to repel, and what I 
cannot do for myself the law shall do for me. I will not desist from 
detecting what I think a cheat from any fear of the menaces of a 
Ruffian.' 
In the Life it stands thus :- 
'MR. JAMES MACPHERSON, 
, I received your foolish and impudent letter. Any violence offered 


I Alzte, p. 206. 

 2 


me 



3 08 


To Henry Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


me I shall do my best to repel; and what I cannot do for myself, the 
law shall do for me. I hope I shall never be deterred from detecting 
what I think a cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian.' 


374. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], January 21, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 29 2 . 


375. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], January 28, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 294. 


376. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
MADAM, February 3, 1775. 
So many demands are made upon me, that if you give leave 
I will stay here till Tuesday. l\1y pamphlet has not gone on at 
all 2. Please to send by the bearer the papers on my table; and 
give my love to my brother and sisters 3. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


377. 
To DR. LAWRENCE. 
[London], February 7,1775. Published in the Life, ii. 29 6 . 


378. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], February 7, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 29 6 . 


379. 
To HENRY THRALE 4. 
DEAR SIR, [London, end of February, 1775.] 
I beg that you will be pleased to send me an attestation to 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 211. 
,. A fortnight earlier he had told 
Boswell that 'he was going to write 
about the Americans.' Life of John- 
son, ii. 292. The pamphlet was 
Taxation no Tyranny. See þost, 
P.309, n.4, for one cause of delay in 
its production. 


3 'Whom he means I cannot guess.' 
BARETTI. Perhaps he playfully 
alludes to Harry Thrale and his 
sisters. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 224. This 
letter is clearly misplaced in that 
collection. I have restored it to its 
proper place. 


Mr. Carter's 



Aetat. 65.] 


To U 7 illia1Jz Strahan. 


3 0 9 


l\lr. Carter's merit I. I am going to-morrow; and shall leave 
the pamphlet to shift for itselP. 
You need only say, that you have sufficient knowledge of Mr. 
Carter to testify that he is eminently skilful in the art which he 
professes, and that he is a man of such decency and regularity of 
manners, that there will be no danger from his example to the 
youth of the colleges; and that therefore you shall consider it as 
a favour if leave may be obtained for him to profess horseman- 
ship in the University. 


I am, &c., 
SA:\I: JOHNSON. 
Please to free 3 this letter to Miss Lucy Porter in Lichfield. 


380. 
To J AMES BOSWELL. 
[London], February 25, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 309' 


To \VILLIAM STRAHAN 4. 


381, 


SIR, 
I am sorry to see that all the alterations proposed are 


. 


I Mr. Carter or his affairs are 
mentioned in the Letters of March 3, 
April I, June 1,6, 7, 11, 23, July 13, 
and August I of this year, and also 
in the Life, ii. 424. Baretti describes 
him as ' a poor riding-master in the 
Borough of Southwark.' Viscount 
Cornbury, Lord Hyde, who died in 
1753 (Chester, WestmÙlstèr A bbey Re- 
gisters, p. 385), left by his will' divers 
1\1 SS. of his great-grandfather, Edward 
Earl of Clarendon, to Trustees, wi th 
a direction that the money to arise 
from the sale or publication thereof, 
should be employed as a beginning 
of a fund for supporting a Manage 
or Academy for riding and other 
useful exercises in Oxford.' As he 
died before his father, this bequest 
did not take effect. H is sister, the 
Dowager Duchess of Queensberry, 
whose property these MSS. became, 
complied with his wishes. It was 


found however that' the scheme was 
not likely to be soon carried into 
execution, the profits arising from the 
Clarendon Press being from some 
mismanagement very scanty.' This 
set Johnson in his zeal to attempt 
the reformation of the Press. The 
scheme for the riding-school dropped 
through, and the money derived 
from the publication of the l\ISS. 
was allowed to accumulate. By 
1860 it amounted to [10,000. In 
1872 it was spent in adding the 
Clarendon Laboratory to the U ni- 
versity 
luseum. See Life of John- 
SOl1, ii. 424; vi. Addenda, p. I, and 
Collectll1zea, First Series, i. 305. 
2 It was to Oxford that he was 
going. 
3 Johnson does not in his Dic- 
tionary give to free, used in this 
sense, though he does give to frank. 
4 First published in my edition 
evidences 



3 10 


To vVillialn Strahan. 


[A.D. 1775. 


evidences of timidity. You may be sure that I do [? not] wish 
to publish, what those for whom I write do not like to have 
published. But print me half a dozen copies in the original 
state, and lay them up for me. It concludes well enough as it is. 
\Vhen you print it, if you print it, please to frank one to 
me here, and frank another to Mrs. Aston at Stow Hill, Lichfield. 
The changes are not for the better, except where facts were 
mistaken. The last paragraph was indeed rather contemptuous, 
there was once more of it which I put out myself. 
I am, Sir, your humble Scrvant
 
[Oxford], l\Iarch 1,1775. SAM: JOIlNSO:N. 
382. 
SIR, To WILLIAM STRAHAN I. 
Our post is so unskilfully managed that we can very rarely, 
if ever, answer a letter from London on the day when we receive 
it. Your pages were sent back the next post, for there was 
nothing to do. I had no great difficulty in persuading myself 
to admit the alterations, for why should I in defense 2 of the 
ministry provoke those, whom in their own defense they dare 
of Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. vi. by for him in the state in which he 
Addenda, p. xxxvi, from the original had '\vished to publish it. It seems 
in the possession of Mr. Frank T. that the last paragraph had been 
Sabin, of 10 and 12, Garrick Street, struck out by the reviser, for John- 
Covent Garden. This letter refers son says 'it was rather con- 
to Taxation no Tyranny, which was temptuous.' He does not think it 
published before March 21,1775, the needful to supply anything in its 
date of Boswell's arrival in London. place, for he says 'it concludes well 
Lift, ii. 311. Boswell says that he enough as if is.' I do not know 
had in his possession 'a few proof whether any of these six copies are 
leaves of it marked with corrections in existence. Boswell had only seen 
in Johnson's own hand-writing.' Ib. a few proof-leaves with corrections 
P.313. Johnson, he says, 'owned to in Johnson's hand-writing. A copy 
me that it had been revised and cur- might be found in the possession of 
tailed by some of those who were one of Strahan's descendants. 
then in power.' When Johnson I From the original in the posses- 
writes 'when you print it, if you sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Font- 
print it,' he uses, doubtless, þrint hill House. 
in the sense of striking off coþies. I t was no doubt written to .William 
The pamphlet was, we may assume, Strahan, and refers to the corrections 
in type before it was revised by in Taxation no Tyranny. 
'those in power.' The corrections 2 Johnson in his Dictionary spells 
had been made in the proof-sheets. this word difenæ. 
Johnson asks to have six copies laid 


nut 



Aetat. 65.] 


To Airs. Thrale. 


3 11 


not provoke.-But are such men fit to be the govern ours of 
kingdoms I ? 
They are here much discouraged by the last motion, and 
undoubtedly every man's confidcnce in Government must be 
diminished. yet if Lives can be saved. some deviation from rigid 
policy may be excused 2. 
I expect to return some time in the next week, perhaps not 
till the latter end. 
Do not omit to have the presentation pamflets [sic] done and 
sent to lVlrs. \Villiams, and lay by for me the half dozen 
which you print without correction, and please to send me one 
by the post of the corrected books. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
1\larch 3, 1775. SAM: J OHNSOK. 
University College, [Oxford]. 
You will send to Mr. Cooper 3 and such as you think proper 
either in my name or your own. 


383. 


To MRS. THRALE 4. 
DEAR lVIADAM, University College, [Oxford], March 3, 1775. 
I am afraid that something has happened to occupy your 


I For his contempt of Lord 
North's Ministry see Life. iii.l; iV.139. 
2 'The last motion' was Lord 
North's Propositions for Conciliating 
the Differences with America, debated 
on February 20 and 27. 'He,' said 
Fox, 'who has been hitherto all 
violence and war is now treading 
back his steps to peace.' Pari. 
Hist. xviii. 329. Horace \Valpole 
wrote on February 18 :-' The war 
with America goes on briskly, that 
is as far as voting goes. A great 
majority in both Houses is as brave 
as a mob ducking a pickpocket.' 
.f.etters, vi. 191. On the 28th he 
wrote: - · The gates of Janus's tcmpJc 


are open and shut every other day; 
the porter has a sad time of it, and 
deserves a reversion for three lives. 
vVe are sending the Americans a 
sprig of olive, lapped up in an Act 
for a famine next year; for we are as 
merciful as we are stout.' Ib. The 
'Act for a famine' was a Bill to re- 
strain tne Trade and Commerce of the 
New England Colonies, debated on 
February 24. Pari. Hist. xviii. 379. 
3 Perhaps Grey Cooper, Joint 
Secretary of the Treasury. Court 
and City Register, 1775, p. 93. 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 212. 
Dr. \\'ilIiam Scott (afterwards 
Lord Stowell), who had been ]ohn- 
mind 



3 I2 


To lVIrs. Tkrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


mind disagreeably, and hinder you from writing to me, or think- 
ing about me. 
The fate of my proposal for our friend Mr. Carter will be 
decided on Monday. Those whom I have spoken to are all 
friends. I have not abated any part of the entrance or payment, 
for it has not been thought too much, and I hope he will have 
scholars. 
I am very deaf; and yet cannot well help being much in com- 
pany, though it is often very uncomfortable. But when I have 
done this thing, which I hope is a good thing, or find that I can- 
not do it, I wish to live a while under your care and protection. 
The imperfection of our post makes it uncertain whether we 
shall receive letters, sooner than we must send them; this is 
therefore written while I yet do not know whether you have 
favoured me or no. I was sufficiently discontented that I heard 
nothing yesterday. But sure all is well. I am, dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


384. 
To [? \VILLIAM STRAHAN]. 
[Oxford], March 6, 1775. 
In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's Auction Catalogue of July 30, 
1886, Lot II II is a Letter of Johnson, one page quarto, dated March 
6, 1775, written, I believe, to \Vi11iam Strahan. 


385. 


To THE REVEREND DR. THOMAS F01:'HERGILL. 
[London], March 26, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 333. 


386. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
MADAM, [Johnson's Court, London], April I, 1775. 
I had mistaken the day on which I was to dine with Mr. 


son's companion from Newcastle to 
Edinburgh, was at this time the 
senior of the two tutors at University 
College. His younger brother, John 
Scott (afterwards Earl of Eldon), was 
giving lectures on law in the College. 


He had lost his fellowship by his 
marriage, and was generally residing 
during this period in New Inn Hall. 
Twiss's Life of Lord Eldon, ed. 1846, 
i. 63-67. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 213. 


Bruce, 



Aetat. 65.] 


To Airs. Thrale. 


"'1" 
.) J 


Bruce, and hear of Abissinia, and therefore am to dine this day 
with Mr. Hamilton x. 
The news from Oxford is, that no tennis-court can be híred at 
any price; and that the Vice-Chancellor will not write to the 
Clarendon trustees without some previous intimation that his 
request will not be unacceptable. We must therefore find some 
way of applying to Lord Mansfield, who with the Archbishop of 
York and the Bishop of Chester holds the trust. Thus are we 
thrown to a vexatious distance. Poor... 2! do not tell him. 
The other Oxford news is, that they have sent me a degrce 
of Doctor of Laws, with such praises in the diploma as, perhaps, 
ought to make me ashamed; they are very like your praises. 
I wonder whether I shall ever shew them to you 3. 
Boswell will be with you 4. Please to ask 1\1 urphy the way to 
Lord :l\1ansfield 5. Dr. vVetherell 6, who is now here, and will be 


I James Bruce had returned to 
England in June, 1774, after an 
absence of twelve years. He did 
not publish his Travels till 1790. 
The stories which he told of Abys- 
sinia were often disbelieved. Horace 
\Valpole says that in the spring of 
1775 George Selwyn met Bruce at 
dinner. 'Somebody asked him if 
the Abyssinians had any musical 
instruments. "Musical instruments! " 
said he, and paused-" yes, I think I 
remember one-lyre." George Sel- 
wyn whispered his neighbour, " I am 
sure there is one less since he came 
out of the country.'" \Valpole's 
Letters, vi. 314. Baretti in a note 
describes him as 'a Scotch impostor, 
who pretended to have been in 
Abissinia, of which he gave such 
accounts as soon to convince every- 
body that he was nothing but an in- 
judicious and impudent Liar.' John- 
son met him at dinner and in the 
evening gave an account of him to 
Boswell. Life, ii. 333. Miss Burney 
described him about a month earlier 
as 'one of the most imperious of 
men. He entered the room like a 
monarch, so grand and so pompous.' 


He could soften however. Early 
Diary of Fll1111}' Burney, ii. 14, 21. 
2 Carter. See ante, p. 3 0 9. 
3 He had received his diploma 
that morning. ' The original,' writes 
Boswell, 'is in my possession. He 
shewed me it, and allowed me to 
read it, but would not consent to my 
taking a copy of it, fearing perhaps 
that I should blaze it abroad in his 
life-time. His objection to this ap- 
pears from his 99th letter to 1\1 rs. 
Thrale, whom in that letter he thus 
scolds for the grossness of her flattery 
of him.' Hereupon Boswell quotes 
the passage in the text. Life, ii. 332, 
n. I. 
A degree by diploma differs from 
an honorary degree as 'it confers 
immediate and full academical privi- 
leges.' Cox's Recollections of Ox- 
ford, p. 6. See ante, p. 137, 11. 5. 
4 Perhaps this refers to that day 
week when Boswell dined at Mr. 
Thrale's. Life, ii. 349. 
5 1\1 urphy, as a barrister, was 
likely to know the best "ay of ap- 
proaching Lord :\lansfield. 
6 The :Master of University Col. 
lege, Oxford. Ib. ii. 356. 


herc 



3 1 4 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1775. 


here for some days, is very desirous of seeing the brewhouse; I 
hope Mr. Thrale will send him an invitation. He does what he 
can for Carter. 
To-day I dine with Hamilton; to-morrow with Hoole I ; on 
Monday with Paradise 2; on Tuesday with master and mis- 
tress J; on Wednesday with Dilly 4; but come back to the 
Tower 5. 


Sic nunquam rediturus labitur ann us. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
Poor Mrs. Williams is very bad, worse than I ever saw her. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 6. 


387. 


DEAR SIR, 
\Vhen shall I come down to you? I believe I can get 
away pretty early in May, if you have any mind of me 7 ; If you 
have none, I can move in some other direction. So tell me what 
I shall do. 
I have placed young Davenport in the greatest printing house 
in London. and hear no complaint of him but want of size, which 
will not hinder him much. He may when he is a journeyman 
always get a guinea a week 8. 
The patriots pelt me with answers. Four pamflets [sic]. I 


I Boswell was one of the guests. 
Life, ii. 334. 
2 Ib. iv. 364, n. 2. Strange words 
were sometimes heard at l\1r. Para- 
dise's table. ' Nothing could be 
more elegant or refined than Mrs. 
Paradise's whole exterior; her voice 
was gentle and her manner de
 
liberate. At the head of her table, 
with a large dinner-party, perceiving 
that a plate before her was not quite 
clean, she beckoned the servant, and 
said to him in an audible whisper :- 
" If you bring me a dirty plate again 
I will break your head with it.'" 
1\liss Hawkins's i11emoirs, i. 72. 
, Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. 


4 Boswell was one of the guests. 
Life, ii. 338. 
5 Mrs. PiozzÌ says in a note:- 
, The Tower was a separate room at 
Streatham, where Dr. Johnson slept.' 
On this Baretti remarks: - , She 
dreamt when she wrote this note. 
The Tower was a part of the house 
in the Borough, and at Streatham 
there is no Tower.' 
6 First published in Noles and 
Queries, 6th S., v. 422. 
7 Johnson does not give in his 
Dictionary any instance of this idiom. 
8 Ante, p. 3 0 3. Johnson had seen 
the lad a few days before and had 
given him a guinea. Life, ii. 323. 
think. 



Aetat. 65.] 


To AIrs. Thrale. 


3 1 5 


think, already, besides newspapers and rcviews, have been dis- 
charged against me. I have tried to read two of them, but did 
not go through them I. 
Now and then I call on Congreve 2, though I have little or no 
reason to think that he wants or wishes to see me. I sometimes 
dispute with him, but I think he has not studied. 
He has really ill health, and seems to have given way to that 
indulgence which sickness is always in too much haste to claim. 
He confesses a bottle a day. 
I am. Sir, 
Your humble Servant, 
April 8, 1775. SAM: JOHXSON. 
To the Rev d Dr. Taylor at Ashborne, Derbys. 


388. 


To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London], April 17, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 361. 


389. 
To THE LAIRD OF RASAY. 
London, May 6, 17 75. Published in the Life, v. 412. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 


390. 


May 12, 1775. 
And so, my dearest Mistress, you lie a bed hatching sus- 
plclOns. I did not mean to reproach you, nor meant any thing 
but respect, and impatience to know how you did. 
I wish I could say or send any thing to divert you; but I have 
done nothing and seen nothing. I dined one day with Paoli \ 


1 Boswell records on April 2:- 
'His Taxation no Tyranny being 
mentioned, he said, " I think I have 
not been attacked enough for it. 
Attack is the re-action; I never 
think I have hit hard, unless it re- 
bounds." BOSWELL. "I don't know, 
Sir, what you would be at. Five or 
si}, shots of small arms in every 
newspaper, and repeated cannonad- 


ing in pamphlet, might, I think, 
satisfy you.'" Life, ii. 335. 
2 Ante, p. 3 0 4. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 21 5. 
Mrs. Thrale eight days earlier had 
given birth to a daughter, Frances 
Anna, who only lived seven months. 
4 For an account of General Paoli, 
the Corsican patriot, see Life, ii. 
71. 


and 



3 1 6 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


and yesterday with Mrs. Southwells X, and called on Congreve. 
Mr. Twiss, hearing that you talked of despoiling his book of the 
fine print, has sent you a copy to frame 2. He is going to 
Ireland, and I have given him letters to Dr. Leland 3 and Mr. 
Falkner 4. 
Mr. IVI- 5 is so ill that the Lady is not visible; but yester- 
day I had I know not how much kiss of Mrs. Abington 6, and 
very good looks from Miss * * * the maid of honour. 
Boswell has made me promise not to go to Oxford till he leaves 
London; I had no great reason for haste, and therefore might 
as well gratify a friend. I am always proud and pleased to have 
my company desired. Boswell would have thought my absence 
a loss, and I knew not who else would have considered my 
presence as profit. He has entered himself at the Temple, and 
I joined in his bond. He is to plead before the Lords, and 
hopes very nearly to gain the cost of his journey 7. He lives 


I A misprint, no doubt, for South- 
well. Ante, p. 205. 
2 'An Ideot [sit:] who wrote his 
Travels Ùz Sþain, wherein there was 
a print by Cypriani and Bartolozzi ; 
very fine, the only thing valuable in 
that book.' BARETTI. Johnson had 
been lately reading the book. Life, 
ii.345. From one of the two copies 
in the Bodleian this fine print has 
been stolen-or at least removed. 
For a lively account of Twiss see the 
Early Diary oj Fanny Burney, i. 
279- 2 94. 
3 See Life, i. 489. 
4 George Faulkner, whom Swift 
more than forty years earlier had de- 
scribed as.' the prince of Dublin 
printers.' Swift's Works, ed. 1803, 
xviii. 288. He died in the following 
August. 
Twiss published in 1776 A Tozer 
to Ireland. In it he mentions (p. 
180) that when he visited Voltaire 
at Ferney, the talk fell on travelling. 
Voltaire gave him the following line 
in his own handwriting :-' An Eng- 


lishman who goes to Italy leaves 
men to see pictures.' 
5 Perhaps the gentleman described 
in the following passage in one of 
Mrs. Thrale's letters to Johnson:- 
'Mr. 1\1- was robbed, going home 
two nights ago, and had a comical 
conversation with the highwayman, 
about behaving like a gentleman. He 
paid four guineas for it.' Piozzi 
Letters, i. 185. 
6 A mont4 earlier he had supped 
at this actress's house 'with some 
fashionable people; and he had 
seemed much pleased with having 
made one in so elegant a circle.' 
Life, ii. 349. See Walpole's Letters, 
v. 329, for a letter to her full of 
compliments. Northcote described 
her as 'the Grosvenor Square of 
comedy.' Conversations of Nortll- 
cote, p. 298. 
7 To the kindness of Mr. H. \V. 
Lawrence, Sub- Treasurerofthe Inner 
Temple, I owe the following copy of 
the entries of Boswell's Bonds on ad- 
mission and call ;- 


much 



Aetat.65.] 


To Mrs. Th 1'a Ie. 


3 1 7 


much \\-ith his friend Paoli, who says, a man must see Wales to 
enjoy England I. 
The book which is now most read, but which, as far as I have 
gone, is but dull, is Gray's letters, prefixed by Mr. Mason to his 
poems. I have borrowed mine, and therefore cannot lend it, 
and I can hardly recommend the purchase 2. 
'Bond on Admission [50 
Principals Securities 
Boswell, James Johnson, Samuel 


Delivered IIp on 
Call Hilary T. 1786. 


Dates 
8th j"rfay 1775 


Bond on Call [100 
Principals Securities 
Reced ilfr. Boswell's Boswell, James filalone, Edmd 
BondJuly 26th 1799 
T. D. Boswell.' 
T. D. Boswell was James Boswell's 
brother David, who, when he estab- 
lished himself as a merchant at 
Valencia, 'assumed the Christian 
name of Thomas, on account of the 
Spaniards being prejudiced against 
the name of David, as of Jewish 
origin.' Rogers's Boswelliana, p. 5. 
For Boswell's entering himself at 
the Inner Temple, see Life, ii. 377, n. 
1, and iii. 178. Baretti in a marginal 
note says :-' I don't think he wiH do 
much there, as he is not quite right- 
headed in my humble opinion.' It 
was in a Scotch appeal case that Bos- 
well was this year to plead before the 
Lords. His fees in all amounted to 
forty-two guineas, as is shown in 
Johnson's Letter of May 22. 
On the dayon which the letter in the 
text was written Boswell, for the first 
time, took possession of the room 
which Johnson had assigned him in 
his house. Life, ii. 375. 
I Boswell wrote to his friend 
Temple on June 6 :-' For the last 
fortnight that I was in London I lay 
at Paoli's house, and had the com- 
mand of his coach. . . . I felt more 
dignity when I had several servants 
at my devotion, a large apartment, 
and the convenience and state of a 


Dates 
11th Febry 1786. 


coach.' Letters 0/ Boswell, p. 200. 
Paoli had met Johnson and the 
Thrales the summer before at Car- 
narvon. Life, v. 448. He looked 
upon \Vales as Johnson looked upon 
Scotland, who said :-' Seeing Scot- 
land is only seeing a worse England. 
It is seeing the flower gradually fade 
away to the naked state.' Ib. iii. 248. 
2 Boswell wrote to Temple on May 
10 :-' Dr. Johnson does not like the 
book; he however says that one 
should consider these letters were 
written in a long series of years, and 
so might do very well at the time.' 
Letters of Boswell, p. 192. Johnson 
a year later said of the book :-' I 
forced myself to read it, only because 
it was a common topick of conversa- 
tion. I found it mighty dull; and as 
to the style, it is fit for the second 
table.' Life, iii. 31. \\'hen he wrote 
Gray's Life he thought more favour- 
ably, at all events, of the early letters. 
'They contain,' he says, 'a very 
pleasing account of many parts of 
their journey.' Works, viii. 476. 
Cowper, when he had read half 
way through them wrote :-' I once 
thought Swift's letters the best that 
could be written; but I like Gray's 
better.' 'H is later Epistles,' he adds, 
I have 



3 18 


T'o 3lrs. Thrall'. 


[A.D. 1775. 


I have offended; and, what is stranger, have justly offended 
the nation of Rasay. If they could come hither, they would be 
as fierce as the Americans I. Rasay has written to Boswell an 
account of the injury done him, by representing his house as 
subordinate to that of Dunvegan. Boswell has his letter, and I 
believe copied my answer. I have appeased him. if a degraded 
chief can possibly be appeased; but it will be thirteen days, 
days of resentment and discontent, before my recantation can 
reach him. l\lany a dirk will imagination, during that interval. 
fix in my heart. I really question if at this time my life would 
not be in danger, if distance did not secure it 2. 
Boswell will find his way to Streatham before he goes, and 
will detail this great affair 3. I would have come on Saturday, 
but that I am engaged to do Dr. Lawrence 4 a little service on 
Sunday. Which day shall I come next week? I hope you will 
be well enough to see me often. I am, dearest l\ladam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


391. 


To THE REVEREND DR. THOMAS LELAND. 
[London], May, 1775. 
A T .etter introducing 1\1r, Richard Twiss. See the I etter of May 12. 


392. 
To GEORGE FAULKNER. 
[ London], .May, 1775. A Letter introducing .Mr. Richard Twiss. 
See the Letter of May 12. 


'I think are worth little as such.' 
Cowper's Works, xv. 38. 
Baretti in a note on Mason's name 
says :-'PoorMasonhasmuchabused 
Johnson since his death, for the great 
reason that Johnson always looked 
on him as a pigmy poet.' 
I Horace Walpole had written five 
days earlier :-' All the late letters 
from America are as hostile as 
possible; and unless their heads are 
as cool as their hearts seem deter- 


mined, it will not be long before we 
hear of the overt acts of war.' Letters, 
vi. 208. The Battle of Bunker's Hill 
was fought on the following June 17. 
2 For the injury done to Macleod 
of Raasay, see Life, ii. 382; v. 410, 
and ante, p. 259, n. 4. 
3 Boswell wrote to Temple on May 
17 :-' I am now at Mr. Thrale's 
villa at Streatham, a delightful spot.' 
Letters of Boswell, p. 193. 
4 Ante, p. 47, n. 2. 


Tn 



Aetat. 65.] 


To .J/rs. Thrale. 


3 1 9 


393. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAl\f, May 20, 1775. 
I will try not to be sullen, and yet when I leave you how 
shall I help it. Bos. goes away on :Monday; I go in a day or 
two after him, and will try to be well, and to be as you would 
have me. But I hope that when I come back you will teach me 
the val ue of liberty. 
Nurse tells me that you are all well, and she hopes all growing 
better. Ralph 2, like other young gentlemen, will travel for im- 
provement. 
I have sent you six guineas and an half; so you may laugh at 
neglect and parsimony. It is a fine thing to have money. Peyton 
and l'vlacbean 3 are both starving, and I cannot keep them. 
Must we mourn for the Queen of Denmark 4 ? How shall I 
do for my black cloaths which you have in the chest? 
Make my compliments to every body. 
I am, &c., 
SAl\I: JOHNSON. 
I dined in a large company at a dissenting bookseller's 
yesterday, and disputed against toleration with one Doctor 
:Meyer 5. 


1 Piozzi Letters, i. 218. 
2 Her second son, who died two 
months later. Post, p. 353. 
3 Two of Johnson's amanuenses 
when he was writing his Dictionary. 
Life, i. 187. The following day he 
wrote to Bennet Langton :-' I have 
an old amanuensis in great distress. 
I have given what I think I can give, 
and begged till I cannot tell where 
to beg again. I put into his hands 
this morning four guineas. If you 
could collect three guineas more, it 
would clear him from his present 
difficulty.' Ib. ii. 379. See þost, 
Letters of April 1, 1776, and June 
26, 1784. 'Peyton was a fool and a 
drunkard. I never saw so nauseous 


a fellow.'-BARETTI. See þost, p. 
3 8 5. 
4 She was the youngest sister of 
George III. Horace \\'alpole wrote 
on the 22nd :-' Our papers will tell 
you that the Queen of Denmark is 
dead-happily for her, I think, if she 
had any feeling.' Letters, vi. 215. 
F or an account of the plot to restore 
her to the throne, which was thwarted 
by her death, see \Vraxall's llfemoirs, 
ed. by H. B. \Yheatley, iv. 176-210. 
5 'Johnson would have made an 
exceBent Spanish Inquisitor. To his 
shame be it said, he always was 
tooth and nail against toleration.'- 
BARETTI. For Dr. Meyer, see Life, 
ii. 253- n. 2. 


To 



3 20 


To Mrs. Thralc. 


[A,D.1775. 


394. 
To BENNET LANGTON. 
[London], May 2 I, I7 75. Published in the Life, ii, 379. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 


395. 


DEAREST LADY, 
One thing or other still hinders me, besides what is perhaps 
the great hindrance, that I have no great mind to go. Boswel 
went away at two this morning. Langton I suppose goes this 
week. Boswel got two-and-forty guineas in fees while he was 
here 2. He has, by his vVife's persuasion and mine, taken down 
a present for his Mother-in-law 3. 
Pray let me know how the breath does. I hope there is no 
lasting evil to be feared. Take great care of yourself. Why did 
you take cold? Did you pump into your shoes? 
I am not sorry that you read Boswel's journa1 4 . Is it not 
a merry piece? There is much in it about poor me. Miss, I 
hear, mentions me sometimes in her memoirs 5. 


1 Piozzi Letters, i. 219. Corrected 
by me from the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Alfred Morrison. The 
blanks which Mrs. Piozzi had left I 
have filled up. 
2 Langton left for Lincolnshire on 
the 26th. Life, ii. 379. Boswell 
wrote to Temple from Grantham 
on the evening of the day he left 
London: -' Mr. Johnson accom- 
panied me to Dilly's [the bookseller], 
where we supped; and then he went 
with me to the inn in Holborn, where 
the Newcastle Fly sets out; we were 
warmly affectionate.' Letters of Bos- 
well, p. 196. The Newcastle Fly ran 
six times a week, starting, or pro- 
fessing to start, from London an hour 
after midnight. I t took three days to 
Newcastle. Grantham, the end of the 
first day's journey, is 110 miles from 
London. Footsteþs of Dr.Johnson Ùz 
Scotland, i. 59. Boswell wrote in a 
second letter :-' My father harps on 
my going over Scotland with a brute 


(think, how shockingly erroneous!) 
and wandering (or some such phrase) 
to London. In vain do I defend my- 
self; even the circumstance that my 
last jaunt to London did not cost me 
[20-as I got forty-two guineas in 
London-doesnotaffecthim.' Letters 
0/ Boswell, p. 20 7. 
3 Johnson, I suspect, means his 
step-mother, with whom Boswell was 
on bad tenns. Life, iii. 95, n. 1. 
Johnson calls his own step-daughter, 
Lucy Porter, his daughter-in-law. Ib. 
i.37 0 . 
4 On August 27 he wrote to Bos- 
well :-' Mrs. Thrale was so enter- 
tained with your Journal that she 
almost read herself blind. She has 
a great regard for you.' Ib. ii. 383. 
The words 'Boswel's Journal' had 
been completely effaced in the ori- 
ginal, but had been written in again 
before the Letter was sent to the 
printer. 
S Mrs. Thrale wrote to Johnson a 
I shali 



Aetat.65.] 


To .lJfrs. Thrale. 


3 21 


I shall try at Oxford what can be done for IVIr. Carter I. \Vhat 
can be done for his daughter it is not easy to tell. Does her 
mother know her own distress, or is she out of her wits with 
pride, or does Betsy a little exaggerate? It is strange be- 
haviour. 
The mourning it seems is general 2. I must desire that you will 
let somebody take my best black cloaths out of the chest, and 
send them. There is nothing in the chest but what may be 
tumbled. The key is the newest of those two that have the 
wards channelled. When they are at the borough, my man can 
fetch them. 
But all this while, dear and dear lady, take great care of 
yoursel( 
Do not buy Chandler's travels 3, they are duller than Twiss's 4. 
Wraxal 5 is too fond of words, but you may read him. I shall 
take care that Adair's account of America 6 may be sent you, for 
I shall have it of my own. 
Beattie has called once to see me. He lives grand at the 
Archbishop's 7. 


few weeks later ;-' I will keep the 
story of the fourteen thousand pounds 
till we meet; so I will aU family con- 
cerns, unless little Queeney sends her 
country þost, as usual, to give in- 
formation of a new sail 0/ ducks, or 
some such important intelligence, 
which wiU not greatly interfere with 
my project.' Piozzl Letters, i. 269. 
I Ante, p. 3 0 9. 
2 For Johnson's compliance with a 
direction for court mourning see Life, 
iv. 325. 
3 Dr. Richard Chandler's Travels 
in Asia Minor. Horace \Valpole, 
writing of Chandler's Travels in 
Greece, says 'the book is ill-written 
and unsatisfactory; and yet he re- 
vived myvisions towards Athens, and 
made me wish I was a great king, and 
could purchase to restore it; a great 
king probably would hold it cheaper 
to conquer it.' Letters, vi. 322. 
VOL. I. \ 


4 Ante, p. 3 16 . 
5 Nathaniel Wraxall published this 
year his Cursory Remarks made in a 
Tour through some 0/ the Northern 
Parts 0/ Euroþe. 
6 James Adair's History 0/ the 
American Indians, London, 1775. 
He was a trader with the Indians of 
the southern states, and resided in 
their country forty years. In his 
elaborate book he attempted to prove 
that they were descended from the 
Jews. Rose's Biog. Diet. i. 85. 
7 I find no mention in Beattie's 
Life of his being at the Archbishop's. 
In this visit to London, 'I lodged,' 
he writes, 'the greatest part of the 
time with my friend, Dr. Porteus, at 
Lambeth.' Porteus was Rector of 
Lambeth; afterwards Bishop, first, 
of Chester, and then of London. Life 
0/ Beattie, ed. 1824, p. 218. 


Dear 



3 22 


To Mrs. Th ra Ie. 


[A.D. 1775. 


May 22, 1775. 
Dr. Talbot, which I think I never told 
hundred pounds to the future infirmary. 
To Mrs. Thrale. 


Dear lady do not be careless, nor heedless, nor rash, nor 
giddy; but take care of your health. 
I am, dearest Madam, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
you, has given five 


396. 


To MRS. THRALE, 
[London], May 24, 1775. 
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue of May 10, 1875, 
Lot 92 is a Letter of Johnson to Mrs. Thrale, dated May 24, I7 75, two 
pages quarto. ' Asking her to send him his " black cloaths,'" of which 
he says: 'do send the cloaths if you send them in a wheelbarrow.' 
Mentions the reason of the delay in his departure-indulges in some 
playful remarks, and in the superscription ealls her 'Dearest of all dear 
Ladies.' It was sold for Eß 6s. 


397. 


To MRS. THRALE X. 
DEAREST LADY, May 25, 1775. 
The fit was a sudden faintness, such as I have had I know 
not how often; no harm came of it, and all is well. I cannot 
go till Saturday; and then go I will, if I can. My cloaths, 
Mr. Thrale says, must be made like other people's, and they are 
gone to the taylor. If I do not go, you know, how shall I come 
back again? 
I told you, I fancy, yesterday, that I was well, but I thought 
so little of the disorder, that I know not whether I said any thing 
about it. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


398. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], May 27, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 379. 


J Piozzi Letters, i. 222. 


To 



A9tat.65.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


3 2 3 


399. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 


DEAR MADA
I, [University College, Oxford], June I, 1775. 
I know well enough what you think, but I am out of your 
reach. I did not make the epitaph before last night; and this 
morning I have found it too long. I send you it as it is to 
pacify you, and will make it shorter. It is too long by near half. 
Tell me what you would be most willing to spare 2. 
Dr. "VVetherell went with me to the Vice Chancellor, to whom 
we told the transaction with my Lord of Chester, and the Vice 
Chancellor promised to write to the Archbishop. I told him 
that he needed have no scruples; he was asking nothing for 
himself; nothing that would make him richer, or them poorer; 
and that he acted only as a magistrate, and one concerned 
for the interest of the University. Dr. Wetherell promises to 
stimulate him 3. 
Don't suppose that I live here as we live at Streatham. I 
went this morning to the chapel at six 4, and if I was to stay 
would try to conform to all wholesome rules. Pray let Harry 
have the penEY which I owe him for the last morning. 
Mr. Colson 5 is well, and still willing to keep me, but I delight 
not in being long here. l'vlr. Smollett of Lochlomond and his 
Lady have been here. \Ve were very glad to meet 6. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 223. I was surprised to find a freshman 
2 The epitaph was for the grave of of Queen's College recording on 
Mrs. Thrale's mother in Streatham November 21, 1778: -' From the 
Church. Post, p. 327. convenient and ready breakfast I eat 
3 The Vice-Chancellor was Dr. of milk, I am able to sit down to 
Fothergill, Provost of Queen's College, study seriously at nine o'clock, at 
known as 'Old Customary.' The least half an hour sooner than any 
night of the great fire in Queen's in body else.' Letters 0/ Radcliffe and 
1778, though he and his family James, p. 50. In the early part of 
escaped with difficulty he contrived last century chapel at Trinity College, 
nevertheless to get on his wig and Cambridge, apparently was at six in 
gown, 'minus which he would not the morning all the year round. 
have been seen abroad for a duke- Monk's L
fe of Bmtley, ii. 247, n. 2. 
dom.' Letters 0/ RadclijfeandJames, 5 Rev. John Coulson, one of the 
p. 269. Fellows of University College. 
4 In the winter no doubt the hour 6 Johnson had visited them at their 
for chapel was )ater. Nevertheless nouse on Loch Lomond. Ante, p. 286. 
Y2 Prny 



3 2 4 


To Jlfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


Pray let me know how you do, and play no more tricks; if 
you do, I can yet come back and watch you. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


400. 
To ::\1RS. THRALE I. 
MADAME, [Oxford], June 5, 1775. 
Trois jours sont passés sans que je reçoive une lettre; point 
de nouvelles, point d'amitié, point de querelles. Un silence si 
rare, que veut-il? je vous ai envoyé l'épitaphe, trop longue à la 
verité, mais on la raccourcira sans beaucoup de peine. V ous 
n'en avez pas dit un mot. Peutêtre que je serai plus heureux 
ce soir. 
J'ai epuisé ce lieu, ou je n'étudie pas 2, et ou si on ôte l'étude, 
i1 n'y a rien, et je ne trouve guere moyen d'echaper. Les voitures 
qui passent par cy, passent dans la nuit 3; les chaises de poste 
me couteront beaucoup. J'envoye querir un passage plus com- 
mode. 
J e dinerai demain chez Ie Vice Chancelier 4, j' cspere de trouver 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 225. 
, A poor French letter, and written 
in a hurry. Johnson never wrote to 
me French, but when he translated 
for me the first paragraph of his 
Rasselas.'- BARETTI. Baretti told 
Malone 'that he never could satisfy 
himself with the translation of the 
first sentence, which is uncommonly 
lofty. Mentioning this to Johnson, 
the latter said, after thinking two or 
three minutes, "Well, take up the 
pen, and if you can understand my 
pronunciation, I will see what I can 
do." He then dictated the sentence 
to the translator, which proved 
admirable, and was immediately 
adopted.' Prior's Life 0/ Malone, p. 
161. There is no copy of Baretti's 
Rasselas in the British Museum, 
Bodleian, or the National Library at 
Paris, neither can I find any other 
mention of it. He published in 1772 
An Introduction to the most useful 
Euroþean languages (in which by 


the way German is not included), and 
in it he gave translations in French, 
Italian and Spanish of six chapters 
of Rasselas, but the first chapter is 
not among them. 
2 Twenty-one years earlier, when 
he was writing his Dictionary, he had 
gone to Oxford ' to visit the libraries.' 
But though he stayed about five 
weeks he collected nothing in the 
libraries for that work. Life, i. 
27 0 . 
3 Johnson wanted a place in a 
coach going from London to Bir- 
mingham. William Hutton, nine 
years later, returning from London 
found all the places taken for two 
days to come. He left in the evening 
of a December day. Hutton'sJourney 
to London, p. 132. 
4 The dinner was likely to be dull, 
for the Vice-Chancellor is described 
as 'a very bashful man. His con- 
versation was pithless and insipid. 
In his old age he took to himself a 
des 



Aeta.t. 65.] 


To lVIrs. Thrale. 


3 2 5 


des choses un peu favorables à nôtre ami infortuné X, mais je n'ai 
nulle confiance. J e suis, 
Madame, 
V otre tres obeissant serviteur, 
SAM: JOHNSON 2. 


401. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
MADAM, [Oxford], June 6, 1775. 
Such is the uncertainty of all human things, that Mr. C- 4 
has quarrelled with me. He says, I raise the laugh upon him, 
and he is an independent man, and all he has is his own, and he 
is not used to such things. And so I shall have no more good of 
C -, of whom I never had any good but flattery, which my 
dear mistress knows I can have at home. 
That I had no letters yesterday I do not wonder; for yester- 
day we had no post 5. I hope something will come to-day. Our 
post is so ill-regulated that we cannot receive letters and answer 
them the same day. 
Here I am, and how to get away I do not see; for the power 
of departure otherwise than in a post-chaise depends upon acci- 
dental vacancies in passing coaches, of which all but one in a 
week pass through this place at three in the morning. After 


wife, and it was the general wonder- 
ment that he had found courage to 
ask anybody to marry him.' Bent- 
ham's Works, x. 37. 
I Mr. Carter. Ante, p. 309. 
2 On the day on which Johnson 
wrote this letter, Horace Walpole, 
sending Sir Horace Mann news of 
the fight at Lexington on April 19, 
where the first blood was shed in the 
war with our Colonies, continues:- 
, So here is this fatal war commenced! 
The child that is unborn shall rue 
The hunting of that day.' 
\Valpole's Letters, vi. 219. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 226. 
4 Mr. Coulson. An eye-witness 
told Mr. Croker that' Coulson was 
going out on a country living, and 


talking of it with pomp. Johnson 
chose to imagine his becoming an 
archdeacon, and made himself merry 
at his expense. At last they got to 
warm words, and Johnson concluded 
the debate by exclaiming emphati- 
cally-" Sir, having meant you no 
offence, I will make you no apology." , 
Croker's Boswell, p. 458. 
5 , Yesterday' was Monday. No 
post left London on Sunday night. 
A letter posted in London on Monday 
would be delivered in Oxford on 
Tuesday; the answer to it would 
leave by the \Vednesday post and be 
delivered in London on Thursday. 
At the present day a letter posted in 
the morning receives its answer in the 
evening. 


that 



3 26 


To .ilfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


that one I have sent, but with little hope; yet I shall be very 
unwilling to stay here another week. 
I supped two nights ago with Mr. Bright X, who enquired 
after Harry and Queeney, to whom I likewise desire to be 
remembered. 
Suppose I should grow like my mistress, and when I am to 
go forward, think eagerly how and when I shall come back, would 
that be a strange thing? Love and reverence have always had 
some tendency to produce conformity. 
Where is Mr. Baretti? Are he and Queeney plague and 
darling as they are used to be 2? I hope my sweet Queeney 
will write me a long letter, when I am so settled that she knows 
how to direct to me, and if I can find any thing for her cabinet, 
I shall be glad to bring it. 
What the Vice Chancellor says respecting Mr. Carter, if he 
says any thing, you shall know to-morrow, for I shall probably 
leave him too late for this day's post. 
If I have not a little something from you to-day, I shall think 
something very calamitous has befallen us. This is the natural 
effect of punctuality. Every intermission alarms. Dearest dear 
Lady, take care of yourself. You connect us, and rule us, and 
vex us, and please us. We have all a deep interest in your health 
and prosperity. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


402. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAREST MADAM, [Oxford], June 7, 1775. 
\Vhat can be the reason that I hear nothing from you or 
from your house? Are you well ? Yet while I am asking the 
question, I know not when I shall be able to receive your answer, 
for I am waiting for the chance of a place in a coach which will 
probably be come and gone in an hour. 


I Probably the Abingdon School- 
master. Ante, p. 157. 
2 'From the Dialogues I wrote for 
that same Queeny a true idea may 
be formed how we were þlague and 
darling to each other.'-B.\RETTI. 


For these Dialogues see Life, ii. 449, 
n.2. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 263. 
This letter is dated by Mrs. Piozzi, 
July 7, but it was certainly written on 
June 7. 


. Y csterda y 



Aetat. 65.] 


To lVIrs. Thrale. 


3 2 7 


Yesterday the Vice-Chancellor told me, that he has written to 
the Archbishop of York. His letter, as he represented it to me, 
was very proper and persuasive. I believe we shall establish 
Mr. Carter the riding master of Oxford. 
Still I cannot think why I hear nothing from you. 
The coach is full. I am therefore at full leisure to continue 
my letter; but I have nothing more to say of business, but that 
the Vice-Chancellor is for adding to the riding-school a house 
and stable for the master. Nor of myself but that I grieve and 
wonder, and hope and fear about my dear friends at Streatham. 
But I may have a letter this afternoon-Sure it will bring me no 
bad news I. You never neglected writing so before. If I have 
a letter to-day I will go away as soon as I can; if I have none, 
I will stay till this may be answered, if I do not come back to 
town. 


I am, &c., 
SAlVI: JOHNSON. 


403. 
To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAREST LADY, [Oxford], June 7, 1775. 
Your letter which ought to have come on Tuesday came 
not till vVednesday. vVell, now I know that there is no harm, 
I will take a chaise and march away towards my own country. 
You are but a goose at last. Wilton told you, that there is 
room for three hundred and fifty letters, which are equivalent to 
twelve lines. If you reckon by lines, the inscription has seven- 
teen: if by letters, five hundred and seventy-nine; so that one 
way you must expel five lines, the other two hundred and twenty- 
nine letters. This will perplex us; there is little that by my 
own choice I should like to spare; but we must comply with the 
stone 3. 
C - 4 and I are pretty well again. I grudge the cost of 


1 Ante, p. 262. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 229. 
This letter was evidently written 
on the same day as the last-\Ved- 
nesday, June 7-after the post from 
London had come in, and after the- 


post for London had left. 
3 The stone of her mother's monu- 
ment. Ante, p. 323. The inscrip- 
tion was cut down to 546 letters. 
Johnson's Works, i. 152. 
4 Coulson. 


gomg 



3 28 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


going to Lichfield, Frank and I in a post-chaise Y; yet I think 
of thundering away to-morrow; so you will write your next dear 
letter to Lichfield. 
This letter is written on Wednesday after the receipt of yours, 
but will not be delivered to the post till to-morrow. I wish 
Ralph better, and my master and his boys well 2. I have pretty 
good nights. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


404. 


To MRS. THRALE 3 . 
DEAR MADAM, [Lichfield], June 10, 1775. 
On Thursday morning I took a post-chaise, and intended 
to have passed a day or two at Birmingham, but Hector 4 had 
company in his house, and I went on to Lichfield, where I know 
not yet how long I shall stay, but think of going forward to Ash- 
bourne in a short time. 
Neither your letters nor mine seem to have kept due time; if 
you see the date of the letter in which the epitaph was inclosed, 
you will find that it has been delayed. I shall adjust the epitaph 
some way or other. Send me your advice. 
Poor Miss Porter has been bad with the gout in her hand. She 
cannot yet dress herself. 
I am glad that Ralph is gone; a new air may do him good. 
I hope little Miss promises well. 
I will write you a longer letter on Monday, being just now 
called out according to an appointment which I had forgotten. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


· See þost, Letter of June 24, 1779, 
where he says that to go from London 
to Lichfield had cost him seven 
guineas. The charge for a chaise 
and pair was ninepence a mile; in 
some districts more. There was a 
duty on each horse of one penny per 
mile. The driver expected at least a 
shilling or eighteen pence for each 
stage of ten or twelve miles. There 
were heavy tolls to be paid atthe turn- 


pikes. See Mostyn Annstrong's 
Adual Survey, &c., p. 4; and Pater- 
son's Bn"tish Itinerary, vol. I, pre- 
face, p. vii. Frank was Johnson's 
black servant. 
2 Ralph was one of Mr. Thrale's 
two sons. Who are meant by' his 
boys' I do not know. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 230. 
4 Ante, p. 41. 


To 



Aetat. 65.] 


To lJ;Irs. Thrale. 


229 


405. 


To lvlRs. THRALE I. 
DEAREST LADY, [Lichfie1d], June 11, 1775. 
I am sorry that my master has undertaken an impracticable 
interest; but it will be forgotten before the next election. I 
suppose he was asked at some time when he could not well 
refuse. 
Lady Smith 2 is settled at last here, and sees company at her 
new house.-I went on Saturday. Poor Lucy Porter has her 
hand in a bag, so disabled by the gout that she cannot dress 
herself. She does not go out. All your other friends are 
well. 
I go every day to Stow hill: both the sisters are now at home 3. 
I sent Mrs. Aston a Taxation, and sent it nobody else, and Lucy 
borrowed it. l\lrs. Aston since that enquired by a messenger 
when I was expected. I can tell nothing about it, answered 
Lucy; when he is to be here I suppose she'll know 4. 
Every body remembers you all. You left a good impression 
behind you. I hope you will do the same at * * * * * 5. Do not 
make them speeches. Unusual compliments, to which there is 
no stated and prescriptive answer, embarrass the feeble, who 
know not what to say, and disgust the wise, who knowing them 
to be false, suspect them to be hypocritical 6. Did I think when 
I sat down to this paper that I should write a lesson to my 
mistress, of whom I think with so much admiration? 
As to Mr. Carter, I am inclined to think that our project will 
succeed. The Vice-Chancellor is really in earnest. He remarked 


x Piozzi Letters, i. 231. 
Mrs. Thrale had spent three days 
at Lichfield in the summer of the 
year before. She would know the 
people and places mentioned. Life, 
v. 428. 
2 She is mentioned, þost, p. 335, 
and in the Letter of May 29, 1779. 
3 l\1rs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston. 
Ante, p. 160, 11. 4. 
4 'She' is Mrs. Aston, of whom 
Lucy Porter was jealous on account 
of her copy of Taxation no Tyra1l11Y. 


5 Probably Lewes, þost, p. 33 2 , 
n. I. 
6 Johnson recorded in his Diary if 
a Journey into Wales :-' August 3. 
Talk with Mistress about flattery.' 
On this Mrs. Piozzi has the following 
MS. note :-' He said I flattered the 
people to whose houses we went. I 
was saucy, and said I was obliged to 
be civil for two, meaning himself and 
me. He replied nobody would thank 
me for compliments they did not 
understand.' Life, v. 440. 


to 



33 0 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


to me how necessary it must be to provide in places of education 
a sufficient variety of innocent amusements, to keep the young 
men from pernicious pleasures I. 
When I did not hear from you, I thought whether it would 
not be proper to come back and look for you. I knew not what 
might have happened. 
Consider the epitaph, which, you know, must be shortened, 
and tell what part you can best spare. Part of it, which tells 
the birth and marriage, is formulary 2, and can be expressed only 
one way; the character we can make longer or shorter; and 
since it is too long, may choose what we shall take away. You 
must get the dates for which you see spaces left. 
You never told me, and I omitted to enquire, how you were 
entertained by Boswell's Journal. One would think the man had 
been hired to be a spy upon me 3. He was very diligent, and 
caught opportunities of writing from time to time. You may 
now conceive yourself tolerably well acquainted with the expe- 
dition. Folks want me to go to Italy4, but I say you are not 
for it. However write often to, Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


I 'J eremy Bentham,' who entered 
Queen's College, Oxford, in 1760, 
, sometimes went to fish as a relief 
from the weary monotony of existence. 
To catch a minnow was an interrup- 
tion to the dulness of the day. But 
even the fishing sports partook of the 
system of neglect with which all 
education was conducted. Generally 
a poacher was hired to go with a 
casting-net. He caught the fish, and 
the youths went and got it dressed 
at a neighbouring inn.' Bentham's 
Works, x. 40. Burke talking about 
games 'said that as there are so few 
who will exercise their minds by the 
study of books, it is better they should 
employ it [sic] this way than let it get 


no energy or exercise at all ; for all 
games are regular, and require some 
reflection or combination of thought. 
Education should ever be considered 
in the light of mitigated and moderate 
restraint.' Burke's Table Talk. .l'.fis- 
cellanies of the Philobiblon Society, 
vii. 22. 
2 Formulary as an adjective is 
not in Johnson's Dictionary. 
3 It seems very improbable that 
Johnson wrote this. 
4 The following year all was 
arranged for a journey to Italy with 
the Thrales, when it was cut short 
by young Henry Thrale's sudden 
death. Life, iii. 19, 27. 


To 



Aetat.65.] 


To Jlrs. Thrale. 


33 1 


406. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAREST LADY, Lichfield, June 13, 1775. 
I now write at 1\1r. Cobb's 2, where I have dined and had 
custard. She and Miss Adey send their compliments. Nothing 
considerable has happened since I wrote, only I am sorry to see 
Miss Porter so bad; and I am not well pleased to find that after 
a very comfortable intermission, the old flatulence distressed me 
again last night. The world is full of ups and downs, as I think 
I once told you before. 
Lichfield is full of box-clubs 3. The ladies have one for their 
own sex. They have incorporated themselves under the appella- 
tion of the Amicable Society; and pay each twopence a week to 
the box. Any woman who can produce the weekly twopence is 
admitted to the society; and wben any of the poor subscribers 
is in want, she has six shillings a week; and I think when she 
dies five pounds are given to her children. Lucy is not one, nor 
Mrs. Cobb. The subscribers are always quarrelling; and every 
now and then a lady in a fume withdraws her name; but they 
are an hundred pounds before hand. 
Mr. Green 4 has got a cast of Shakespeare, which he holds to 
be a very exact resemblance. 
There is great lamentation here for the death of CoIls. Lucy 
is of opinion that he was wonderfully handsome. 
Boswell is a favourite, but he has lost ground since I told them 
that he is married
 and all hope is over 6. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 234. 
2 A misprint for Mrs. Cobb's. She 
was a widow lady; Miss Adey was 
her niece. Life, ii. 466. 
3 Friendly or Provident Societies. 
In the Gentleman's Magazine for 
1736, p. 353, is the following entry:- 
'The demurrer to a bill filed by a 
Society of \Yeavers in Spittle-fields, 
against Mr. Sutton, landlord of the 
house where their club was kept, for 
a sum of 1,30 lent him out of the box, 
was argued before the Barons of 
the Exchequer, when the Court were 


of opinion that they were not a legal 
society, and therefore could neither 
sue nor be sued.' See ib. for 1770, 
pp. 422, 524, for the formation of a 
Provident Society open 'to all persons 
of either sex, Jews exceþted.' I was 
told in Lichfield that' when a man is 
sick it is still commonly said that he 
goes upon the box.' 
4 The owner of the Lichfield 
Museum. Ante, p. 161. 
5 Ante, p. 279, 11. 2. 
6 Boswell had been married nearly 
si
 years. L[fe. ii. 140, 11. 1. 


Be 



33 2 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


Be so kind as to let me know when you go to Lewes I, and 
when you come back, that I may not fret for want of a letter, as 
I fretted at Oxford. Pay my respects to my dear master. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


407. 


To MRS. THRALE 2 . 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, June 17, 1775. 
Write to me something every post, for on the stated day 
my head runs upon a letter 3. I will answer Queeney. Bad 
nights came again; but I took mercury, and hope to find good 
effects. I am distressfully and frightfully deaf. QuereNs jam 
satis datum. 
So we shall have a fine house in the winter, as we already 
have in the summer 4. I am not sorry for the appearance of a 
little superfluous expence. I have not yet been at Ashbourne, 
and yet I would fain flatter myself that you begin to wish me 
home; but do not tell me so, if it be not true, for I am very well 
at Stowhill. 
Mrs. Porter will be glad of a memorial from you, and will 
keep the work-bag carefully, but has no great use for it; her 
present qualifications for the niceties of needlework being dim 
eyes and lame fingers. 


I They knew Dr. Delap the Rector 
of Lewes. Mrs. Piozzi describes how 
one morning in the year 1766, when 
Johnson was suffering from melan- 
choly, she and Mr. Thrale 'heard 
him in the most pathetic terms beg 
the prayers of Dr. Delap, who had 
left him as we came in. I felt exces- 
sively affected with grief, and well 
remember my husband involuntarily 
lifted up one hand to shut his mouth, 
from provocation at hearing a man so 
wildly proclaim what he could at last 
persuade no one to believe; and 
what, if true, would have been so 
very unfit to reveal.' Piozzi A1U'C- 


dotes, p. 127, and Murphy's Johnson, 
P.99. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 23 6 . 
On the morning of the day on 
which this letter was written the 
Battle of Bunker's Hill was fought. 
3 Lichfield is not in the list of the 
towns to which mails were sent every 
night but Sunday. On Tuesday, 
Thursday, and Saturday, mails were 
sent to all parts of England. Dodsley's 
Environs oj London, v. 221. 
4 Mr. Thrale was going to build, 
as is shown in the next paragraph 
but one. 


the 



Aetat.65.] 


To flb"s. Tkrale. 


3 '"''"' 
"" 


Of the harvest about us it is said that much is expected from 
the wheat, more indeed than can be easily remembered. The 
barley is promising enough, but not uncommonly exuberant. 
But this is of itself a very good account, for no grain is ever 
dear, when wheat is cheap. I hope therefore that my master 
may without fear or danger build this year, and dig the next. 
I do not find that in this part of the country rain has been much 
wanted. 
If you go with lVlrs. D-:r, do not forget me amidst the 
luxuries of absolute dominion, but let me have kind letters full 
of yourself, of your own hopes, and your own fears, and your 
own thoughts, and then go where you will. You will find 
your journey however but a barren business; it is dull to live 
neither scolding nor scolded, neither governing nor governed. 
N ow try. 
I expected that when the interest of the county had been 
divided, Mawbey would have had very little difficulty, and am 
glad to find that Norton opposes him with so much efficacy; 
pray send me the result 2. 


x Perhaps the wife of Dr. Delap 
(ante, p. 332, n. I) Or a Mrs. Davenant, 
who, as Mrs. Thrale's letter of June 
24 shows, accompanied her to the 
Regatta. Piozzi Letters, i. 248. See 
Mme. D'Arblay's Diary, ed. 1842, 
ii. 41. 'She was by birth a Cotton, 
as was Mrs. Thrale's mother.' Early 
Diary 0/ Fanny Burney, ii. 266, n. I. 
2 Sir Joseph Mawbey had been 
Thrale's colleague for Southwark in 
the last parliament. Par!. Hist. xvi. 
443. A vacancy having occurred in 
Surrey this year he had stood, and 
had been elected two days before 
Johnson's letter was written. Gentle- 
man's Magazine, 1775, p. 301. On 
August 17 an action was brought 
against him by a Guildford shop- 
keeper for the sum of L 1 I 7 6s. for 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


ribbons at the last general election. 
He paid [,30 into Court, and the 
jury gave a verdict for [,29 only. Ib. 
p. 404. He is the' Sir Joseph' of 
the following lines from the Rolliad 
in the description of the Speaker:- 
'There Cornewall sits, and oh! un- 
happy fate! 
Must sit for ever through the long 
debate. 
Painful pre-eminence! he hears, 'tis 
true, 
Fox, North, and Burke, but hears 
Sir Joseph too.' 
I thought when I saw my friend 
Mr. Leonard H. Courtney, sitting 
as Chainnan of Committees, that 
to him, as Member for a division 
of Cornwall, these lines might be 
aptly applied. 


To 



334 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


408. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, June 19, 1775. 
I hope it is very true that Ralph mends, and wish you were 
<sone to see him, that you might come back again. 
Queeney revenges her long task upon IVIr. Baretti's hen, who 
must sit on duck eggs a week longer than on her own. I hope 
she takes great care of my hen, and the Guinea hen, and her 
pretty little brood 2. 
I was afraid Maw bey would succeed, and have little hope from 
the scrutiny. Did you ever know a scrutiny change the account? 
Miss A_3 does not run after me, but I do not want her, 
here are other ladies. 


lnvenies alium, si te hie fastidit Alexis 4. 
Miss * * * * grows old, and Miss Vyse 5 has been ill, but I 
believe she came to me as soon as she got out. And I can 
always go to Stowhill. So never grieve about me. Only flatu- 
lencies are come again. 
Your dissertation upon Queeney is very deep. I know not what 
to say to the chief question. Nature probably has some part in 
human characters, and accident has some part; which has most 
we will try to settle when we meet 6. 
Small letters will undoubtedly gain room for more words, but 
words are useless if they cannot be read 7. The lines need not 
all be kept distinct, and some words I shall wish to leave o
t, 
though very few. I t must be revised before it is engraved. I 
always told you that Mr. Thrale was a man, take him for all in 
all, you ne'er will look upon his like 8; but you never mind him 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 23 8 . 
2 , I t was one of the Streatham 
whims to call the cocks and hens by 
the name of some acquaintance or 
other of the family, and so we roasted 
Johnson to-day and boiled Baretti or 
somebody else to-morrow.' BARE'l'TI. 
3 Perhaps Miss Adey. A1zte, 
p. 331, n. 2. 
4 VIRGIL. Eclogues, ii. 73. 
'And find an easier love though 
not so fair.' DRYDEN. 


5 Life, iii. 124. 
6 For 'the original difference in 
minds and the influence of educa- 
tion,' see ib. ii. 436. 
7 He is speaking of the epitaph to 
Mrs. Thrale's mother. Ante, p. 323. 
8 'He was a man, take him for all 
in all, 
shall not look upon his like 
again.' 
Hamlet, Act i. sc. 2. 


nor 



Aetat.65.] 


To .iVlrs. Tkrale. 


335 


nor me, till time forces conviction into your steely bosom. You 
will, perhaps, find all right about the house and the windows. 
Pray always suppose that I send my respects to Master, and 
Queeney, and Harry, and Susey, and Sophy. 
Poor Lucy mends very slowly, but she is very good-humoured, 
while I do just as she would have me. 
Lady Smith has got a new post-chaise, which is not nothing 
to talk on at Lichfield. Little things here serve for conversation. 
Mrs. Aston's parrot pecked my leg, and I heard of it some time 
after at Mrs. Cobb's. 


- \V e deal in nicer things 
Than routing armies and dethroning kings. 
A week ago IVlrs. Cobb gave me sweetmeats to breakfast, and I 
heard of it last night at Stowhill. 
If you are for small talk: 
-Come on, and do the best you can, 
I fear not you, nor yet a better man. 
I could tell you about Lucy's two cats, and Brill her brother's 
old dog, who is gone deaf; but the day would fail me. Sua- 
dClltque cadelltio sidera somnum I. SO said Æneas. But I have 
not yet had my dinner. I have begun early, for what would 
become of the nation if a letter of this importance should miss 
the post? Pray write to, dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


409. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, June 21, 1775. 
Now I hope you are thinking, shall I have a letter to-day 
from Lichfield? Something of a letter you will have; how else 
can I expect that you should write? and the morning on which 
I should miss a letter would be a morning of uneasiness, not- 
withstanding all that would be said or done by the sisters of 


I somnos. VIRGIL, Æneid, ii. 9 'The setting stars to kindly rest 
and iv. 81. invite.' DRYDEN. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 241. 
Stowhill 



33 6 


To fiJrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


Stowhill I, who do and say whatever good they can. They give 
me good words, and cherries, and strawberries. Lady * * * .2 
and her mother and sister were visiting there yesterday, and 
Lady * * * * took her tea before her mother. 
IVIrs. Cobb is to come to IVIiss Porter's this afternoon. Miss 
A - comes little near me. Mr. Langley of Ashbourne was 
here to-day, in his way to Birmingham, and every body talks 
of you 3. 
The ladies of the Amicable Society are to walk, in a few days, 
from the town-hall to the cathedral in procession to hear a ser- 
mon. They walk in linen gowns, and each has a stick with an 
acorn, but for the acorn they could give no reason, till I told 
them of the civick crown 4. 
I have just had your sweet letter, and am glad that you are 
to be at the regatta 5. You know how little I love to have you 


I Mrs. Gastrell and Mrs. Aston. 
2 'Lady Smith.' - BARETTI. Mrs. 
Thrale replied :-' Lady * * * should 
not have taken the tea before her 
mother, that's certain, as her husband 
is dead, and all pretence of support- 
ing the rank he had given her is past. 
I can find no excuse for her conduct 
except too attentive an observation 
to dear Mr. Johnson's odd speeches 
against parental authority.' Piozzi 
Letters, i. 247. 
3 There is an omission here, as is 
shown both by the structure of the 
sentence, and also by Mrs. Thrale's 
repiy, where she refers to a compli- 
ment paid her by some pedantic 
gentleman. Piozzi Letters, ii. 246. 
Mr. Langley was the Master of Ash- 
bourne School. Ante, p. 189. 
4 For the Amicable Society see 
ante, p. 331. \Vithin the last ten years 
the women's club in Lichfield used to 
go to church on an appointed day; in 
Stafford till very lately they carried 
staves in their procession to church. 
5 'March 24, 1775. The Savoir 
vivre Club are going to give quite a 
new thing on the Thames; all the 
river from Blackfriars Bridge to some 


way above Westminster Bridge is to 
be filled with gondolas, barges, &c., 
leaving a space as wide as the centre 
arch of Vol estminster Bridge quite 
clear for a boat-race, and all the 
company are to go by water to Rane- 
lagh to dine, and to sup at Vauxhall.' 
Letters oftke First Earl of Malmes- 
bury, i. 298. See also ib. p. 311. 
'June 23, 1775. An entertain- 
ment called a Regatta, borrowed 
from the Venetians, was exhibited 
partly on the Thames and partly at 
Ranelagh.' Annual Register, 1775, 
i. 133. 'It was beautiful,' writes 
Horace \Valpole, 'to see the Thames 
covered with boats, barges, and 
streamers, and every window and 
house-top loaded with spectators. I 
suppose so many will not meet again 
till the day of judgment, which was not 
to-day. In the middle of the river 
was a street of lighters and barges 
covered with pent-houses like a 
carpenter's yard, which totally pre- 
vented all the other millions seeing 
anything. The rowers passed through 
this street, and so we never beheld 
them at all.' Walpole's Letters, vi. 223. 
See also \Valpole's Journal of the 
left 



Aetat. 65 ] 


To 
l[rs. Tkrale. 


33ï 


left out of any shining part of life. You have every right to 
distinction, and should therefore be distinguished. You will see 
a show with philosophick superiority, and therefore may see it 
safely. It is easy to talk of sitting at home contented, when 
others are seeing or making shows. But not to have been where 
it is supposed, and seldom supposed falsely, that all would go if 
they could; to be able to say nothing when everyone is talking; 
to have no opinion when every one is judging; to hear exclama- 
tions of rapture without power to depress; to listen to falsehoods 
without right to contradict, is, after all, a state of temporary in- 
feriority, in which the mind is rather hardened by stubbornness, 
than supported by fortitude I. If the world be worth winning, 
let us enjoy it 2; if it is to be despised, let us despise it by con- 
viction. But the world is not to be despised but as it is compared 
with something better. Company is in itself better than solitude, 
and pleasure better than indolence. .Ex 1lihilo nihil fit, says the 
moral as well as natural philosopher. By doing nothing and by 
knowing nothing no power of doing good can be obtained. He 
must mingle with the world that desires to be useful. Every 
new scene impresEes new ideas, enriches the imagination, and 
enlarges the power of reason, by new topicks of comparison. 
You that have seen the regatta will have images which we who 
miss it must want, and no intellectual images are without use 3. 
But when you are in this scene of splendour and gayety, do not 
let one of your fits of negligence steal upon you. Hoc age, is the 
great rule whether you are serious or merry4; whether you are 
stating the expences of your family, learning science or duty 


Reign of George III, i. 493, ed. 1759, 
and Gentlemall.sJlagazÙte. 1775, p. 
3 1 4. 
· 'I said there was not half a 
guinea's worth of pleasure in seeing 
this place [the PantheonJ.-JOHN- 
SON. "But, Sir, there is half a 
guinea's worth of inferiority to other 
people in not having seen it.'" Life, 
ii. 169. 
2 'If the world be worth thy win- 
ning, 
Think, 0 think it, worth enjoying.' 
DRYDEN, Alexander's Feast, st. v. 
VOL. I. / 


3 'Dr. Johnson asked me if I would 
lose the recollection of our Tour to 
the Hebrides for five hundred pounds, 
I answered I would not; and he ap- 
plauded my setting such a value on 
an accession of new images in my 
mind.' Life, v. 405. 
4 'Remember the hoc age; do 
what you are about, be that what it 
will; it is either worth doing well or 
not at all.' Chesterfield's Letters to 
his Son, i. 290. Chesterfield never 
tires of insisting on hoc age. 


from 



33 8 


fo l1Irs. Tkrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


from a folio I, or floating on the Thames in a fancied dress. Of 
the whole entertainment let me not hear so copious nor so true 
an account from any body as from you. 
I am, dearest IVfadam, 
Your. &c., 
SAM: J OHNSO
. 


410. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, June 23, 1775 
So now you have been at the regatta, for I hope you got 
tickets somewhere, else you wanted me, and I shall not be sorry, 
because you fancy you can do so well without me; but however 
I hope you got tickets, and were dressed fine and fanciful 3, and 
made a fine part of the fine show, and heard musick, and said 
good things, and staid on the water four hours after midnight, 
and came well home, and slept, and dreamed of the regatta, and 
waked, and found yourself in bed, and thought now it is all over, 
only I must write about it to Lichfield. 
vVe make a hard shift here to live on without a regatta. The 
cherries are ripe at Stowhill, and the currants are ripening, and 
the ladies are very kind to me. I wish, however, you would go 
to Surry, and come back, though I think it wiser to stay till the 
improvement in Ralph 4 may become perceptible, else you will 
be apt to judge by your wishes and your imagination. Let us 
in the mean time hope the best. Let me but know when you 
go, and when you come back again. 
If you or Mr. Thrale would write to Dr. Wetherell about 
Mr. Carter, it will please Wetherell, and keep the business in 
motion. They know not otherwise how to communicate news 
if they have it. 
As to my hopes and my wishes, I can keep them to myself. 
They will perhaps grow less if they are laughed at. I needed 


x 'Reading James's Medical Dic- 
tionary to learn how to administer 
antimonial wine to a boy.'-BARETTI. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 244. 
3 Mrs. Thrale writing in 1781 says 


that the trimming of her Court dress 
was to cost [65. Mme. D' Arblay's 
Diary, ii. 7. 
4 Her second son. 


not 



Aetat. 65.] 


To i71rs. Thralc. 


339 


not tell them, but that I have little else to write, and I needed 
not write, but that I do not like to be without hearing from you, 
because I love the Thrales and the Thralites. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: J OHNSOK. 


411. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, June 26, 1775. 
That the regatta disappointed you is neither wonderful nor 
new 2; all pleasure preconceived and preconcerted ends in dis- 
appointment 3; but disappointment, when it involves neither 
shame nor loss, is as good as success; for it supplies as many 
images to the mind, and as many topicks to the tongue. I am 
glad it failed for another reason, which looks more sage than my 
reasons commonly try to look; this, I think, is Queeney's first 
excursion into the regions of pleasure, and I should not wish to 
have her too much pleased 4. It is as well for her to find that 
pleasures have their pains; and that bigger misses who are at 
Ranelagh when she is in bed, are not so much to be envied as 
they would wish to be, or as they may be represented. 
So you left out the * . . * s, and I suppose they did not go. 
I t will be a common place for you and Queeney fourscore years 
hence; and my master and you may have recourse to it some- 
times. But I can only listen. I am glad that you were among 
the finest s. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 255. The supper was said to be execrable. 
2 The wind had been high and the They did not return home till about 
water rough so that they had not five or six in the morning. Piozzi 
ventured on to the river. They had Letters, i.248-254. 
gone to a friend's house in the 3 'Nothing is more hopeless than 
Temple, where they had struggled a scheme of merriment.' The Idler, 
for places at a window and 'discom- No. 58. 
posed their head-dresses.' They had 4 'I have a notion that Queeny 
hastened thence in a boat to Rane- has listened too much to his gloomy 
lagh; but the wind roared and the lessons, as now that she is three and 
rain fell. The screams of the frighted twenty, though rich and independent, 
company were heard as they were she is already too gloomy herself.'- 
tossed about at the moment of getting BARETTI. 
to shore. The Rotunda was not to 5 According to Horace \ValpoJe 
be opened till twelve o'clock, and (Letters, vi. 223), 'A great deal of 
they crowded into the new building, the show was spoilt by everybody 
whence they drove the carpenters. being in black; it looked like a 
L 2 Nothing 



34 0 


7ò lÞIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D,l775. 


Nothing was the matter between me and Miss * * * * I. We 
are all well enough now. Miss Porter went yesterday to church, 
from which she has been kept a long time. I fancy that I shall 
go on Thursday to Ashbourne, but do not think that I shall stay 
very long. I wish you were gone to Surryand come well back 
again, and yet I would not have you go too soon. Perhaps I do 
not very well know what I would have; it is a case not ex- 
tremely rare. But I know I would hear from you by every post, 
and therefore I take care that you should every post day hear 
from me. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


412. 


To RICHARD GREEN. 
r Lichfield or Ash bourne], June 29, I7 75. 
In Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's Auction Catalogue of March 10, 
1862, Lot 363 is 'a Letter of Johnson to Mr. Green, one page quarto, 
making an appointment, dated June 29, 1775.' 
For Mr. Green, see ante, p. I6I. 


413. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Ashbourne, [Saturday], July I, 1775. 
On Thursday I came to Dr. Taylor's, where I live as I am 
used to do, and as you know. He has gotten nothing new, but 
a very fine looking glass, and a bull-bitch 3. The less bull is 


general mourning for Amphitrite 
rather than for the Queen of Den- 
mark.' Yet Mrs. Thrale wrote:- 
, I t had been agreed that all [of our 
party] should wear white; but the 
ornaments were left to our own 
choice. I was afraid of not being 
fine enough; so I trimmed my white 
lute-string with silver gauze, and 
wore black ribbons intermixed. You 
w ill be told I was too fine, and 'tis 
partly true; but the other extreme 
would have been worse.' Piozzi 
Letters, i. 248, 253. 


I Mrs. Thrale had asked :-' Why 
does Miss * * * never find a place in 
the letters from Lichfield ? I thought 
her a mighty elegant amiable country 
lady.' Ib. i. 246. Perhaps Miss 
Seward is the lady. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 257. 
3 See the Life, iii. 190, for Johnson's 
criticism of Dr. Taylor's bull-dog, 
which had not 'the quick transition 
from the thickness of the fore-part to 
the tenuity-the thin part-behind- 
which a bull-dog ought to have.' 


now 



Aetat. 65.] 


To ffilrs. Thrale. 


34 I 


now grown the bigger. But I forgot; he has bought old Shake- 
speare, the racehorse, for a stallion I. He has likewise some fine 
iron gates which he will set up somewhere. I have not yet seen 
the old horse. 
You are very much enquired after, as well here as at Lich- 
field. 
This I suppose will go after you to Sussex 2, where I hope you 
will find every thing either well or mending. You never told 
me whether you took Queeney with you; nor ever so much as 
told me the name of the little one 3. May be you think I don't 
care about you. 
I behaved myself so well at Lichfie1d, that Lucy says I am 
grown better; and the ladies at StowhiU expect I should come 
back thither before I go to London, and offer to entertain me if 
Lucy refuses. 
I have this morning received a letter from Mrs. Chambers of 
Calcutta 4. The Judge has a sore eye, and could not write. She 
represents all as going on very well, only Chambers does not 
now flatter himself that he shall do much good. 
I am, &ç., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To MRS. THRALE s. 


414. 


[Ashbourne, July 1775.] 
N ow, thinks my dearest Mistress to herself, sure I am at last 
gone too far to be pestered every post with a letter: he knows 
that people go into the country to be at quiet; he knows too that 
when I have once told the story of Ralph, the place where I am 
affords me nothing that I shall delight to tell, or he will wish to 
be told; he knows how troublesome it is to write letters about 


I See þost, Letter of Michaelmas 
Day, 1777. 
2 The Thrales went to Brighton. 
Post, p. 345. 
3 Ante, p. 315,11. 3. 
4 Johnson on March 5 of the 
previous year had written to Bos- 
well :-' Chambers is either married, 
or almost married, to Miss Wilton, a 


girl of sixteen, exquisitely beautiful, 
whom he has, with his lawyer's 
tongue, persuaded to take her chance 
with him in the East.' Life, ii. 274. 
Her chance apparently was a good 
one, for she lived till 1839. Diet. 
of Nat. Biog., article Sir Robert 
Chambers. See also ante, p. 222, n. 3. 
5 Piozzi Letters, i. 25 8 . 
nothing: 



34 2 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


nothing; and he knows that he does not love trouble himself, 
and therefore ought not to force it upon others. 
But, dearest Lady, you may see once more how little know- 
ledge influences practice, notwithstanding all this knowledge, you 
see, here is a letter. 
Every body says the prospect of harvest is uncommonly de- 
lightful; but this has been so long the Summer talk, and has 
been so often contradicted by Autumn, that I do not suffer it to 
lay much hold on my mind. Our gay prospects have now for 
many years together ended in melancholy retrospects I . Yet I 
am of opinion that there is much corn upon the ground. Every 
dear year encourages the farmer to sow more and more, and 
favourable seasons will be sent at last. Let us hope that they 
will be sent now. 
The Doctor and Frank are gone to see the hay. It was cut 
on Saturday, and yesterday was well wetted; but to day has its 
fill of sunshine. I hope the hay at Streatham was plentiful, and 
had good weather. 
Our lawn is as you left it, only the pool is so full of mud that 
the water-fowl have left it. Here are many calves, who, I sup- 
pose, all expect to be great bulls and cows 2. 
Yesterday I saw Mrs. Diot 3 at church, and shall drink tea with 
her some afternoon. 
I cannot get free from this vexatious flatulence, and therefore 
have troublesome nights, but otherwise I am not very ill. Now 
and then a fit, and not violent. I am not afraid of the water- 
fall 4. I now and then take physick; and suspect that you were 


I Ante, p. 194. 2 Ante, p. 166. 
3 Johnson mentions seeing her 
when he and the Thrales visited 
Ashbourne the year before. Lijë, v. 
43 0 . Mr. J. Coke Fowler, Stipen- 
diary Magistrate of Swansea, says 
that about the year 1837 he met in a 
country-house in Leicestershire, 'a 
very aged lady, "a Miss Dyott, who 
had more than once dined with Dr. 
Johnson at Lichfield. At one dinner 
he was talking on some interesting 
subject. A dish of Brussels sprouts 
or broccoli was on the table before 


him. She saw a footman take a plate 
to him to receive a helping of the 
vegetables, and to her horror she saw 
the great man, as he was talking, dive 
his hand mechanically into the dish, 
and effect the helping with his 
fingers,' Recollections of Public filen 
in The Red Dragon, p. 239. 
4 See ante, p. 198. Mrs. Thrale, 
I conjecture, had expressed a fear 
lest, while he was at the waterfall, a 
sudden faintness might overcome him 
such as he had had a few weeks earlier. 
Ante, p. 322. 


not 



Aetat. 65.] 


To J1Irs. Thrale. 


343 


not quite right in omitting to let blood before I came away I. 
But I do not intend to do it here. 
You will now find the advantage of having made one at the 
regatta. You will carry with you the importance of a publick 
personage, and enjoy a superiority which, having been only local 
and accidental, will not be regarded with malignity. You have 
a subject by which you can gratify general curiosity, and amuse 
your company without bewildering them. You can keep the 
vocal machine in motion, without those seeming paradoxes that 
are sure to disgust; without that temerity of censure which is 
sure to provoke enemies; and that exuberance of flattery which 
experience has found to make no friends. It is the good of 
publick life that it supplies agreeable topicks and general con- 
versation. Therefore wherever you are, and whatever you see, 
talk not of the Punick war 2; nor of the depravity of human 
nature; nor of the slender motives of human actions; nor of the 
difficulty of finding employment or pleasure; but talk, and talk, 
and talk of the regatta, and keep the rest for, dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


415. 
To MRS. THRALE 3 . 
DEAR MADAM, Ashbourne, July 6, 1775. 
Dr. Taylor says he shall be very glad to see you all here 
again, if you have a mind of retirement 4. But I told him that he 
must not expect you this summer; and he wants to know why? 


I Ante, p. 298, and þost, p. 354. 
2 'Sooner than hear of the Punic 
War,' Murphy writes, 'Johnson 
would be rude to the person that 
introduced the subject.' Murphy's 
Life of Johnson, p. 138. Mrs. Piozzi 
says (Anec., p. 80) that 'no kind of 
conversation pleased him less, I 
think, than when the subject was 
historical fact or general polity. 
" \Vhat shall we learn from that 
stuff?" said he. "He never," as he 
expressed it, " desired to hear of the 
Punic War while he lived.'" The 
Funic IVar, it is clear, was a kind r.f 


humorous catchword with him. She 
wrote to him in 1773 :-' So here's 
modern politics in a letter from me ; 
yes and a touch of the Punic War 
too.' Piozzi Letters, i. 187. He 
was no doubt sick of the constant 
reference made by writers and public 
speakers to Rome. For instance, 
in Bolingbroke's Dissertation upon 
Parties, we find in three consecu- 
tive Letters (xi-xiii) five illustrations 
drawn from Rome. See Life, iii. 
206 n. 
3 Piozsi Letters, i. 261. 

 See Im/c, p. 314, 11. 7. 


lam 



344 


To ilfrs. Th ra Ie. 


[A.D. 1775. 


I am glad you have read Boswell's journal \ because it is 
something for us to talk about, and that you have seen the 
Hornecks 2, bccause that is a publick theme. I would have 
you see, and read, and hear, and talk it all, as occasion 
offers. 
Pray thank Queeney for her letter. I still hope good of poor 
Ralph; but sure never poor rogue was so troubled with his teeth. 
I hope occasional bathing, and keeping him about two minutes 
with his body immersed, may promote the discharge from his 
head, and set his little brain at liberty. Pray give my service to 
my dear friend Harry, and tell him that Mr. Murphy does not 
love him better than I do 3. 
I am inclined to be of Mr. Thrale's mind about the changes in 
the state. A dissolution of the Parliament would, in my opinion, 
be little less than a dissolution of the government, by the en- 
couragement which it would give to every future faction to 
disturb the publick tranquillity 4. Who would ever want places 
and power if perseverance in falsehood and violence of outrage 
were found to be certain and infallible means of procuring them? 
yet I have so little confidence in our present statesmen, that I 


· An/e, p. 320. 
2 'The Hornecks were and are 
still two Ladies no less beautiful than 
modest and sensible. Both have 
been my pupils; but Madam never 
liked them much, because few would 
take notice of her where they were.'- 
BARETTI. Boswell describes them 
as 'two beautiful young ladies, one 
of whom married Henry Eunbury, 
Esq., and the other Colonel Gwyn.' 
Goldsmith accompanied them and 
their mother on a tour in France. 
Life, i. 414. His nickname for the 
eldest was Little Comedy, and for the 
youngest, the J essamy Bride. 'Burke, 
who was their guardian, tenderly re- 
membered in his premature old age 
the delight they had given him from 
their childhood. The youngest died 
in 1840.' Forster's Goldsmith, ii. 147. 
, 1 don't know why she is so kind as 


to come to see me,' said N orthcote in 
18 3 0 , 'except that I am the last link 
in the chain that connects her with 
all those she most esteemed when 
she was young-Johnson, Reynolds, 
Goldsmith-and remind her of the 
most delightful period of her life.' 
N orthcote's Con'versa/ions, p. 94. 
3 When nine months later Johnson 
heard of poor Harry's death he ex- 
claimed :_c I would have gone to 
the extremity of the earth to have 
preserved the boy.' Life, ii. 469. It 
was Arthur Murphy who introduced 
Johnson to the Thrales. Ib. i. 493. 
Miss Burney writing in May, 1779, 
says :-' Mr. Thrale and Mr. Murphy 
are very old friends; and I question 
if Mr. Thrale loves any man so well.' 
Mme. D' Arblay's Diary, i. 210. 
4 Parliament was not dissolved till 
1780. 


know 



Aetat. 65.] 


To llIrs. Thrale. 


345 


know not whether any thing is less likely, for being either absurd 
or dangerous. I am, dearest Lady, 


Your, &c., 
SAM: J OHNSOK. 


416. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADA
,[. Ashbourne, July [? 9], 1775. 
I am sorry that my poor little friend Ralph goes on no 
better. \Ve must see what time will do for him. 
I hope Harry is well. I had a very pretty letter from 
Queeney; and hope she will be kind to my hen and her ten 
chickens, and mind her book. 
I forget whether I tell some things, and may perhaps tell them 
twice, but the matter is not great, only, as you observe, the more 
we write the less we shall have to say when we meet. 
Are '\'e to go all to Brighthelmstone in the Autumn, or have 
you satiated yourself with this visit? I have only one reason for 
wishing you to go, and that reason is far enough from amounting 
to necessity. 
That · · · .' s simplicity should be forgiven, for his benevolence 
is very just; and I will not now say any thing in opposition to 
your kind resolution. It is pity that any good man should ever 
seem, or ever be ridiculous. 
This letter will be short, for I am so much disordcred by in- 
digestion, of which I can give no account, that it is difficult to 
write more than that I am, dearest Lady, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


417. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR M
ADAM, Ashbourne, [July II, 1775]. 
I am sure I write and write, and every letter that comes 
from you charges me with not writing. Since I wrote to Queeney 
I have written twice to you, on the 6th and the 9th, be pleased 
to let me know whether you have them or have them not. That 


1 Piozzi Letters, i. 273. 


2 Piozzi Letters, i. 26 4. 
of 



34 6 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


. 


[A.D. 1775. 


of the 6th you should regularly have had on the 8th, yet your 
letter of the 9th seems not to mention it; all this puzzles me. 
Poor dear. * * * I! He only grows dull because he is sickly; 
age has not yet begun to impair him; nor is he such a chameleon 
as to take immediately the colour of his company. When you 
see him again, you wiIl find him reanimated. Most men have their 
bright and their cloudy days, at least they have days when they put 
their powers into act, and days when they suffer them to repose 2. 
Fourteen thousand pounds make a sum sufficient for the estab- 
lishment of a family, and which, in whatever flow of riches or 
confidence of prosperity, deserves to be very seriously considered 3. 
I hope a great part of it has paid debts, and no small part bought 
land. As for gravelling and walling and digging, though I am 
not much delighted with them, yet something, indeed much, must 
be allowed to every man's taste. He that is growing rich has 
a right to enjoy part of the growth his own way. I hope to 
range in the walk, and row upon the water 4, and devour fruit 
from the wall. 
Dr. Taylor wants to be gardening. He means to buy a piece 
of ground in the neighbourhood, and surround it with a wall, and 
build a gardener's house upon it, and have fruit, and be happy. 


] Perhaps Mr. William Seward is 
meant, described in the Life, iii. 123, 
n. I. He was very intimate with 
the Thrales. In Mme. Ð'Arblay's 
Diary, ii. 71, he is described as 
'quacking both himself and his 
friends. "When he was at my 
place," said Mr. Crutchley, " he did 
himself up pretty handsomely; he 
ate cherries till he complained most 
bitterly of indigestion, and he poured 
down Madeira and Port most plenti- 
fully, but without relief. He went on 
to ask for peppermint-water, ginger, 
brandy, and a dose of rhubarb. I 
advised him to take a good bumper of 
gin and gunpowder, for that seemed 
almost all he had left untried.'" Edge- 
worth mentions his hypochondria- 
cism. Memoirs of R. L. Edgewortll, 
ed. 1844, p. 1I7. He was the son 
of a wealthy brewer, partner in the 


house of Calvert and Seward. In the 
Ann. Reg. for 1760, i. 174, that firm is 
returned as the largest brewers in 
London; they having brewed 74,700 
barrels against Thrale's 32,700. His 
name was pronounced Suard, as is 
shown by Charlotte Burney thus 
writing it. Early Diary of Frances 
Burney, ii. 287. See þost, Letter of 
September 18, 1777. 
2 Life, i. 332, n. 2. 
3 Mrs. Thrale replied: - 'I will 
keep the story of the :l 14,000 till we 
meet.' Piozzi Letters, i. 269. It 
may have been the year's profits of 
the Brewery. See þost, Letter of 
August 23, 1777, where he looks 
forward to their soon amounting to 
:l15,000. It may have come by in- 
heritance. See þost, p. 35 I. 
4 Post, p. 3 60 . 


l\luch 



Aetat. 65.] 


To .llfrs. Thrale. 


347 


Much happiness it will not bring him; but what can he do better? 
If I had money enough, what would I do? Perhaps, if you and 
master did not hold me, I might go to Cairo, and down the Red 
Sea to Bengal. and take a ramble in India I, Would this be better 
than building and planting? It would surely give more variety 
to the eye, and more amplitude to the mind. Half fourteen 
thousand would send me out to see other forms of existence, and 
bring me back to describe them 2. 
I answer this the day on which I had yours of the 9th, that is 
on the 11th. Let me know when it comes. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


418. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAl\I, Ashbourne, \\Tednesday, July 12, 1775. 
On Monday I was not well, but I grew better at night, and 
before morning was, as the doctors say, out of danger. 
We have no news here, except that on Saturday Lord Scars- 
dale 4 dined with the Doctor. He is a very gentlemanlike man. 
On Sunday Mr. . * * * paid a visit from Lichfield, and having 
nothing to say, said nothing, and went away. 
Our great cattle, I believe, go on well, but our deer have died; 
all but five does and the poor buck. We think the ground too 
wet for them. 
I have enclosed a letter from Mrs. Chambers 5, partly, perhaps 
wholly, for Mr. Barettïs amusement and gratification, though he 
has probably a much longer letter of his own, which he takes no 
care to send me. 
Mr. L_6 and the Doctor still continue at variance; and the 


J See Life, iii. 453, for Johnson's 
eagerness for travelling. 
2 Mrs. Thrale replied: - , Mr. 
Thrale said when we read the last 
paragraph of your letter together, 
that you should not travel alone, if 
he could once see this dear little boy 
quite weB, or see me well persuaded 
(as many are) that nothing ails him.' 


Piozzi Letters, i. 269. They went 
to France together this Autumn. 
Life, ii. 384. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 266. 
4 For Johnson's visit to his house 
at Keddlestone, see Life, iii. 160. 
5 Ante, p. 34 1 . 
6 Mr. Langley, the Head Master 
of Ashbourne School. A1zte, p. 189. 
Doctor 



34 8 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


Doctor is afraid, and Mr. L- not desirous of a reconciliation. 
I therefore step over at by-times, and of by-times I have enough. 
Mrs. Dale I has been ill, and, at fourscore, has recovered. She 
is much extenuated, but having the summer to favour her, will, I 
think, renew her hold on life. 
To the Diots 2 I yet owe a visit. Mr. Gell is now rejoicing, at 
fifty-seven, for the birth of an heir-male 3. I hope here is news. 
Mr. * · · * and * · · · seem to be making preparations for war. 
N ow I flatter myself that you want to know something about 
me. My spirits are now and then in an uneasy flutter, but upon 
the whole not very bad. 
We have here a great deal of rain; but this is a very rainy 
region. I hear nothing but good of the harvest; but the ex- 
pectation is higher of the wheat than of the barley, but I hope there 
will be barley enough for us, and Mr. S-, and Lady L- 4, 
and something still to spare. I am, dearest sweetest Lady, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


419. 


To MRS. THRALE 5. 
DEAREST MADAM, July 13, 1775. 
In return for your three letters I do not find myself able 
to send you more than two; but if I had the prolixity of an 
emperour, it should be all at your service 6. 
Poor Ralph! I think what they purpose to do for his relief 
is right, but that it will be efficacious I cannot promise. 
Your anxiety about your other babies is, I hope, superfluous. 
Miss and Harry are as safe as ourselves 7; they have outlived 
the age of weakness; their fibres are now elastick, and their 


I Mrs. Thrale had seen her the 
year before. Life, v. 431. 
2 Ante, p. 342, n. 3. 
3 Philip Gell of Hopton, Derby- 
shire. A younger son, born in 1777, 
was Sir WiBiam Gell, author of The 
Toþograþhy of Troy. The Thrales 
had dined with Mr. Gell in 1774. 
Life, v. 431. 
4 Probably Mr. Scrase and Lady 
Lade of whom Mr. Thrale had bor- 


rowed money. Ante, p. 192, n.3. 
5 Piozzi Letters, i. 274. 
6 'DOGBERRY. But truly, for mine 
own part, if I were as tedious as 
a king, I could find it in my heart 
to bestow it all of your worship.' 
Much Ado About Nothing, Act iii. 
sc. 5. 
7 Harry died the following March, 
Post, p. 381. 


. headachs, 



Aeta.t. 65.] 


1ò Mrs. Thrale. 


349 


headachs, when they have them, are from accidental causes, heat 
or indigestion. 
If Susy had been at all disposed to this horrid malady I, it 
would have laid hold on her in her early state of laxity and 
feebleness. That native vigour which has carried her happily 
through so many obstructions to life and growth, will, I think, 
certainly preserve her from a disease most likely to fall only 
on the weak. 
Of the two small ladies it can only be said, that there is no 
present appearance of danger; and of fearing evils merely 
possible there is no end. \Ve are told by the Lord of Nature, 
that' for the day its own evil is sufficient 2.' 
Now to lighter things, and those of weight enough to another. 
I am still of opinion, that we shall bring the Oxford riding- 
school to bear. * * * * * * * 3 is indeed U1l esprit foible, and 
perhaps too easily repressed, but Dr. Wetherell is in earnest. 
I would come back through Oxford, but that at this time there 
is nobody there. But I will not desist. I think to visit them 
next term. 
Do not let poor Lizard be degraded for five pounds. I sent 
you word that I would spend something upon him ; and indeed 
for the money which it would cost to take him to Taylor or 
Langton and fetch him back, he may be kept, while he stands 
idle, a long time in the stable 4. 
Mrs. Williams has been very ill, and it would do her good 
if you would send a message of enquiry, and a few strawberries 
or currants. 
Mr. Flint's 5 little girl is alive and well, and prating, as I hope 
yours, my dear Lady, will long continue. 


I Many of them died of some kind 
of fit. Mrs. Thrale had written to 
Johnson :-' The illness of this boy 
frights me for all the rest; if any of 
them have a headach it puts me in 
an agony, a broken leg would less 
affect my peace.-So many to have 
the same disorder is dreadful. \Vhat 
can be the meaning of it ? ' 
2 'Sufficient unto the day is the 
evil thereof.' St. Mat/he'w, vi. 34. 


3 Perhaps Dr. Fothergill, the Vice- 
Chancellor. Ante, pp. 3 2 3, n. 3, 324, 
n.4. 
4 Lizard was perhaps' Mr. Thrale's 
old hunter on which Johnson rode 
with a good firmness' at a fox-chase. 
Piozzi's A nee., p. 206, and Life, v. 
253. See Life, iv. 248, 250, about 
the treatment of ' old horses, unable 
to labour.' 
5 The Thrales visited Mr. Flint 
The 



35 0 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


The hay harvest is here very much incommoded by daily 
showers, which, however, seem not violent enough to beat down 
the corn. 
I cannot yet fix the time of coming home. Dr. Taylor and 
I spend little time together, yet he will not yet be persuaded 
to hear of parting I. 


I am, dearest Lady, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


420. 


To MRS. THRALE 2 . 
DEAR MADAl\>l, Ashbourne, July 15, 1775. 
You are so kind every post, that I now regularly expect 
your favours. You have indeed more materials for writing than 
I. Here are only I and the Doctor, and of him I see not much. 
You have Master, and young Master, and Misses, besides geese, 
and turkies, and ducks, and hens 3. 
The Doctor says, that if ]\;Ir. Thrale comes so near as Derby 
without seeing us, it will be a sorry trick. I wish, for my part, 
that he may return soon, and rescue the fair captives from the 
tyranny of B-i 4. Poor B-i! do not quarrel with him; 


in 1774. Life, v. 430. He is often 
mentioned in Johnson's Letters to 
Taylor in 1782. Post, Letter of July 
22, 1782. 
I Ante, p. 184. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 277. 
3 'Susan Burney, describing Streat- 
ham in August 1779, says: - , As 
a þlace it surpassed all my expecta- 
tions. The avenue to the house, 
plantations, &c., are beautiful; worthy 
of the charming inhabitants. I t is 
a little Paradise, I think. Cattle, 
poultry, dogs, all running freely 
about. without annoying each other.' 
Early Diary 0/ Frances Burney, ii. 
256. Sir James Prior thus writes of 
it :-' Its site perhaps is too low, but 
Tooting Common opens pleasantly in 


front; and often while resident for 
several years in the vicinity have 
I lingered around it for hours as 
venerated ground.' Life 0/ fif alone, 
p. 259. On the Common still stands 
an oak known as Johnson's oak. 
4 'If B-i means Baretti, God 
knows what lies the woman wrote to 
Johnson! The girls were never so 
happy as when their mother was 
away, who did nothing but scold or 
beat them for the most trivial faults 
or omissions. As to me, when I had 
done teaching Queeny I made them 
run merrily about, and nobody 
checked their mirth but their beastly 
mother. However I suspect that 
this gabble is not Johnson's but her 
own.' BARETTI. See Life, iii. 49, 
to 



Aetat. 65.] 


To .JI;írs. Thralc. 


35 1 


to neglect him a little will be sufficient. He means only to 
be frank, and manly, and independent, and perhaps, as you 
say, a little wise. To be frank he thinks is to be cynical, 
and to be independent is to be rude. Forgive him, dearest 
Lady, the rather, because of his misbehaviour, I am afraid he 
learned part of me. I hope to set him hereafter a better 
example. 
Your concern for poor Ralph, and your resolution to visit him 
again, is too parental to be blamed. You may perhaps do good; 
you do at least your duty, and with that we must be contented; 
with that indeed, if we attained it, we ought to be happy: but 
who ever attained it ? 
You have perceived, by my letters, that without knowing 
more than that the estate was unsettled, I was inclined to a 
settlement. I am likewise for an entail. But we will consult 
men of experience, for that which is to hinder my dear Harry 
from mischief when he comes to age may be done with mature 
deliberation. 
You have not all the misery in the world to yourself; I was 
last night almost convulsed with flatulence, after having gone to 
bed I thought so well- but it does not much trouble me when 
I am out of bed. To your anxiety about your children I wrote 
lately what I had to say. I blame it so little, that I think you 
should add a small particle of anxiety about me; for 
I am, dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


421. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR l\iADAM, July 17, 1775. 
The post is come without a letter; how could I be so 


n. 1,96, and þost, Letter of June 3, 
1776. Miss Burney describes Ba- 
retti in 1772 as 'a very good-looking 
man.' Early Diary of Fanny Burney, 
i. 169. Twiss, the traveller, mimicked 
to her his utterance. 'I think I never 
knew a foreigner,' he said, 'who 


spoke English so well as Baretti 
does; but so very slow' (in a drawl- 
ing voice, turning to me) 'that if 
he-were -to-make-Iove-it- 
would - take-him-tree-hours-to 
utter a declaration.' Ib. p. 286. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 279. 


sullen 



35 2 


.. To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


sullen-but he must be humble who would please I. Perhaps you 
are gone to Brighthelmstone, and so could not write; however 
it be, this I feel, that I have no letter; but then I have some- 
times had two, and if I have as many letters as there come 
posts nobody will pity me if I were to complain. 
How was your hay made? 2 The Doctor has had one part 
well housed, another wetted and dried till it is hardly worth the 
carriage; and now many acres newly mown, that have hitherto 
had good weather. This may be considered as a foreign article; 
the domestick news is, that our bull-bitch has puppies, and that 
our six calves are no longer to be fed by hand, but to live on 
grass. 
Mr. Langley has made some improvements in his garden. 
A rich man might do more; but what he has done is well 3. 
You have never in all your letters touched but once upon 
my master's Summer projects. Is he towering into the air, and 
tending to the centre? Is he excavating the earth, or covering 
its surface with edifices? Something he certainly is doing, and 
something he is spending. A genius never can be quite still. 
I do not murmur at his expences; a good harvest will supply 
them. 
We talk here of Polish oats, and Siberian barley, of which 
both are said to be more productive, to ripen in less time, and 
to afford better grain than the English 4. I intend to procure 


I 'Ten thousand trifles such as 
these 
N or can my rage nor anger 
move; 
She should be humble who 
would please; 
And she must suffer who can 
love.' 
Cloe Jealous. Prior's Poetical 
Wor.ks, 1858, p. 78. 
2 'I don't know why, but people 
are always more anxious about their 
hay than their corn, or twenty other 
things that cost them more. I sup- 
pose my Lord Chesterfield, or some 
other dictator, made it fashionable to 
care about one's hay. Nobody be- 
trays solicitude about getting in his 


rents.' Horace 
Talpole's Letters, 
viii. 382. 
3 'After breakfast, Johnson carried 
me to see the garden belonging to 
the school of Ashbourne, which is 
very prettily fonned upon a bank, 
rising gradually behind the house. 
The Reverend Mr. Langley, the 
head-master, accompanied us.' Life, 
iii. 138. 
4 '\V e are credibly informed that 
a gentleman at Kilmarnock in Scot- 
land had the curiosity to plant three 
grains of Siberian barley. Their pro- 
duce was 2585 grains.' Gentleman's 
flIagazine, 1771, p. 520. See ib. 1783, 
p. 852, for a comparison of 'Tartarian 
and Poland oats.' 


_ specimens 



Aeta.t. 65.] 


To ftIrs. Thrale. 


353 


specimens of both, which we will try in some spots of our own 
ground. 
The Doctor has no great mind to let me go. Shall I teaze 
him, and plague him till he is weary of me? I am, I hope, 
pretty well, and fit to come home. I shall be expected by all 
my ladies to return through Lichfield, and to stay there a while; 
but if I thought you wanted me, I hope you know what would 
be done by, 


Dearest. dearest Madam, 
Your, &c. 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


422. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, Ashbourne, July 20, 1775. 
Poor Ralph! he is gone; and nothing remains but that 
you comfort yourself with having done your best. The first 
wish was, that he might live long to be happy and useful; the 
next, that he might not suffer long pain. The second wish has 
been granted. Think now only on those which are left you. 
I am glad that you went to Brighthelmstone, for your journey 
is a standing proof to you of your affection and diligence. We 
can hardly be confident of the state of our own minds, but 
as it stands attested by some external action; we are seldom 
sure that we sincerely meant what we omitted to do. 
Dr. Taylor says, that Mr. Thrale has not used us well, in 
coming so near without coming nearer 2. I know not what he 
can say for himself, but I know that he can take shelter in 
sullen silence. 
There is, I think, still the same prospect of a plentiful harvest. 
We have in this part of the kingdom had rain to swell the 
grain, and sunshine to ripen it. I was yesterday to see 3 the 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 281. 
Mrs. Thrale fresh from the loss 
of her little boy, might surely, as she 
read this strange letter, ha ve ex- 
claimed with Constance in King 
John :- 
'He talks to me that never had a 
son.' 


VOL. I. 


There is nothing to show that in 
her mood there was anything that 
was jarred upon by the childless 
Johnson's natural ignorance of the 
feelings of a parent. 
2 Ante, p. 35 0 . 
3 This idiom, a very common one 
in the writers-especially in the early 
A a Doctor's 



354 


To .J.1Irs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


Doctor's Poland oats. They grow, for a great part, four feet 
high, with a stalk equal in bulk and strength to wheaten straw. 
We were of opinion that they must be reaped, as the lower 
joints would be too hard for fodder. We wiH try them. 
Susy was always my little girl I. See what she is come to; 
you must keep her in mind of me, who was always on her side. 
Of Mrs. Fanny 2 I have no knowledge. 
You have 1\vo or three of my letters to answer, and I hope 
you will be copious and distinct, and tell me a great deal of 
your mind; a dear little mind it is ; and I hope always to love 
it better as I know it more. 


I am, &c. 
SA:vI: JOHNSON. 


423. 
To MRs. THRALE 3. 
DEAR LADY, Ashbourne, July 21, 1775. 
When you write next direct to Lichfield, for I think to 
move that way on Tuesday, and in no long time to move home- 
wards, when we will have a serious consultation, and try to do 
every thing for the best. 
I shall be glad of a letter from dear Queeney, and am not 
sorry that she wishes for me. When I come we will enter into 
an alliance defensive at least 4. 
Mr. B-i very elegantly sent his pupil's letter to l\1rs. 
Williams without a cover, in such a manner that she knows not 
whence it was transmitted 5. 
I do not mean to bleed but with your concurrence 6, though 
I am troubled with eruptions, which I cannot suppress by 
frequent physick. 


writers-of the century, is very un- 
common in Johnson. 
I 'Little did he care for Susy, or 
for any of the rest. I find he men- 
tions them often in writing, but 
scarce ever took notice of any when 
present.' BARETTI. See þost, Letter 
of Oct. 6, 1777, where Johnson says: 
-' I was always a Susy, when no- 
body else was a Susy.' 
2 The last baby, eleven weeks old. 
Ante, p. 315, n. 3. 


3 Piozzi Letters, i. 283. 
4 An alliance against Baretti. 
Ante, p. 350. 
5 'I don't know what this gabble 
means, and what letter they are 
speaking of.' BARETTI. The cover 
was the piece of paper in which the 
note should have been inclosed. It 
answered the purpose of the modern 
envelope, and was secured by either 
wax or a wafer. 
6 Ante, p. 343. 


As 



Aeta.t. 65.] 


10 Mrs. Thrale. 


355 


As my master staid only one day I, we must forgive him, yet 
he knows he staid only one day, because he thought it not 
worth his while to stay two. 
You and B-i are friends again 2. My dear mistress has 
the quality of being easily reconciled, and not easily offended. 
Kindness is a good thing in itself; and there are few things 
that are worthy of anger, and still fewer that can justify 
malignity. 
Nothing remains for the present, but that you sit down 
placid and content, disposed to enjoy the present, and planning 
the proper use of the future liberalities of Providence 3. You 
have really much to enjoy, and, without any wild indulgence of 
imagination, much to expect. In the mean time, however, life 
is gliding away, and another state is hastening forwards. You 
were but five-and-twenty when I knew you first 4. What I 
shall be next September I confess I have lacheté 5 enough to 
turn aside from thinking. 
I am glad you read Boswell's journal 6; you are now suf- 
ficiently informed of the whole transaction, and need not regret 
that you did not make the tour of the Hebrides. 
You have done me honour in naming me your trustee, and 
have very judiciously chosen Cator 7. I believe our fidelity will 
not be exposed to any strong temptations. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


I At Derby. Ante, p. 350. Hayward's Piozzi, i. 33. See Life, 
2 Baretti, describing Mrs. Thrale i. 520, for the date of Johnson's first 
by the word which gave Mrs. J ona- acquaintance with the Thrales. 
than \Vild such just offence, says 5 Johnson in these letters does not 
that she 'has suppressed the letter show himself strong in his French 
that made Johnson write these idle accents. Perhaps the fault was the 
words, therefore I cannot even have printer's. Goethe in a letter which 
a guess at their meaning.' In aJI he wrote in French in 1774 equaJIy 
probability she had it not in her neglected the accents. G. H. Lewes's 
possession to suppress, for Johnson Life of God he, ed. 1890, p. 2 10. 
burnt all of her letters that he could 6 Ante, p. 320. 
find. Life, iv. 339, n. 3. 7 Cator was a timber-merchant. 
3 Her little son had been dead four Mrs. Piozzi says in her Anecdotes, 
or five days. p. 304 :-' I mentioned two friends 
4 She was born on January 16, who were particularly fond of looking 
174 0 , 0.5., or January 27,1741, N.S. at themselves in a glass. "They do 
A a 2 To 



35 6 


To JIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


424. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, July 24, 1775. 
Be pleased to return my thanks to Queeney for her pretty 
little letter. I hope the peacock will recover. It is pity we 
cannot catch the fellow; we would make him drink at the pump. 
The victory over the poor wild cat delights me but little. I had 
rather he had taken a chicken than lost his life. 
To-morrow I go to Lichfield. My company would not any 
longer make the Doctor happy. He wants to be rambling with 
his Ashbourne friends. And it is perhaps time for me to think 
of coming home. Which way I shall take I do not know. 
]\;Iiss says, that you have recovered your spirits, and that you 
all are well. Pray do not grudge the trouble of telling me so 
your ownself; for I do not find my attention to you and your 
sensations at all lessened by this time of absence, which always 
appears to my imagination much longer than when I count it. 
Now to-morrow I expect to see Lucy Porter and Mrs. Adey, 
and to hear how they have gone on at Lichfield; and then for 
a little I shall wander about as the birds of passage circle and 
flutter before they set out on the main flight. 
I have been generally without any violent disorder of either 
mind or body, but every now and then ailing, but so that I could 
keep it to myself. 
Are we to go to Brighthelmstone this Autumn? I do not en- 
quire with any great solicitude. You know one reason, and it 
will not be easy to find another, except that which brings all 
thither that go, unwillingness to stay at home, and want of power 


not surprise me at all by so doing 
(said Johnson); they see reflected in 
that glass men who have risen from 
almost the lowest situations in life, 
one to enormous riches, the other to 
everything this world can give-rank, 
fame, and fortune. They see likewise 
men who have merited their ad- 
vancement by the exertion and im- 
provement of those talents which 
God had given them; and I see not 
why they should avoid the mirror." , 


Mrs. Piozzi states in a marginal 
note that these two men were Ca- 
tor and \Vedderburne. Hayward's 
Piozzi, i. 154, 294. Cator is, per- 
haps, the man mentioned in the 
Life, iv. 83, C who had acquired 
L4,000 a year in trade, but was ab- 
solutely miserable because he could 
not talk in company.' He was one 
of Mr. Thrale's executors. Ib. iv. 3J3. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 28 5. 


to 



Aetat.65.] 


To Mrs. Th ra Ie. 


357 


to supply with either business or amusement the cravings of the 
day. From this distress all that know either you or me, will 
suppose that we might rescue ourselves, if we would, without the 
help of a bath I in the morning and an assembly at night. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


425. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, July 26, 1775. 
Yesterday I came hither. After dinner I went to Stowhi1l 3 ; 
there I was pampered, and had an uneasy night. Physick to-day 
put me out of order; and for some time I forgot that this is post 
night. 
!\" othing very extraordinary has happened at Lichfield since I 
went away. Lucy Porter is better, and has got her lame hand 
out of the bag. The rest of your friends I have not seen. 
Having staid long enough at Ashbourne, I was not sorry to 
leave it. I hindered some of Taylor's diversions, and he supplied 
me with very little. Having seen the neighbouring places, I had 
no curiosity to gratify; and having few new things, we had little 
new talk. 
\Vhen I came I found Lucy at her book. She had Hammond's 
Commentary on the Psalms 4 before her. He is very learned, she 
says, but there is enough that any body may understand. 
N ow I am here I think myself a great deal nearer London than 
before, for though the distance is not very different, I am here in 
the way of carriages, and can easily get to Birmingham, and so 
to Oxford 5; but I know not which way I shall take, but some 
way or other I hope to find, that may bring me back again to 
Streatham; and then I shall see what have been my master's 
goings on, and will try whether I shall know the old places 6. 


1 'The man who dipped people in 
the sea at Brighthelmstone seeing 
Mr. Johnson swim in the year 1766, 
said, "Why, Sir, you must have been 
a stout-hearted gentleman forty years 
ago.'" Piozzi's Anecdotes, p. 113. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 2 8 7. 
SAnte, p. 160, n. 4. 


4 Paraþhrase and Annotations 
uþon the Book oj Psalms, London, 
1659, folio. Johnson recorded on 
Good Friday, in 1782: - , Read 
Hammond on one of the Psalms for 
the day.' Pro and Med., p. 211. 
:I Ante, p. 18 3. 
6 Ante, p. 346. 


As 



35 8 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


As I lift up my head from the paper, I can look into Lucy's 
garden. Her walls have all failed. I believe she has had hardly 
any fruit but gooseberries; but so much verdure looks pretty in 
a town. 
When you read my letters I suppose you are very proud to 
think how much you excel in the correspondence; but you must 
remember that your materials are better. You have a family, 
and friends, and hopes, and fears, and wishes, and aversions, and 
all the ingredients that are necessary to the composition of a 
letter. Here sit poor I, with nothing but my own solitary indi- 
viduality; doing little, and suffering no more than I have often 
suffered; hearing nothing that I can repeat; seeing nothing that 
I can relate; talking, when I do talk, to those whom you cannot 
regard; and at this moment hearing the curfew, which you can- 
not hear x. I am, 


Dearest, dearest Lady, 
Your, &c., 
SAM : JOHNSON. 


426. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
MADAM, July 29, 1775. 
The rain caught me at Stowhill, and kept me till it is very 
late; I must however write, for I am enjoined to tell you how 
much Mrs. Lucy was pleased with your present 3, and to entreat 
you to excuse her from writing. because her hand is not yet re- 
covered. She is very glad of your notice, and very thankfuL 
I am very desirous that Mr. .. .. .. * should be sent for a few 
weeks to Brighthelmstone. Air, and vacancy, and novelty, and 
the consciousness of his own value, and the pride of such dis- 
tinction and delight in Mr. Thrale's kindness, would, as Cheney 4 


I The curfew still rings in Lich- 
field, every evening at eight o'clock. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 29 1 . 
3 Ante, p. 33 2 . 
4 'The learned, philosophical and 
pious Dr. Cheyne,' as Boswell calls 
him, whose books on Health and the 
English Malady were recommended 
to him by Johnson. Lzïe, i. 65; iii. 26. 


The 'English Malady' was melan- 
choly or hypochondria. There is 
some comfort in knowing that so 
long ago as 1733 Cheyne pointed 
out how the conditions of modern 
life' have brought forth a class and 
set of distempers, with atrocious and 
frightful symptoms, scarce known to 
our ancestors. These nervous dis- 
phrases 



Aetat. 65.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


359 


phrases it, afford all the relief that human art can give, or human 
nature receive. Do not read this slightly, you may prolong a 
very useful life. 
Whether the pine-apples be ripe or rotten, whether the Duke's 
venison be baked or roasted, I begin to think it time I were at 
home. I have staid till perhaps nobody wishes me to stay 
longer, except the ladies on the hill X, who offer me a lodging, 
and though not ill, am unsettled enough to wish for change of 
place. even though that change were not to bring me to Streat- 
ham; but thither I hope I shall quickly come, and find you all 
well, and gay, and happy, and catch a little gaiety, and health, 
and happiness among you 2. 
I am, dearest of all dear Ladies, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


427. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 


DEAR MADAM, August I, 1775. 
I wonder how it could happen. I forgot that the post went 
out yesternight, and so omitted to write; I therefore put this by 
the by-post 4, and hope it will come, that I may not lose my 
regular letter. 
This was to have been my last letter from this place, but Lucy 
says I must not go this week. Fits of tenderness with Mrs. Lucy 
are not common; but she seems now to have a little paroxysm, 
and I was not willing to cQunteract it. \Vhen I am to go I shall 
take care to inform you. The lady at Stowhill says, how comes 
Lucy to be such a sovereign, all the town besides could not have 
kept you s. 
orders are computed to make almost 
one third of the complaints of the 
people of condition in England.' The 
English llfalady, ed. 1733, Preface, 
p. ii. Fielding spells Cheyne's name 
as Johnson does, Cheney; no doubt in 
accordance with the way it was pro- 
nounced. He says: 'The learned 
Dr. Cheney used to call drinking 
punch pouring liquid fire down your 
throat.' Tom Jones, Bk. xi. ch. 8. 
I Stowhill. Ante, p. 3 2 9. 


2 'That he never caught. He 
thought and mused at Streatham as 
he did habitually everywhere, and 
seldom or never minded what was 
doing about him.'-BARETTl. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 29 2 . 
4 I conjecture that he sent his 
letter by a cross-post either to Bir- 
mingham or Derby, from each of 
which towns a mail was sent to London 
six days a week. 
SAnte, p. 3 2 9. 


America 



3 60 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


America now fills every mouth, and some heads, and a little 
of it shall come into my letter. I do not much like the news. 
Our troops have indeed the superiority; five-and-twenty hundred 
have driven five thousand from their intrenchment; but the 
Americans fought skilfully; had coolness enough in the battle 
to carry off their men; and seem to have retreated orderly, for 
they were not pursued I. They want nothing but confidence in 
their leaders, and familiarity with danger. Our business is to 
pursue their main army, and disperse it by a decisive battle; 
and then waste the country till they sue for peace 2. If we 
make war by parties and detachments, dislodge them from one 
place, and exclude them from another, we shall by a local, 
gradual, and ineffectual war, teach them our own knowledge, 
harden their obstinacy, and strengthen their confidence, and at 
last come to fight on equal terms of skill and bravery, without 
equal numbers. 
JVlrs. Williams wrote me word, that you had honoured her with 
a visit, and behaved lovely. 
l\lr. Thrale left off digging his pool, I suppose, for want of 
water. The first thing to be done is by digging in three or four 
places, to try how near the springs will rise to the surface; for 


I He is referring to the Battle of 
Bunker's Hill, ante, p. 332, n. 2. 
Horace \Valpole wrote two days 
later :-' I did not send you imme- 
diate word of our victory at Boston, 
because the success not only seemed 
very equivocal, but because the con- 
querors lost three to one more than 
the vanquished. The last do not 
pique themselves upon modern good 
breeding, but level only at the officers, 
of whom they have slain a vast num- 
ber. \Ye are a little disappointed 
indeed at their fighting at all, which 
was not in our calculation. . . . Well! 
we had better have gone on robbing 
the Indies j it was a more lucrative 
trade.' \Ya]pole's Letters, vi. 235. 
2 See Boswell's account of the 
dinner at Mr. Dilly's, where Johnson 
roared out: '" I am willing to love all 


mankind, exceþt an A merica1l j " and 
his inflammable corruption bursting 
into horrid fire, he "breathed out 
threatenings and slaughter j" calling 
them, " Rascals-Rob bers- Pirates j" 
and exclaiming, he'd" burn and de- 
stroy them." , Life, iii. 290. 
Horace \Valpole wrote on August 
7 :-' Is not our dignity maintained? 
have not we carried our majesty be- 
yond all example? \\'hen did you 
ever read before of a besieged army 
threatening military execution on the 
country of the besiegers! car tel est 
notre þlaisir. But alack! we are like 
the mock Doctor j we have made the 
heart and the liver change sides; cela 
était autrefois ainsi, mais nous avons 
cha1zgé tout cela J' Letters, vi. 237. 
See also Hume's Letters to Strahan, 
P. 28 9. 


though 



Aetat. 65.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


3 61 


though we cannot hope to be always full, we must be sure never 
to be dry. 
Poor . . . .! I am sorry for him. It is sad to give a family 
of children no pleasure but by dying. I t was said of Otho: Hoc 
tantum fecit nobile quod þeriit. It may be changed to · · · .: 
Hoc talltum fecit utile. 
lf I could do Mr. Carter any good at Oxford, I could easily 
stop there; for through it, if I go by Birmingham, I am likely to 
pass; but the place is now a sullen solitude I. \Vhatever can be 
done I am ready to do; but our operations must for the present 
be at London. 


I am, &c., 
SA
I: JOH
SON. 


428. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
.MADAM, Lichfield, August 2, 1775. 
I dined to-day at Stowhill, and am come away to write my 
letter. N ever surely was I such a writer before. Do you keep 
my letters? I am not of your opinion that I shaH not like to 
read them hereafter; for though there is in them not much 
history of mind, or any thing else, they will, I hope, always be 
in some degree the records of a pure and blameless friendship, 
and in some hours of languour and sadness may revive the 
memory of more cheerful times. 
Why you should suppose yourself not desirous hereafter to 


I When Johnson was an under- 
graduate the place was by no means 
a sullen solitude in the beginning of 
August. The books of Pembroke Col- 
lege show that on August IS, 1729, 
there were twenty-five members in 
residence out of a maximum of little 
more than fifty. On September 12 
the number sank to sixteen. Life, i. 
63, fl. I. Gibbon, writing of the year 
1752, says :-' The long recess be- 
tween the Trinity and Michaelmas 
terms empties the Colleges of Oxford 
as well as the courts of \Vestminster.' 
Gibbon's .J.Jfisc. Works, i. 56. A young 
undergraduate of Queen's, who re- 


mained in residence most of the Long 
Vacation of 1779, writing on October 
7, says: -' The University is yet 
thin and desolate. A few solitary 
tutors, that drop in one by one, 
are all you meet in an evening, 
and these by a certain woeful- 
ness of countenance seem not too 
well pleased with the exchange of 
a good table and merry circle of 
friends for spare diet and prayers 
twice a day.' LetÜrs of Radcliffe and 
James, p. 85. For Mr. Carter, see 
ante, p. 309. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 295. 


read 



""62 
,) 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


read the history of your own mind, I do not see I. Twelve years, 
on which you now look as on a vast expanse of life, will probably 
be passed over uniformly and smoothly, with very little perception 
of your progress, and with very few remarks upon the way. That 
accumulation of knowledge which you promise to yourself, by 
which the future is to look back upon the present, with the supe- 
riority of manhood to infancy, will perhaps never be attempted, 
or never will be made; and you will find, as millions have found 
befóre you, that forty-five has made little sensible addition to 
thirty-three 2. 
As the body after a certain time gains no increase of height, 
and little of strength, there is likewise a period, though more 
variable by external causes, when the mind commonly attains 
its stationary point, and very little advances its powers of re- 
flection, judgment, and ratiocination 3. The body may acquire 
new modes of motion, or new dexterities of mechanick opera- 
tions, but its original strength receives not improvement; the 
mind may be stored with new languages, or new sciences, but 
its power of thinking remains nearly the same, and unless 


I Johnson advising Boswell in 1773 
to keep a journal of his life, said:- 
'The great thing to be recorded, is 
the state of your own mind; and you 
should write down every thing that 
you remember, for you cannot judge 
at first what is good or bad; and 
write immediately while the impres- 
sion is fresh, for it will not be the 
same a week afterwards.' Life, ii. 
217. Five years later Boswell spoke 
of publishing the Autobiography of 
Sir R. Sibbald, of which he had the 
manuscript :-' MRS. THRALE. " I 
think you had as well let alone that 
publication. To discover such weak- 
ness, exposes a man when he is gone." 
JOHNSON. "Nay, it is an honest 
picture of human nature. How often 
are the primary motives of our great- 
est actions as small as Sibbald's, for 
his re-conversion." MRS. THRALE. 
"But may they not as well be for- 
gotten?" JOHNSON. "No, Madam, a 


man loves to review his own mind. 
That is the use of a diary, or journal." , 
Ib. iii. 228. See þost, p. 441. 
2 She was thirty-four. Ante, p. 
355, n. 4. 
3 See Life, iv. 1 15, n. 4, for an ac- 
count of' a pretty smart altercation' 
between Johnson and Dr. Barnard, 
which gave rise to some pleasant 
verses, of which the following are the 
first two stanzas :- 
'I lately thought no man alive 
Could e'er improve past forty-five, 
And ventured to assert it; 
The observation was not new, 
But seem'd to me so just and true, 
That none could controvert it. 
" No, Sir," says Johnson, ";tis not so ; 
Thafs your mistake, and I can show 
An instance, if you doubt it ; 
You, Sir, who are near forty-eight, 
May much improve, 'tis not too late; 
I wish you'd set about it." , 
Ib. iv. 432. 
it 



Aetat. 65.] 


To Mrs. Th ra Ie. 


3 6 3 


it attains new subjects of meditation, it commonly produces 
thoughts of the same force and the same extent, at very distant 
intervals of life, as the tree, unless a foreign fruit be ingrafted, 
gives year after year productions of the same form and the same 
flavour. 
By intellectual force or strength of thought is meant the degree 
of power which the mind possesses of surveying the subject of 
meditation, with its circuit of concomitants, and its train of de- 
pendence. 
Of this power, which all observe to be very different in different 
minds, part seems the gift of nature, and part the acquisition of 
experience. \\Then the powers of nature have attained their in- 
tended energy, they can be no more advanced. The shrub can 
never become a tree. And it is not unreasonable to suppose, 
that they are before the middle of life in their full vigour. 
Nothing then remains but practice and experience; and per- 
haps why they do so little, may be worth enquiry. 
But I have just now looked, and find it so late, that I will en- 
quire against the next post-night. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: J OHKSON. 


429. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, August 5, 1775. 
Instead of forty reasons for my return, one is sufficient,-that 
you wish for my company. I purpose to write no more till you 
see me. The ladies at Stowhill and Greenhill 2 are unanimously 
of opinion, that it will be best to take a post-chaise, and not to 
be troubled with the vexations of a common carriage. I will 
venture to suppose the ladies at Streatham to be of the same 
mind. 
You will now expect to be told why you will not be so much 
wiser as you expect, when you have lived twelve years longer. 
It is said, and said truly, that experience is the best teacher; 


I Letters, i. 29 8 . 
2 The ladies at StowhiIl were Mrs. 
Aston and Mrs. Gastrell (ante, p. 
329); those on Green-hill were, 


I think, Mrs. Cobb and Miss Adey 
(ante, P.331). For Green-hill Bower 
seeþost, Letter of May 29, 1779. 


and 



3 6 4 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


and it is supposed, that as life is lengthened experience is en- 
creased. But a closer inspection of human life will discover that 
time often passes without any incident which can much enlarge 
knowledge or ratify judgment. When we are young we learn 
much, because we are universally ignorant; we observe every 
thing, because every thing is new. But after some years, the 
occurrences of daily life are exhausted; one day passes like 
another, in the same scene of appearances, in the same course 
of transactions; we have to do what we have often done, and 
what we do not try, because we do not wish to do much better; 
we are told what we already know, and therefore what repetition 
cannot make us know with greater certainty. 
He that has early learned much, perhaps seldom makes, with 
regard to life and manners, much addition to his knowledge I; 
not only because as more is known there is less to learn, but 
because a mind stored with images and principles turns inwards 
for its own entertainment, and is employed in settling those ideas 
which run into confusion, and in recollecting those which are 
stealing away; practices by which wisdom may be kept but not 
gained. The merchant who was at first busy in acquiring money, 
ceases to grow richer, from the time when he makes it his business 
only to count it. 
Those who have families or employments are engaged in 
business of little difficulty, but of great importance, requiring 
rather assiduity of practice than subtilty of speculation, occupy- 
ing the attention with images too bulky for refinement, and 
too obvious for research. The right is already known, what 
remains is only to follow it. Daily business adds no more to 
wisdom, than daily lesson to the learning of the teacher. But of 
how few lives does not stated duty claim the greater part. 
Far the greater part of human minds never endeavour their 
own improvement. Opinions once received from instruction, or 
settled by whatever accident, are seldom recalled to examination; 
having been once supposed to be right, they are never discovered 


I 'Sir,' said Johnson, 'in my early 
years I read very hard. I t is a sad 
reflection, but a true one, that I knew 
almost as much at eighteen as I do 


now. 1\1 Y judgment, to be sure, was 
not so good; but I had all the facts.' 
Life, i. 445. 


to 



Aeta.t. 65.] 


To .I.}1"rs. DesJltoZllins. 


3 6 5 


to be erroneous, for no application is made of any thing that time 
may present, either to shake or to confirm them. From this ac- 
quiescence in preconceptions none are wholly free; between fear 
of uncertainty, and dislike of labour, everyone rests while he 
might yet go forward I; and they that were wise at thirty-three, 
are very little wiser at forty-five. 
Of this speculation you are perhaps tired, and would rather 
hear of Sophy. I hope before this comes, that her head will be 
easier, and your head less fiIled with fears and troubles, which 
you know are to be indulged only to prevent evil, not to en- 
crease it. 
Your uneasiness about Sophy is probably unnecessary, and at 
worst your other children are healthful 2, and your affairs pros- 
perous. U nmingled good cannot be expected; but as we may 
lawfully gather all the good within our reach, we may be allowed 
to lament after that which we lose. I hope your losses are at 
an end, and that as far as the condition of our present existence 
permits, your remaining life will be happy. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


430. 


To MRS. ÐESMOULINS 3. 
MADAM, Lichfield, August 5, 1775. 
Mr. Garrick has done as he is used to do. You may tell 
him that Dr. Hawkesworth and I never exchanged any letters 


I 'A man who has settled his 
opinions does not love to have the 
tranquillity of his conviction dis- 
turbed; and at seventy-seven it is 
time to be in earnest.' Johnson's 
Works, ix. 118. When Mr. Murray 
maintained that 'truth will always 
bear an examination,' Johnson re- 
plied :-' Yes, Sir, but it is painful to 
be forced to defend it. Consider, 
Sir, how should you like, though 
conscious of your innocence, to be 
tried before a jury for a capital crime 
once a week.' Life, iii. 11. 
2 Her baby died four months later, 


and her only surviving son in the 
following March. 
3 First published in the Garrick 
Corresþondence, ii. 72. 
In the same Corresþondence is 
a letter by Mr. D. Wray, dated only 
three days earlier than Johnson's, in 
which he informs Garrick that he 
must 'leave to those ingenious gen- 
tlemen who had the happiness of Dr. 
Goldsmith's friendship the pleasing 
task of paying those honours to his 
memory,' &c. Ib. p. 71. Perhaps 
Wray's letter refers only to the pro- 
jected memorial to Goldsmith, in 
worth 



3 66 


1ò Mrs. T'hrale. 


[A.D. 1775. 


worth publication. Our notes were commonly to tell when we 
should be at home, and I believe were seldom kept on either 
side. If I have anything that will do any honour to his memory, 
I shall gladly supply it, but I remember nothing. 
I am, Madam, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


431. 


To JAMES BOSWELL, 
London, August 27, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 381. 


432. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
IVIADAM, [London], August 29, 1775. 
Here is a rout and bustle; and a bustle and a rout; as if 
nobody had ever before forgotten where a thing was laid. At 
last there is no great harm done; both Colson and Scot have 
copies; and real haste there is none 2. You will find it some day 
this week, and any day will serve, or perhaps we can recollect it 
between us. 
About your memory we will, if you please, have some serious 


Westminster Abbey (post, Letter of 
June 21, 1776). It is possible how- 
ever that Garrick planned Memoirs 
both of Goldsmith and Hawkesworth. 
He may have repented of his ma- 
licious epitaph on the poet (Forster's 
Goldsmith, ii. 409) and of a cold letter 
in the third person which, only six 
months before Hawkesworth's death, 
he sent to that writer in reply to one 
su bscribed, 'Your truly affectionate.' 
Hawkesworth's letter and the copy 
of Garrick's answer are endorsed :- 
'Letter of Dr. Hawkesworth. My 
answer to his about his breach of 
Correspondence.' Garrick Corres. i. 
53 6 . 
x Piozzi Letters, i. 306. 
2 It is probable that the mislaid 


paper was connected with the scheme 
of the riding-school. Ante, p. 309. 
For Coulson see ante, p. 325, n. 4, 
and for Scott, ante, p. 31 I, n. 4. 
Scott was the elder brother of John 
Scott, afterwards Earl of Eldon. 
Johnson in spelling the name Scot 
perhaps was paying a delicate com- 
pliment. Lord Eldon records that 
he once 'found himself seated at 
dinner near a gentleman who claimed 
to be his namesake, though he spelt 
his surname with but a single t. 
" I allow you," added he, in a strong 
northern accent, "that Scott with 
two t's may sound rounder in the 
mouth, but Scott with one t has more 
of quality in it.'" Twiss's Life of 
Eldon, ed. 1846, i. 141. 


talk. 



Aetat. 65.] 


To Jl.1"rs. Porter. 


3 6 ï 


talk. I fret at your forgetfulness, as I do at my own I. We will 
try to mend both; yours at least is I should hope remediable. 
But, however it happens, we are of late never together. 
Am I to come to-morrow to the Borough 2, or will anyone 
call on me? This sorry foot! and this sorry Dr. Lawrence, who 
says it is the gout! but then he thinks every thing the gout 3; 
and so I will try not to believe him. Into the sea I suppose 
you will send it, and into the sea I design it shall go.-Can you 
remember, dear rviadam, that I have a lame foot? I am sure I 
cannot forget it; if you had one so painful, you would so re- 
member it. Pain is good for the memory. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


433. 


To MRS. PORTER 4. 
DEAR MADAM, London, Sept. 9, 1775. 
I have sent your books by the carrier, and in Sandys's 
Travels 5 you will find your glasses. I have written this post to 
the ladies at Stowehill, and you may, the day after you have 
this, or at any other time, send Mrs. Gastrell's books. 
Be pleased to make my compliments to all my good friends. 
I hope the poor dear hand is recovered, and you are now able to 
write, which, however, you need not do, for I am going to Bright- 


I Two years later Boswell records: 
-' I mentioned an old gentleman of 
our acquaintance whose memory was 
beginning to fail. JOHNSON. "There 
must be a diseased mind, where 
there is a failure of memory at 
seventy. A man's head, Sir, must 
be morbid, if he fails so soon.'" Life, 
iii. 19 I. Nevertheless the following 
year Johnson entered in his Jottrnal : 
-' My memory is less faithful in 
retaining names, and I am afraid, in 
retaining occurrences.' Pro andMed., 
P.170. For Mrs. Thrale's inaccuracy 
see Life, i. 416, n. 2; iii. 226, 404. 
,. Mr. Thrale's house in Southwark. 
3 I t is some satisfaction to know 
that more than a hundred years ago 
there was an eminent physician who 


thought everything the gout. 
4 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 459. 
In Johnson's last preceding letter 
to his step-daughter, dated May 29, 
1770, he addresses her as Miss 
Porter. \\T e now and henceforth find 
her dignified as l\1rs. Porter. She 
was born in November 1715. The 
matronly title therefore seems to have 
been assumed between the ages of 
fifty-five and sixty. 
5 George Sandys, the traveller and 
poet, who in 1615 published A Re- 
lation of a Journey begun in 1610. 
Johnson included it in a list of books 
which he drew up for a student. 
Life, iv. 31 I. 


helmstone, 



3 68 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1775. 


helmstone, and when I come back will take care to tell you. In 
the mean time take great care of your health, and drink as much 
as you can I. 


I am, dearest love, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


434. 


To MRS. ASTON AND MRS. GASTRELL. 
London, September 9, 1775. 
In the last Letter Johnson says that by the same post he had written 
to the ladies at Stowhill-Mrs. Aston and Mrs. Gastrell. 


435. 
To J Al\IES BOSWELL. 
[London], September 14, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 384. 
436. 
To ROBERT LEVETT. 
Calais, September 18, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 385. 


437. 
To ROBERT LEVETT. 
Paris, October 22, 1775. Published in the Life, ii.385. 
438. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
l London], November 16, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 387. 
439. 
To MRS. PORTER. 
[London], November 16, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 387. 
440. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 2. 


DEAR SIR, 
I came back last Tuesday from France 3. Is not mine 


I She had been suffering from the 
gout. Ante, p. 328. See þost, p. 408, 
where Johnson attributes his own 
attack of the gout to his abstinence 
from wine, and Letter of March 4, 
J 779, where he a second time urges 


his step-daughter 'not to forget to 
drink.' 
,. First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S" V. 422. 
3 For his trip to France, see Life, 
ii. 384. 


a kind 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Ed'JJzund Hector. 


3 6 9 


a kind of life turned upside down? Fixed to a spot when I was 
young, and roving the world when others are contriving to sit 
still, I am wholly unsettled. I am a kind of ship with a wide 
sail, and without an anchor. 
N ow I am come home, let me know how it is with you. 
I hope you are well, and intend to keep your residence this year. 
Let me know the month, and I will contrive to be about you. 
Our friendship has now lasted so long, that it is valuable for its 
antiquity. Perhaps neither has any other companion to whom 
he can talk of his early years. Let me particularly know the 
state of your health. I think mine is the better for the journey. 
The French have a clear air and fruitful soil, but their mode 
of common life is gross and incommodious, and disgusting. 
I am come home convinced that no improvement of general use 
is to be gained among them I. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your affectionate servant, 
London, Nov. 16, 1775. SAM: JOHNSON. 
441. 
To EDMUND HECTOR 2. 


DEAR SIR, 
On Tuesday I returned from a ramble about France, and 
about a month's stay at Paris. I have seen nothing that much 
delighted or surprised me 3. Their palaces are splendid, and 
their churches magnificent in their structure, and gorgeous in their 
ornaments, but the city in general makes a very mean appearance. 
vVhen I opened my letters, I found that you had very kindly 
complied with all my requests. The Bar (?) may be sent in 
a box directed to me at Henry Thrale Esq., in Southwark. The 
whole company that you saw went to France together, and the 
Queen was so pleased with our little girl, that she sent to enquire 
who she 'was 4. 


I Life, ii. 389, 402; iii. 352; iv. 237. talk of them. As I entered, my wife 
2 First published in Notes and was in my mind: she would have 
Queries, 6th S., iii. 401. been pleased. Having now nobody 
3 Johnson recorded in his journal to please, I am little pleased.' Life, 
at Paris :-' The sight of palaces, and ii. 393. 
other great buildings, leaves no very 4 The Thrales and Johnson on 
distinct images, unless to those who their return from their tour in Wales 
VOL. 1. B b \Ve 



37 0 


To Mrs. M071tagu. 


[A.D. 1775. 


\Ve are all welI, but I find, my dear Sir, that you are ill. 
I hope it does not continue true that you are almost a cripple. 
Would not a warm bath have helped you? Take care of your- 
self for my sake as well as that of your other friends. I have 
the first claim on your attention, if priority be allowed any 
advantages. Dear Mrs. Careless X, I know, will be careful of 
you. I can only wish you well, and of my good wishes you may 
be always certain, for 


I am, dear Sir, 
Your most affectionate 
Fleet Street, Nov. 16, 1775. SAM: JOHNSON. 
442. 
To MRS. MONTAGU 2. 
MADAM, Dec. 15, 1775. 
Having, after my "return from a little ramble to France, 
passed some time in the country, I did not hear, till I was told 
by Miss Reynolds, that you were in town; and when I did hear 
it, I heard likewise that you were ill. To have you detained 
among us by sickness is to enjoy your presence at too dear 
a rate. I suffer myself to be flattered with hope that only half 
the intelligence is now true, and that you are now so well as 
to be able to leave us, and so kind as not to be willing. 
I am, Madam, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


443. 
To MRS. MONTAGu. 
MADAM, Dec. 17, 1775. 
All that the esteem and reverence of mankind can give you 
has been long in your possession, and the little that I can add 


had stayed at Birmingham and there 
had breakfasted with Hector. In 
examining at the British Museum 
the original MS. ofJohnson'sJoumey 
into Nortlt Wales, I find that in the 
record of September 19, 20 and 21, 
Hector has been wrongly copied as 
Wlleeler. Lift, v.458. Johnson wrote 
to Levett on October 22, 1775:- 
'We came yesterday from Fontain- 
bleau, where the Court is now. We 


went to see the King and Queen at 
dinner, and the Queen was so im- 
pressed by Miss, that she sent one 
of the Gentlemen to enquire who she 
was.' Ib. ii. 385. 
I Hector's sister. Ante, p. 16 4, 
1Z. I. 
2 This and the next two letters 
were first published in Croker's 
Boswell, page 470. For Mrs. Mon- 
tagu see ante, p. 87, n. 3. 


to 



Aetat.66.] 


To M-rs. lIIontagu. 


37 1 


to the voice of nations will not much exalt; of that little, how- 
ever, you are, I hope, very certain I._I wonder, Madam, if you 
remember Col in the Hebrides 2 ? The brother and heir of poor 
Col has just been to visit me, and I have engaged to dine with 
him on Thursday. I do not know his lodging, and cannot send 
him a message, and must therefore suspend the honour which 
you are pleased to offer to, 
Madam, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


444. 
To MRS. PORTER. 
[London], December 17, 1775. Published in the Life, ii. 3 88 . 
Boswell gives only the date of December, 1775, but Mr. Croker, who 
perhaps had seen the original, adds the day of the month. 


445. 
To MRS. MONTAGU. 
lVIADAM, Thursday, Dec. 21,1775. 
I know not when any letter has given me so much pleasure 
or vexation as that which I had yesterday the honour of 
receiving. That you, Madam, should wish for my company 
is surely a sufficient reason for being pleased ;-that I should 
delay twice, what I had so little right to expect even once, has 
so bad an appearance, that I can only hope to have it thought 
that I am ashamed.- Y ou have kindly allowed me to name a 
day. Will you be pleased, Madam, to accept of me any day 
after Tuesday? Till I am favoured with your answer, or despair 
of so much condescension, I shall suffer no engagement to fasten 
itself upon me 3. 


I am, Madam, 
Your most obliged and most humble servant, 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 
· Mr. Croker quotes a letter (Bos- his gratitude for this kindness to his 
well, p. 458) from Mrs. \Villiams to poor blind friend. 
Mrs. Montagu, dated June 26 of this 2 He means of course, not the 
year, in acknowledgment of a pension island of that name, but the young 
which that great lady had just con- Laird of Col mentioned in theJourney 
ferred on her. Johnson's flowery to the Hebrides, ante, p. 279. 
language was no doubt in part due to 3 A few years later he said to Bos- 
E b 2 To 



37 2 


To the Reve'rend John lFesley. 


[A.D. 1776. 


446. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], December 23,1775. Published in the Life, ii. 411. 


447. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], January 10, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 412. 


448. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
London, January IS, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 415. 


449. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR. 
[London J, January IS, 177 6 . 
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue for April 10, 1885, 
Lot 590 is a Letter of Johnson, dated January IS, 1776, franked by 
Thrale to Dr. Taylor, respecting his (Taylor's) law-suit. 
For the law-suit see þost, pp. 375, 39 0 , and Life, iii. 44, n. 3; 5 I, n. 3. 


450. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], February 3, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 416. 


451. 
To THE REVEREND JOHN \VESLEV I. 
SIR, Feb. 6, 1776. 
When I received your Commentary on the Bible, I durst 
not at first flatter myself that I was to keep it, having so little 
claim to so valuable a present; and when Mrs. Hall 2 informed 
me of your kindness, was hindered from time to time from 
returning you those thanks which I now entreat you to accept. 
I have thanks likewise to return you for the addition of your 


well :-' Mrs. Montagu has dropt me. 
N ow, Sir, there are people whom one 
should like very well to drop, but 
would not wish to be dropped by.' 
Life, iv. 73. 
I First published in the Gentle- 


man's ll-faga:sine, 1797, i. 455. 
2 She was Wesley's sister. Her 
worthless husband had died on 
January 2 of this year 'in deep re- 
pentance.' Wesley's Journal, iv. 64. 
See Life, iv. 92, n. 3. 


important 



Aetat.66,] 


To the Reverend John Wesley. 


373 


important suffrage to my argument on the American question. 
To have gained such a mind as yours may justly confirm me 
in my own opinion I. What effect my paper has upon the 
public, I know not; but I have no reason to be discouraged. 
The lecturer was surely in the right, who, though he saw his 


I On June 14, 1775, \Vesley had 
written to the Earl of Dartmouth :- 
'All my prejudices are against the 
Americans, for I am an High Church- 
man, the son of an High Churchman, 
bred up from my childhood in the 
highest notions of passive obedience 
and non-resistance; and yet in spite 
of all my rooted prejudice I cannot 
avoid thinking (if I think at all) that 
an oppressed people asked for nothing 
more than their legal rights, and that 
in the most modest and inoffensive 
manner which the nature of the thing 
would allow.' Hist. fliSS. Comm., 
vol. xi, App. 5, p. 378. 
In his Calm Address to our 
American Colonies, published near 
the end of 1775, he tells the Americans 
that they are 'the dupes of a few 
designing men in England, who are 
determined enemies to monarchy. 
Vainly,' he continues, 'do you com- 
plain of "unconstitutional exactions, 
violated rights, and mutilated char- 
ters." Nothing is exacted but accord- 
ing to the original constitution both 
of England and her Colonies.' He 
warns them against the danger of 
a republic: 'N 0 governments under 
heaven are so despotic as the re- 
publican; no subjects are governed 
in so arbitrary a manner as those 
of a commonwealth. If anyone 
doubt of this, let him look at the 
subjects of Venice, of Genoa, or even 
of Holland. Should any man talk 
or write of the Dutch government as 
every cobler does of the English, 
he would be laid in irons before he 
knew where he was. And then wo 
be to him! Republics shew no mercy.' 


A Calm Address, pp. 13, 16, 17, 21. 
In his Journal, iv. 59, he gives also 
a Letter published by him in Lloyd's 
Evming Post near the end of 1775, 
in which he maintains that 'the 
Americans are not contending for 
liberty, but for the illegal privilege 
of being exempt from parliamentary 
taxation.' 
. The Gent. 1I1ag. for Dec. 1775 (p. 
561) contains an admirable reply to 
the Calm Address. 'You are surely, 
Sir, too well acquainted,' says the 
writer, 'with the nature and workings 
of human passions to expect any 
good to arrive from a calm address 
to men (as you say the Americans 
are) under the dominion of enthu- 
siasm. The experience of your whole 
life has been the influence of enthu- 
siasm over the calm. . . . I have seen, 
Mr. \Vesley, near a hundred persons, 
whose consciences or understandings 
were affected under your ministry, 
fall into convulsions, see angels and 
demons by turn, converse alternately 
with God and the devil... \Yhen 
a chimera, without a substantial 
basis or a visible object, can thus 
triumph over the reason and the will, 
and laugh argument to scorn, can it 
be hoped, Mr. \Vesley, that men 
acting upon the known and es- 
tablished systems of human policy, 
irritated to enthusiasm in the con- 
tention for everything that is dear, 
will turn aside to listen to your 
Address? Can it be hoped that the 
two-penny pamphlet of a Lay Metho- 
dist preacher will influence the camps 
of the Americans, or the Congresses 
of New Senators?' 


audience 



374 


To Archibald H anzilton. 


[A.D. 1776. 


audience slinking away, refused to quit the chair while Plato 
staid I. 


I am, reverend Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


452. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], February 9, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 4 1 9. 


453. 
To ARCHIBALD HAMILTON 2. 
DEAR SIR, Feb. 13, 1776. 
I am afraid that by altering the first article of the 
Dz'ctz'01la1')' at your desire I have given occasion to an unhappy 
difference between you and Dr. Calder, who has been with me, 
and seems to think himself in danger of losing the revision 
of the work. For this consequence I should be very deeply 
sorry. I considered the redundance which I lopped away, not 
as the consequence of negligence or inability, but as the 3 
of superfluous diligence, naturally exerted on the first article. 
He that does too much soon learns to do less. By his own 
account however it appears that [he] has shown what I think 
an improper degree of turbulence and impatience. I have 


I 'Plato enim mihi unus instar est 
omnium millium.' CICERO, Brutus, 
chap. 5 I. See þost, Letter of March 
18, 1779, where Johnson writes:- 
, Plato is a multitude.' 
2 First published in Nichols's Lite- 
rary Anecdotes, ix. 805. 
Archibald Hamilton was a printer, 
one who had long 'kept his coach. 
" He was in the right," said Johnson; 
" life is short. The sooner that a man 
begins to enjoy his wealth the bet- 
ter.'" Life, ii. 226. A new edition 
of Ephraim Chambers's Cycloþædia 
had been undertaken by the book- 
sellers and a contract had been made 
in 1773 with Dr. Calder for its pre- 
paration. He set to work, 'and, as 
was his usual custom, soon over- 
stocked himself with materials. In 


1776 the first sheet, by general con- 
sent, was submitted to Dr. Johnson, 
who made many remarks on it; 
which,' adds Nichols, , I have in his 
own hand-writing.' Calder, to judge 
from the correspondence published 
by Nichols, does not seem to have 
been a judicious editor. The result 
was that the contract was dissolved, 
and the Cycloþædia placed in the 
hands of Dr. Rees, who did very well 
for the proprietors. Nichols's Lit. 
Hist. iv. 800-819. 
According to Percival Stockdale, 
Johnson regretted that he had not 
himself undertaken the editorship. 
, Sir, (said he) I like that muddling 
work.' Life, ii. 204. 
3 A word has been omitted in the 
original. 


advised 



Aetat.66.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


375 


advised him, and he has promised, to be hereafter less tenacious 
of his own determination, and more pliable to the direction of 
the Proprietors, and the opinion of those whom they may consult. 
I entreat therefore that all the past may be forgotten; that he 
may stand where he stood before, and be permitted to proceed 
with the work in which he is engaged. Do not refuse this 
request to 


Sir
 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


454. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
fLondon], February IS, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 420. 


455. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
The Case which you sent me contains such vicissitudes of 
settlement and rescission that I will not pretend yet to give 
any opinion about it. IVly advice is, that it be laid before some 
of the best Lawyers, and branched out into queries, that the 
answer may be more deliberate, and the necessity of considering 
made greater. 
Get it off your hands and out of your head as fast as you 
can. You have no evidence to wait for: all that can be done 
may be done soon. 
Your health is of more consequence. Keep yourself cheerful. 
Lye in Bed with a lamp, and when you cannot sleep, and are 
beginning to think, light your candle and read 2. At least light 
your candle; a man is perhaps never so much harrassed [SIC] 
by his own mind in the light as in the dark. 
Poor Caled 3 Harding is dead. Do's [sic] not every death of 


I First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S., v. 423. 
For Taylor's law-case see þost, 
p. 39 0 . 
2 Johnson in his last illness 'la- 
mented much his inability to read 


during his hours of restlessness. 
"I used formerly (he added) when 
sleepless in bed to read like a Turk.'" 
L
fe, iv. 409. 
3 A misprint, I conjecture, for 
Caleb. 


a man 



376 To the Reverend Dr. John Calder. [A.D. 1776. 


a man long known begin to strike deep? How few dos [sic] 
the Man who has lived sixty years now know of the friends 
of his youth! At Lichfield there are none but Harry Jackson I 
and Sedgwick, and Sedgwick, when I left him, had a dropsy. 
I am, I think, better than usual, and hope you will grow 
better too. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most affectionate, 
Febr. 17,1776. SAM: JOHNSON. 
Rev d Dr. Taylor, Ashboum, Derbyshire. 


456. 
To THE REVEREND DR. JOHN CALDER 2. 
SIR, Feb. 19, 1776. 
I saw Mr. - on Saturday, and find that Mr. Hamilton 
had shown him my letter. !VIr. - is, as I feared, so angry 
and so resolute that I could not impress him in your favour, 
nor have any hope from him. If anything is done it must be 
with the other Proprietors. I am sorry for it. 
I am, Sir, 
Your very humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


457. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], February 24, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 422. 


458. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], March 5, 1776 Published in the Life, ii. 423. 


I , We dined at our inn [at Lich- 
field], and had with us a Mr. Jackson, 
one of Johnson's schoolfellows, whom 
he treated with much kindness, 
though he seemed to be a low man, 
dull and untaught. He had a coarse 
grey coat, black waistcoat, greasy 
leather breeches, and a yellow un- 
curled wig; and his countenance had 
the ruddiness which betokens one 
who is in no haste to "leave his 


can.'" Life, ii. 463. Johnson wrote 
to Boswell on September I, 1777:- 
'\Vhen I came to Lichfield I found 
myoid friend, Henry Jackson, dead. 
I t was a loss, and a loss not to be 
repaired, as he was one of the com- 
panions of my childhood.' Ib. iii. 
131. 
2 First published in Nichols's Lite- 
rary History, iv. 811; see ante, 
p. 374. 


To 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Ed1Jzund Hector. 


377 


459. 


To THE REVEREND DR. ] OHN DOUGLAS I. 


SIR, 
This gentleman has been approved by the Vice-Chancellor 
and Proctors of Oxford, as a man properly qualified to profess 
Horsemanship in that place. The Trustees of the Clarendon 
legacy have consented to issue money for the credit of a Riding 
house, and the Bishop of Chester delays the payment till he 
knows the state of the account between the Trustees and the 
University, for he says very reasonably that he knows not to 
give, till he knows how much they have. 
Upon application to the Dean of Hereford, I was told that 
you, dear Sir, have in your hand the accounts between them. 
If you would be pleased to examine them, and appoint this 
Gentleman a time when he may wait on you for the result to 
carry to the Bishop, you will put an end to a business in which 
I have interested myself very much, as it will restore prosperity 
to a family that has suffered great difficulties a long time. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


March 6, 1776. 
To the Reverend Dr. Douglas. 


460. 
To EDMUND HECTOR 2. 
DEAR SIR, March 7, 1776. 
Some time ago you told me that you had unhappily hurt 
yourself; and were confined, and you have never since let me 
hear of your recovery. I hope however that you are grown, 
at least are growing well. 'VVe must be content now to mend 


I From the original in the British 
Museum, Egerton MSS. 2182. 
Dr. Douglas was made Bishop of 
Carlisle in 1787, of Salisbury in 1791. 
He had exposed Lauder's literary 
fraud about Milton (bYe, i. 228) and 
had helped to expose the Cock Lane 
Ghost (ib. i. 407). Goldsmith intro- 
duces him in Retaliation :- 


, Here Douglas retires from his toils 
to relax, 
The scourge of impostors, the terror 
of quacks.' 
For the subject of the letter see 
ante, p. 309. 
2 First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S., iii. 401. 


very 



37 8 


To Ed1Jlztnd Hector. 


[A.D. 1776. 


very gradually, and cannot make such quick transitions from 
sickness to health, as we did forty years ago. Let me know 
how you do, and do not imagine that I forgot you. 
I forget whether I told you that at the latter end of the 
summer I rambled over part of France. I saw something of 
the vintage, which is all I think that they have to boast above 
our country, at least, it is their great natural advantage. Their 
air, I think, is good, and my health mended in it very per- 
ceptibly. 
Our schoolfellow Charles Congreve I is still in town, but very 
dull, very valetudinary, and very recluse, willing, I am afraid, 
to forget the world, and content to be forgotten by it, to repose 
in that sullen sensuality, into which men naturally sink, who 
think disease a justification of indulgence, and converse only 
with those who hope to prosper by indulging them. This is 
a species of Beings with which your profession must have made 
you much acquainted, and to which I hope acquaintance has 
made you no friend 2. Infirmity will come, but let us not invite 
it; indulgence will allure us, but let us turn resolutely away. 
Time cannot always be defeated, but let us not yield till we 
are conquered 3. 
I had the other day a letter from Harry Jackson, who says 
nothing, and yet seems to have something which he wishes to 
say. He is very poor. I wish something could be done for 
him 4. 
I hope dear Mrs. Careless is well, and now and then does not 
disdain to mention my name. It is happy when a Brother and 
Sister live to pass their time at our age together. I have nobody 
to whom I can talk of my first years-when I go to Lichfield 


I Ante, p. 3 0 4. 
2 Hector was a medical man. 
3 Johnson, not long before he died, 
when 'talking of his illness, ..said, 
" I will be conquered; I will not ca- 
pitulate.'" Life, iv. 374. See also 
post, Letter of March 14,1782. 
.. For Harry Jackson, see ante, p. 
376. Hector, as well as Johnson, 
had been his school-fellow. 'He had 


tried to be a cutler at Birmingham, 
but had not succeeded; and now he 
lived poorly at home, and had some 
scheme of dressing leather in a better 
manner than common; to his indis- 
tinct account of which Dr. Johnson 
listened with patient attention, that 
he might assist him with his advice.' 
Life, ii. 463. 


I see 



Aetat. 66.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


379 


I see the old places, but find nobody that enjoyed them with 
me. May she and you live long together I. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To Mr. Hector in Birmingham. 


461. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 2. 
DEAR SIR, March 7, 1776. 
You will not write to me, nor come to see me, and you 
will not have me within reach long for Weare going to Italy 
in the spring 3. 
I called the other day upon poor Charles 4, wþom I had not 
seen for many months. He took no notice of my absence, nor 
appeared either glad or sorry to see me, but answered everything 
with monosyllables, and seemed heavy and drowsy, like a man 
muddled with a full meal; at last I enquired the time, which 
gave him hopes of being delivered from me, and enabled him 
to bounce up with great alacrity and inspect his watch. He 
sits in a room about ten feet square, and though he takes the 
air every day in his chaise, fancies that he should take cold 
in any other house, and therefore never pays a visit. 
Do you go on with your suit? If you do, you had surely 
better come to town and talk with Council [sic]. Unless skilful 
men give you hopes of success, it will be better not to try it, 
you may still triumph in your ill-success 5. But supposing that 
by the former compact between you and _6, She had it 


I For Mrs. Careless, see ante, p. 
164, n. 1. Johnson wrote to Ben- 
net Langton in 1758 :-' 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; and cannot see, without 
wonder, how rarely that native union 
is afterwards regarded.' Life, i. 324. 
2 From the original in the posses- 
sion of Messrs. J. Pearson & Co. of 


5 Pall Mall Place, S.\V. 
3 Post, p. 3 8 4. 
4 Charles Congreve. Ante, p. 378. 
5 This paragraph is scored through 
in the original. 
6 The name is effaced. I t ap- 
pears to be \V ood. According to 
Nichols (Literary Anecdotes, ix. 63), 
Taylor's heir was a young gentleman 
in his own neighbourhood of the 
name of \Vebster, about 12 or 14 
for 



3 80 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1776. 


for her life, She had as much as She ought to have. I never 
well understood the settlement he and you concerted between 
you I. Do you know what is become of her, and how She and 
the 2 live together? What a wretch it is ! 
I should be glad to take my usual round, and see my friends 
before I set out, but I am afraid it will hardly be convenient, 
therefore write to me. 


I am, dear Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


462. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], March 12, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 424. 


To THE REVEREND DR. WETHERELL. 


463. 


L London], March 12, 1776. Published in the Life, ii. 424. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR 3. 


464. 


DEAR SIR, 
I came hither last night, and found your Letters. You will 
have a note from me on Monday, yet I thought it better to 
send a Messenger to-day. Mr. Boswel is with me, but I will 
take care that he shall hinder no business, nor shall he know 


years old. I am informed however 
by the Rev. Francis Jourdain, Vicar of 
Ashbourne, that 'Taylor left all his 
property to his shoe-black, with the 
proviso that he might take any name 
but that of Taylor.' Perhaps this 
lad was his illegitimate son, and 
'She' was the boy's mother. 
I The last six words of this sen- 
tence are scored through. 
,. This word is not only effaced but 
defaced. 


3 From the original in the pos- 
session of Mr. Alfred Morrison of 
Fonthill House. Boswell had ac- 
companied Johnson on a visit to 
Lichfield. He writes on Monday, 
March 25 :-' Johnson had sent an 
express to Dr. Taylor's, acquainting 
him of our being at Lichfield, and 
Taylor had returned an answer that 
his post-chaise should come for us 
this day.' Life, ii. 468. 


more 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Th1"ale. 


3 81 


more than you would have him. Send when you please, we 
shalJ be ready. 


I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Lichfield, Saturday, l\1arch 23, 1776. 
If you care not to send let me know, we will take. a chaise. 


465. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAR MADAM, Lichfield, March 25, 1776. 
This letter will not, I hope, reach you many days before 
me; in a distress which can be so little relieved. nothing remains 
for a friend but to come and partake it. 
Poor dear sweet little boy! When I read the letter this day 
to Mrs. Aston, she said
 'Such a death is the next to transla- 
tion 2.' Yet however I may convince myself of this, the tears 
are in my eyes, and yet I could not love him as you loved him, 
nor reckon upon him for a future comfort as you and his father 
reckoned upon him. 
He is gone, and we are going! We could not have enjoyed 
him long, and shall not long be separated from him. He has 
probably escaped many such pangs as you are now feeling. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 3 0 7. 
While Johnson and Boswell sat at 
breakfast at Miss Porter's house the 
post came in and brought news of 
the death of little Harry Thrale. 
'He died on March 23, suddenly, 
before his father's door.' Life, ii. 
468. Baretti has the following ma- 
lignant note: 'Here our Madam has 
sunk the letter to which this is an 
answer. Did she own in it that she 
herself poisoned little Harry, or did 
she not? I think she suppressed 
that particularity, and attributed his 
death to convulsions, or some other 
complaint of that kind, as Johnson 
seemed the remainder of his life 


ignorant of the accident that caused 
the boy's death, and I would not tell 
him lest his attachment to her should 
make him discredit my words, and of 
course causea serious quarrel between 
us.' BARETTI. In later notes (Piozzz" 
Letters, pp. 316, 319, 338) he says that 
she had been in the habit of giving 
'tin-pills' to Queeny, and that 'he 
was obliged to be very violent to 
keep her from sending Hetty where 
she had just sent poor Queeny.' 
2 Johnson does not give in his 
Dictionary translation as used in 
this sense, though it is used in He- 
brews xi. 5. 


Nothing 



3 82 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


Nothing remains, but that with humble confidence we resign 
ourselves to Almighty Goodness, and fall down, without ir- 
reverent murmurs, before the Sovereign Distributer of good and 
evil, with hope that though sorrow endureth for a night yet joy 
may come in the morning I. 
I have known you, Madam, too long to think that YOll want 
any arguments for submission to the Supreme Will; nor can 
my consolation have any effect but that of showing that I wish 
to comfort you. \Vhat can be done you must do for yourself. 
Remember first, that your child is happy; and then, that he 
is safe, not only from the ills of this world, but from those more 
formidable dangers which extend their mischief to eternity. 
You have brought into the world a rational being; have seen 
him happy during the little life that has been granted him; and 
can have no doubt but that his happiness is now permanent and 
immutable. 
\Vhen you have obtained by prayer such tranquillity as nature 
will admit, force your attention, as you can, upon your ac- 
customed duties and accustomed entertainments. You can do 
no more for our dear boy, but you must not therefore think less 
on those whom your attention may make fitter for the place to 
which he is gone. 
I am, dearest, dearest Madam, 
Your most affectionate humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


466. 


To l\iRS. THRALE 2. 
[London), March 30, 1776. 


DEAR MADAM, 
Since, as Mr. Baretti informs us, our dear Queeney is grown 
better, I hope you will by degrees recover your tranquillity. 


· 'Heaviness may endure for a 
night, but joy cometh in the morn- 
ing.' Psalms, xxx. 5. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 309. 
Johnson and Boswell left Lichfield 
for Ashbourne on Tuesday, March 


26; leaving it the next evening they 
rested Wednesday night at Lough- 
borough, and Thursday night at St. 
Alban's, reaching London on Friday 
morning, March 29. Johnson at once 
hurried away to Mr. Thrale's hOllse 
Only 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


3 8 3 


Only by degrees, and those perhaps sufficiently slow, can the 
pain of an affliction like yours be abated I. But though effects 
are not wholly in our power, yet Providence always gives us 
something to do. Many of the operations of nature may by 
human diligence be accelerated or retarded. Do not indulge 
your sorrow; try to drive it away by either pleasure or pain; 
for, opposed to what you are feeling, many pains \vill become 
pleasures. Remember the great precept, Be 1/ot solitary; be 
'710t idle 2. 
But above all, resign yourself and your children to the 
Universal Father, the Author of Existence, and Governor of the 
Universe, who only knows what is best for all, and without 
whose regard not a sparrow falls to the ground 3. 
That I feel what friendship can feel, I hope I need not tell 
you. I loved him as I never expect to love any other little boy; 
but I could not love him as a parent. I know that such a loss 
is a laceration of the mind. I know that a whole system of 
hopes, and designs, and expectations, is swept away at once, 
and nothing left but bottomless vacuity 4. vVhat you feel I have 
felt, and hope that your disquiet will be shorter than mine. 
Mr. Thrale sent me a letter from Mr. Boswell, I suppose to be 
inè10sed 5. I was this day with l\'lrs. Montague, who, with 
everybody else, laments your misfortune. 
I am, dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM : JOHNSON. 


in the Borough, where he found the 
coach at the door to take Mrs. and 
Miss Thrale and Baretti to Bath. 
Life, ii. 473, iii. 6. The funeral had 
taken place the day before. 
I 'The most unaccountable part of 
Johnson's character was his total 
ignorance of the character of his 
most familiar acquaintance. Far 
from recovering by slow degrees, on 
our arrival at Bath the first thing 
that the woman did was to buy black 
feathers for her hat.' BARETTI. 
2 Ante, p. 293. 
3 St. Mat/hew, x. 29. 


4 See ante, p.212, n. 4, and þosl, 
Letter of July 27, 1778, where we find 
much the same thoughts and words. 
5 By the kindness of Mrs. Thomas, 
of Eyhorne House, Hollingbourne, 
near Maidstone, who is in possession 
of the original, I am able to give 
a copy of Boswell's letter:- 
'DEAR l\lADAM,-AlIow me to as- 
sure you and Mr. Thrale that I very 
sincerely regret your present afflic- 
tion, and very sincerely wish it were 
in my power to alleviate it. \Yere 
you as sure as I am of my concern 
for you, I doubt not that it would be 
To 



3 8 4 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


467. 
To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAREST MADAM, [London], April 1, 1776. 
When you were gone, Mr. Thrale soon sent me away 2. 
I came next day, and was made to understand that when I was 
wanted I should be sent for; and therefore I have not gone 
yesterday or to-day, but I will soon go again whether invited 
or not. 
You begin now I hope to be able to consider, that what has 
happened might have had great aggravations. Had you been 
followed in your intended travels 3 by an account of this afflictive 4 
deprivation, where could have been the end of doubt, and sur- 
mise, and suspicion, and self-condemnation ? You could not 
easily have been reconciled to those whom you left behind, or 


some relief. You have now with you 
Dr. Johnson, whose friendship is 
the most effectual consolation under 
heaven. I wish not to intrude upon 
you; but as soon as yon let me know 
that my presence will not be trouble- 
some, I shall hasten to your house, 
where as I have shared much happi- 
ness, I would willingly bear a part in 
mourning. 
I ever am, Madam, 
Your obliged humble servant, 
J AMES BOSWELL. 
Mr. Dillys in the Poultry, 
Friday, 29 March, 1776.' 
It was at the house of Messieurs 
Dilly, the booksellers in the Poultry, 
that Johnson and Boswell alighted 
on their return to London. Life, 
iii. 5. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 311. 
2 'Mr. Thrale who was a worldly 
man, and followed the direction of 
his own feelings with no philosophi- 
calor Christian distinctions, having 
now lost the strong hope of being 
one day succeeded in the profitable 
Brewery by the only son he had left, 
gave himself silently up to his grief, 


and fell in a few years a victim to it.' 
BARETTI. 'When the news had first 
arrived of the boy's death, Boswell 
had 'said it would be very distress- 
ing to Thrale, but she would soon 
forget it, as she had so many things 
to think of. JOHNSON. "No, Sir, 
Thrale will forget it first. She has 
many things that she may think of. 
He has many things that he must 
think of.'" Life, ii. 470. This, though 
true as a general remark, was not 
true in this case. 
3 They had been on the point of 
starting with Johnson for Italy. 
4 Johnson a voided the use of the 
present participle as an adjective. 
He would not have said' afflicting 
deprivation.' Mrs. Piozzi in her 
British Synonomy (ii. 139), which 
was no doubt to a great extent 
founded on what she had learnt 
from him, distinguishing between 
þrevalent and þrevailing, says:- 
, Prevailing being a participle is in 
common use, of course, and I think 
it lies a whole shade nearer to vul- 
garity than þrevalent.' She calls 
both words adverbs! 


those 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


3 8 5 


those who had persuaded you to go. You would have believed 
that he died by neglect, and that your presence would have 
saved him. I was glad of your letter from Marlborough X, and 
hope you will try to force yourself to write. If grief either 
caused or aggravated poor Queeney's illness, you have taken 
the proper method for relieving it. Young minds easily receive 
new impressions. 
Poor Peyton 2 expired this morning. He probably during 
many years, for which he sat starving by the bed of a wife, not 
only useless but almost motionless, condemned by poverty to 
personal attendance, and by the necessity of such attendance 
chained down to poverty-he probably thought often how 
lightly he should tread the path of life without his burthen. 
Of this thought the admission was unavoidable, and the in- 
dulgence might be forgiven to frailty and distress. His wife died 
at last, and before she was buried he was seized by a fever, and 
is now going to the grave. 
Such miscarriages, when they happen to those on whom 
many eyes are fixed, fill histories and tragedies; and tears have 
been shed for the sufferings, and wonder excited by the for- 
titude of those who neither did nor suffered more than Peyton. 
I was on Saturday at Mrs. J'vlontague's, who expressed great 
sensibility 3 of your loss; and have this day received an invitation 
to a supper and a ball; but I returned my acknowledgment to 
the ladies, and let them know that I thought I should like the 
ball better another week 4. 
I am, dear lYladam, 
Your, &c., 
SA:\I: JOHNSON. 


I Marlborough is 74 miles from 
London, and 33 from Bath on the 
main road between those cities. It 
was at Marlborough that Matthew 
Bramble halted to dine on his way 
from Bath to London, on the day 
when Humphry Clinker comes first 
upon the scene. Humþhry Llinker, 
ed. 1792, i. 169. 
2 Ante, p. 3 1 9. 
3 Johnson does not in his Dic- 
VOL. 1. 


tionary give sensibility as used in 
this sense. 
4 He had however attended the 
Lichfield Theatre on the day on 
which the news arrived of the boy's 
death. Boswell says :-' \Ye were 
quite gay and merry. I afterwards 
mentioned to him that I condemned 
myself for being so, when poor Mr. 
and Mrs. Thrale were in such dis- 
tress. JOHNSON. "You are wrong, 
C C To 



3 86 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


468. 


To MRS. THRALE I. 
DEAREST MADA:\I, April 4, 1776. 
I am glad to hear of pretty Queeney's recovery, and your 
retu.rning tranquillity. What we have suffered ought to make 
us remember what we have escaped. You might at as short 
a warning have been taken from your children, or !vIr. Thrale 
might have been taken from us all. 
Mr. Thrale, when he dismissed me, promised to call on me; 
he has never called, and I have never seen him. He said that 
he would go to the house 2, and I hope he has found something 
that laid hold on his attention. 
I do not wish you to return, while the novelty of the place 
does any good either to you or Queeney, and longer I know you 
will not stay; there is therefore no need of soliciting your 
return. What qualification can be extracted from so sad an 
event, I derive from observing that Mr. Thrale's behaviour has 
united you to him by additional endearments. Every evil will 
be more easily borne while you fondly love one another; and 
every good will be enjoyed with encrease of delight past compute, 


Sir; twenty years hence Mr. and 
Mrs. Thrale will not suffer much 
pain from the death of their son. 
Now, Sir, you are to consider, that 
distance of place, as well as distance 
of time, operates upon the human 
feelings. I would not have you be 
gay in the presence of the distressed, 
because it would shock them; but 
you may be gay at a distance.'" Life, 
ii.47 1 . 
'See the sensibility of Mrs. Mon- 
tague that invited Johnson to a ball 
on such an occasion! Oh, these 
learned Ladies, how sensible they 
are of other people's afflictions.' 
BARETTI. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 3 1 3. 
2 The House of Commons, I con- 
jecture. On April 1, if he attended, 


he heard a debate on ' Mr. Hartley's 
Motion for Estimates of the probable 
expenses of the War with America.' 
ParI. His!. xviii. 1302. Lord North 
replied that 'Mr. Hartley looked for 
impossibilities; he could not divine 
what the expenses of the campaign 
would amount to.' Ib. p. 1315. 
Could it have been foreseen that the 
National Debt would be raised by 
the war from 129 to 268 millions, 
even Gibbon might have hesitated 
about supporting throughout this 
memorable contest 'with many a 
sincere and silent vote the rights, 
though not perhaps the interest, of 
the mother country.' Gibbon's Misc. 
Works. i. 220. For the increase in 
the debt see Penny Cyclo., ed. 1840, 
xvi. 100. 


to 



Aetat. 66.1 


To lVIrs. Thrale. 


3 8 i 


to use the phrase of Cumberland I. May your care of each 
other always encrease! 
I am, dearest IVladam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON 2. 


469. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR. 
London, April 4, 177 6 . 
In Messrs. Sotheby and Co.'s Auction Catalogue of April 8, 1891, 
Lot 6 I is a letter of Johnson to Dr. Taylor, two pages quarto, dated 
April 4, I7 76, containing' frequent references to Boswell.' It was sold 
for ;{;6 I5S. 


470. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAM, April 9, 1776. 
lVIr. Thrale's alteration of purpose is not weakness of 
resolution; it is a wise man's compliance with the change of 
things, and with the new duties which the change produces. 


I Probably Richard Cumberland, I hear from you occasionally it will 
the playwriter. Life, iv. 384, 1t. 2. be a real pleasure. Your present is 
2 Arthur Murphy, who had made melancholy, but I receive it with that 
Johnson and the Thrales acquainted pleasure which melancholy affords, 
(Life, i. 493), wrote to Mrs. Thrale and I shall wear it with that sensi- 
the following letter, the original of bility which is due to you, and to all 
which is in the possession of Mrs. belonging to you. 
Thomas, of Eythorne House, Hol- I will not Endeavour to tell you 
lingbourne, Maidstone. 'March 6' the Sentiments, with which I am, 
is a misdate for' April 6':- Dear Madam, 
'DEAR MRS. THRALE, Your most obliged 
I was heartily glad to hear that humble servant, 
you had set out for Bath. The best ARTHUR MURPHY. 
Effort we can make upon trying oc- Lincoln's Inn, 
casions is as much our Duty, as 6th March, 1776.' 
submission to the Supreme Will. 3 Piozzi Letters, i. 314. 
I hope that your Journey has had This letter, if it is rightly dated, 
every good Effect. I long much to must have crossed Mrs. Thrale on 
see you, and at the same I dread it. her way back, for we find her dining 
I have never gone near .Mr. Thrale, at her own house on April 10. Life, 
for I thought I should only hinder iii. 29. Soon afterwards she returned 
his wounds from healing. It is, in to Bath with her husband and J ohn- 
my opinion, lucky that you are all son. Ib. p. 44. Mr. Thrale's altera- 
going to change the scene. Your tion of purpose was the abandonment 
absence will be felt by me, but if of the journey to Italy. 
C C 2 \ Vhoever 



3 88 


To Afrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


\Vhoever expects me to be angry, will be disappointed I. I do 
not even grieve at the effect, I grieve only at the cause. 
Your business for the present is to seek for ease, and to go 
where you think it most likely to be found. There cannot yet 
be any place in your mind for mere curiosity. \Vhenever I can 
contribute to your tranquillity, I shall readily attend, and hope 
never to add to the evils that may oppress you. I will go with 
you to Bath, or stay with you at home. 
I am very little disappointed. I was glad to go to places of 
so much celebrity, but had promised to myself no raptures, nor 
much improvement 2: nor is there any thing to be expected 
worth such a sacrifice as you might make. 
Keep yourself busy, and you will in time grow cheerful. 
New prospects may open, and new enjoyments may come within 
your reach. I surely cannot but wish all evil removed from 
a house which has afforded my miseries all the succour which 
attention and benevolence could give. I am sorry not to owe 
so much, but to repay so little. What I can do, you may with 
great reason expect from, 


J This passage seems to be an 
answer to a passage in Mrs. Thrale's 
letter to him, where she says:- 
'Baretti said you would be very 
angry because this dreadful event 
made us put off our Italian journey, 
but I knew you better.' Her letter 
however is dated May 3, more than 
three weeks later; on which day, to 
add to the perplexity, Johnson was 
with her till about eleven at night, 
when he left for London (þost, p. 391). 
I suspect that her letter is either 
wholly or in part a fabrication. 
2 The following day, Johnson said 
to Boswell :-' "I am disappointed, 
to be sure; but it is not a great dis- 
appointment." * * * I perceived 
that he had so warmly cherished the 
hope of enjoying classical scenes, 


Dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


that he could not easily part with 
the scheme; for he said, "I shall 
probably contrive to get to Italy 
some other way. But I won't men- 
tion it to 1\1 r. and Mrs. Thrale, as 
it might vex them.'" Life, iii. 28. 
, Johnson was not fit to travel as 
every place was equal to him. He 
mused as much on the road to Paris 
as he did in his garret in London, as 
much at a French Opera as in his 
room at Streatham. With men, 
women, and children he never cared 
to exchange a word, and if he ever 
took any delight in any thing it was 
to converse with some old acquaint- 
ance. New people he never loved 
to be in company with, except Ladies, 
when disposed to caress and flatter 
him.' BARETTI. 


To 



Aetat. ee.] 


To the Lord Cha11zberlain. 


3 8 9 


471. 


To MISS REYNOLDS I. 
DEAREST IVIADA:\I, April II, 1776. 
To have acted, with regard to you, in a manner either un- 
friendly or disrespectful, would give me great pain; and, I hope, 
will be always very contrary to my intention. That I staid away 
was merely accidental. I have seldom dined from home; and I did 
not think my opinion necessary to your information in any pro- 
prieties of behaviour. The poor parents of the child are much 
grieved, and much dejected. The journey to Italy is put off, but 
they go to Bath on Monday 2. A visit from you will be well 
taken, and I think your intimacy is such that you may very 
properly pay it in a morning. I am sure that it will be thought 
seasonable and kind, and I wish you not to omit it. 
I am, 
Dear Madam, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


472. 


To THE EARL OF HERTFORD, LORD CHAMBERLAIN 3. 
My LORD, 
Being wholly unknown to your lordship, I have only this 
apology to make for presuming to trouble you with a request,- 
that a stranger's petition, if it cannot be easily granted, can be 
easily refused. Some of the apartments are now vacant in which 
I am encouraged to hope that by application to your lordship I 
may obtain a residence. Such a grant would be considered by 
me as a great favour; and I hope that to a man who has had the 
honour of vindicating his Majesty's Government, a retreat in one 
of his houses may not be improperly or unworthily allowed 4. 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 505. 
2 Monday was the 15 th . 
3 First published in the Gentle- 
man's Magazine for 1850, part i. 
page 292. 
Lord C. stands for Lord Chamber- 
lain. The Earl (afterwards first 
Marquis) of Hertford was at one 
time Hume's patron. Hume'sLetters 


to W. Strahan, p. xxx. He was the 
grandfather of the third Marquis, 
who was born within a year of the 
date of Johnson's letter, and who is 
supposed to be the original of the 
Marquis of Steyne in Thackeray's 
Vanity Fair. The endorsement 
does not agree in date with the 
letter. 
4 Johnson 'complained that his 
I therefore 



39 0 


To the Reverend Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1776. 


I therefore request that your lordship will be pleased to grant 
such rooms in Hampton Court as shall seem proper to 
IVly Lord, 
Your lordship's most obedt. and 
most faithful humble servant, 
Bolt court, Fleet street, SAM: JOHNSON. 
April I I, 1776. 
lndorsed-' Mr. Samuel Johnson to the Earl of Hertford, requesting 
apartments at Hampton Court. 11th May, 1776.' And within, a 
memorandum of the answer :-' Lord C. presents his compliments to 
Mr. Johnson, and is sorry that he cannot obey his commands, having 
already on his hands many engagements unsatisfied.' 


473. 
To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, 
I have not yet carried the cases. I would have the value of 
the Estate truly told. This trial takes up the Attorney general 
for the present; and there is little hope of his attention to any- 
thing else. And upon the whole, I do not see that there is any 
haste. The opinion is as good and as useful a month hence, 
unless you found [name obliterated] alienating the land. I am 
going with Mr. Thrale to Bath on Monday. Our Italian journey 


pension having been given to him as 
a literary character he had been 
applied to by administration to \"rite 
political pamphlets.' On another 
occasion speaking of them he said :- 
'Except what I had from the book- 
seller, I did not get a farthing by 
them.' This letter however shows 
that Boswell went too far when he 
asserted that' he neither asked nor 
received from government any reward 
whatsoever for his political labours.' 
Life, ii. 147, 317. Wraxall asserts 
that in the struggle with America, 
, with the exceptions of Johnson and 
Gibbon all the eminent or shining 
talents of the country, led on by 
Burke, were marshalled in support of 
the Colonies.' Wraxall's Memo'irs, 
ed. 1815, ii. 81. 


· Copied by me from the original 
in the possession of Mr. Alfred 
Morrison, of Fonthill House. 
For the first mention of Taylor's 
law case, see ante, p. 375. Boswell 
wrote to Temple on May 1:- 
'Luckily Dr. Taylor has begged of 
Dr. Johnson to come to London, 
to assist him in some interesting 
business, and Johnson loves much 
to be so consulted and so comes up.' 
Letters of Boswell, p. 234. The 
Attorney-General was Thurlow. The 
trial on which he was engaged was 
that of 'Elizabeth, styling herself 
Duchess of Kingston, for bigamy.' It 
began on April 15 and ended on the 
22nd with a verdict of guilty. Gmtle- 
man' s Magazine, 1776, p. 179. 


is 



Aetat. 66.] 


To .lJIrs. Th ra Ie. 


39 1 


is deferred to another year, perhaps totally put off on their part. 
They are both extremely dejected. I think, his grief is deepest. 
If you put off your coming to town, I will give you notice when 
we return, but if your coming is necessary, I will come from 
Bath to meet you. 


I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Bolt court, (not Johnson's court), Fleet street. 
April 13, 1776. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashburne, Derbyshire. 


474. 
To MIss REYNOLDS I. 
DEAREST MADA
I, April 15, 1776. 
vVhen you called on lVlrs. Thrale. I find by enquiry that she 
was really abroad. The same thing happened to Mrs. Montagu, 
of which I beg you to inform her, for she went likewise by my 
opinion. The denial, if it had been feigned, would not have 
pleased me 2. Your visits, however, are kindly paid, and very 
kindly taken. \Ve are going to Bath this morning; but I could 
not part without telling you the real state of your visit. 
I am, dearest 1\1 adam, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


475. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[Bath, April, 1776.] Published in the Life, iii. 44. 


476. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAREST MADAM, [London, Monday], May 6, 177 6 . 
On Friday night, as you know, I left you about eleven 


I First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, page 508. 
2 'Johnson would not allow his 
servant to say he was not at home 
when he really was. "A servant's 
strict regard for truth (said he) must 
be weakened by such a practice. A 
philosopher may know that it is 


merely a form of denial; but few 
servants are such nice distinguishers. 
If I accustom a servan t to tell a lie 
for me, have I not reason to appre- 
hend that he will tell many lies for 
himseif." , Life, i. 436. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 320. 


0' clock. 



39 2 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


o'clock. The moon shone, but I did not see much of the way, 
for I think I slept better than I commonly do in bed. My 
companions were civil men, and we dispatched our journey very 
peaceably. I came home at about seven on Saturday very little 
fatigued I. 
To-day I have been at home. To-morrow I am to dine, as I 
did yesterday, with Dr. Taylor. On Wednesday I am to dine 
with Oglethorpe; and on Thursday with Paoli 2. He that sees 
before him to his third dinner, has a long prospect. 
My political tracts are printed, and I bring Mr. Thrale a copy 
when I come. They make but a little book 3. 
Count Manucci is in such haste to come, that I believe he will 
not stay for me; if he would, I should like to hear his remarks 
on the road 4. 


I Johnson took twenty hours in 
travelling in the stage coach a dis- 
tance of 107 miles. In 1772 it had 
taken him twenty-six hours from 
London to Lichfield-a distance of 
116 miles. Ante, p. 191. In 1783 
the journey from London to Salis- 
bury-82 miles-took him nearly fif- 
teen hours. Life, iv. 234, n. 3. From 
about 4
 to 5
 miles an hour was, it 
seems, at this time the rate at which 
a stage-coach travelled. By a Parlia. 
mentary Return in 1836 it was shown 
that in that year the greatest speed 
travelled by the mail-coaches was 
10-& miles an hour, the slowest 6 j 
the average being 8á-. Penny Cyclo. 
ed. 1840, xviii. 458. In Dickens:s 
Tale of two Cities mail-coaches are 
described as running in 1775. They 
did not begin till nine years later, as 
is shown by the following entry in 
the Gentleman' s Magazine for 1784, 
p. 634 :-' Monday, August 2, 1784. 
Began a new plan for the conveyance 
of the mail between London, Bath, 
and Bristol, by coaches constructed 
for that purpose. The coach which 
left London this evening at 8 o'clock 
arrived at Bristol the next morning 


before eleven j and the coach that 
set out from Bristol at 4 o'clock in 
the afternoon got into London before 
8 o'clock next morning.' 
Horace \Valpole on July 4, 1788, 
wrote to Hannah More :-' As letters, 
you say, now keep their coaches, I 
hope those from Bristol will call often 
at my door.' Letters, ix. 129. 
2 Boswell records :-' I dined with 
him at Dr. Taylor's, at General Ogle- 
thorpe's, and at General Paoli's.' 
Life, iii, 52. Boswell was indolent in 
keeping his Journal at this time, and 
has left us scarcely any account of 
the talk. Life, iii. 52. For Ogle- 
thorpe see ib. i. 127, and for Paoli 
ib. ii. 7 I. 
3 H is four pamphlets, The False 
Alarm, Falkland's Islands, The 
Patriot, and Taxatio1Z no Tyranny 
he collected into one volume with 
the title of Political Tracts. Boswell 
says that on the title-page is added:- 
'By the Authour of the Rambler' 
(Life, ii. 315) j but these words do 
not appear in my copy of the first 
edition. 
4 Boswell says that Manucci was 
a Florentine nobleman. Life, iii. 
Mr. Baretti 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


393 


Mr. Baretti has a cold and hoarseness, and Mrs. \Villiams says 
that I have caught a cold this afternoon. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To MRS. THRALE r. 


477. 


DEAR MADAM, [London], May II, 1776. 
That you may have no superfluous uneasiness, I went this 
afternoon to visit the two babies at Kensington, and found them 
indeed a little spotted with their disorder, but as brisk and gay 
as health and youth can make them. I took a paper of sweet- 
meats, and spread them on the table. They took great delight 
to shew their governess the various animals that were made of 
sugar; and when they had eaten as much as was fit, the rest 
were laid up for to-morrow. 
Susy sends her duty and love with great propriety. Sophy 
sends her duty to you, and her love to Queeney and Papa. Mr. 
Evans 2 came in after me. You may set your heart quite at rest, 
no babies can be better than they appear to be. Dr. Taylor went 
with me, and we staid a good while. He likes them very much. 
Susy said her creed in French. 
Dr. Taylor says, I must not come back till his business is ad- 
justed; and indeed it would not be wise to come away without 
doing what I came hither only to do. However, I expect to be 
dismissed in a few days, and shall bring Manucci with me. 
I dined yesterday with * * * *. His three children are very 
lovely. * * * * longs to teach him a little economy. I know 


89. Baretti describes him as ' a good 
and most pleasing man, who had 
read very little in his language and 
next to nothing in any other.' J ohn- 
son did not return to Bath. Had he 
done so he might have come across 
Hurne, who had gone there on May 
8, in the vain hope that the waters 
might relieve the illness of which 
he was dying. Letters 0/ Hume 


to Strahan, p. 323. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 3 21 . 
2 Mr. Evans is mentioned þost, 
Letter of April 25, 1780, and Life, iii. 
422. He was, I believe, 'the Rev. 
Mr. Evans,' mentioned in Miss 
Hawkins's J.'f,Ie1Jloirs, i. 65, 'who 
having the living of St. Olave's, 
Tooley Street, was frequently a guest 
at Mrs. Thrale's table.' 


not 



394 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


not how his money goes, for I do not think that Mrs. Williams 
and I had our due share of the nine guineas I. 
He begins to reproach himself with neglect of * * * *'s 
education, and censures that idleness, or that deviation, by the 
indulgence of which he has left uncultivated such a fertile mind. 
I advised him to let the child alone; and told him that the 
matter was not great, whether he could read at the end of four 
years or of five, and that I thought it not proper to harass a 
tender mind with the violence of painful attention. I may per- 
haps procure both father and son a year of quiet; and surely I 
may rate myself among their benefactors 2. 
I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


478. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR LADY, May 14, 177 6 . 
Since my visit to the younglings, nothing has happened but 
a little disappointment in Dr. Taylor's affairs, which, he says, 


J It was with Bennet Langton, no 
doubt, that Johnson dined. See Life, 
iii. 48, n. 4 for criticisms on his mode 
ofliving. On November 16 Johnson 
wrote to Boswell :-' Do you ever 
hear from Mr. Langton? I visit him 
sometimes, but he does not talk. I 
do not like his scheme of life; but as 
I am not permitted to understand it, 
I cannot set any thing right that is 
wrong. His children are sweet 
babies.' Ib. iii. 93. 
Mrs. Thrale, I conjecture, had 
heard that Langton had received 
nine guineas from some unusual 
source. It might have been expected 
that the dinner which he had given 
to Johnson and Mrs. \Villiams would 
have been better than usual on 
account of this windfall, but it was 
not. Johnson later on complained 
that his table was 'rather coarse.' 
Ib. iii. 128. 
2 'Endeavouring to make children 
prematurely wise,' said Johnson, 'is 


useless labour. Suppose they have 
more knowledge at five or six years 
old than other children, what use can 
be made of it ? I t will be lost before 
it is wanted, and the waste of so 
much time and labour of the teacher 
can never be repaid. Too much is 
expected from precocity, and too 
little performed.' Life, ii. 407. Ac- 
cording to Mrs. Piozzi (Anecdotes, p. 
24) he had persuaded Dr. Sumner, 
the Head Master of Harrow School, 
to give up the practice of setting 
holiday-tasks. 'He told me,' she 
adds, 'that he had never ceased 
representing to all the eminent 
schoolmasters in England the absurd 
tyranny of poisoning the hour of per- 
mitted pleasure, by keeping future 
misery before the children's eyes, and 
tempting them by bribery or false- 
hood to evade it.' Unfortunately for 
'the children' Dr. Sumner died 
before the next vacation. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 323. 


must 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Tkrale. 


395 


must keep me here a while longer. lVlr. Wedderburn I has given 
his opinion to-day directly against us. He thinks of the claim 
much as I think. We sent this afternoon for a solicitor, another 
Scrase 2, who gave the same sentence with \Vedderburn, and with 
less delicacy. The Doctor tried to talk him into better notions, 
but to little purpose, for a man is not much believed in his own 
cause. At last, finding the Doctor somewhat moody, I bid him 
not be disturbed, for he could not be injured till the death of 
lVlrs. Rudd 3, and her life was better than his. So I comforted 
a1ld advised him 4. 
I know not how you intend to serve me, but I expect a 
letter to-morrow, and I do not see why Queeney should forget 
me. 
Manucci must, I believe, come down without me. I am 
ashamed of having delayed him so long, without being able to 
fix a day; but you know, and must make him know, that the 
fault is not mine. 
* * * * goes away on Thursday, very well satisfied with his 


I Wedderburne (at this time 
Solicitor-General, afterwards Lord 
Chancellor, Lord Loughborough and 
Earl of Rosslyn) had been consulted 
by Taylor. Life, iii. 44. 
2 Mr. Scrase, an old solicitor, who 
lent money to Mr. Thrale bas been 
mentioned before, ante, p. 348, n. 4. 
Mrs. Piozzi says that he had told her 
that in the neighbourhoodof Brighton 
, he had made gentlemen's wilIs when 
they left the county of Sussex; 
describing the leave-takings, &c., as 
if they had been setting out for a dis- 
covery of the North Pole.' Hay- 
ward's Piozzi, ii. 244. She says 
that he was eighty-six years old in 
1765, but this probably is an ex- 
aggeration as he was stilI living in 
1777. By' another Scrase' Johnson 
means, I conjecture, a man of his 
character. 
J This can scarcely refer to 'the 
celebrated Mrs. Rudd, who had been 


much talked of this spring.' She had 
been tried for forgery with the two 
brothers Perreau. She was acquitted 
and they were hanged. Boswell 
'talked to Johnson a good deal of 
her' the day after the date of the 
letter in the text. Life, ii. 450; 
iii. 79. 
4 This was, it should seem, a 
common quotation in the Streatham 
set. Mrs. Thrale wrote to Miss 
Burney in 1779 :-' And so, as ::\Iow- 
bray the brutal says of Lovelace the 
gay, ,. ''Ie comforted and advised 
him." , :\Ime. Ð' Arblay's Diary, i. 
159. The original passage is found in 
Mr. Mowbray's Letter of September 
7, to John Belford, Esq. (Clarissa, 
ed. 1810, viii. 95) :-' The conquest 
did not pay trouble; and what was 
there in one woman more than 
another? Hey, you know, Jack!- 
And thus we comforted him and ad- 
vised him.' 


Journey. 



To lIIrs. Thrale. 


39 6 


[A.D. 1776. 


journey. Some great men have promised to obtain him a place, 
and then a fig for my father and his new wife I. 
I have not yet been at the Borough 2, nor know when I shall 
go, unless you send me. There is in the exhibition of Exeter 
Exchange 3 , a picture of the house at Streatham, by one Laurence, 
I think, of the Borough. This is something, or something like. 
Mr. Welch 4 sets out for France to-morrow, with his younger 
daughter. He has leave of absence for a year, and seems very 
much delighted with the thought of travelling, and the hope of 
health. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


479. 
To MRS. THRALE 5. 
DEAR MADAM, May 16, 1776. 
This is my third letter. Well, sure I shall have something 
to-morrow. Our business stands still. The Doctor 6 says I must 
not go; and yet my stay does him no good. His solicitor says 
he is sick, but I suspect he is sullen. The Doctor, in the mean 
time, has his head as full as yours at an election. Livings and 
preferments, as if he were in want with twenty children, run in 
his head 7. But a man must have his head on something, small 
or great. 


I 'New wife' seems a strange term 
to apply to a woman more than six 
years after her marriage. F or Bos- 
well's disagreement with his step- 
mother, see Life, ii. 377, n. I. He 
too often nursed hopes of promotion 
through great men. On March 18, 
1775, he wrote :-' [have hopes from 
Lord Pembroke. How happy should 
I be to get an independency by my 
own influence while my father is 
alive!' Letters of Boswell, p. 182. 
On May I, 1776, he wrote :-' I am 
going to sup with Lord Mountstuart 
[the Earl of Eute's eldest son] my 
Mæcenas. You know how I delight 
in patronage.' Ib. p. 234. 
2 Mr. Thrale's house at Southwark. 


3 'Exeter 'Change, an edifice in 
the Strand, erected for the sake of 
trade, consistihg of a long room with 
a row of shops on each side, and a 
large room above, now used for 
auctions.' Dodsley's En'l/irons of 
London, ii. 290. On its site stands 
Exeter Hall. 
4 Saunders Welch, Fielding's suc- 
cessor as one of the Magistrates for 
\Vestminster. He went abroad for 
his health's sake, having through 
Johnson's influence obtained leave of 
absence. Life, iii. 216. 
5 Piozzz' Letters, i. 325. 
6 Dr. Taylor. 
7 For Taylor's eagerness for pre- 
ferment see ante, pp. 12, 156. 


For 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


397 


For my part, I begin to settle and keep company with grave 
aldermen. I dined yesterday in the Poultry with Mr. Alderman 
Wilkes, and Mr. Alderman Lee, and Counsellor Lee, his brother I. 
There sat you the while, so sober, with your W-'s and your 
H-s 2, and my aunt and her turnspit; and when they are 
gone, you think by chance on Johnson, what is he doing? What 
should he be doing? He is breaking jokes with Jack Wilkes 
upon the Scots 3. Such, Madam, are the vicissitudes of things 4. 
And there was Mrs. Knowles, the Quaker, that works the futile 5 
pictures, who is a great admirer of your conversation. She saw 
you at Mr. Shaw's 6, at the election time. She is a Staffordshire 
woman, and I am to go and see her. Staffordshire is the nursery 
of art, here they grow up till they are transplanted to London 7. 
Yet it is strange that I hear nothing from you; I hope you 


I This was the famous dinner at 
Messieurs Dilly's, 'my worthy book- 
sellers and friends,' as Boswell calls 
them, where Johnson met Wilkes. 
'Counsellor Lee' was Arthur Lee, 
who, says Boswell, 'could not but 
be very obnoxious to Johnson, for 
he was not only a þatriot, but 
an American. He was afterwards 
Minister from the United States at 
the Court of Madrid.' Life, iii. 68. 
He was a son of Thomas Lee, of 
Virginia. One of his brothers was 
the author of the Resolution of June 
10, 1776, for the Independence of the 
Colonies; another brother was the 
ancestor of Robert Lee, the famous 
General of the Slave States in the 
\Var between the North and South. 
fifemoirs of Robert E. Lee, by A. L. 
Long, 1886, p. 19. According to 
Franklin's Memoirs, ed. 1833, ii. 42 ; 
iii. 407, Arthur Lee was at this time 
'employed by Congress as a private 
and confidential agent in England,' 
receiving his letters by private hand 
under cover to his brother, the Alder- 
man. I have not been able to identify 
the Alderman (whose Christian name 
was 'William) in the J.'j,femoirs of 
Robert Lee. 


2 W-, I conjecture, was one 
Woodward. See þost, p. 400, where 
he and H- are mentioned. 
S See Life, iii. 73, 76, for the jokes 
of Johnson and Wilkes against Bos- 
well. 
4 Life, v. 117, n. 3. 
5 Johnson wrote sutile; his initial 
s being always formed like an f was 
here absurdly taken for one. In the 
Idler, No. 13, he describes some 
rooms as 'adorned with a kind of 
slttile þictureswhich imitate tapestry.' 
For Mrs. Knowles see Life, iii. 78, 
299, n. 2. Nichols (Lit. Hist., iv. 
830) says that 'her grand under- 
taking was a representation of the 
King in needle-work-which she 
completed to the entire satisfaction 
of their Majesties.' Mr. Lort wrote 
to Bishop Percy about futile :-' I 
desired a sight of the original letter 
in order to determine a wager. There 
it plainly appear
d that a dash had 
been put across the long s, perhaps 
by the printer or corrector of the 
press.' Nichols's Lt.ï. Hist., vii. 494. 
6 Mr. Shaw is mentioned, þost 
Letter of August [4, 1780. 
7 Johnson, it must be remembered, 
came from Staffordshire. 


are 



39 8 


To 1Vfrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


are not angry, or sick. Perhaps you are gone without me for 
spite to see places. That is natural enough, for evil is very 
natural, but I shall vex, unless it does you good. 
Stevens seems to be connected with T yrwhitt in publishing 
Chatterton's poems; he came very anxiously to know the result 
of our enquiries, and though he says he always thought them 
forged, is not well pleased to find us so fully convinced x. 
I have written to Manucci to find his own way, for the law's 
delay 2 makes it difficult for me to guess when I shall be able to 
be, otherwise than by my inclination, IVladam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


480. 


To SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
L London], May 16, 1776. Published in the Life, iii. 81. 


481. 


To MRS. BOSWELL. 
[London], May 16, 1776. Published in the Life, iii. 85. 


482. 


To MRS. THRALE 3 . 
DEAR MADAM, May 18, 1776. 
Then you are neither sick nor angry. Don't let me be de- 
frauded of Queeney's letter. Yesterday Seward 4 was with me, 
and told me what he knew of you. All good. To-day I went 
to look into my places at the Borough 5. I called on Mr. Perkins 


I Steevens on the publication of 
these Letters inserted an unsigned 
letter in the Gentleman' s Magazine 
(1788, p. 187) in which he asserted that 
he always thought the poems forged, 
and that Mr. Tyrwhitt, before he 
printed them, had arrived at the 
same conclusion. Nichols, however, 
in a note on this statement says that 
, Mr. Tyrwhitt changed his opinion 
after his volume was actually com- 


pleted at the press; and cancelled 
several sheets which had been printed 
to demonstrate that the poems were 
genuine.' Lit. Anec. ix. 530. 
2 Hamlet, Act iii. sc. I. 
3 Piozzl Letters, i. 333. 
4 A1zte, p. 34 6 , n. I. 
S H is room, or rather the re- 
ceptacles in it, in Mr. Thrale's house 
in Southwark. 


In 



Aetat. 66.1 


To JI,[rs. Thrall!. 


399 


in the counting-house I. He crows and triumphs, as we go on 
we shall double our business. The best brown malt he can have 
laid in at thirty and sixpence, and great stores he purposes to 
buy 2. Dr. Taylor's business stagnates, but he resolves not to 
wait on it much longer. Surely I shall get down to you next 
week. 
B- went away on Thursday night, with no great inclination 
to travel northward; but who can contend with destiny? He 
says, he has had a very pleasant journey. He paid another visit, 
I think, to .. * * *, before he went home 3. He carries with him 
two or three good resolutions; I hope they will not mould upon 
the road. Who can be this new friend of mine 4 ? The letter 
you sent me was from 1\1:r. Twisse, and the book, if any come, is 
Twisse's travels to Ireland, which you will, I hope, unty and 
read 5. 


I 'l"fr. Perkins was the worthy 
superintendant of Mr. Thrale's 
brewery, and after his death became 
one of the proprietors. . ., He hung 
up in the counting-house a fine proof 
of the admirable mezzotinto of Dr. 
Johnson, by Doughty; and when 
Mrs. Thrale asked him somewhat 
flippantly, "\Vhy do you put him 
up in the counting-house? " he 
answered, "Because, Madam, I wish 
to have one wise man there." "Sir," 
(said Johnson,) "I thank you. It is 
a very handsome compliment, and I 
believe you speak sincerely.'" Life, 
ii. 286. 
2 Ante, p. 192, n. 3. 
3 B- is Boswell. It was perhaps 
Mrs. Rudd (ante, p. 395, n. 3) to 
whom he paid another "Visit. That 
he had visited her more than once he 
tells us. Life, iii. 79 j vi. Addenda, 
p. Ii. 
4 This is in answer to the following 
passage in Mrs. Thrale's letter of 
May 16 :-' \Ye have a flashy friend 
here already, who is much your 
adorer; I wonder how you will like 
him? An Irishman he is j very 


handsome, very hot-headed, loud and 
lively, and sure to be a favourite with 
you, he tells us, for he can live with 
a man of ever so odd a temþer. My 
master laughs, but likes him, and it 
diverts me to think what you will do 
when he professes that he could clean 
shoes for you j that he could shed 
his blood for you; with twenty 
more extravagant flights.' Piozzi 
Letters, i. 329. He was a Mr. Mus- 
grave. Life, ii. 343, n. 2; iv. 3 2 3, 
n. I. 
S For Mr. Twiss see ante, p. 316, 
n.2. His Tour in Ireland in 1775 
is reviewed in the Gentleman's 
Magazine for September, 1776, p. 
420. Twiss, who had travelled, 
describes' the poverty of the common 
Irish as much greater than that of the 
Spanish, Portuguese, or even Scotch 
peasants.' The gentry, he says, 
have three, and on;y three peculiar 
customs. They always have boiled 
eggs for breakfast; they always 
have potatoes at every meal; and 
they pretty universally forge franks. 
Ib. 


I enclose 



4 00 


To lIIrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


I enclose some of the powders, lest you should lose your 
patient by delay. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


483. 


To MRS. THRALE X. 
DEAR MADAM, l\hy 22, 1776. 
On Friday and Saturday I dined with Dr. Taylor, who is 
in discontent, but resolved not to stay much longer to hear the 
opinions of lawyers who are all against him. vVho can blame 
him for being weary of them? 
On Sunday I dined at Sir Joshua's house on the hill, with the 
Bishop of St. Asaph. The dinner was good, and the Bishop is 
knowing and conversible 2. Yesterday at the Doctor's again- 
yery little better.-In the evening came in Dr. Crane, who en- 
quired after you. 
All this while * . * * 3 is hurt only in his vanity. He thought 
he had supplanted lYlrs. \V -, and lYIrs. W- has found the 
means of defeating him. He really wanted nothing more than 
to have the power of bequeathing a reversion to l\Ir. G-'s 
son, who is very nearly related to W-. This purity of in- 
tention however he cannot prove; and the transaction in itself 
seems þactum i1liquum. I do not think that he can, or indeed 
that he ought to prevail. 
Woodward, I hear, is gone to Bristol, in deep dudgeon at 
Barret's declaration against Chatterton's productions. You have 
now only H-, whom you can only make a silent admirer 4. 


I Piozzi Letters, i. 334. 
2 Sir Joshua had a house on 
Richmond Hill, 'where in the 
summer season it was his frequent 
custom to dine with select parties of 
his friends.' Northcote's Reynolds, 
i. 304. The Bishop of St. Asaph was 
Dr. Shipley. Boswell quotes in the 
Life, iv. 246, Johnson's praise of him. 
He was one of the two Bishops with 
whom Johnson dined one Passion 
\Yeek. Ib. iv. 88. 


3 No doubt Dr. Taylor. See ante, 
p. 379, where it is stated his suit was 
with a woman, and þost, p. 408. 
4 Johnson and Boswell had visited 
Bristol on April 29, and examined 
into the authenticity of Chatterton's 
poems :-' \Ve called on Mr. Barret, 
the surgeon, and saw some of the 
originals as they were called, which 
were executed very artificially; but 
from a careful inspection of them, 
and a consideration of the CÌrcum- 
I hope 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


4 01 


I hope my friend buzzes a little about you to keep me in your 
head, though I think I do my part pretty well myself; there are 
very few writers of more punctuality. 
I wish Queeney joy of her new watch I; and next time I write, 
intend myself the honour of directing my letter to her. Her 
hand is now very exact, and when use has made it free, may be 
very beautiful. 
I am glad of Mr. Thrale's resolution to take up his restes in 
person 2. He is wise in keeping the trade in his own hands, and 
appearing on proper occasions as the principal agent. Every 
man has those about him who wish to sooth him into inactivity 
and delitescence 3, nor is there any semblance of kindness more 
vigorously to be repelled than that which voluntarily offers a 
vicarious performance of the tasks of life, and conspires with the 
natural love of ease against diligence and perseverance 4. 
\Vhile I was holding my pen over the last period, I was called 
down to Father Wilks the Benedictine, and Father Brewer a 
Doctor of the Sorbon, who are come to England, and are now 
wandering over London. I have invited them to dine with me 
to-morrow 5. Father Cowley is well; and Mrs. Strickland is at 


stances with which they were at- 
tended, we were quite satisfied of the 
imposture.' Life, iii. 50. H - was 
perhaps Dr. Harington of Bath, or 
his son who published the Nugae 
Antz'quae. Ib. iv. 180. 
r Hawkins in his Life of Johnson, 
p. 460, says that he believes Johnson 
never had a watch of his own before 
1768, when he was in his fifty-ninth 
year. 
2 '\Vhen the master brewer goes 
round to his victuallers once a year, 
in order to examine the state of the 
trade, and the stock left on the hands 
of the alehouse-keeper, the expression 
used in the profession is, that he takes 
uþ his restes; a word borrowed from 
the French, and means the remainder 
-/es restes.' Note by Mrs. Piozzi. 
3 Delitescence is not in Johnson's 
Dictionary. 
VOL. I. 


4 'There is nothing,' said Johnson, 
, against which an old man should be 
so much upon his guard as putting 
himself to nurse.' Life, ii. 474. See 
also ib. ii. 337; iii. 176, n. I. Baretti 
says that the passage in the text' is 
a stroke against poor Perkins who 
contributed much to make l\h. 
Thrale rich by his skill and assiduity 
as his chief cJerk; but no dependent 
can constantly shun censure.' 
5 Johnson recorded in his French 
Journal :-' October 31. I lived at 
the Benedictines. . .. I parted very 
tenderly from the Prior and Friar 
\\'ilkes.' Life, ii. 399. He visited 
the Sorbonne (ib. ii. 397), but he does 
not mention Brewer. See þost, Letter 
of September 25, 1777. Had these 
men officiated as priests in England, 
if they were foreigners, their act was 
felony, and if natives, high treason. 
D d Paris. 



4 02 


To the Reverend Dr. A da7Jls. 


[A.D. 1776. 


Paris I. More than this I have not yet learned. They stay, I 
think, here but a little time. 
1 have sent your last parcel of powders, and hope soon to 
come myself. 


I am, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


To THE REVEREND DR. ADAMS 2. 


484. 


SIR, 
The Gentleman who brings this is a learned Benedictine, in 
whose monastery I was treated at Paris with all the civilities 
which the Society had means or opportunity of shewing. I 
dined in their refectory, and studied in their library 3, and had 
the favour of their company to other places, as curiosity led me. 
I, therefore, take the liberty of recommending him to you, Sir, 
and to Pembroke college, to be shewn that a lettered Stranger 
is not treated with less regard at Oxford than in France, and 
hope that you and my fellow collegians will not be unwilling to 
acknowledge some obligations for benefits conferred on one who 
has had the honour of studying amongst you. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


May 29, 1776. 


Lord Shelburne, in 1778, said that 
when he was in office (1766-1768) a 
priest was brought to trial by an in- 
former. 'The Court was reluctantly 
obliged to condemn him to perpetual 
imprisonment. Thougheverymethod 
was taken by the Privy Council to 
give a legal discharge to the prisoner, 
neither the laws would allow of it, 
nor dared the King himself to grant 
him a pardon. Lord Shelburne and 
his colleagues ventured to give him 
his liberty at every hazard.' Parl. 
Hist., xix. 1139, 1145. It was the 
proposal to mitigate these cruel laws 


which led to the Gordon Riots of 
1780. 
I For Father Cowley, the Prior of 
the Benedictines, see þost, Letter of 
September 25, 1777, and for Mrs. 
Strickland see Life, iii. 118, n. 3. 
2 First published in Mr. Morrison's 
Làtalogue of Autograþhs, ii. 34 2 . 
Dr. Adams was the Master of 
Pembroke College, Oxford. See 
þost, Letter of July 11, 1784. 
3 Johnson made the following 
record in his Journal of their re- 
fectory and library :-' Meagre day; 
soup meagre, herrings, eels, both 
To 



Aetat. 66. J 


To Henry Thrale. 


4 0 3 


485. 


To HENRY THRALE I. 
DEAR SIR, [Bolt Court], June 3, 1776. 
You are all. I suppose, now either at one home or the 
other 2, and all I hope well. My mistress writes as if she 
was afraid I should make too much haste to see her. Pray tell 
her that there is no danger. The lameness, of which I made 
mention in one of my notes, has improved to a very serious and 
troublesome fit of the gout 3. I creep about and hang by both 
hands. Johnny Wi1cocks might be my running footman. I 
enjoy all the dignity of lameness 4. I receive ladies and dismiss 
them sitting. PaÙiful pre-emÙze1Zce 5. 
Baretti is at last mentioned in one of the Reviews, but in 
a manner that will not give him much delight. They are 
neither angry nor civil 6. 


with sauce; fryed fish; lentils, taste- 
less in themselves. In the library; 
where I found M ajfeus' s de HistorÙ1 
Indicti: PromontoriuJll jlectere, to 
double the Caþe.' Life, ii. 399. He 
does not in his Dictionary give 
meagre used in this sense. Like 
transþire, it is 'a sense innovated 
from France without necessity.' 
Life, iii. 343. 
I Piozzi Letters, i. 337. 
2 Streatham or the Borough. 
3 The note in which he mentions 
this is not in Mrs. Piozzi's Collection. 
Johnson wrote to Boswell on July 6 
that he was attacked by the gout on 
May 29, and was not quite recovered. 
Life, iii. 89. 
4 '\Yhat dignity attends the solemn 
Gout! 
What conscious greatness if the 
heart be stout.' 
Mr. R. Pitt to his Brother C. Pitt. 
] ohnson's English Poets, ed. 1790, 
Iii. 119. 
5 'Am I distinguished from you 
but by toils, 


Superior toils, and heavier 
weight of cares? 
Painful pre-eminence! ' 
ADDISON'S Cato, Act iii. sc. 5. 
See Life, iii. 82, n. 2. 
6 He had this spring published an 
Essay on Phraseology, for the Use of 
Young Ladies who intend to learn 
the Colloquial Part 0/ the Italian 
Language. Gentleman's Magazine, 
1776,P.132. Under the date of ]une4 
he has recorded in a marginal note: 
'On this day I quitted Streatham 
without taking leave, perfectly tired 
with the impertinence of the Lady, 
who took every opportunity to dis- 
gust me, unable to pardon the violent 
efforts I had made at Bath to hinder 
her from giving tin-pills to Queeney. 
I had by that time been in a manner 
one of the family during five years 
and a half, teaching Queeney Spanish 
and Italian from morn to night, at 
her earnest desire originally, and 
Johnson who had made me hope that 
Thrale would at last give me an 
annuity for my pains; but never 
D d 2 Catcot 



4 0 4 


To J11"rs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


Catcot has been convinced by Barret, and has written his 
recantation to Tyrwhitt, who still persists in his edition of the 
poems, and perhaps is not much pleased to find himself mis- 
taken I. 
You are now, I suppose, busy about your 1'estes 2; I heartily 
wish you, dear Sir, a happy perambulation, and a good account 
of the trade; and hope that you and my mistress, as you come 
by, will call upon, Sir, 


Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


486. 
To MRS. THRALE 3. 


DEAR MADAl\I, June 4, at night [1776]. 
The world is indeed full of troubles, and we must not chuse 
for ourselves. But I am not sincerely sorry that in your present 
state of mind you are going to be immediately a mother 4. 
Compose your thoughts, diversify your attention, and attend 
your health 5. 
If I can be of any use, send for me; I think I can creep to 
the end of the court, and climb into a coach, though perhaps 
not very easily; but if you call me, very willingly. If you 
do not send for me, let me, pray let me know as oft as you can 
how you do. 


receiving a shilling from him or from 
her, I grew tired at last, and on some 
provocation from her left them 
abruptly.' 
I 'George Catcot, the pewterer, 
who was as zealous for Rowley, as 
Dr. Hugh Blair was for Ossian, at- 
tended us at our inn, and with a 
triumphant air of lively simplicity 
called out, " I'll make Dr. Johnson a 
convert.'" Life, iii. 50. Horace 
Walpole wrote on February 17, 
1777 :-' Mr. Tyrrwhit has at last 
published the Bristol poems. He does 
not give up the antiquity, yet fairly 
leaves everybody to ascribe them to 


Chatterton if they please.' \Valpole's 
Letters, vi. 412. See ante, p. 398. 
2 Ante, p. 401, n. 2. 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 338. 
4 Her next child was born on 
February 8, 1777, more than eight 
months later. I should have thought 
that the Letter (of which the year ap- 
parently was not given) had been 
misplaced by Mrs. Piozzi, had there 
not been mention of the gout and the 
restes which had been mentioned in 
the previous letter. 
S This use of attend as a transitive 
verb was not common in Johnson's 
time. 


lam 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


4 0 5 


I am glad that my master is at his restes r, they will help 
to fill up his mind. 
Pray let me know often how you do. 
I am, dearest Lady, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: J OH
SON. 


487. 


To MRS. THRALE 2. 
DEAREST LADY, June 5, 1776. 
You will have a note which I wrote last night. I was 
thinking, as I lay awake, that you might be worse; but I hope 
you will be every moment better and better. I have never had 
any overpowering pain, nor been kept more awake than is usual 
to me; but I am a very poor creeper upon the earth, catching 
at any thing with my hands to spare my feet. In a day or two 
I hope to be as fit for Streatham as for any other place. 
Mr. Thrale it seems called last night when I was in bed, and yet 
I was not in bed till near twelve, for I sit up lest I should not 
sleep. He must keep well, for he is the pillar of the house 3 ; 
and you must get well, or the house will hardly be worth 
propping. 


I am, dearest Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 


488. 


To MRS. THRALE 4. 
I\lv DEAR LADY, June 6, [1776]. 
How could you so mistake me? I am very desirous that 
the whole business should be as you would have it, only cheer- 
fulness at that time is reckoned a good things. 
My feet grow better, and I hope, if you send a carriage, 
to mount it on Monday. This gout has a little depressed 


I Ante, p. 401, n. 2. 
2 Piozzi Letters, i. 339. 
3 See þost, Letter of November 
4. 1779, where he calls l\Ir. Thrale 


, colu1lten d01ltlts.' 
4 Piozzi Letters, i. 34 0 . 
5 He is apparently referring to 
her approaching confinement. 


me, 



4 06 


To Mrs. Thrale. 


[A.D. 1776. 


me, not that I have suffered any great pain; I have been teized 
rather than tormented; but the tediousness and the imbecillity I 
have been unpleasant. However I now recover strength, and do 
not yet despair of kicking the moon 2. 
Could not you send me something out of your garden? 
Things have been growing, and you have not been consuming 
them. I wish I had a great bunch of asparagus for Sunday. 
Take great care of our Queeney, and of yourself, and encourage 
yourself in bustle, and variety, and cheerfulness. I will be ready 
to come as soon as I can, but the pain is now twinging me. Let 
me know, my sweetest lady, very often how you do. I thought 
it late before I heard to-day. 
I am, dear Madam, 
Your, &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


489. 


To MRS. THRALE 3. 
DEAR MADAM, June 8, [1776]. 
My feet disappointed me last night; I thought they would 
have given me no disturbance, but going upstairs I fancy fretted 
them, and they would not let me be easy. On Monday I 
am afraid I shall be a poor walker, but well enough to talk, and 
to hear you talk. And then, you know, what care we? 
Mr. Norton called on me yesterday. He is at Sayer's print- 
shop in Fleet-street; and would take an invitation to dinner 
very kindly. 
Poor Mr. Levet has fallen down, and hurt himself danger- 
ously 4. 
Of the monks I can give no account. I had them to dinner, 
and gave each of them the Political Tracts, and furnished Wilkes 


1 Johnson defines imbecility as 
, weakness; feebleness of mind or 
body.' 
2 In Drunken Barnaby's Journal, 
ed. 1818, p. 18, we find 'salientem 
contra lunam.' 
3 Piozzi Letters, i. 342. 


4 Johnson said that 'Levett was 
perhaps the only man who ever be- 
came intoxicated through motives of 
prudence.' Life, i. 243, n. 3. Per- 
haps he had fallen in one of these fits 
of prudential intoxication. 


with 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Miss Reynolds. 


4 0 7 


with letters, which will, I believe, procure him a proper reception 
at Oxford I. 


I am, dearest Lady, 
Your, &c., 
SAl\I: JOHNSON. 


490. 


To MISS REYNOLDS 2. 
DEAREST MADAM, June 21, 1776. 
You are as naughty as you can be. I am willing enough to 
write to you when I have any thing to say. As for my disorder, 
as Sir Joshua saw me, I fancied he would tell you, and that 
I needed not tell you myself. Of Dr. Goldsmith's Epitaph, 
I sent Sir Joshua two copies, and had none myself. If he has 
lost it, he has not done well. But I suppose I can recollect 
it, and will send it to you. 


I am, Madam, &c., 
SA
I: JOHNSON. 
P.S.-All the Thrales are well, and !VIrs. Thrale has a great 
regard for Miss Reynolds. 


491. 


To SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
[London], June 22, 1776. Published in the Lijë, iii. 82. 


I Ante, p. 4 02 . 
2 First published in Croker's Bos- 
well, p. 519. 
This letter was in answer to one 
from l\iiss Reynolds, given by Mr. 
Croker in full, in which she says:- 
, You saw by my last letter that I 
knew nothing of your illness, and it 
was unkind of you not to tell me 
what had been the matter with you; 
and you should have let me know 
how Mrs. Thrale and all the family 
were; but that would have been a sad 
transgression of the rule you have 
certainly prescribed to yourself of 
writing to some sort of people just 


such a number of lines. Be so good 
as to favour me with Dr. Goldsmith's 
Epitaph; and if you have no objec- 
tion, I should be very glad to send it 
to Dr. Beattie... My brother says 
he has lost it.' Goldsmith died 
on April 4, 1774. I t was Reynolds 
who first proposed the erection of 
his monument. He went to West- 
minster Abbey, and selected the place 
where it should be set up. N orth- 
cote's Reynolds, i. 326. The 'two 
copies' which he so carelessly lost 
were two distinct epitaphs. Life, 
iii. 82. 


To 




o8 


To the Revere1zd Dr. Taylor. 


[A.D. 1776. 


492. 


To THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR I. 


DEAR SIR, June 23 [? 26], 1776. 
The Gout is now grown tolerable; I can go up stairs pretty 
well, but am yet awkward in coming down. 
Some time ago I had a letter from the Solicitor 2, in which he 
mentioned our cause with respect enough, but persists in his 
opinion, as I suppose, your Attorney has told you. He is 
however convinced that nothing fraudulent was intended: 
I would be glad to hear what the Attorney says. 
Mr. Thrale would gladly have seen you at his house. They 
are all well. 
Whether I shall wander this Summer, I hardly know. If I do, 
tell me when it will be the best time to come to you. 
I hope you persevere in drinking. :My opinion is that I have 
drunk too little, and therefore have the gout, for it is of my own 
acquisition, as neither my father had it nor my Mother 3. 
Wilkes and Hopkins have now polled two days, and I 
hear that Wilkes is two hundred behind 4. 
Of this sudden Revolution in the Prince's household, the 
original cause is not certainly known. The quarrel began 
between Lord Holderness, and Jackson, the part of Jackson was 
taken by the Bishop, and all ended in a total change 5. 
I am, Sir, 
Your affectionate. &c., 
SAM: JOHNSON. 
To the Reverend Dr. Taylor in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 


I First published in Notes and 
Queries, 6th S. v. 423. 
2 See ante, p. 395, for' the solicitor 
who gave the same sentence with 
Wedderburne, and with less deli- 
cacy.' Johnson, I think, means to 
say that Taylor was not suspected of 
any fraudulent intention. See alzte, 
p. 4 00 , n. 3. 
3 Ante, p. 3 68 , n. 1, and Life, i. 
1 0 3, fZ. 3. 
4 The poll was for the Chamber- 


lain of the City of London. Hop- 
kins received 2610 votes and \Vilkes 
1513. As the show of hands was 
taken on June 24 (Gent. Mag., 1776, 
p. 285), the date of this letter-June 
23-as given in Notes alld Queries 
seems to be wrong. 
S Horace Walpole describes on 
June 5 'the very singular revolution 
which has happened in the Penetraìia 
and made very great noise. Yester- 
day se'nnight it was declared that 
To 



Aetat. 66.] 


To Francis Fowke. 


4 0 9 


493. 


To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], July 2, 1776. Published in the Life, iii. 86. 
494. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London,] July 6, 1776. Published in the Life, iii. 88. 
495. 
To FRANCIS FOWKE I. 
SIR, [London], July 11, 1776. 
I received some weeks ago a collection of papers which 
contain the trial of my dear friend, Joseph Fowke; of whom I 


the Bishop of Chester and Mr. Jack- 
son, preceptor and sub-preceptor to 
the Prince of Wales, were dismissed, 
and that Lord Holdernesse and Mr. 
Smelt, governor and sub-governor, 
had resigned their posts. . . . It is 
now known that on Lord Holder- 
nesse's return from the south of 
France he found a great alienation 
from him in the minds of his royal 
pupils, which he attributed to Jack- 
son,' &c. Letters, vi. 346. As the 
Bishop of Chester (Markham) was 
made Archbishop of York a few 
months later ( Gent. Mag., 1776, p. 
580), and Jackson was made Dean 
of Christ Church in 1783, they did 
not apparently lose the favour of the 
King. The' royal pupils' were 
George IV and the Duke of York. 
I First published in Original Let- 
ters, ed. by Rebecca Warner, 1817, 
p. 20 5. 
Joseph Fowke, she tells us, was 
born about 1715, and entered the 
service of the East India Company 
at the age of seventeen. He re- 
turned to England in 1748 and re- 
mained there till 1771. According 
to Mr. Croker, 'he went to India 
in 1736 as a writer, and served in 


several subordinate offices till he was 
appointed, in 1751, fifth member of 
Council at Madras. He had been, 
however, for some years a dissatisfied 
man, and in 1752 resigned the ser- 
vice and came to England. In 1770 
he was permitted to return as a free 
merchant to Calcutta. He was after- 
wards re-appointed to office in 
India, but finally resigned the Com- 
pany's service, and returned to 
England in 1790, when a vote of the 
House of Commons, moved by Mr. 
Burke, forced the reluctant Court of 
Directors to grant him a pension. 
He died in Bath, in 1806, æt. 84.' 
He is no doubt the gentleman 
described by Johnson on Aprils, 
1776, from whom he had lately re- 
ceived a letter from the East Indies, 
and whom he had once had some 
intention of accompanying thither. 
Life, iii. 20. Fowke used to tell 
anecdotes of Johnson. 'One morn- 
ing, on calling on him, he found him,' 
he said, 'somewhat agitated. On 
inquiring the cause, "I have just 
dismissed Lord Chesterfield," said 
he; "if you had come a few mo- 
ments sooner I could have shown 
you my letter to him." Johnson 
cannot 



4 10 


To Francis Fowke. 


[A.D. 1776. 


cannot easily be induced to think otherwise than well, and who 
seems to have been injured by the prosecution and the sentence. 
His first desire is that I should prepare his narrative for the 
press; his second, that if I cannot gratify him by publication, I 
would transmit the papers to you. To a compliance with his 
first request I have this objection, that I live in a reciprocation 
of civilities with Mr. H. X, and therefore cannot properly diffuse 
a narrative intended to bring upon him the censure of the public. 
Of two adversaries it would be rash to condemn either upon 
the evidence of the other; and a common friend must keep him- 
self suspended, at least till he has heard both. 
I am therefore ready to transmit to you the papers which 
have been seen only by myself; and beg to be informed how 
they may be conveyed to you. I see no legal objection to the 
publication; and of prudential reasons Mr. Fowke and you will 
be allowed to be fitter judges. 


told him that Chesterfield had sent 
him a present of .l 100 to induce him 
to dedicate the Dictionary to him; 
" which I returned," said he, "to his 
Lordship with contempt;" and then 
added, "Sir, I found I must have 
gilded a rotten post. Lord c., Sir, 
is a wit among lords, but only a lord 
among wits.'" Original Letters, p. 
204. Boswell's version of Johnson's 
saying is different: - 'This man 
I thought had been a Lord among 
wits, but I find he is only a wit 
among Lords.' Life, i. 266. The 
story of the present of .lIOO is not 
supported by any other evidence and 
is very improbable. 
Fowke did not think much of the 
various Lives of his friend. ' Ah t 
where shall I find another Johnson?' 
he wrote; 'I am sorry his bio- 
graphers cannot be brought upon 
their trial for murder; it would be 
no difficult matter to convict them.' 
Original Letters, p. 215. See also 
Life, iii. 71, n. 5; iv. 34, 11. 5, for 
other anecdotes. 
J \Varren Hastings. Johnson, very 


likely, wrote the name in full. For 
their 'reciprocation of civilities' see 
Life, iv. 66. In India, Fowke had 
taken an active part against Warren 
Hastings, when Governor-General. 
In April, 1775, he and N uncomar- 
so famous in Macaulay's Essay- 
were charged with having conspired 
with others to force one Comaul 
Uddien Khan to write a petition 
against the Governor-General, Mr. 
Barwell, and others. They were ac- 
quitted on the charge of conspiracy 
against Hastings, and convicted on 
the charge of conspiring against 
Barwell. The sentence on Fowke 
was almost nominal-a fine of 
fifty rupees. Hastings before the 
trial wrote: -' In my heart and 
conscience I believe both Fowke 
and N uncomar to be guilty.' This 
opinion Sir Fitzjames Stephen thinks 
justified by the trial. Stephen's Nltn- 
comarandImþey,i. 82,101,203,215. 
Johnson, so far as he knew the facts, 
sided with Fowke and Nuncomar. 
Post, Letter of April 19, 1783. 


If 



Aetat. 66.] 


To .llIrs. Reynolds. 


4 11 


If you would have me send them, let me have proper direc- 
tions; if a messenger is to call for them, give me notice by the 
post, that they may be ready for delivery. 
To do my dear Mr. Fowke any good would give me pleasure; 
I hope for some opportunity of performing the duties of friend- 
ship to him, without violating them with regard to another. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble Servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


496. 


To SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 
[London J, August 3, 177 6 . Published in the Life, iii. 9 0 . 


497. 


To MRS. REYNOLDS I. 
DEAREST MADAM, 
To do what you desire with your restrictions is impossible. 
I shall not see Mrs. Thrale till Tuesday in the afternoon. If 
I write, I must give a stronger reason than you care to allow. 
The company is already very numerous, but yet there might, 
I suppose, be found room for a girl, if the proposal could be 
made. Even writing, if you allow it, will hardly do; the penny 
post does not go on Sunday, and Mr. Thrale does not always 
come to town on Monday. However let me know what you 
would have done. 


I am, Madam, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


August 3. 
To Mrs. Reynolds. 
I First published in the Catalogue 
of Mr. Alfred Morrison's Autographs, 
ii. 342. 
Mrs. Reynolds was Sir Joshua's un- 
married sister, who, like 
1iss Porter 
and others of Johnson's friends, had 
reached an age when she took ' bre- 
vet-rank.' This letter was written 


either on a Saturday or Sunday. 
In some of the years in which 
Johnson was in London in the begin- 
ning of August the 3rd fell on neither 
of those days. I have assigned it, 
therefore, to 1776, in which year 
August 3 was Saturday. It is not 
unlikely that it was sent with the 
To 



4 12 


To William Strahan. 


[A.D. 1776. 


498. 


To JOHN RYLAND I. 


SIR, 
I have procured this play to be read by Mrs. Thrale, who 
declares that no play was ever more nicely pruned from the 
objection of indelicacy. 
If it can be got upon the stage, it will I think succeed, and 
may get more money than will be raised by the impression of 
the other works. 
In selling the copy to the printer, the liberty of inserting it 
in the volumes may be retained. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
SAM: JOHKSON. 


Sept. 2 I, 1776. 
To Mr. Ryland. 


To \VILLIAM STRAHAN 2. 


499. 


SIR, 
I wrote to you about ten days ago, and sent you some 
copy 3. You have not written again, that is a sorry trick. 
I am told that you are printing a Book for Mr. Professor 
Watson of Saint Andrews, if upon any occasion I can give any 
help, or be of any use, as formerly in Dr. Robertson's publication, 


previous Letter to Sir Joshua Rey- 
nolds, dated August 3, 1776. '''That 
'the company' was I do not know. 
1 From the original in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Alfred H. H uth, of 
Bolney House, Ennismore Gardens, 
London. 
This Letter and that of November 
14 of this year are explained by 
a third in the same series, dated 
April 12, 1777. Ryland was brother- 
in-law of Dr. Hawkesworth (ante, 
pp. 56, 60), who had died on November 
17, 1773. He was, it should seem, 
proposing to publish that author's 
Collected Works for the benefit of 
the widow. Hawkesworth had had 


some success as a play-writer; Mur- 
phy's Life of Garrick, pp. 226, 236. 
I cannot find that the publication 
ever took place. 
This Letter was sold by Messrs. 
Sotheby & Co., on May 10, 1875, for 
1,5 15 s . (Lot 93). 
2 First published in my edition of 
the Life of Johnson, vi. Addenda, 
p. xxxvii. 
3 The ' copy' or MS. that Johnson 
sent was, I conjecture, Proþosals for 
the Rev. lJEr. Shaw's Alzalysis C!l the 
Scotch Celtick Language. Life, iii. 
107. This is the only acknowledged 
piece of writing of his during 1776. 


I hope 



Aetat.67.] 


To John Rylalld. 


4 1 3 


I hope you will make no scruple to call upon me, for I shall 
be glad of an opportunity to show that my reception at Saint 
Andrews has not been forgotten I. 
I am, Sir, 
Your humble servant, 
Oct. 14, 1776. SAM: JOHNSON. 
500. 
To ROBERT LEVETT. 
Brighthelmstone, October 21, 1776. Published in the Life, iii. 92. 


501. 


DEAR SIR, To JOHN RVLAND 2 . 
The selection made in this parcel is indicated partly in a 
catalogue by the words print or omit, and partly by the same 
words written in red ink at the top of those pieces which are 
not in the catalogue. I purpose to send the rest very soon, 
and I believe you and I must then have two or three interviews 
to adjust the order in which they shall stand. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble servant, 
Nov. 14, 1776. SAM: JOHNSON. 


I The book printing for Professor 
Robert Watson was his History of 
the Reign 0/ PMliþ II. Johnson's 
offer of assistance seems to have 
been accepted. Post, Letter of May 
20, 1779. 
In the Annual Register for 1776, 
sixteen pages are given to a review 
of this work, while for the Wealth of 
Nations, which came out in the same 
year, little more than two pages is 
spared. Carlyle, reading the History 
when he was a young man, calls it 
'an interesting, clear, well-arranged, 
and rather feeble - minded work.' 
Early Letters of T. Carlyle, ed. Nor- 
ton, i. 187 . For Watson's hospitality 
to Johnson at St. Andrews, see Life, 
v.5 8 . 
I do not think that it was known 


till this letter was published, that 
Johnson had given any help in Dr. 
Robertson's publication. Strahan, 
as we know from Beattie, 'had cor- 
rected the phraseology of both H ume 
and Robertson.' Forbes's Beattie, 
ed. 1824, p. 341. His long residence 
in England had enabled him, no 
doubt, to detect many Scotticisms; 
but he seems, at all events in the 
case of Robertson, to have had John- 
son's help. 
2 From the original. I have, I re- 
gret to say, mislaid the reference to 
the owner of this letter, I t was sold 
for six guineas by Messrs. Sotheby 
& Co., on May 10, 1875, (Lot 94), 
and for 1:,2 8s. by Messrs. Christie & 
Co., on June 5, 1888, (Lot 45). See 
a1lte, p. 412. 


To 



4 1 4 


To the Reverend Dr. Perc)'. 


[A.D. 1776. 


502. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
Bolt-court, November 16, 1776. Published in the Life, iii. 93. 


503. 
To THE REVEREND DR. PERCY I. 


DEAR SIR, 
Mr. Langton and I shall wait on you at St. James's 2 on 
Tuesday. 
I must entreat your attention to a business of more im- 
portance. The Duke 3 is President of the Middlesex Hospital; 
could you obtain from him the admission of a Patient, the Son 
of Mr. Thomas Coxeter 4, a Gentleman and a Man of Letters? 
The unhappy Man inherits some claim from his Father to par- 
ticular notice; and has all the claims, common to others, of 
disease and want. 
I shall apply no where else till I hear from you: be pleased 
to answer this request as soon as you can. 
I am, Sir, 
Your most humble Servant, 
SAM: JOHNSON. 


Dec. 1, 1776. 
To the Reverend Dr. Percy. 


504. 
To THE REVEREND DR. PERCY 5. 
Thomas Coxeter of little Carter lane, in Doctors Commons. 


I From the original in the Dyce 
and Forster Collection, South Ken- 
sington. I owe this copy to the kind- 
ness of Mr. R. Forster Sketchley. 
2 'In 17 6 9, Percy was appointed 
Chaplain to George III. About the 
same time Mrs. Percy was appointed 
nurse to Prince Edward, the infant 
son of the King, afterwards Duke of 
Kent, and father of Her present Ma- 
jesty.' Wheatley's Percy's Reliques, 
ed. 1876, i. Preface, p. 76. I con- 


jecture that the Percies had rooms in 
St. James's. 
3 Percy's patron, the Duke of 
Northumberland. Court and City 
Regt"ster, 1775, p. 228. 
4 See ante, p. 17 0 . 
S From the original in the pos- 
session of Mr. Mitchell Henry, Kyle- 
more Castle, Galway. 
Dr. Percy, it is clear, had asked 
for further information, which this 
letter supplies. 


His 



Aetat.67.] 


To the Reverend Dr. Percy. 


4 1 5 


His disease I could not gather from his sister's accounts so 
as to name it. He has had a scorbutick humour which I believe 
has fallen back upon his vitals. 
I have got a cold which, I hope, will not hinder me from 
dining at your table, and returning you thanks for this favour. 
Dec. 2, [1776]. 


To the Reverend Dr. Percy. 


505. 
To JAMES BOSWELL. 
[London], December 21, 1776. Published in the Life, iii. 94. 



APPENDIX A. 


(Page 7.) 


THE draft of a letter written by Johnson in the name of Lewis Paul 
to the Duke of Bedford, President of the Foundling Hospitall:. 


'MY LORD, 
'As Beneficence is never exercised but at some expense of ease and 
leisure, your Grace will not be surprised that you are subjected, as the 
General Guardian of deserted Infants, and Protector of their Hospital to in- 
trusion and importunity, and you will pardon in those who intend though 
perhaps unskilfully the promotion of the charity, the impropriety of their 
address for the goodness of their intention. 
'I therefore take the liberty of proposing to your Grace's notice a Machine 
(for spinning cotton) of which I am the inventter [sic] and Proprietor, as 
proper to be erected in the Foundling Hospital, its structure and operation 
being such that a mixed number of children from five to fourteen years may 
be enabled by it to earn their food and clothing. In this machine thus 
useful and thus appropriated to the publick, I hope to obtain from Parliament 
by your Grace's recommendation such a right as shall be thought due to the 
inventer. 
, I know, My Lord, that every Project must encounter opposition, and I 
would not encounter it but that I think myself able to surmount it. Mankind 
has prejudices against every new undertaking, which are not always pre- 
judices of ignorance. He that only doubts what he dos [sic] not know, may 
be satisfid by testimony, at least by that of his own eyes. But a Projector, 
my Lord, has more dangerous enemies, the envious and the interested, who 
will neither hear reasons nor see facts and whose animosity is more vehement 
as their conviction is more strong. 
'I do not implore your Grace's Patronage for a work existing only in 
possibility, I have a Machine erected which I am ready to exhibit to the view 
of your Grace or of any proper judge of mechanical performances whom you 
shall be pleased to nominate. I shall decline no trial, I shall seek no subter- 
(uge; but shall shew not by argument but by practical experience that what 
I have here promised will be easily perfonned. 
, I am an old Man oppressed with many infirmities and therefore cannot 


1 By the kindness of Miss Cole of 
Teignmouth, who has lent me a fac- 
simile of the original document, which 
t VOL. I. 


was in her father's colIection of auto- 
graphs, I am able to give the letter exactly 
as J ohllson wrote it. 
Ee p
 



4 I 8 


Aþþendix B. 


pay that attendance which your Grace's high quality demands, and my 
respect would dictate, but whenever you shall be pleased to assign me an 
audience, I shall explain my design with the openness of a man who desires 
to hide nothing, and receive your Grace's commands with the submission 
which becomes 


, :\1 Y Lord, 
, Your Grace's most obedient 
'and most humble servant.' 
The result of this application is not known. 


APPENDIX B. 


(Page 14.) 
A:\IONG the Hume Papers in the Royal Society of Edinburgh I found 
the original of the following letter to David Hume about the expenses 
.xc. of an education at Oxford. The writer was Archibald Macdonald, 
a younger brother of Sir James and Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sky. 
(Life, v. 154.) He matriculated at Christ Church in 1764, and took his 
degree of B.A. in 1768. He was Solicitor-General from 1784 to 1788, 
A.ttorney-General from 1788 to 1793, and Lord Chief Baron of the 
Exchequer from 1793 to 1813. He died in 1826. 


, DEAR SIR, 
'The day be[ore yesterday your letter was transmitted to me from 
Lincoln's Inn, which I am afraid YOll will think I should have answered 
sooner, not knowing that I had set out for this place some days before it was 
written; conscious of great dissipation and idleness during the course of 
the winter, I have retired to these deserted abodes for the vacation to make 
up my arrears. 
'I cannot desire any better method of leading you to a solution of the 
question you put to me, than by stating to you what is required of the members 
of the different orders of Commoncr and G[entlernan] Commoner, and in 
what the greater expense of the latter consists. Since the accession of our 
present Dean, Dr. Markham, late Master of \Vestminster School, the inde- 
pendent members (by which I mean all such as are not of the foundation) 
have been put upon the same footing precisely in respect of the exercises 
required of them; these are a quarterly examination in certain authors and 
an essay upon a given subject in their turn. There is, I must own, a way 
of shuffling in these performances too oftcn successful, but at the same time 
they may be, and often are, done with credit. Their attendance is required 
indiscriminately in the Hall and Chapel, and the Dean is very strenuous in 
support 


, Oxford, July 27, 1769. 


, 



A ÞPelldix B. 


4 I 9 


support of this rational plan of government. By the constitution of the 
University every man not having a degree in it is required to have one of 
the college tutors; from him very little is to be expected. He does not 
interfere at all with the expense of his pupil, not a great deal with his Latin 
and Greek, far less with his progress in the sciences. These advantages 
and disadvantages are common to all independent members. The differ- 
ence in their expense is owing to this. The Gent. Commoner pays his 
Tutor 20 guineas per annum. The Commoner eight; the one stands 
to a higher ordinaing [? ordinary] in the College Hall than the other by 
about 15 or [20 a year at the utmost, and the College fees are all more 
considerable to the former than the latter, so that the necessary difference 
in expense may be about 50 or [60 a year. But these are not the great 
sources of expense, it is the Cook's shop and the Coffee House (which are here 
in the nature of taverns) that consume so large a sum of money; together 
with many other voluntary extravagancies. These last it is the continual 
object of our governors to restrain, but to little purpose; all ranks of people 
give into such expenses, Commoners as well as Gent. Commoners. It 
so happens in this place that what is called the best company consists of 
the most expensive people, of those who entertain most, and are most 
extravagant in their ammements. \Vhoever keeps their company is obliged 
to share in their expenses, let his gown be of what shape he pleases. I speak 
at present of Christ Church only. In short it seems to be the general 
opinion that the difference of the expense of these orders, admitting that 
they live much together (which will be Mr. Hume's case particularly) 
consists chiefly in the difference of their necessary expense. This you must 
take along with you, that a young man is left to his own discretion as much 
in the one order as the other. There are, in fact, two different sorts of 
Commoners in this College, one that enjoys a considerable exhibition left 
to the natives of certain counties, the other, differing in nothing that I can 
distinguish, from a Gent. Commoner but in the necessary addition to the 
col1ege fees which I have stated above. 
My own situation was the most advantageous possible. I was elected 
from \Vestminster School in a capacity correspondent to a fellow in other 
colleges; which fashion has rendered one of the genteelest things in the 
University. Our order consists of 101, and is filled by the younger sons 
of people of fashion in a great degree; our College expenses are all. paid by 
Queen Elizabeth, and a small balance divided among us. In this situation 
I partook of the advantages of both orders; and could keep the best com- 
pany upon a smaller income than will be necessary for one of any other 
order, and still I spent little less than [200 a year. The [50 I state as 
the necessary expense added to this [200 will with common attention be 
a genteel allowance for any Gentleman; and as a Commoner keeping the 
best company I really believe his expense will be full two hundred pounds 
a year; though many of that order live retiredly for the half of it; the 
expense of this place being regulated more by the company one keeps than 
by any other circumstance I know. 
, :\lany of those Gentlemen who are now here were Mr. Hume's companions 
EC2 
 



4 20 


AþþelldL-r: B. 


at Edinburgh, particularly Messrs. Elliot, Mr. Adam, and some others. The 
former are indeed in point of discretion, application, and good sense supe- 
rior to most young people I meet with. These are all Gent. Commoners, 
which perhaps may have its weight with you in your determination. 
'Upon the whole the advantages and disadvantages are in this society 
common to both orders. The College expense differs in about [50 or [60, 
and a little more the first year. The unnecessary expense of the same set 
is nearly the same to every individual composing that set, the most reputable 
and genteelest is the most extravagant; in this set you would wish him to 
be, so that it is reduced to this, whether for the sake of an appearance 
somewhat genteeler, you would wish him to spend a third more than is 
absolutely necessary, from which he reaps no other benefit but that of 
dining with his old friends upon a better dinner, and having the use of a 
very fine library from which the Commoners are excluded. 
, In this College few people enter Commoners but such [as] are designed 
for a profession-In others it is more common. But if Christ Church is set 
aside, the College of all others the most attractive to its young members is 
University College, the Master an illiberal man, the tutor, I am informed, 
a very useful ingenious man. His name is Scott [afterwards Lord Stowell]. 
Ours being the largest Society affords of course a greater choice of company, 
which gives it a preference in the eyes of many over every other, especially 
for men of fortune. 
'The expense of a Commoner keeping the best company is certainly near 
[200, that of a Gent. Commoner at least ,[,250. 
, I propose being here till November. If Mr. Hume should arrive before 
that time, my utmost endeavours shall be used to be of any sort of use to 
him. In answer to that dreadful accusation with which you conclude your 
letter, I shall only observe that I go to prayers at seven every morning, 
sometimes in the evening, consistently with which you will get no one to 
believe I have the smallest flaw in me. 
, I remain, dear Sir, 
'\Vith great sincerity, 
, Your obd. ser t , 
'A. MACDONALD.' 


'To David Hume, Esq., 
Brewer's Street, 
London.' 
H ume had consulted also Sir Gilbert Elliot whose sons were at 
Oxford; the answers were not satisfactory. 'My brother,' Hume wrote 
on October 16, 1769, 'thinks his son rather inclined to be dissipated and 
idle; and believes that a year or two at Oxford would confirm him 
thoroughly in that habit, without any other advantage than the acquiring 
of a little better pronunciation.' Burton's Life of Hume, ii. 430. 


APPENDIX 



Aþþe1zdix C. 42 I 


APPENDIX C. 


(Page 187.) 


By the kindness of Captain Alfred C. Christopher, of the Seaforth 
Highlanders, who possesses the originals, I am able to publish the two 
following sets of verses by David Garrick. The first was addressed to 
Captain Christopher's great-great-grandfather, Henry 'Yilmot, Esq., of 
Farnborough Place, Hants, grandson of Robert 'Yilmot, M.P. for 
Derby, in the Reign of 'Villiam and Mary. Henry "ïlmot was 
Secretary to Lord Chancellor Camden. He died in 1794, aged 84. 


My \\'ihnot dear, 
Your Garrick hear, 
\\'ith friendship steady, 
Beds are ready, 
One, two, or three, 
F or men like thee; 
Our joys of life, 
Are you, and wife, 
Babes, sister too, 
And all from you: 
So come away, 


On marriage day, 
With cares unmixt, 
(Tis Tuesday next :) 
And let us laugh, 
Good liquor quaff, 
Our friends wi]) toast 
(Our love and boast) 
To fill our cup 
Of transport up- 
Camden, imprimis, 
To him no Rhyme is, 


'HA
,[PTON, Saturday. 
Nor equal neither- 
Haste you hither, 
To eat and drink, 
Till eyelids wink, 
Then lay your heads, 
On well aired beds; 
To you and spouse 
My loving wife insures, 
Herself, heart, house, 
And husband wholly 
yours. 


'D.G.' 


The second set of verses was addressed to Valentine Henry 'Vil- 
mot, Henry 'Vilmot's only son. 'At Farnborough Place,' Captain 
Christopher informs me, 'there is a white marble tablet in the garden, 
on which are lines very similar to those I enclose in memory of 
"Hoppy." It was accidentally discovered a few years ago, on the re- 
moval of some ivy, on an old wall. I think there can be no doubt they 
were by Garrick.' 


'To MASTER WILMOT UPON THE DEATH OF HIS FAVOURITE 
CAT Hoppy. 
No more dear Youth shall Hoppy scratch and purr, 
o never fondle animals like her; 
From every naughty Puss, guard well thy mind, 
\Vicked and wanton all are after kind: 
Would'st thou shun cats, and Sire-like love the Law, 
Thou'lt ne'er be clawed or scratched, but scratch and claw. 
, GARRICK.' 


APPENDIX 



4 22 


Aþþendix D. 


-L\PPENDIX D. 


(Page 214). 
By the kindness of Miss Mickle of Toronto, and of '''illiam Julius 
l\lickle, Esq., M.D., of Grove Hall, Bow, London, I have copies of 
some letters of James Boswell to their ancestor, the translator of the 
Lusiad. Boswell' had recommended,' he said, 'to Garrick's patronage 
the .sïege of lIfarseilles.' "Then he heard of the poet's wrath on its re- 
jection he wrote the following letter :- 


'To MR. \VILLIAM MICKLE. 


'DEAR SIR, 
, As I was much afraid of Mr. Garrick's oracular response with regard 
to the Siege of Marseilles, and foresaw that you might be hurt by it, I was at 
pains all along to prepare you for it, and I am persuaded you will remember 
that so was the case. I am sincerely sorry that he does not think your 
Tragedy fit for the stage. But as I said again and again, as I am a very in- 
competent judge of a dramatick peIformance, and believe him to be a very 
good one, I cannot but acquiesce in a Decision pronounced by him not only 
impartially, but with a strong weight offavour to ballence [sic] him on the side 
of what he has rejected. I am sensible how very difficult it is for you to think 
as I do; but I would fain hope that I may have some influence with you. I 
declare to you upon honour that Mr. Garrick. spoke very highly of your poetry, 
and of the poetry of this very play; and I believe he was sincere; for I have 
always found him to be an honest honorable [sic] man. At the same time, I 
am persuaded of the truth of what he has frequently told me, that the most 
exquisite poetry will not be sufficient to make a successful Theatrical repre- 
sentation, and that inferior Poetry will, when arranged with that art which is 
necessary to keep alive the attention of an audience. I saw Mr. John Home 
to-day, and was regretting to him that your Play was refused. I think his 
words were" not from its deficiency in sþirit but in form, and which a longer 
acquaintance with the Theatre will teach him." This was just what I have 
been echoing to you from Mr. Garrick. Mr. Home observed that many of 
the modern Plays which Mr. Garrick has brought on are so poor in poetry, 
that one cannot read them to an end, and yet the disposition and variety of 
the scenes and changes in them is such that they have gone very well off 
when acted. Your play it seems has not those requisites. Mr. Garrick sees 
this; and therefore though he admires your genius, he will not bring your 
play upon the stage. Let me as a sincere friend expostulate with you closely. 
Mr. Garrick brings out some plays every year. The interest used in behalf 
of yours has been strong. I know from Mr. Garrick himself that he has felt 
it to be so. I am vain enough to think that even my warm recommendation 
must 


'Edinburgh, I December, 1772. 



Aþþendix D. 


4 2" 
,"I 


must have had weight with him. Would he not then have let your Play be 
one of the number had he not been firmly of opinion that it could not be 
carried through? Supposing him then to be firmly of this opinion, is it reason- 
able to think that he should layout considerable expence and throwaway 
much time, and in short hurt the interests of himself and partner by making 
an attempt which he is sure would only expose him? Let me add too on the 
same supposition, would it not be doing a real injury to you, to bring on a 
Play written by you, which he is sure would be damned, the consequence of 
which would be to hurt your reputation as a Writer in other departments of 
literature where real genius independant [sic] of mechanism has its just 
applause? These, Sir, are my views of the matter, and therefore it vexes me 
to find you taking up the same tone which numbers have done before. If I 
might advise you, I would have you be in no hurry to print your Play; 
and if you do print it, pray repress any reflections against Mr. Garrick. 
, As a certain proof that you are at present chagrined and not a fair judge 
of his conduct, I take the Anecdote of the Bookseller calling on him for his 20 
subscriptions to the Lusiad and his desiring the Bookseller to call again, at 
which you are much offended. N ow, my dear Sir, will you only consider that 
here was nothing more than what happens upon almost every occasion, when 
money is asked without any. . . . ' 
The rest of the letter is missing. 
In the List of Subscribers to the Lusiad, published in 177 6 . 
Garrick's name is entered for twenty copies. 


!
!\ fI OF VOL. I. 





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DATE 


ISSUED TO 


JOHNSON, SAMUEL 
Letters. 


PH 
3533 
.12 
1892 
v.1
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