judicious well-written Preface, by the Reverend Mr. Strahan, to whom he delivered them.1 This admirable collection, to which I have frequently referred in the course of this work, evinces, beyond all his compositions for the publick, and all the eulogies of his friends and admirers, the sincere virtue and piety of Johnson. It proves with unquestionable authenticity, that amidst all his constitutional infirmities, his earnestness to conform his practice to the precepts of Christianity was unceasing, and that he habitually endeavoured to refer every transaction of his life to the will of the Supreme Being. He arrived in London on the 16th of November, and next day sent to Dr. Burney, the following note, which I insert as the last token of his remembrance of this ingenious and amiable man, and as another of the many proofs of the tenderness and benignity of his heart. "Mr. Johnson, who came home last night, sends his respects to dear Dr. Burney, and all the dear Burneys, little and great." To Mr. HECTOR, in Birmingham. "DEAR SIR,-I did not reach Oxford until Friday morning, and then I sent Francis to see the balloon fly, but could not go myself. I staid at Oxford 'till Tuesday, and then came in the common vehicle easily to London. I am as I was, and having seen Dr. Brocklesby, am to ply the squills; but whatever be their efficacy, this world must soon pass away. Let us think seriously on our duty. I send my kindest respects to dear Mrs. Careless; let me have the prayers of both. We have all lived long, and must soon part. GOD have mercy on us, for the sake of our Lord JESUS CHRIST. Amen. I am, &c. "London, Nov. 17, 1784." "SAM. JOHNSON. His correspondence with me after his letter on the subject of my settling in London, shall now so far as is proper, be produced in one series. July 26, he wrote to me from Ashbourne; "On the 14th I came to Lichfield, and found every body glad enough to see me. On the 1 Mr. Croker accuses Boswell of having read Mr. Strahan's preface hastily, or not at all, and of having misconceived Johnson's intentions as to the "Prayers and Meditations." "Portions of these MSS. were never intended," adds Mr. Croker, "for publication." Mr. Strahan, however, states, "One morning, however, on my visiting him by desire at an early hour, he put these papers into my hands, with instructions for committing them to the press, and with a promise to prepare a sketch of his own life to accompany them." 20th, I came hither, and found a house half built, of very uncom fortable appearance, but my own room has not been altered. That a man worn with diseases, in his seventy-second or third year, should condemn part of his remaining life to pass among ruins and rubbish, and that no inconsiderable part, appears to me very strange. I know that your kindness makes you impatient to know the state of my health, in which I cannot boast of much improvement. I came through the journey without much inconvenience, but when I attempt self-motion I find my legs weak, and my breath very short; this day I have been much disordered. I have no company; the Doctor is busy in his fields, and goes to bed at nine, and his whole system is so different from mine, that we seem formed for different elements; I have, therefore, all my amusement to seek within myself." Having written to him in bad spirits, a letter filled with dejection and fretfulness, and at the same time expressing anxious apprehensions concerning him, on account of a dream which had disturbed me; his answer was chiefly in terms of reproach, for a supposed charge of "affecting discontent, and indulging the vanity of complaint." however proceeded, "Write to me often, and write like a man. I consider your fidelity and tenderness as a great part of the comforts which are yet left me, and sincerely wish we could be nearer to each other. -My dear friend, life is very short and very uncertain; let us spend it as well as we can. My worthy neighbour, Allen, is dead. Love me as well as you can. Pay my respects to dear Mrs. Boswell.-Nothing ailed me at that time; let your superstition at last have an end." Feeling very soon, that the manner in which he had written might hurt me, he in two days after, July 28, wrote to again, giving me an account of his suffering,, after which follows: "Before this letter you will have had one which I hope you will not take amiss; for it contains only truth, and that truth kindly intended. * Spartam quam nactus es orna; make the most and best of your lot, and compare yourself not with the few that are above you, but with the multitudes which are below Go steadily forward with lawful business or 'Be (as Temple says of the Dutchmen) well when you are not ill, and pleased when you are not angry,' ***. This may seem but an ill return for your tenderness; but I mean it well, for I love you with great ardour and sincerity. Pay my respects to dear Mrs. Boswell, and teach the young ones to love me." you. honest diversions. I unfortunately was so much indisposed during a considerable part of the year, that it was not, or at least I thought it was not, in my power to write to my illustrious friend as formerly, or without expressing such complaints as offended him. Having conjured him not to do me the injustice of charging me with affectation, I was with much regret long silent. His last letter to me then came, and affected me very tenderly : To JAMES BOSWELL, Esq. "DEAR SIR,-I have this summer sometimes amended and sometimes relapsed, but upon the whole, have lost ground very much. My legs are extremely weak, and my breath very short, and the water is now encreasing upon me. In this uncomfortable state your letters used to relieve; what is the reason that I have them no longer? Are you sick, or are you sullen? Whatever be the reason, if it be less than necessity, drive it away, and of the short life that we have, make the best use for yourself and for your friends. * *. I am sometimes afraid that your omission to write has some real cause, and shall be glad to know that you are not sick, and that nothing ill has befallen dear Mrs. Boswell, or any of your family. I am, Sir, your, &c. "Lichfield, Nov. 3, 1784." "SAM. JOHNSON. Yet it was not a little painful to me to find, that in a paragraph of this letter, which I have omitted, he still persevered in arraigning me as before, which was strange in him who had so much experience of what I suffered. I however wrote to him two as kind letters as I could; the last of which came too late to be read by him, for his illness encreased more rapidly upon him than I had apprehended; but I had the consolation of being informed that he spoke of me on his death-bed, with affection, and I look forward with humble hope of renewing our friendship in a better world. I now relieve the readers of this work from any farther personal notice of its authour, who if he should be thought to have obtruded himself too much upon their attention, requests them to consider the peculiar plan of his biographical undertaking.1 1 There is no reader but what will feel regret at parting from Mr. Boswell. It is melancholy to find that the later course of the faithful biographer showed that he had not taken these wise counsels to heart. With the loss of his friend and master, his life seems to have become a pitiable record of vain efforts at advancement, dissipation, irresolution, and feeble attempts at reformation. In 1789 he came to town, and took a house in Queen Annestreet, meaning to follow his profession at the English Bar; though he was "sadly discouraged by having no practice or probable prospect of it," and was afraid that were he tried, he should be "found so deficient in the forms, the quirks and the quiddities," that he should Soon after Johnson's return to the metropolis, both the asthma and He had for some time kept dropsy became more violent and distressful. a journal in Latin, of the state of his illness, and the remedies which expose himself. He tried hard to be chosen member for his own county; but powerful lords coalesced against him. His eagerness to prosecute his political schemes made him leave his wife to go to London, where he presently learned that she was dying. He arrived too late to see her. She left five children to the care of an injudicious father. He sent his boys to Eton, and his girls to a boarding-school, gave up his house, and took rooms in the Temple. The state of his affairs became "disagreeable," as his income was not more than 850l. a year. Yet he neglected attendance at the courts, being busy with his life of Johnson, and still eager for preferment : In 1790 he "I cast about everywhere.' was looking out for a fortune, "drinking with Lord Lonsdale," mourning his lost wife, praying, relapsing, and groaning over the disadvantage to his children in having so wretched a father. Finally, everything having failed, in April, 1795, he was seized with his last sickness, and thus began a letter to his old friend : "MY DEAR TEMPLE,-I would fain write to you in my own hand, but really cannot. Alas, my friend, what a state is this! My son James is to write for me what remains of this letter, and I am to dictate. The pain which continued for so many weeks was very severe indeed, and when it went off I thought myself quite well; but I soon felt a conviction that I was by no means as I should be so exceedingly weak, as my miserable attempt to write you afforded a full proof. All then that can be said is, that I must wait with patience. to "But, O my friend! how strange is it that, at this very time of my illness, you and Miss Temple should have been in Much occasion such a dangerous state. for thankfulness is there that it has not VOL. III. "JAMES BOSWELL. "Postscript. "DEAR SIR,-You will find by the foregoing, the whole of which was dictated by my father, that he is ignorant of the dangerous situation in which he was, and, I am sorry to say, still continues to be. Yesterday and to-day he has been somewhat better, and we trust that the nourishment which he is now able to take, and his strong constitution, will support him through. "I remain, with respect, "James Boswell, Jun." "London, 19th May, 1795. "MY DEAR SIR,-I have now the painful task of informing you that my dear brother expired this morning at two o'clock: we have both lost a kind, affectionate friend, and I shall never have such another. He has suffered a great deal during his illness, which has lasted five weeks, but not much in his last moments. May God Almighty have mercy upon his soul, and receive him into His heavenly kingdom! He is to be buried at Auchinleck, for which place his sons will set out in two or three days. They and his two eldest daughters have behaved in the most affectionate, exemplary manner during his confinement : they all desire to be kindly remembered to you and Miss Temple, and beg your sympathy on this melancholy occasion. I am, my dear Sir, "Your affectionate, humble servant, "T. D. BosWELL." On the coffin-plate of the poor jovial, good-hearted James Boswell was inscribed:-"James Boswell, Esq., died 19 May, 1795, aged 55 years;" over which, in a shield, are the initials J. B., with two strips of hair on his crest-on a wreath, argent and sable, a hawk with a hood. A motto over the crest-Vraye foy. The arms borne by Mr. B., in virtue of a grant in Scotland, 1780, were-Quarterly, 1st and 4th: Argent, on a fess sable three cinquefoils of the field, a canton azure, charged with a galley sails, furled with a tressure or. 2nd and 3rd, quarterly; 1st and 4th argent, a lion rampant azure; 2nd and 3rd, or, a saltire and chief gules: over all a cross engrailed sable. Crest as above." he used, under the title of Egri Ephemeris, which he began on the 6th of July, but continued it no longer than the 8th of November; finding, I suppose, that it was a mournful and unavailing register. It is in my possession; and is written with great care and accuracy. Still his love of literature did not fail. He drew out and gave to It is truly wonderful to consider the extent and constancy of Johnson's literary ardour, notwithstanding the melancholy which clouded and embittered his existence. Besides the numerous and various works which he executed, he had at different times formed schemes of a great many more, of which the following catalogue was given by him to Mr. Langton, and by that gentleman presented to his Majesty. " DIVINITY. "A small book of precepts and directions for piety: the hint taken from the directions in Morton's exercise. "PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY, and LITERATURE in general. "History of Criticism, as it relates to judging of authours, from Aristotle to the present age. An account of the rise and improvements of that art; of the different opinions of authours, ancient and modern. "Translation of the History of Herodian. "New edition of Fairfax's Translation of Tasso, with notes, glossary, &c. "Chaucer, a new edition of him, from manuscripts and old editions, with various readings, conjectures, remarks on his language, and the changes it had undergone from the earliest times to his age, and from his to the present: with notes explanatory of customs, &c. and references to Boccace, and other authours from whom he has borrowed, with an account of the liberties he has taken in telling the stories; his life, and an exact etymological glossary. "Aristotle's Rhetorick, a translation of it into English. "A Collection of Letters, translated from the modern writers, with some account of the several authours. "Oldham's Poems, with notes historical and critical. "Roscommon's Poems, with notes. "Lives of the Philosophers, written with a polite air, in such a manner as may divert as well as instruct. "History of the Heathen Mythology, with an explication of the fables, both allegorical and historical; with references to the poets. "History of the State of Venice, in a compendious manner. "Aristotle's Ethicks, an English translation of them with notes. "Geographical Dictionary from the French. "Hierocles upon Pythagoras, translated into English, perhaps with notes. This s done by Norris. "A book of Letters upon all kinds of subjects. "Claudian, a new edition of his works, cum notis variorum, in the manner of Burman. "Tully's Tusculan Questions, a translation of them. "Tully's De Naturâ Deorum, a translation of those books. "Benzo's New History of the New World, to be translated. "Machiavel's History of Florence, to be translated. "History of the Revival of Learning in Europe, containing an account of whatever contributed to the restoration of literature; such as controversies, printing, the destruction of the Greek empire, the encouragement of great men, with the lives of the most eminent patrons and most eminent early professors of all kinds of learning in different countries. "A body of chronology, in verse, with historical notes. "A table of the Spectators, Tatlers, and Guardians, distinguished by figures into six degrees of value, with notes giving the reasons of preference or degradation. "A Collection of Letters from English authours, with a preface giving some |