396 GOOD COUNSEL. Gray's character. Write immediately, and it may be perhaps yet inserted. "Of London or Ashbourne you have your free choice; at any place I shall be glad to see you. "I am, dear Sir, yours, &c., "I have struggled through this year with so much infirmity of body, and such strong impressions of the fragility of life, that death, whenever it appears, fills me with melancholy; and I cannot hear without emotion of the removal of any one, whom I have known, into another state. "Your father's death had every circumstance that could enable you to bear it; it was at a mature age, and it was expected; and as his general life had been pious, his thoughts had doubtless for many years past been turned upon eternity. That you did not find him sensible must doubtless grieve you; his disposition towards you was undoubtedly that of a kind, though not of a fond, father. Kindness, at least actual, is in our power, but fondness is not; and if by negligence or imprudence you had extinguished his fondness, he could not at will rekindle it. Nothing then remained between you but mutual forgiveness of each other's faults, and mutual desire of each other's happiness. "I shall long to know his final disposition of his fortune. 66 You, dear Sir, have now a new station, and have therefore new cares and new employments. Life, as Cowley seems to say, ought to resemble a well-ordered poem; of which one rule generally received is, that the exordium should be simple, and should promise little. Begin your new course of life with the least show, and the least expense possible; you may at pleasure increase both, but you cannot easily diminish them. Do not think your estate your own, while any man can call upon you for money which you cannot pay; therefore begin with timorous parsimony. Let it be your first care not to be in any man's debt. LETTER TO MRS. BOSWELL. 397 "When the thoughts are extended to a future state, the present life seems hardly worthy of all those principles of conduct, and maxims of prudence, which one generation of men has transmitted to another; but upon a closer view, when it is perceived how much evil is produced, and how much good is impeded, by embarrassment and distress, and how little room the expedients of poverty leave for the exercise of virtue, it grows manifest that the boundless importance of the next life enforces some attention to the interest of this. "Be kind to the old servants, and secure the kindness of the agents and factors; do not disgust them by asperity, or unwelcome gaiety, or apparent suspicion. From them you must learn the real state of your affairs, the characters of your tenants, and the value of your lands. "Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell; I think her expectations from air and exercise are the best that she can form. I hope she will live long and happily. "I forgot whether I told you that Rasay has been here; we dined cheerfully together. I entertained lately a young gentleman from Corrichatachin. "I received your letters only this morning. "I am, dear Sir, yours, &c., "SAM. JOHNSON." "DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. BOSwell. "London, Sept. 7, 1782. "DEAR LADY, in "I have not often received so much pleasure as from your vitation to Auchinleck. The journey thither and back is, indeed, too great for the latter part of the year; but if my health were fully recovered, I would suffer no little heat and cold, nor a wet or a rough road, to keep me from you. I am, indeed, not without hope of seeing Auchinleck again; but to make it a pleasant place I must see its lady well, and brisk, and airy. For my sake, therefore, among many greater reasons, take care, dear Madam, of your health, spare no expense, and want no attendance that can procure ease, or preserve it. Be very careful to keep your mind 398 FAREWELL TO STREATHAM. quiet and do not think it too much to give an account of your recovery to, Madam, "Yours, &c., "SAM. JOHNSON." Mr. Thrale's death had made a serious difference in Johnson's relation to that family. The band that had kept the whole together was broken; and although a correspondence of a sort was maintained for some time longer, the old familiar dealings were for ever over. Old gentlemen get troublesome, and fine ladies get tired. Accordingly, on the 6th of October, 1782, we find the Doctor making "a parting use of the library" at Streatham, and uttering a prayer composed "on leaving Mr. Thrale's family": I "Almighty God, Father of all mercy, help me by thy grace, that may, with humble and sincere thankfulness, remember the comforts and conveniences which I have enjoyed at this place; and that I may resign them with holy submission, equally trusting in thy protection when Thou givest, and when Thou takest away. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, have mercy upon me. "To thy fatherly protection, O Lord, I commend this family. Bless, guide, and defend them, that they may so pass through this world, as finally to enjoy in thy presence everlasting happiness, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." And in one of his memorandum-books we come upon the following tender little record :-" Sunday, went to church at Streatham. Templo valedixi cum osculo" [I said farewell to the church with a kiss]. AN UNRULY PATIENT. 399 CHAPTER XLI. ILL AND ILL-TEMPERED-CONVERSATIONS-STRUCK DUMB-DEATH OF MRS. WILLIAMS. (1783.) On Friday, March 21st, 1783, Boswell arrived in London, and found the Doctor sadly out of sorts. "I am glad you are come," he said; "I am very ill." And a rather unruly patient he appeared to be for Sir Lucas Pepys, the physician, who happened to visit him while Boswell was present, was constrained to say, "If you were tractable, Sir, I should prescribe for you." But his friend's talk did the Doctor more good than his physician's medicines; so much so that he at length cried out, "You must be with me as much as you can. You have done me good. You cannot think how much better I am since you came in.” After a fit of musing, he again said, "I wonder how I should have any enemies; for I do harm to nobody."-BOSWELL: "In the first place, Sir, you will be pleased to recollect, that you set out with attacking the Scotch; so you got a whole nation for your enemies."-JOHNSON: "Why, I own, that by my definition of oats I meant to vex them."-Boswell: " Pray, Sir, can you trace the cause of your antipathy to the Scotch ?"-JOHNSON: "I cannot, Sir."-BOSWELL: "Old Mr. Sheridan says, it was because they sold Charles the First."-JOHNSON: "Then, Sir, old Mr. Sheridan has found out a very good reason." On Saturday Boswell called again, and found the patient in a horrible humour. On being told that General Oglethorpe had said he would pay him a visit in the evening, the Doctor shouted, "Did not you tell him not to come? Am I to be hunted in this manner?" 400 THE DOCTOR IN A PASSION. It is All the On Sunday morning his mood was slightly improved, he having got a little rest over-night by the help of an opiate. But his temper was still delicately poised, and not much would be needed to move the balance the wrong way. That little was contributed by Mrs. Desmoulins and Boswell, in a talk which they had expressive of their surprise at the Doctor's abstinence from complaint against the world for not taking more notice of him. He flew into a violent passion, and ordered them to hold their tongues. "Nobody," cried he, "has a right to talk in this manner, to bring before a man his own character, and the events of his life, when he does not choose it should be done. I never have sought the world: the world was not to seek me. rather wonderful that so much has been done for me. complaints which are made of the world are unjust. I never knew a man of merit neglected: it was generally by his own fault that he failed of success. A man may hide his head in a hole he may go into the country, and publish a book now and then, which nobody reads, and then complain he is neglected. There is no reason why any person should exert himself for a man who has written a good book: he has not written it for any individual. I may as well make a present to a postman who brings me a letter. When patronage was limited an author expected to find a Mæcenas, and complained if he did not find one. Why should he complain? This Mæcenas has others as good as he, or others who have got the start of him."-BOSWELL: "But surely, Sir, you will allow that there are men of merit at the bar who never get practice."-JOHNSON: "Sir, you are sure that practice is got from an opinion that the person employed deserves it best; so that if a man of merit at the bar does not get practice, it is from error, not from injustice. He is not neglected. A horse that is brought to market may not be bought, though he is a very good horse but that is from ignorance, not from intention." : In the evening, neither health nor temper seemed improved. A gentleman asked him whether he had been abroad to-day. "Don't talk so childishly," said he. "You may as well ask if I hanged myself to-day." Boswell mentioned politics. JOHNSON: |