"You know we have been talking lately of St. Cross, at Winchester: I have an old acquaintance whose distress makes him very desirous of an hospital, and I am afraid I have not strength enough to get him into the Chartreux. He is a painter, who never rose higher than to get his immediate living; and from that, at eighty-three, he is disabled by a slight stroke of the palsy, such as does not make him at all helpless on common occasions, though his hand is not steady enough for his art. "My request is, that you will try to obtain a promise of the next vacancy from the Bishop of Chester. It is not a great thing to ask, and I hope we shall obtain it. Dr. Warton has promised to favour him with his notice, and I hope he may end his days in peace I am, sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." TO THE REV. DR. VYSE, AT LAMBETH. "9th July, 1777. "SIR,-I doubt not but you will readily forgive me for taking the liberty of requesting your assistance in recommending an old friend to his grace the archbishop as governor of the Charter-house. "His name is De Groot 2; he was born at Gloucester; I have known him many years. He has all the common claims to charity, being old, poor, and infirm to a great degree. He has likewise another claim, to which no scholar can refuse attention; he is by several descents the nephew of Hugo Grotius; of him from whom perhaps every man of learning has learnt something. Let it not be said that in any lettered country a nephew of Grotius asked a charity and was refused. I am, reverend sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." "TO THE REV. DR. VYSE, AT LAMBETH. "22d July, 1777. "If any notice should be taken of the recommendation which I took the liberty of sending you, it will be necessary to know that Mr. De Groot is to be found at No. 8, in Pye-street, Westminster. This information, when I wrote, I could not give you; and being going soon to Lichfield, think it necessary to be left behind me. "More I will not say. You will want no persuasion to succour the nephew of Grotius. I am, sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." 1 [See ante, v. i. p. 223.-ED.] 2 [It appears that Isaac de Groot was admitted into the Charter-house, where he died about two years after.-ED.] 66 THE REV. DR. VYSE TO MR. BOSWELL "Lambeth, 9th June, 1787. "SIR, I have searched in vain for the letter which I spoke of, and which I wished, at your desire, to communicate to you. It was from Dr. Johnson, to return me thanks for my application to archbishop Cornwallis in favour of poor De Groot. He rejoices at the success it met with, and is lavish in the praise he bestows upon his favourite, Hugo Grotius. I am really sorry that I cannot find this letter, as it is worthy of the writer. That which I send you enclosed 3 is at your service. It is very short, and will not perhaps be thought of any consequence, unless you should judge proper to consider it as a proof of the very humane part which Dr. Johnson took in behalf of a distressed and de serving person. I am, sir, your most obe dient humble servant, "W. VYSE 4.” Piozzi p. 80. [With advising others to be charitable, Dr. Johnson did not content himself. He gave away all he had, and all he ever had gotten, except the two thousand pounds he left behind; and the very small portion of his income which he spent on himself, his friends never could by any calculation make more than seventy, or at most fourscore pounds a year, and he pretended to allow himself a hundred. He had numberless dependants out of doors as well as in, "who," as he expressed it, "did not like to see him latterly unless he brought them money." For those people he used frequently to raise contributions on his richer friends; and this," he said, "is one of the thousand reasons which ought to restrain a man from drony solitude and useless retirement."] "DR. JOHNSON TO MR. EDWARD DILLY. "Bolt-court, Fleet-street, 7th July, 1777. 1 "SIR,-To the collection of English. 3 The preceding letter.-BosWELL. 4 Dr. Vyse, at my request, was so obliging as once more to endeavour to recover the letter of Johnson, to which he alludes, but without success; for April 23, 1800, he wrote to me thus; "I have again searched, but in vain, for one of his letters, in which he speaks in his own nervous style of Hugo Grotius. De Groot was clearly a descendant of the family of Grotius, and Archbishop Cornwallis willingly complied with Dr. Johnson's request."-MALONE. [These letters appear in the Gent. Mag. 1787 and 1799, dated from London only, and seem to have been addressed to Mr. Sharpe.-ED.] [It appears in Mr. Malone's MS. notes, fur nished by Mr. Markland, Dr. Johnson once asked Mr. Gerard Hamilton for so much as fifty pounds for a charitable purpose, and Mr. Hamilton gave it; but see post, March 22, 1782, (Diary) note Sir Joshua Reynolds, however, told Mr. Malone that he never asked him for more than a guinea.-ED.] 2. I am ever, most faithfully "JAMES BOSWELL." "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. Poets I have recommended the volume of homewards. Dr. Watts to be added: his name has long yours, been held by me in veneration, and I would not willingly be reduced to tell of him only that he was born and died. Yet of his life I know very little, and therefore must pass him in a manner very unworthy of his character, unless some of his friends will favour me with the necessary information. Many of them must be known to you; and by your influence perhaps I may obtain some instruction: my plan does not exact much; but I wish to distinguish Watts, a man who never wrote but for a good purpose. Be pleased to do for me what you can. I am, sir, your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. “Edinburgh, 15th July, 1777. "MY DEAR SIR,-The fate of poor Dr. Dodd made a dismal impression upon my mind. "I had sagacity enough to divine that you wrote his speech to the recorder, before sentence was pronounced. I am glad you have written so much for him; and I hope to be favcured with an exact list of the several pieces when we meet. 66 "I received Mr. Seward as the friend of Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, and as a gentleman recommended by Dr. Johnson to my attention. I have introduced him to Lord Kames, Lord Monboddo, and Mr. Nairne. He is gone to the Highlands with Dr. Gregory; when he returns I shall do more for him. "Sir Allan Maclean has carried that branch of his cause, of which we had good hopes; the president and one other judge only were against him. I wish the house of lords may do as well as the court of session has done. But Sir Allan has not the lands of Brolos quite cleared by this judgment, till a long account is made up of debts and interests on the one side, and rents on the other. I am, however, not much afraid of the balance. "Macquarry's estates, Staffa and all, were sold yesterday, and bought by a Campbell. I fear he will have little or nothing left out of the purchase money. "I send you the case against the negro, by Mr. Cullen, son to Dr. Cullen, in opposition to Maclaurin's for liberty, of which you have approved. Pray read this, and tell me what you think as a politician, as well as a poet, upon the subject. I "Be so kind as to let me know how your time is to be distributed next autumn. will meet you at Manchester, or where you please; but I wish you would complete your tour of the cathedrals, and come to Carlisle, and I will accompany you a part of the way "22d July, 1777. "DEAR SIR,-Your notion of the necessity of an early interview is very pleasing to both my vanity and tenderness. I shall perhaps come to Carlisle another year; but my money has not held out so well as it used to do. I shall go to Ashbourne, and I purpose to make Dr. Taylor invite you. If you live awhile with me at his house, we shall have much time to ourselves, and our stay will be no expense to us or him. I shall leave London the 28th; and, after some stay at Oxford and Lichfield, shall probably come to Ashbourne about the end of your session; but of all this you shall have notice. Be satisfied we will meet somewhere. "What passed between me and poor Dr. Dodd, you shall know more fully when we meet. "Of lawsuits there is no end: poor Sir Allan must have another trial; for which, however, his antagonist cannot be much blamed, having two judges on his side. I am more afraid of the debts than of the house of lords. It is scarcely to be imagined to what debts will swell, that are daily increasing by small additions, and how carelessly in a state of desperation debts are contracted. Poor Macquarry was far from thinking that when he sold his islands he should receive nothing. For what were they sold? and what was their yearly value? The admission of money into the Highlands will soon put an end to the feudal modes of life, by making those men landlords who were not chiefs. I do not know that the people will suffer by the change; but there was in the patriarchal authority something venerable and pleasing. Every eye must look with pain on a Campbell turning the Macquarries at will out of their sedes avitæ, their hereditary island. "Sir Alexander Dick is the only Scots man liberal enough not to be angry that I could not find trees where trees were not. I was much delighted by his kind letter. "I remember Rasay with too much pleasure not to partake of the happiness of any part of that amiable family. Our ramble in the Highlands hangs upon my imagination: I can hardly help imagining that we shall go again. Pennant seems to have seen a great deal which we did not see. when we travel again let us look better about us. "You have done right in taking your uncle's house. Some change in the form of life gives from time to time a new epocha of existence. In a new place there is some thing new to be done, and a different system | exalt you in his estimation. You must of thoughts rises in the mind. I wish I now do the same for me. We must all could gather currants in your garden. help one another, and you must now considNow fit up a little study, and have your er me as, dear madam, your most obliged books ready at hand: do not spare a little and most humble servant, money, to make your habitation pleasing "SAM. JOHNSON." to yourself. "I have dined lately with poor dear 1. I do not think he goes on well. His table is rather coarse, and he has his children too much about him. But he is a very good man. "Mrs. Williams is in the country, to try if she can improve her health: she is very ill. Matters have come so about, that she is in the country with very good accommodation; but age, and sickness, and pride, have made her so peevish, that I was forced to bribe the maid to stay with her by a secret stipulation of half-a-crown a week over her wages. "Our club ended its session about six weeks ago. We now only meet to dine once a fortnight. Mr. Dunning, the great lawyer 3, is one of our members. The Thrales are well. "I long to know how the negro's cause will be decided. What is the opinion of Lord Auchinleck, or Lord Hailes, or Lord Monboddo? I am, dear sir, your most affectionate, &c. "SAM. JOHNSON." 66 "DR. JOHNSON TO MRS. BOSWELL. "22d July, 1777. "MADAM,-Though I am well enough pleased with the taste of sweetmeats, very little of the pleasure which I received at the arrival of your jar of marmalade arose from eating it. I received it as a token of friendship, as a proof of reconciliation, things much sweeter than sweetmeats, and upon this consideration I return you, dear madam, my sincerest thanks. having your kindness I think I have a double security for the continuance of Mr. Boswell's, which it is not to be expected that any man can long keep, when the influence of a lady so highly and so justly valued operates against him. Mr. Boswell will tell you that I was always faithful to your interest, and always endeavoured to [Mr. Langton.-ED.] By 2 This very just remark I hope will be constantly held in remembrance by parents, who are in general too apt to indulge their own fond feelings for their children at the expense of their friends. The common custom of introducing them after dinner is highly injudicious. It is agreeable enough that they should appear at any other time; but they should not be suffered to poison the moments of festivity by attracting the attention of the company, and in a manner compelling them from politeness to say what they do not think. BOSWELL. 3 [Created in 1782 Lord Ashburton.—ED.] "MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. "Edinburgh, 28th July, 1777 "MY DEAR SIR,-This is the day on which you were to leave London, and I have been amusing myself in the intervals of my law-drudgery with figuring you in the Oxford post-coach. I doubt, however, if you have had so merry a journey as you and I had in that vehicle last year, when you made so much sport with Gwyn, the architect. Incidents upon a journey are recollected with peculiar pleasure: they are preserved in brisk spirits, and come up again in our minds, tinctured with that gaiety, or at least that animation, with which we first perceived them." (I added, that something had occurred which I was afraid might prevent me from meeting him; and that my wife had been affected with complaints which threatened a consumption, but was now better.) ["DR. JOHNSON TO MR. THRALE. "[Oxford], 4th Aug. 1777. "Boswell's project is disconcerted by a visit from a relation of Yorkshire, whom he mentions as the head of his clan. Bozzy, you know, makes a huge bustle about all his own motions and all mine. I have enclosed a letter to pacify him, and reconcile him to the uncertainties of human life."] "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "Oxford, 4th Aug. 1777. "DEAR SIR,-Do not disturb yourself about our interviews; I hope we shall have many nor think it any thing hard or unusual that your design of meeting me is interrupted. We have both endured greater evils, and have greater evils to expect. "Mrs. Boswell's illness makes a more serious distress. Does the blood rise from her lungs or from her stomach? From little vessels broken in the stomach there is no danger. Blood from the lungs is, I believe, always frothy, as mixed with wind. Your physicians know very well what is to be done. The loss of such a lady would, indeed, be very afflictive, and I hope she is in no danger. Take care to keep her mind as easy as possible. "I have left Langton in London. He has been down with the militia, and is again quiet at home, talking to his little people, as I suppose you do sometimes. Make my compliments to Miss Veronica 1. "I cannot but hope that you have taken "MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. (Informing him that my wife had continued to grow better, so that my alarming apprehensions were relieved: and that I hoped to disengage myself from the other embarrassment which had occurred, and therefore requesting to know particularly when he intended to be at Ashbourne.) "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "30th August, 1777. earliest delight. If you and I live to be much older, we shall take great delight in talking over the Hebridean Journey. "In the mean time it may not be amiss to contrive some other little adventure, but what it can be I know not; leave it, as Sidney says, To virtue, fortune, time, and woman's breast 3 ;' for I believe Mrs. Boswell must have some part in the consultation. "One thing you will like. The Doctor, so far as I can judge, is likely to leave us enough to ourselves. He was out to-day before I came down, and, I fancy, will stay out to dinner. I have brought the papers 3 By an odd mistake, in the first three editions we find a reading in this line to which Dr. Johnson would by no means have subscribed, wine having been substituted for time. That errour probably was a mistake in the transcript of Johnson's original letter, his hand-writing being often "DEAR SIR,-I am this day come to Ash-very difficult to read. The other deviation in the bourne, and have only to tell you, that Dr. Taylor says you shall be welcome to him, and you know how welcome you will be to me. Make haste to let me know when you may be expected. Make my compliments to Mrs. Boswell, and tell her I hope we shall be at variance no more. I am, dear sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "Ashbourne, 1st Sept. 1777. "DEAR SIR,-On Saturday I wrote a very short letter, immediately upon my arrival hither, to show you that I am not less desirous of the interview than yourself. Life admits not of delays; when pleasure can be had, it is fit to catch it: every hour takes away part of the things that please us, and perhaps part of our disposition to be pleased. When I came to Lichfield, I found It my old friend Harry Jackson dead 2. was a loss, and a loss not to be repaired, as he was one of the companions of my childhood. I hope we may long continue to gain friends; but the friends which merit or usefulness can procure us are not able to supply the place of old acquaintance, with whom the days of youth may be retraced, and those images revived which gave the This young lady, the authour's eldest daughter, and at this time about five years old, died in London, of a consumption, four months after her father, Sept. 26, 1795.-MALONE. beginning of the line (virtue instead of nature) "Who doth desire that chast his wife should bee, Not stirring thoughts, nor yet denying right, I take this opportunity to add, that in England's exhibited: "Then he be such as he his words may see, And alwaies one credit which her preserve:" a variation which I the rather mention, because the readings of that book have been triumphantly quoted, when they happened to coincide with the sophistications of the second folio edition of Shakspeare's plays in 1632, as adding I know not what degree of authority and authenticity to the latter: 2 [See ante, p. 43. He says in a letter to as if the corruptions of one book (and that aboundMrs. Thrale," Lichfield, 7th August, 1777.-Ating with the grossest falsifications of the authour Birmingham I heard of the death of an old friend, and at Lichfield of the death of another. Anni prædantur euntes. One was a little older, and the other a little younger than myself." The latter probably was Jackson.-ED.] from whose works its extracts are made) could give any kind of support to another, which in every page is still more adulterated and unfaithful. See Mr. Steevens's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 97, fifth edit. 1803.-MALONE. about poor Dodd, to show you, but you will soon have despatched them. "Before I came away, I sent poor Mrs. Williams into the country, very ill of a pituitous defluxion, which wastes her gradually away, and which her physician declares himself unable to stop. I supplied her as far as could be desired with all conveniences to make her excursion and abode pleasant and useful. But I am afraid she can only linger a short time in a morbid state of weakness and pain. "The Thrales, little and great, are all well, and purpose to go to Brighthelmstone at Michaelmas. They will invite me to go with them, and perhaps I may go, but I hardly think I shall like to stay the whole time; but of futurity we know but little. "Mrs. Porter is well; but Mrs. Aston, one of the ladies at Stow-hill, has been struck with a palsy, from which she is not likely ever to recover. How soon may such a stroke fall upon us! "Write to me, and let us know when we may expect you. I am, dear sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." "MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. "Edinburgh, 9th Sept. 1777. (After informing him that I was to set out next day, in order to meet him at Ashbourne;-) "I have a present for you from Lord Hailes; the fifth book of Lactantius,' which he has published with Latin notes. He is also to give you a few anecdotes for your 'Life of Thomson,' who I find was private tutor to the present Earl of Hadington, Lord Hailes's cousin, a circumstance not mentioned by Dr. Murdoch. I have keen expectations of delight from your edition of the English Poets. "I am sorry for poor Mrs. Williams's situation. You will, however, have the comfort of reflecting on your kindness to her. Mr. Jackson's death, and Mrs. Aston's palsy, are gloomy circumstances. Yet surely we should be habituated to the uncertainty of life and health. When my mind is unclouded by melancholy, I consider the temporary distresses of this state of being as light afflictions,' by stretching my mental view into that glorious after-existence, when they will appear to be as nothing. But present pleasures and present pains must be felt. I lately read Rasselas' over again with satisfaction. | 5s. 1d. but it sold for no less than 5,540. "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. The "Ashbourne, 11th Sept. 1777. "DEAR SIR,-I write to be left at Carhisle, as you direct me; but you cannot have it. Your letter, dated Sept. 6th, was not at this place till this day, Thursday, Sept. 11th; and I hope you will be here before this is at Carlisle 1. However, what you have not going, you may have returning; and as I believe I shall not love you less after our interview, it will then be as true as it is now, that I set a very high value upon your friendship, and count your kindness as one of the chief felicities of my "Since you are desirous to hear about life. Do not fancy that an intermission of Macquarry's sale, I shall inform you partic-writing is a decay of kindness. No man is ularly. The gentleman who purchased Ulva is Mr. Campbell of Auchnaba: our friend Macquarry was proprietor of twothirds of it, of which the rent was 1561. 5s. It so happened. The letter was forwarded to 1d. This parcel was set up at 4,9697. | my house at Edinburgh.---BOSWELL. always in a disposition to write; nor has any man at all times something to say. |