the fpirit of the deceased appeared to her, and terrified her with the noifes above-mentioned. This report drew many perfons to the house, who, being thus affembled, put feveral questions to the girl, and received answers, as from the ghoft, defcribing the circumstances of the poifoning, and a promise, by an affirmative fignal, that it would attend one of the querifts into the vault under the church of St. John, Clerkenwell, where the body was deposited, and give a token of its presence by a knock upon the coffin: it was therefore determined to make trial of the existence or veracity of the supposed spirit; and it was then advertised, that the person to whom the promise was made, was about to vifit the vault, and accordingly the whole company present adjourned to the church. He who had a claim to the performance of the promise, and one more, went into the vault, and folemnly required to hear the fignal; but nothing more enfued. The perfon accused of the poisoning, with several others, then defcended the vault, but no effect was perceived. It was, therefore, the opinion of the whole affembly, that the girl had fome art of making or counterfeiting particular noises, and that there was no agency of any higher cause. Johnson, whose fentiments with respect to fupernatural agency are discoverable in many parts of his writings, was prompted by curiosity to vifit this place, and wait for the appearance of the ghost, Mr. Saunders Welch, his intimate friend, would have diffuaded him from his purpose, urging, that it would expose him to ridicule; but all his arguments had no effect he went to the house, and, as it is fuppofed, into the Ff3 church, church, and gave countenance to the vulgar expeetation, that the ghost would appear; but at length, being convinced that the whole tranfaction was an impofture, he drew up, as may be inferred from the style and advertisement at the end of the paper, an account of the detection thereof, published in the Gentleman's Magazine for February 1762. Soon after this, the impofture being more clearly and even to demonstration detected, the perfons concerned in it were profecuted, and underwent a punishment fuited to their offence. What Mr.Welch foretold, in his advice to Johnfon, touching this impofture, was now verified: he was cenfured for his credulity; his wifdom was arraigned, and his religious opinions refolved into fuperftition, A reverend divine of the time, who had taken effectual care by his conduct to avoid the like imputations, but was enough diftinguished by a greater folly, political enthusiasm, exhibited him to ridicule in a fatyrical poem, and revived the remembrance of that engagement to the public, which, by this, and other inftances of the laxity of his mind, he feemed not much inclined to fulfil. Nor was this all: that facetious gentleman Mr. Foote, who, upon the ftrength and fuccefs of his fatyrical vein in comedy, had affumed the name of the modern Aristophanes, and at his theatre, had long entertained the town with caricatures of living perfons, with all their fingularities and weakneffes, thought that Johnson at this time was become a fit subject for ridicule, and that an exhibition of him in a drama written for the purpose, in which himfelf fhould reprefent Johnson, and in his mien, his garb, and his speech, fpeech, fhould difplay all his comic powers, would yield him a golden harvest. Johnson was apprised of his intention; and gave Mr. Foote to understand, that the licence under which he was permitted to entertain the town, would not justify the liberties he was accustomed to take with private characters, and that if he perfifted in his design, himself would be a fpectator of his disgrace, and would, by a severe chaftisement of his representative on the stage, and in the face of the whole audience, convince the world, that, whatever were his infirmities, or even his foibles, they should not be made the sport of the public, or the means of gain to any one of his profeffion*. Foote, * Had Johnson been provoked to an exercise of his prowess on this occafion, it would not have been the first display of his refentment on the ftage of a theatre. He was once with Garrick at the representation of a play in his native city of Lichfield, when, having taken his feat in a chair placed on the stage, he had foon a call to quit it. A Scots officer, who had no good-will towards him, perfuaded an innkeeper of the town to take it, and he did as he was bid. Johnson, on his return, finding his feat full, civilly told the intruder, that by going out it was not his intention to give it up, and demanded it as his right: the innkeeper, encouraged by the officer, feeming refolved to maintain his fituation, Johnson expoftulated the matter with him; but finding him obftinate, lifted up the chair, the man fitting in it, and, with fuch an Herculean force, flung both to the oppofite fide of the stage, that the Scotfman cried out, Damn him, he has broke his limbs ;' but that not being the cafe, Johnfon having thus emptied the chair, and Mr. Walmsley interpofing, he resumed his feat in it, and with great compofure fat out the play. Johnfon had great confidence in his corporeal ftrength, and, from this and fome other particulars in his life, I am inclined to think he was vain of it. Such foibles are not uncommon in the greatest characters. Sir Ifaac Newton, at the age of four Foote, upon this intimation, had discretion enough to defist from his purpose. Johnfon entertained no resentment against him, and they were ever after friends. Johnson was infenfible to the effects of this abufe; but the poem above-mentioned had brought to remembrance, that his edition of Shakespeare had long been due. His friends took the alarm, and, by all the arts of reafoning and perfuafion, laboured to convince him, that having taken fubfcriptions for a work in which he had made no progress, his credit was at ftake. He confeffed he was culpable, and promifed from time to time to begin a courfe of fuch reading as was neceffary to qualify him for the work; this was no more than he had formerly done in an engagement with Coxeter, to whom he had bound himself to write the life of Shakespeare, but he never could be prevailed on to begin it, so that, even now, it was queftioned whether his promises were to be relied on, For this reason, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and fome other of his friends, who were more concerned for his reputation than himself seemed to be, contrived to entangle him by a wager, or fome other pecuniary engagement, to perform his task by a certain time, and this, together poffibly with fome diftruft of the continuance of his mental powers, fet him to work; but, as he had been remifs in making collections for the purpose, he fcore, would ftrip up his fhirt-fleeve to fhew his mufcular, brawny arm, and relate how dextrous he was in his youth at boxing. And an intimate friend of mine, a ferjeant at law, of the firft eminence in his profeffion, who had nearly loft the use of his feet, was used to relate to me his dancing whole nights, when a young man, without feeling the least wearinefs. found found it an irkfome task. Theobald declares, that to fettle the text of his author, and to elucidate obfcure paffages in him, he had found it neceffary to perufe a great number of plays and other publications, to the very titles of most whereof it is certain Johnson was a stranger. He, it is true, had red as many old Englifh books as came in his way, but he had never fought after any fuch; he was no collector, and in fact was deftitute of materials for his work. All therefore that he did, or could do, after the wafte of fo much time, was, to read over his author in the former editions, and folicit help from his friends; who, if he is not mistaken in his affertion, were but flack in offering him affiftance. To me, among others, he did the honour of fending for fuch notes as he thought I might have made in the course of my reading. Mr. Garrick was his meffenger, as he frequently paffed by my gate in the country; and, though I was at that time deeply engaged in the Hiftory of Mufic, I furnished him with a few remarks, which, unimportant as they are, he thought fit to infert. Others, more valuable, he got from fuch of his friends as were at leifure to affift him. The year 1765 gave to the world an edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works by Samuel Johnfon, the greatest proficient in vernacular erudition, and one of the ableft critics of his time. Much had been expected from it, and little now appeared to have been performed; a few conjectural emendations of the text, and fome scattered remarks on particular paffages, were all that was prefented to our view that had any pretence to novelty, except fome |