We now behold Johnson for the last time in his native city, for which he ever retained a warm affection, and which, by a sudden apostrophe, under the word Lich, he introduces with reverence, into his immortal Work, THE ENGLISH DICTIONARY:-" Salve, magna parens!"* While here, he felt a revival of all the tenderness of filial affection, an instance of which appeared in his ordering the gravestone and inscription over Elizabeth Blaney† to be substantially and carefully renewed.

To Mr. Henry White, a young clergyman, with whom he now formed an intimacy so as to talk to him with great freedom, he mentioned that he could not in general accuse himself of having been an undutiful son. "Once, indeed (said he), I was disobedient; I refused to attend my father to Uttoxeter-market. Pride was the source of that refusal, and the remembrance of it was painful. A few years ago I desired to atone for this fault; I went to Uttoxeter in very bad weather, and stood for a considerable time bareheaded in the rain, on the spot where my father's stall used to stand. In contrition I stood, and I hope the penance was expiatory." "I told him (says Miss Seward) in one of my latest visits to him of a wonderful learned pig, which I had seen at Nottingham; and which did all that we have observed exhibited by dogs and horses. The subject amused him. Then (said he), the pigs are a race unjustly calumniated. Pig has, it seems, not been wanting to man, but man to pig. We do not allow time for his education; we kill him at a year old.' Mr. Henry White, who was present, observed that if this instance had happened in or before Pope's time, he would not have been justified in instancing the swine as the lowest degree of grovelling instinct. Dr. Johnson seemed pleased with the observation, while the person who made it proceeded to remark that great torture must have been employed ere the indocility of the animal could have been subdued. -Certainly (said the Doctor), but (turning to me) how old is your pig?' I told him, three years old. Then (said he), the pig has no cause to complain; he would have been killed the first year if he had not been educated, and protracted existence is a good recompense for very considerable degrees of torture.'"

As Johnson had now very faint hopes of recovery, and as Mrs. Thrale was no longer devoted to him, it might have been supposed that he would naturally have chosen to remain in the comfortable house of his beloved wife's daughter, and end his life where he began it. But there was in him an animated and lofty spirit,‡

nor so to have adjusted in his mind the balance of reason and passion, as to give occasion to say what may be observed of some men, that all they do is just, fit, and right." Yet a judicious friend well suggests, It might, however, have been added, that such men are often merely just, and rigidly correct, while their hearts are cold and unfeeling; and that Johnson's virtues were of a much higher tone than those of the staid, orderly man, here described."

*The following circumstance, mutually to the honour of Johnson and the Corporation of his native city, has been communicated to me by the Reverend Dr. Vyse, from the Town Clerk: "Mr. Simpson has now before him a record of the respect and veneration which the Corporation of Lichfield, in the year 1767, had for the merits and learning of Dr. Johnson. His father built the corner house in the Market place, the two fronts of which, towards Market and Broad Market street, stood upon waste land of the Corporation, under a forty years' lease, which was then expired. On the 15th of August, 1767, at a common hall of the bailiffs and citizens, it was ordered (and that without any solicitation) that a lease should be granted to Samuel Johnson, Doctor of Laws, of the encroachments at his house, for the term of ninety-nine years, at the old rent, which was five shillings. Of which, as Town Clerk, Mr. Simpson had the honour and pleasure of informing him, and that he was desired to accept it, without paying any fine on the occasion, which lease was afterwards granted, and the Doctor died possessed of this property.' † See page 8.

Mr. Burke suggested to me as applicable to Johnson, what Cicero, in his CATO MAJOR, Says of Appius: Intentum enim animum, tanquam arcum, habebat, nec languescens succumbebat senectuti; repeating, at the same time, the following noble words in the same passage: "Ita enim senectus hone sta est, si se ipsa defendit, si jus suum retinet, si nemini emancipata est, si usque ad extremum vitæ spiritum vindicat jus suum."

Etat. 75]

JOHNSON'S EXPIATION AT UTTOXETER

1111

and however complicated diseases might depress ordinary mortals, all who saw him beheld and acknowledged the invictum animum Catonis.* Such was his intellectual ardour even at this time, that he said to one friend, "Sir, I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance;" and to another, when talking of his illness, "I will be conquered; I will not capitulate." And such was his love of London, so high a relish had he of its magnificent extent, and variety of intellectual entertainment, that he languished when absent from it, his mind having become quite luxurious from the long habit of enjoying the metropolis; and, therefore, although at Lichfield, surrounded with friends who loved and revered him, and for whom he had a very sincere affection, he still found that such conversation as London affords could be found nowhere else. These feelings, joined,

From an engraving by M. Radcliffe after a drawing by C. Barber

THE BULL-RING AT BIRMINGHAM, WITH ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH Johnson paid his last visit to this city in August, 1784, when he passed a few days with his old friend, Edmund Hector.

probably, to some flattering hopes of aid from the eminent physicians and surgeons in London, who kindly and generously attended him without accepting fees, made him resolve to return to the capital.

From Lichfield he came to Birmingham, where he passed a few days with his worthy old schoolfellow, Mr. Hector, who thus writes to me: "He was very solicitous with me to recollect some of our most early transactions, and transmit them to him, for I perceived nothing gave him greater pleasure than calling to mind those days of our innocence. I complied with his request, and he only received them a few days before his death. I have transcribed for your inspection, exactly

* [Atrocem animum Catonis, are Horace's words, and it may be doubted whether atrox is used by any other original writer in the same sense. Stubborn is, perhaps, the most correct translation of this epithet. M.]

the minutes I wrote to him." This paper having been found in his repositories after his death, Sir John Hawkins has inserted it entire, and I have made occasional use of it and other communications from Mr. Hector,* in the course of this Work. I have both visited and corresponded with him since Dr. Johnson's death, and by my inquiries concerning a great variety of particulars have obtained additional information. I followed the same mode with the Reverend Dr. Taylor, in whose presence I wrote down a good deal of what he could tell; and he, at my request, signed his name, to give it authenticity. It is very rare to find any person who is able to give a distinct account of the life even of one whom he has known intimately, without questions being put to them. My friend Dr. Kippis has told me that on this account it is a practice with him to draw out a biographical catechism. Johnson then proceeded to Oxford, where he was again kindly received by Doctor Adams,† who was pleased to give me the following account in one of his letters (Feb. 17th, 1785): His last visit was, I believe, to my house, which he left, after a stay of four or five days. We had much serious talk together, for which I ought to be the better as long as I live. You will remember some discourse which we had in the summer upon the subject of prayer, and the difficulty of this sort of composition. He reminded me of this, and of my having wished him to try his hand, and to give us a specimen of the style and manner that he approved. He added that he was now in a right frame of mind, and as he could not possibly employ his time better, he would in earnest set about it. But I find upon inquiry that no papers of this sort were left behind him, except a few short ejaculatory forms suitable to his present situation."

* It is a most agreeable circumstance attending the publication of this Work, that Mr. Hector has survived his illustrious schoolfellow so many years; that he still retains his health and spirits; and has gratified me with the following acknowledgment: "I thank you, most sincerely thank you, for the great and long continued entertainment your Life of Dr. Johnson' has afforded me, and others, of my particular friends." Mr. Hector, besides setting me right as to the verse on a sprig of Myrtle (see p. 40 note), has favoured me with two English odes, written by Dr. Johnson at an early period of his life, which will appear in my edition of his Poems.

[This early and worthy friend of Johnson died at Birmingham, September 2, 1794. M.]

[This amiable and excellent man survived Dr. Johnson about four years, having died in January, 1789, at Gloucester, where a monument is erected to his memory, with the following inscription :

"Sacred to the memory of
WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D.,

Master of Pembroke College, Oxford,
Prebendary of this Cathedral, and
Archdeacon of Landaff.

Ingenious, Learned, Eloquent,

He ably defended the truth of Christianity:
Pious, Benevolent, and Charitable,

He successfully inculcated its sacred Precepts.
Pure, and undeviating in his own Conduct,

He was tender and compassionate to the Failings of others.
Ever anxious for the welfare and happiness of Mankind,
He was on all occasions forward to encourage
Works of public Utility, and extensive Beneficence.
In the Government of the College over which he presided,
His vigilant Attention was uniformly exerted
To promote the important Objects of the Institution,
Whilst the mild dignity of his Deportment,

His gentleness of Disposition, and urbanity of Manners,
Inspired Esteem, Gratitude, and Affection.

Full of Days and matured in Virtue,

He died Jan. 13th, 1789, aged 82."

A very just character of Dr. Adams may also be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1789, Vol. LIX, p. 214. His only daughter (see p. 315), was married in July, 1788, to B. Hyatt, of Painswick, in Gloucestershire, Esq. M.]

Etat. 75]

HIS LAST VISIT TO OXFORD

1113

Dr. Adams had not then received accurate information on this subject; for it has since appeared that various prayers had been composed by him at different periods, which, intermingled with pious resolutions, and some short notes of his life, were entitled by him "Prayers and Meditations," and have, in pursuance of his earnest requisition, in the hopes of doing good, been published, with a judicious, well-written preface, by the Reverend Mr. Strahan, to whom he delivered them. This admirable collection, to which I have frequently referred in the course of this work, evinces, beyond all his compositions for the public, 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.*

* [It is doubtful whether Johnson intended the publication of such a work as the Prayers and Meditations" edited by Dr. Strahan. He appears to have left a confused mass of papers in the hands of Strahan, who made up a book of them, not, however, as he states, with the consent of Dr. Adams, who wrote to the Gentleman's Magazine shortly after the publication of the book, and disclaimed all knowledge of the papers, as well as stated that he would have opposed their publication, had he known of them.]

CHAPTER LVIII-1784

LAST DAYS

Johnson's Return to London from his last Midland Tour-Last Letters to Boswell-The Authors of the Universal History "-Specimens of Imitations of Johnson's Style: Dr. Robertson, Edward Gibbon, Miss Burney, Rev. Mr. Nares-Johnson places Stones over the Graves of his Father and MotherA Point of Biography.

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 that 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."

"DEAR SIR,

TO MR. HECTOR, IN BIRMINGHAM.

“I DID not reach Oxford until Friday morning, and then I sent Francis to see the balloon fly, but could not go myself. I stayed 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, etc.

"London, Nov. 17, 1784."

"SAM. JOHNSON.

His correspondence with me, after his letter on the subject of my settling in London, shall now, as 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 everybody glad enough to see me. On the 20th I came hither, and found a house half-built, of very uncomfortable 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, *The Rev. Dr. Taylor.