"Well, you acquitted yourself in this converfation better than I fhould have done; for I fhould have bowed and stammered through the whole of it."

I received no letter from Johnfon this year; nor have I difcovered any of the correfpondence he had, except the two letters to Mr. Drummond, which have been inserted, for the fake of connection with that to the fame gentleman in 1766. His diary affords no light as to his employment at this time. He paffed three months at Lichfield; and I cannot omit an affecting and folemn fcene there, as related by himself:

Sunday, Oct. 18, 1767. Yesterday, Oct. 17, at about ten in the morning, I took my leave for ever of my dear old friend, Catherine Chambers, who came to live with my mother about 1724, and has been but little parted from us fince. She buried my father, my brother, and my mother. She is now fifty-eight years old.

"I defired all to withdraw, then told her that we were to part for ever; that as Chriftians, we fhould part with prayer; and that I would, if fhe was willing, fay a fhort prayer befide her. She expreffed great defire to hear me; and held up her poor hands, as fhe lay in bed, with great fervour, while I prayed, kneeling by her, nearly in the following words;

It is proper here to mention, that when I fpeak of his correfpondence, I confider it independent of the voluminous collection of letters which, in the courfe of many years, he wrote to Mrs. Thrale, which forms a feparate part of his works; and as a proof of the high estimation fet on any thing which came from his pen, was fold by that lady for the fum of five hundred pounds.

Kk4

"Almighty

1767.

tat. 58

Almighty and moft merciful Father, whofe loving kindness is over all thy works, behold, vifit, and relieve this thy fervant, who is grieved with fickness. Grant that the fenfe of her weakness may add ftrength to her faith, and ferioufnefs to her repentance. And grant that by the help of thy Holy Spirit, after the pains and labours of this fhort life, we may all obtain everlasting happiness, through JESUS CHRIST our Lord; for whofe fake hear our prayers. Amen. Our Father, &.

"I then kiffed her. She told me, that to part was the greatest pain that she had ever felt, and that the hoped we fhould meet again in a better place. I expreffed, with fwelled eyes, and great emotion of tenderness, the fame hopes. We kiffed, and parted. I humbly hope to meet again, and to part no more"."

By those who have been taught to look upon Johnson as a man of a harsh and stern character, let this tender and affectionate scene be candidly read; and let them then judge whether more warmth of heart, and grateful kindness, is often found in human nature.

We have the following notice in his devotional record:

August 2, 1767. I have been disturbed and unfettled for a long time, and have been without refolution to apply to ftudy or to bufinefs, being hindered by fudden fnatches '."

He, however, furnished Mr. Adams with a Dedication to the King of that ingenious gentle

man's "Treatife on the Globes," conceived and expressed in such a manner as could not fail to be very grateful to a Monarch, diftinguifhed for his love of the fciences.

This year was published a ridicule of his style, under the title of "Lexiphanes." Sir John Hawkins afcribes it to Dr. Kenrick; but its authour was one Campbell, a Scotch purfer in the navy. The ridicule confifted in applying Johnfon's

words of large meaning," to infignificant matters, as if one fhould put the armour of Goliath upon a dwarf. The contraft might be laughable; but the dignity of the armour muft remain the fame in all confiderate minds. This malicious. drollery, therefore, it may eafily be fuppofed, could do no harm to its illuftrious object.

1767.

tat. 58.

It appears from his notes of the state of his mind', Etat. 59, that he fuffered great perturbation and distraction. in 1768. Nothing of his writing was given to the publick this year, except the Prologue* to his friend Goldfmith's comedy of "The Good-natured Man." The firft lines of this Prologue are strongly characteristical of the difinal gloom of his mind; which in his cafe, as in the cafe of all who are diftreffed with the famé malady of imagination, transfers to others its own feelings. Who could fuppofe was to introduce a comedy, when Mr. Benfley olemnly began,

"Prefs'd with the load of life, the weary mind Surveys the general toil of human kind."

1768.

Etat. 59.

but this dark ground might make Goldsmith's humour fhine the more.

In the fpring of this year, having published my "Account of Corfica, with the Journal of a Tour to that Ifland," I returned to London, very defirous to fee Dr. Johnfon, and hear him upon the subject. I found he was at Oxford, with his friend Mr. Chambers, who was now Vinerian Profeffor, and lived in New Inn Hail. Having had no letter from him fince that in which he criticised the Latinity of my Thefis, and having been told by fomebody that he was offended at my having put into my book an extract of his letter to me at Paris, I was impatient to be with him, and therefore followed him to Oxford, where I was entertained by Mr. Chambers, with a civility which I fhall ever gratefully remember. I found that Dr. Johnson had fent a letter to me to Scotland, and that I had nothing to complain of but his being more indifferent to my anxiety than I wifhed him to be. Instead of giving, with the circumftances of time and place, fuch fragments of his converfation as I preferved during this vifit to Oxford, I fhall throw them together in continuation.

I asked him whether, as a moralift, he did not think that the practice of the law, in fome degree, hurt the nice feeling of honefty. JOHNSON. "Why no, Sir, if you act properly. You are not to deceive your clients with false representations of your opinion: you are not to tell lies to a judge." BOSWELL. "But what do you think of fupporting a caufe which you know to be bad?" JOHNSON. "Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till

the

1768.

the Judge determines it. I have faid that you are to state facts fairly; fo that your thinking, or what Atat. 59. you call knowing a caufe to be bad, must be from reasoning, must be from your fuppofing your arguments to be weak and inconclufive. But, Sir, that is not enough. An argument which does not convince yourself, may convince the Judge to whom you urge it: and if it does convince him, why, then, Sir, you are wrong, and he is right. It is his bufinefs to judge; and you are not to be confident in your own opinion that a cause is bad, but to fay all you can for your client, and then hear the Judge's opinion." BOSWELL. "But, Sir, does not affecting a warmth when you have no warmth, and appearing to be clearly of one opinion when you are in reality of another opinion, does not fuch diffimulation impair one's honesty? Is there not fome danger that a lawyer may put on the fame mask in common life, in the intercourse with his friends?" JOHNSON. "Why no, Sir. Every body knows you are paid for affecting warmth for your client; and it is, therefore, properly no diffimulation: the moment you come from the bar you refume your usual behaviour. Sir, a man will no more carry the artifice of the bar into the common intercourfe of fociety, than a man who is paid for tumbling upon his hands will continue to tumble upon his hands when he fhould walk on his feet."

Talking of fome of the modern plays, he faid "Falfe Delicacy" was totally void of character. He praised Goldfimith's "Good-natured Man;" faid, it was the best comedy that had appeared