fittle trouble. While I am writing this I have not any sensation of debility or disease. But I do not yet venture out, having been confined to the house from the 18th of December, now a quarter of a year. "When it will be fit for me to travel as far as Auchinleck I am not able to guess; but such a letter as Mrs. Boswell's might draw any man not wholly motionless a great way. Pray tell the dear lady how much her civility and kindness have touched and gratified me. "Our parliamentary tumults have now begun to subside, and the king's authority is in some measure re-established. Mr. Pitt will have great power; but you must remember that what he has to give must, at least for some time, be given to those who gave, and those who preserve, his power. A new minister can sacrifice little to esteem or friendship: he must, till he is settled, think only of extending his interest. "If you come hither through Edinburgh, send for Mrs. Stewart, and give from me another guinea for the letter in the old case, to which I shall not be satisfied with my claim till she gives it me. "Please to bring with you Baxter's Anacreon; and if you procure heads of Hector Boece, the historian, and Arthur Johnston 2, the poet, I will put them in my room; or any other of the fathers of Scottish literature. "I wish you an easy and happy journey, and hope I need not tell you that you will be welcome to, dear sir, your most affectionate humble servant, Letters, vol. ii. p. 354. "SAM. JOHNSON." ["TO MRS. THRALE. "London, 20th March, 1784. "MADAM,-Your last letter had something of tenderness. The accounts which you have had of my danger and distress were I suppose not aggravated. I have been confined ten weeks with an asthma and dropsy. But I am now better. God has in his mercy granted me reprieve; for how much time his mercy must determine. "On the 19th of last month I evacuated twenty pints of water, and I think I reckon exactly. From that time the tumour has subsided, and I now begin to move with some freedom. You will easily believe that I am still at a great distance from [Mr. Boswell does not give us his letter, to which this is an answer; but it is clear that he expressed some too sanguine hopes of preferment from Mr. Pitt, whose favour, as we have just seen, he had endeavoured to propitiate. See ante, p. 53, n.-ED.] 2 [See ante, vol, i. p. 353.-ED.] health; but I am, as my chirurgeon expressed it, amazingly better. Heberden seems to have great hopes. "Write to me no more about dying with a grace. When you feel what I have felt in approaching eternity-in fear of soon hearing the sentence of which there is no revocation-you will know the folly: my wish is that you may know it sooner. The distance between the grave and the remotest part of human longevity is but a very little; and of that little no path is certain. You know all this, and I thought that I knew it too; but I know it now with a new conviction. May that new conviction not be vain! "I am now cheerful. I hope this approach to recovery is a token of the Divine mercy. My friends continue their kindness. I give a dinner to-morrow. I am, madam, your, &c. "SAM. JOHNSON."] I wrote to him, March 28, from York, informing him that I had a high gratification in the triumph of monarchical principles over aristocratical influence, in that great county, in an address to the king; that I was thus far on my way to him, but that news of the dissolution of parliament having arrived, I was to hasten back to my own county, where I had carried an address to his majesty by a great majority, and had some intention of being a candidate to revresent the county in parliament. "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "London, 30th March, 1784. "DEAR SIR,-You could do nothing so proper as to hasten back when you found the parliament dissolved. With the influence which your address must have gained you, it may reasonably be expected that your presence will be of importance, and your activity of effect. "Your solicitude for me gives me that pleasure which every man feels from the kindness of such a friend; and it is with delight I relieve it by telling that Dr. Brocklesby's account is true, and that I am, by the blessing of God, wonderfully relieved." You must "You are entering upon a transaction which requires much prudence. endeavour to oppose without exasperating'; to practise temporary hostility, without producing enemies for life. This is, perhaps, hard to be done; yet it has been done by many, and seems most likely to be effected by opposing merely upon general principles, without descending to personal or particular censures or objections. One thing I must enjoin you, which is seldom observed in the conduct of elections; I must entreat you to be scrupulous in the use of strong liquors. One night's drunkenness may defeat the labours of forty days well | employed. Be firm, but not clamorous; be active, but not malicious; and you may form such an interest, as may not only exalt yourself, but dignify your family. "We are, as you may suppose, all busy here. Mr. Fox resolutely stands for Westminster, and his friends say will carry the election. However that be, he will certainly have a seat. Mr. Hoole has just told me, that the city leans towards the king. Let me hear, from time to time, how you are employed, and what progress you make. "Make dear Mrs. Boswell, and all the young Boswells, the sincere compliments of, sir, your affectionate humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." To Mr. Langton he wrote with that cordiality which was suitable to the long friendship which had subsisted between him and that gentleman. "DR. JOHNSON TO BENNET LANGTON, ES 2. "27th March, 1784. "Since you left me I have continued, in my own opinion, and in Dr. Brocklesby's, to grow better, with respect to all my formidable and dangerous distempers; though, to a body battered and shaken as mine has lately been, it is to be feared that weak attacks may be sometimes mischievous. I have, indeed, by standing carelessly at an open window, got a very troublesome cough, which it has been necessary to appease by opium, in larger quantities than I like to take, and I have not found it give way so readily as I expected: its obstinacy, however, seems at last disposed to submit to the remedy, and I know not whether I should then have a right to complain of any morbid sensation. My asthma is, I am afraid, constitutional and incurable; but it is only occasional, and, unless it be excited by labour or by cold, gives me no molestation, nor does it lay very close siege to life; for Sir Jonn Floyer, whom the physical race consider as authour of one of the best books upon it, panted on to ninety, as was supposed. And why were we content with supposing a fact so interesting of a man so conspicuous? Because he corrupted, at perhaps seventy or eighty, the register, that he might pass for younger than he was. He was not much less than eighty, when to a man of rank, who modestly asked his age, he answered, 'Go look;' though he was in general a man of civility and elegance. “The ladies, I find, are at your house all [Mr. Fox was returned for Westminster, after a sharp election and a tedious scrutiny.-ED.] well, except Miss Langton, who will probably soon recover her health by light suppers. Let her eat at dinner as she will, but not take a full stomach to bed. Pay my sincere respects to dear Miss Langton in Lincolnshire; let her know that I mean not to break our league of friendship, and that I have a set of Lives for her, when I have the means of sending it.” "8th April. "I am still disturbed by my cough; but what thanks have I not to pay, when my cough is the most painful sensation that I feel? and from that I expect hardly to be released, while winter continues to gripe us with so much pertinacity. The year has now advanced eighteen days beyond the equinox, and still there is very little remission of the cold. When warm weather comes, which surely must come at last, I hope it will help both me and your young lady. "The man so busy about addresses is neither more nor less than our own Boswell, who had come as far as York towards London, but turned back on the dissolution, and is said now to stand for some place. Whether to wish him success his best friends hesitate. "Let me have your prayers for the completion of my recovery. I am now better than I ever expected to have been. May God add to his mercies the grace that may enable me to use them according to his will. My compliments to all." #13th April. "I had this evening a note from Lord Portmore, desiring that I would give you an account of my health. You might have had it with less circumduction. I am, by God's blessing, I believe, free from all morbid sensations, except a cough, which is only troublesome. But I am still weak, and can have no great hope of strength till the weather shall be softer. The summer, if it be kindly, will, I hope, enable me to support the winter. God, who has so wonderfully restored me, can preserve me in all seasons. "Let me inquire in my turn after the state of your family, great and little. I hope Lady Rothes and Miss Langton are both well. That is a good basis of content. Then how goes George on with his studies? How does Miss Mary? And how does my own Jenny? I think I owe Jenny a letter, which I will take care to pay. In the mean time tell her that I acknowledge the debt. "Be pleased to make my compliments to the ladies. If Mrs. Langton comes to London, she will favour me with a visit, for I am not well enough to go out.” To Lord Portmore's note, mentioned ir the foregoing extract, Johnson returned | itude for your favours. I am, sir, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." this answer: 86 TO THE RIGHT HON. EARL OF PORT MORE. "Bolt-court, Fleet-street, 13th April, 1784. "Dr. Johnson acknowledges with great respect the honour of Lord Portmore's notice. He is better than he was; and will, as his lordship directs, write to Mr. Langton." "TO OZIAS HUMPHRY, ESQ1. "5th April, 1784. "SIR, Mr. Hoole has told me with what benevolence you listened to a request which I was almost afraid to make, of leave to a young painter 2 to attend you from time to time in your painting-room, to see your operations, and receive your instructions. "The young man has perhaps good parts, but has been without a regular education. He is my godson, and therefore I interest myself in his progress and success, and shall think myself much favoured if I receive from you a permission to send him. "My health is, by God's blessing, much restored, but I am not yet allowed by my physicians to go abroad; nor, indeed, do I think myself yet able to endure the weather. I am, sir, your most hunible servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." "TO THE SAME. "10th April, 1784. "SIR,-The bearer is my godson, whom I take the liberty of recommending to your kindness; which I hope he will deserve by his respect to your excellence, and his grat The eminent painter, representative of the ancient family of Homfrey (now Humphry) in the west of England; who, as appears from their arms which they have invariably used, have been (as I have seen authenticated by the best authority) one of those among the knights and esquires of honour, who are represented by Holinshed as having issued from the tower of London on coursers apparelled for the justes, accompanied by ladies of honour, leading every one a knight, with a chain of gold, passing through the streets of London into Smithfield, on Sunday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, being the first Sunday after Michaelmas, in the fourteenth year of King Richard the Second. This family once enjoyed large possessions, but, like others, have lost them in the progress of ages. Their blood, however, remains to them well ascertained; and they may hope, in the revolution of events, to recover that rank in society for which, in modern times, fortune seems to be an indispensable requisite.BOSWELL. [Mr. Humphry died in 1810, æt. 68. His" eminence" as a painter was a goodnatured error of Mr. Boswell's. ED.] Son of Mr. Samuel Paterson, eminent for his knowledge of books.-BoswELL. [See ante, p. 349.-ED.] "TO OZIAS HUMPHRY, ESQ. "31st May, 1784. "SIR,-I am very much obliged by your civilities to my godson, but must beg of you to add to them the favour of permitting him to see you paint, that he may know how a picture is begun, advanced, and completed. "If he may attend you in a few of your operations, I hope he will show that the benefit has been properly conferred, both by his proficiency and his gratitude. At least I shall consider you as enlarging your kindness to, sir, your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON.". TO THE REVEREND DR. TAYLOR, "London, Easter-Monday, 12th April, 1784. "DEAR SIR,What can be the reason that I hear nothing from you? I hope nothing disables you from writing. What I have seen, and what I have felt, gives me reason to fear every thing. Do not omit giving me the comfort of knowing, that after all my losses, I have yet a friend left. "I want every comfort. My life is very solitary and very cheerless. Though it has pleased God wonderfully to deliver me from the dropsy, I am yet very weak, and have not passed the door since the 18th of December. I hope for some help from warm weather, which will surely come in time. "I could not have the consent of the physicians to go to church yesterday; I therefore received the holy sacrament at home, in the room where I communicated with dear Mrs. Williams, a little before her death. O! my friend, the approach of death is very dreadful! I am afraid to think on that which I know I cannot avoid. It is vain to look round and round for that help which cannot be had. Yet we hope and hope, and fancy that he who has lived to-day may live to-morrow. But let us learn to derive our hope only from God. "In the mean time, let us be kind to one another. I have no friend now living but you3 and Mr. Hector, that was the friend 3 This friend of Johnson's youth survived him 1 of my youth. Do not neglect, dear sir, yours affectionately, "SAM. JOHNSON." Letters, vol. ii. [TO MRS. THRALE. "London, 15th April, 1784. not receive without some degree of pleasure. After a confinement of one hundred and twenty-nine days, more than the third part of a year, and no inconsiderable part of human life, I this day returned thanks to God"Yesterday I had the pleasure of in St. Clement's church for my recovery; a giving another dinner to the re-recovery, in my seventy-fifth year, from a p. 361-7. mainder of the old club. We used distemper which few in the vigour of youth to meet weekly about the year 1750, and are known to surmount; a recovery, of we were as cheerful as in former times: on- which neither myself, my friends, nor my ly I could not make quite so much noise; physicians, had any hope; for though they for since the paralytick affliction, my voice flattered me with some continuance of life, is sometimes weak. they never supposed that I could cease to be dropsical. The dropsy, however, is quite vanished; and the asthma so much mitigated, that I walked to-day with a more easy respiration than I have known, I think, for perhaps two years past. I hope the mercy that lightens my days will assist me to use them well. "Metcalf and Crutchley, without knowing each other, are both members of parliament for Horsham in Sussex. Mr. Cator is chosen for Ipswich. "But a sick man's thoughts soon turn back upon himself. I am still very weak, though my appetite is keen, and my digestion potent; and I gratify myself more at table than ever I did at my own cost before. I have now an inclination to luxury which even your table did not excite; for till now my talk was more about the dishes than my thoughts. I remember you commended me for seeming pleased with my dinners when you had reduced your table. I am able to tell you with great veracity that I never knew when the reduction began, nor should have known that it was made had not you told me. I now think and consult to-day what I shall eat to-morrow. This disease will likewise, I hope, be cured. For there are other things-how different!-which ought to predominate in the mind of such a man as I but in this world the body will have its part; and my hope is, that it shall have no more-my hope, but not my confidence; I have only the timidity of a christian to determine, not the wisdom of a stoick to secure me. "" "The club which has been lately instituted is at Sam's; and there was I when I was last out of the house. But the people whom I mentioned in my letter are the remnant of a little club that used to meet in Ivy-lane about three and thirty years ago, out of which we have lost Hawkesworth and Dyer-the rest are yet on this side the grave." "London, 21st April, 1784. "I make haste to send you intelligence, which, if I do not flatter myself, you will "The Hooles, Miss Burney, and Mrs. Hall (Wesley's sister), feasted yesterday with me very cheerfully on your noble salmon. Mr. Allen could not come, and I sent him a piece, and a great tail is still left. "Dr. Brocklesby forbids the club at present, not caring to venture the chillness of the evening; but I purpose to show my self on Saturday at the Academy's feast I cannot publish my return to the world more effectually; for, as the Frenchman says, tout le monde s'y trouvera. "For this occasion Lordered some clothes; and was told by the tailor, that when he brought me a sick dress, he never expected to make me any thing of any other kind. My recovery is indeed wonderful." In all the madness of superfluous health.' "The Prince of Wales had promised to be there; but when we had waited an hour and a half, sent us word that he could not come. "Mrs. Davenant 3 called to pay me a guinea, but I gave two for you. Whatever reasons you have for frugality, it is not worth while to save a guinea a year by withdrawing it from a publick charity. "Mr. Howard called on me a few days ago, and gave me the new edition, much 2 [The Exhibition dinner of the Royal Academy. -ED.] 3 [Probably a cousin of Mrs. Thrale's, Hester somewhat more than three years, having died Lynch Salusbury Cotton, married to Mr. Dave- ́ February 19, 1788.-MALONE. [See ante, vol. i. p. 75.-ED.] nant, who afterwards assumed the name of Corbet, and was created a baronet.-ED.] What follows is a beautiful specimen of his gentleness and complacency to a young lady, his god-child, one of the daughters of his friend Mr. Langton, then, I think, in her seventh year. He took the trouble to write it in a large round hand, nearly resem bling printed characters, that she might have the satisfaction of reading it herself. The original lies before me, but shall be faithfully restored to her; and I dare say 'will be preserved by her as a jewel, as long as she lives. [Perhaps Miss Reynolds's "Essay on Taste." See ante, p. 307. Mr. Boswell was probably mistaken in saying that it had been printed.-ED.] TO MISS JANE LANGTON, IN ROCHESTER, KENT. "May 10, 1784. "MY DEAREST MISS JENNY,—I am sorry that your pretty letter has been so long without being answered; but, when I am not pretty well, I do not always write plain enough for young ladies. I am glad, my dear, to see that you write so well, and hope that you mind your pen, your book, and your needle, for they are all necessary. Your books will give you knowledge, and make you respected; and your needle will find you useful employment when you do not care to read. When you are a little older, I hope you will be very diligent in learning arithmetick; and, above all, that through your whole life you will carefully say your prayers and read your Bible. I am, my dear, your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." On Wednesday, May 5, I arrived in London, and next morning had the pleasure to find Dr. Johnson greatly recovered. I but just saw him; for a coach was waiting to carry him to Islington, to the house of his friend the Reverend Mr. Strahan, where he went sometimes for the benefit of good air, which, notwithstanding his having formerly laughed at the general opinion upon the subject, he now acknowledged was conducive to health. One morning afterwards, when I found him alone, he communicated to me, with solemn earnestness, the very remarkable circumstance [alluded to so often in the preceding letters] which had happened in the course of his illness, when he was much distressed by the dropsy. He had shut himself up, and employed a day in particular exercises of religion, fasting, humiliation, and prayer. On a sudden he obtained extraordinary relief, for which he looked up to Heaven with grateful devotion. He made no direct inference from this fact; but from his manner of telling it, I could perceive that it appeared to him as something more than an incident in the common course of events. For my own part, I have no difficulty to avow that cast of thinking, which, by many modern pretenders to wisdom, is called superstitious. But here I think even men of dry rationality may believe, that there was an intermediate? interposition of Divine Providence, and that "the fervent prayer of this righteous man "` availed 3. of the term intermediate does not seem quite 2 [So in all the editions, though the meaning clear. Perhaps Mr. Boswell may have meant immediate.-ED.] 3 Upon this subject there is a very fair and judicious remark in the Life of Dr. Abernethy, in the first edition of the Biographia Britannica, |