By the death of Mrs. Williams he was left in a state of destitution, with nobody but Frank, his black servant, to sooth his anxious moments '. In November 1783, he was swelled from head to foot with a dropsy 2. Dr. Brocklesby, with that benevolence with which he always assists his friends, paid his visits with assiduity. The medicines prescribed were so efficacious, that in a few days, Johnson, while he was offering up his prayers, was suddenly obliged to rise, and, in the course of the day, discharged twenty pints of water 3. Johnson, being eased of his dropsy, began to entertain hopes that the vigour of his constitution was not entirely broken. For the sake of conversing with his friends, he established a conversation club, to meet on every Wednesday evening; and, to serve a man whom he had known in Mr. Thrale's household for many years, the place was fixed at his house in Essex street near the Temple. To answer the malignant remarks of Sir John Hawkins on this subject, were a wretched waste of time. Professing to be Johnson's friend, that biographer has raised more objections to his character, than all the enemies of that excellent man. Sir John had a root of bitterness that put rancours in the 3 It was not till February 19 that Johnson had this relief. Letters, ii. 384; Life, iv. 261, 271; Hawkins, p. 565. Murphy was a member of the Essex Head Club; yet his account is inaccurate. 'We meet thrice a week,' wrote Johnson. Life, iv. 254. In the Rules it is laid down that 'the meetings shall be on the Monday, Thursday, and Saturday of every week; but in the week before Easter there shall be no meeting.' Ib. n. 5. 5 Hawkins (p. 567) thus writes of the formation of the Club:-'I was not made privy to this his intention, but all circumstances considered, it was no matter of surprise to me when I heard that the great Dr. Johnson had, in the month of December 1783, formed a sixpenny club at an ale-house in Essex-street, and that though some of the persons thereof were persons of note, strangers, under restrictions, for three pence each night might three nights in a week hear him talk and partake of his conversation.' Miss Hawkins (Memoirs, i. 103) says:-'Boswell was well justified in his resentment of my father's designation of this club as a sixpenny club, meeting at an ale-house.... Honestly speaking, I daresay my vessel of his peace'. Fielding, he says, was the inventor of a cant phrase, Goodness of heart, which means little more than the virtue of a horse or a dog. He should have known that kind affections are the essence of virtue; they are the will of God implanted in our nature, to aid and strengthen moral obligation; they incite to action; a sense of benevolence is no less necessary than a sense of duty. Good affections are an ornament not only to an author but to his writings. He who shews himself upon a cold scent for opportunities to bark and snarl throughout a volume of six hundred pages, may, if he will, pretend to moralize; but GOODNESS OF HEART, or, to use that politer phrase, the virtue of a horse or a dog, would redound more to his honour. But Sir John is no more: our business is with Johnson. The members of his club were respectable for their rank, their talents, and their literature 3. They attended with punctuality till about Midsummer 1784, when, with some appearance of health, Johnson went into Derbyshire, and thence to Lichfield'. While he was in that part of the world, his friends in town were labouring for his benefit. The air of a more southern climate they thought might prolong a valuable life. But a pension of £300 a year was a slender fund for a travelling valetudinarian, and it was not then known that he had saved a moderate sum of money 5. Mr. Boswell and Sir Joshua Reynolds undertook to solicit the patronage of the Chancellor. With Lord Thurlow, while he was at the bar, Johnson was well acquainted. He was often heard to say, 'Thurlow is a man of such vigour of mind, that I never knew I was to meet him but I was going to say, I was afraid, but that would not be true, for I never was afraid of any man; but I never knew that I was to meet Thurlow, but I knew I had something to encounter '' The Chancellor undertook to recommend Johnson's case, but without success2. To protract if possible the days of a man, whom he respected, he offered to advance the sum of five hundred pounds 3. Being informed of this at Lichfield, Johnson wrote the following letter. 'My Lord, 'After a long and not inattentive observation of mankind, the generosity of your Lordship's offer raises in me not less wonder than gratitude. Bounty, so liberally bestowed, I should gladly receive if my condition made it necessary; for to such a mind who would not be proud to own his obligations? But it has pleased God to restore me to so great a measure of health, that if I should now appropriate so much of a fortune destined to do good, I could not escape from myself the charge of advancing a false claim. My journey to the continent, though I once thought it necessary, was never much encouraged by my physicians; and I was very desirous that your Lordship should be told of it by Sir Joshua Reynolds as an event very uncertain; for, if I grew much better, I should not be willing; if much worse, not able to migrate. Your Lordship was first solicited without my knowledge; but when I was told that you were pleased to honour me with your patronage, I did not expect to hear of a refusal; yet, as I have had no long time to brood hopes, and have not rioted in imaginary opulence, this cold reception has been scarce a disappointment; and from your Lordship's kindness I have received a benefit which only men like I 'Depend upon it, Sir, it is when you come close to a man in conversation that you discover what his real abilities are; to make a speech in a publick assembly is a knack. Now I honour Thurlow, Sir; Thurlow is a fine fellow; he fairly puts his mind to yours.' Life, iv. 179; see also Ib. iv. 327. 2 Ib. iv. 350, n. I. 3 Ib. iv. 348. Horace Walpole says that in 1770'the Seals were valued at £13,000 a year.' Memoirs of George III, iv. 45. On March 5, 1783, an annuity of £2,680 was granted to Thurlow. Annual Register, 1783, i. 198. 4 Ashbourne. Life, iv. 348. you you are able to bestow. I shall now live mihi carior', with a higher opinion of my own merit. 'I am, my Lord, 'your Lordship's most obliged, ' and most humble servant, 'September, 1784.' We have in this instance the exertion of two congenial minds; one, with a generous impulse relieving merit in distress 2, and the other, by gratitude and dignity of sentiment rising to an equal elevation. It seems, however, that greatness of mind is not confined to greatness of rank. Dr. Brocklesby was not content to assist with his medical art; he resolved to minister to his patient's mind, and pluck from his memory the sorrow3 which the late refusal from a high quarter might occasion. To enable him to visit the south of France in pursuit of health, he offered from his own funds an annuity of one hundred pounds, payable quarterly *. 'Perhaps Johnson had in mind. Juvenal's line (Sat. x. 1. 350)— 'Carior est illis homo quam sibi.' • Thurlow's neglect of Cowper is alluded to in the Epistle to Joseph Hill. Southey's Cowper, ix. 269, n. See also ib. iv. 208, 256. On the other hand he treated Crabbe with generosity, who, on being at first neglected by him, had sent him 'some strong, but not disrespectful lines.' He invited the young poet to break'fast, and said, 'The first poem you sent me, Sir, I ought to have noticed --and I heartily forgive the second.' On parting he put into his hand a sealed packet containing a banknote for a hundred pounds. Crabbe's Works, 1834, i. 56, 101. 3 'About eight or ten days before his death, when Dr. Brocklesby paid him his morning visit, he seemed This was a sweet oblivious antidote, but it was not accepted for the reasons assigned to the Chancellor. The proposal, however, will do honour to Dr. Brocklesby, as long as liberal sentiment shall be ranked among the social virtues. In the month of October, 1784, we find Dr. Johnson corresponding with Mr. Nichols, the intelligent compiler of the Gentleman's Magazine, and, in the langour of sickness, still desirous to contribute all in his power to the advancement of science and useful knowledge. He says, in a letter to that gentleman, dated Lichfield, October 20, that he should be glad to give so skilful a lover of Antiquities any information'. He adds, ' At Ashburne, where I had very little company, I had the luck to borrow Mr. Bowyer's Life 2, a book so full of contemporary history, that a literary man must find some of his old friends. I thought that I could now and then have told you some hints 3 worth your notice and perhaps we may talk a life over. I hope we shall be much together. You must now be to me what you were before, and what dear Mr. Allen' was besides. He was taken unexpectedly away, but I think he was a very good man. I have made little progress in recovery. I am very weak, and very sleepless; but I live on and hope.' In that languid condition, he arrived, on the 16th of November, at his house in Bolt-court 5, there to end his days. He laboured with the dropsy and an asthma. He was attended by |