...not much think against it; and this lasted till I went to Oxford, when I took up Law's Serious Call to a Holy Life, expecting to find it a dull book (as such books generally are), but I found Law quite an overmatch for me ; and this was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest.'...

...of his nature. It was at Oxford that, after reading Law's "Serious Call," he wrote in his diary : " This was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest of religion after I became capable of rational inquiry." But doubtless the soil was well prepared ; lie had a devout nature and a religious mother,...

...possible to be a Christian without any loss of intellectual integrity. " I expected," said Johnson, " to find it a dull book (as such books generally are),...earnest of religion after I became capable of rational inquiry." Though there have been many reprints of Law's most famous work, the present volume represents...

...and Holy Life (1729), which Johnson had first read at Oxford, "expecting to find it a dull book . . . and perhaps to laugh at it. But I found Law quite...first occasion of my thinking in earnest of religion." Already, in Johnson's Vanity of Human Wishes (1749), we can see two strains combining, though with...

...till I went to Oxford, where it would not be suffered. When at Oxford, I took up Law^s " Serious Call to a Holy Life," expecting to find it a dull book...earnest of religion, after I became capable of rational inquiry." * In a letter from Miss Hill Boothby to Johnsou, dated 1755, is the following passage : "...

...manner of encomia. When Samuel Johnson went to Oxford, he picked it up "expecting to find it a dull book (such books generally are) and perhaps to laugh at it. But I found Law quite an overmatch for me." Boswell, who reports this saying, adds, "From this time forward, religion was the dominant object of...

...considered his encounter with Law's A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life while at Oxford to be "the first occasion of my thinking in earnest of religion, after I became capable of rational inquiry" (Life, I, p. 68). The father of another of Johnson's favorite sources for the revised Dictionary,...

...manner of encomia. When Samuel Johnson went to Oxford, he picked it up "expecting to find it a dull book (such books generally are) and perhaps to laugh at it. But I found Law quite an overmatch for me." Boswell, who reports this saying, adds, "From this time forward, religion was the dominant object of...

...overese seeds a flame-like vigour pertains, and an origin celestial.' .Sneid vi. 730. (Jackson,)] match for me; and this was the first occasion of my thinking...earnest of religion, after I became capable of rational inquiry.'i From this time forward religion was the predominant object of his thoughts; though, with...

...Life impressed Johnson deeply. 137 As he told Boswell, "When at Oxford, I took up Law's Serioiu Call to a Holy Life, expecting to find it a dull book (as...earnest of religion, after I became capable of rational inquiry." 138 Law is a resolute enemy to slugging abed; for several pages of A Serious Call he proclaims...