only, as I send it in, two guineas for a sheet of copy, the rest you may pay me when it may be more convenient; and even by this sheet-payment I shall, for some time, be very expensive. "The Life of Savage I am ready to go upon; and in Great Primer, and Pica notes, I reckon on sending in half a sheet a day; but the money for that shall likewise lye by in your hands till it is done. With the debates, shall I not have business enough? if I had but good pens. "Towards Mr. Savage's Life what more have you got? I would willingly have his trial, &c. and know whether his defence be at Bristol; and would have his collection of poems, on account of the preface-The Plain Dealer,-all the magazines that have anything of his, or relating to him. "I thought my letter would be long, but it is now ended; and I am, Sir, "Your's, &c. "SAM. JOHNSON. "The boy found me writing this almost in the dark, when I could not quite easily read yours. "I have read the Italian-nothing in it is well. "I had no notion of having any thing for the inscription. I hope you don't think I kept it to extort a price. I could think of nothing, till to day. If you could spare me another guinea for the history, I should take it very kindly, to night; but if you do not, I shall not think it an injury.—I am almost well again." a To Mr. CAVE. "SIR,-You did not tell me your determination about the Soldier's Letter, which I am confident was never printed. I think it will not do by itself, or in any other place, so well as the Mag. Extraordinary. If you will have it at all, I believe you do not think I set it high, and I will be glad if what you give, you will give quickly. "You need not be in care about something to print, for I have got the State Trials, and shall extract Layer, Atterbury, and Macclesfield from them, and shall bring them to you in a fortnight; after which I will try to get the South Sea Report." [No date, nor signature.] I would also ascribe to him an "Essay on the Description of China, from the French of Du Halde."† I have not discovered what this was. His writings in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1743, are, the Preface, † the Parliamentary Debates, † "Considerations on the Dispute between Crousaz and Warburton, on Pope's Essay on Man," in which, while he defends Crousaz, he shews an admirable metaphysical acuteness and temperance in controversy; "Ad Lauram parituram Epigramma; " and, "A Latin Translation of Pope's Verses on his Grotto;" " and, as he could employ his pen with equal success upon a small matter as a great, I suppose him to be the authour of an advertisement for Osborn, concerning the great Harleian Catalogue.1 But I should think myself much wanting, both to my illustrious friend and my readers, did I not introduce here, with more than ordinary respect, an exquisitely beautiful Ode, which has not been inserted in any of the collections of Johnson's poetry, written by him at a very early period, as Mr. Hector informs me, and inserted in the Gentleman's Magazine of this year. FRIENDSHIP, an ODE.* FRIENDSHIP, peculiar boon of heaven, Thy gentle flows of guiltless joys On fools and villains ne'er descend; In vain for thee the tyrant sighs, ▪ Angliacas inter pulcherrima Laura puellas, Adsit, Laura, tibi facilis Lucina dolenti, Mr. Hector was present when this Epigram was made impromptu. The first line was proposed by Dr. James, and Johnson was called upon by the company to finish it, which he instantly did. 1 Osborn charged 5s. for his catalogue, which excited some murmurs. He put forward Johnson to defend him: "I know not why I should be persecuted, since I only shall suffer by my mistake." -Dibdin. Directress of the brave and just, O guide us through life's darksome way! On selfish bosoms only prey. Nor shall thine ardours cease to glow, When souls to blissful climes remove: Shall aid our happiness above. Johnson had now an opportunity of obliging his schoolfellow Dr. James, of whom he once observed, "no man brings more mind to his profession." James published this year his "Medicinal Dictionary," in three volumes folio. Johnson, as I understood from him, had written, or assisted in writing, the proposals for this work; and being very fond of the study of physick, in which James was his master, he furnished some of the articles. He, however, certainly wrote for it the Dedication to Dr. Mead,† which is conceived with great address, to conciliate the patronage of that very eminent man.a It has been circulated, I know not with what authenticity, that Johnson considered Dr. Birch as a dull writer, and said of him, "Tom Birch is as brisk as a bee in conversation; but no sooner does he take a pet in his hand, than it becomes a torpedo to him, and benumbs all his faculties." That the literature of this country is much indebted to Birch's activity and diligence, must certainly be acknowledged. We have seen that Johnson honoured him with. a Greek Epigram; and his correspondence with him, during many years, proves that he had no mean opinion of him. To Dr. BIRCH. "Thursday, Sep. 29, 1743. "SIR,-I hope you will excuse me for troubling you on an occasion on which I know not whom else I can apply to; I am at a loss To Dr. MEAD. "SIR,-That the Medicinal Dictionary is dedicated to you, is to be imputed only to your reputation for superiour skill in those sciences which I have endeavoured to explain and facilitate and you are, therefore, to consider this address, if it be agreeable to you, as one of the rewards of merit; and, if otherwise, as one of the inconveniencies of eminence. "However you shall receive it, my design cannot be disappointed; because this publick appeal to your judgment will shew that I do not found my hopes of approbation upon the ignorance of my readers, and that I fear his censure least, whose knowledge is most extensive. "I am, Sir, "Your most obedient humble servant, for the Lives and Characters of Earl Stanhope, the two Craggs, and the Minister Sunderland; and beg that you will inform [me] where I may find them, and send any pamphlets, &c., relating to them to Mr. Cave, to be perused for a few days by, Sir, "Your most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." His circumstances were at this time much embarrassed; yet his affection for his mother was so warm, and so liberal, that he took upon himself a debt of hers, which, though small in itself, was then considerable to him. This appears from the following letter which he wrote to Mr. Levett, of Lichfield, the original of which now lies before me. To Mr. LEVETT, in Lichfield. "December 1, 1743. “SIR,—I am extremely sorry that we have encroached so much upon your forbearance with respect to the interest, which a great perplexity of affairs hindered me from thinking of with that attention that I ought, and which I am not immediately able to remit to you, but will pay it (I think twelve pounds,) in two months. I look upon this, and on the future interest of that mortgage,' as my own debt; and beg that you will be pleased to give me directions how to pay it, and not mention it to my dear mother. If it be necessary to pay this in less time, I believe I can do it; but I take two months for certainty, and beg an answer whether you can allow me so much time. I think myself very much obliged to your forbearance, and shall esteem it a great happiness to be able to serve you. I have great opportunities of dispersing any thing that you may think it proper to make publick. I will give a note for the money, payable at the time mentioned, to any one here that you shall appoint. I am, Sir, "Your most obedient, "And most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON, "At Mr. Osborne's, bookseller, in Gray's Inn." It does not appear that he wrote any thing in 1744 for the Gentleman's Magazine, but the Preface.† His life of Baretier was now re-published in a pamphlet by itself. But he produced one work this year, fully sufficient to maintain the high reputation which he had acquired. This was "THE LIFE OF RICHARD SAVAGE;"* a man, of whom it is difficult to speak impartially, without wondering 1 On his house in Lichfield. that he was for some time the intimate companion of Johnson; for his character was marked by profligacy, insolence, and ingratitude:a yet, as he undoubtedly had a warm and vigorous, though unregulated mind, had seen life in all its varieties, and been much in the company of the statesmen and wits of his time, he could communicate to Johnson an abundant supply of such materials as his philosophical curiosity most eagerly desired; and as Savage's misfortunes and misconduct had reduced him to the lowest state of wretchedness as a writer for bread, his visits to St. John's Gate naturally brought Johnson and him together." It is melancholy to reflect, that Johnson and Savage were sometimes in such extreme indigence, that they could not pay for a lodging; so that they have wandered together whole nights in the streets. Yet in these almost incredible scenes of distress, we may suppose that Savage mentioned many of the anecdotes with which Johnson afterwards enriched the life of his unhappy companion, and those of other Poets. He mentioned to Sir Joshua Reynolds, that one night in particular, when Savage and he walked round St. James's-square for want of a lodging, they were not at all depressed by their situation, but in high spirits and brimful of patriotism, traversed the square As a specimen of his temper, I insert the following letter from him to a noble Lord, to whom he was under great obligations, but who, on account of his bad conduct, was obliged to discard him. The original is in the hands of one of his Majesty's Counsel learned in the law: "Right Honourable BRUTE, and BOOBY, "I FIND you want (as Mr. is pleased to hint,) to swear away my life, that is, the life of your creditor, because he asks you for a debt.-The publick shall soon be acquainted with this, to judge whether you are not fitter to be an Irish Evidence, than to be an Irish Peer.-I defy and despise you. I am, "Your determined adversary, "R. S." Sir John Hawkins gives the world to understand, that Johnson, "being an admirer of genteel manners, was captivated by the address and demeanour of Savage, who, as to his exterior, was, to a remarkable degree, accomplished."-Hawkins's Life, p. 52. But Sir John's notion of gentility must appear somewhat ludicrous, from his stating the following circumstance as presumptive evidence that Savage was a good swordsman: "That he understood the exercise of a gentleman's weapon, may be inferred from the use made of it in that rash encounter which is related in his life." The dexterity here alluded to was, that Savage, in a nocturnal fit of drunkenness, stabbed a man at a coffee-house, and killed him; for which he was tried at the Old-Bailey, and found guilty of murder. Johnson, indeed, describes him as having "a grave and manly deportment, a solemn dignity of mien; but which, upon a nearer acquaintance, softened into an engaging easiness of manners." How highly Johnson admired him for that knowledge which he himself so much cultivated, and what kindness he entertained for him, appears from the following lines in the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1738, which I am assured were written by Johnson: Ad RICARDUM Savage. "Humani studium generis cui pectore fervet, |