Etat. 75. not be the laborious task which you have supposed it. 1784. I should have no trouble but that of dictation, which would be performed as speedily as an amanuensis could write." It is to the mutual credit of Johnson and Divines of different communions, that although he was a steady Church-of-England man, there was, nevertheless, much agreeable intercourse between him and them. Let me particularly name the late Mr. La Trobe, and Mr. Hutton, of the Moravian profession. His intimacy with the English Benedictines, at Paris, has been mentioned; and as an additional proof of the charity in which he lived with good men of the Romish Church, I am happy in this opportunity of recording his friendship with the Reverend Thomas Hussey, D. D. His Catholick Majesty's Chaplain of Embassy at the Court of London, that very respectable man, eminent not only for his powerful eloquence as a preacher, but for his various abilities and acquisitions.-Nay, though Johnson loved a Presbyterian the least of all, this did not prevent his having a long and uninterrupted social connection with the Reverend Dr. James Fordyce, who, since his death hath gratefully celebrated him in a warm strain of devotional composition. Amidst the melancholy clouds which hung over the dying Johnson, his characteristical manner shewed itself on different occasions. When Dr. Warren, in the usual style, hoped that he was better; his answer was, "No, Sir; you cannot conceive with what acceleration I advance towards death." A man whom he had never seen before was employed one night to sit up with him. Being asked G G VOL. IV. 1784. next morning how he liked his attendant, his answer was, "Not at all, Sir: the fellow's an ideot; he is as aukward as a turn-spit when first put into the wheel, and as sleepy as a dormouse." Etat. 75% Mr. Windham having placed a pillow conveniently to support him, he thanked him for his kindness, and said, "That will do,-all that a pillow can do." He repeated with great spirit a poem, consisting of several stanzas, in four lines, in alternate rhyme, which he said he had composed some years before, on occasion of a rich, extravagant young gentleman's coming of age; saying he had never repeated it but once since he composed it, and had given but one copy of it. That copy was given to Mrs. Thrale, now Piozzi, who has published it in a Book which she entitles" British Synonimy," but which is truly a collection of entertaining remarks and stories, no matter whether accurate or not. Being a piece of exquisite satire, conveyed in a strain of pointed viva, city and humour, and in a manner of which no other instance is to be found in Johnson's writings, I shall here insert it: Long-expected one-and-twenty, are now your own, 2 [In 1780. See his Letter to Mrs. Thrale, dated August 8, 1780: "You have heard in the papers how *** is come to age: I have enclosed a short song of congratulation, which you must not shew to any body.-It is odd that it should come into any body's head. I hope you will read it with candour; it is, I believe, one of the author's first essays in that way of writing, and a beginner is always to be treated with tenderness." M.] Loosen'd from the Minor's tether, Free to mortgage or to sell, Call the Betseys, Kates, and Jennies, All that prey on vice and folly Wealth, my lad, was made to wander, Call the jockey, call the pander, Bid them come and take their fill. When the bonny blade carouses, Should the guardian friend or mother Tell the woes of wilful waste: Scorn their counsel, scorn their pother, You can hang or drown at last. As he opened a note which his servant brought to him, he said, "An odd thought strikes me:-we shall receive no letters in the grave." 1784. Ætat. 75, 1784. Ætat. 75. He requested three things of Sir Joshua Reynolds: --To forgive him thirty pounds which he had borrowed of him;-to read the Bible; -and never to use his pencil on a Sunday. Sir Joshua readily acquiesced. Indeed he shewed the greatest anxiety for the religious improvement of his friends, to whom he discoursed of its infinite consequence. He begged of Mr. Hoole to think of what he had said, and to commit it to writing; and, upon being afterwards assured that this was done, pressed his hands, and in an earnest tone thanked him. Dr. Brocklesby having attended him with the utmost assiduity and kindness as his physician and friend, he was peculiarly desirous that this gentleman should not entertain any loose speculative notions, but be confirmed in the truths of Christianity, and insisted on his writing down in his presence, as nearly as he could collect it, the import of what passed on the subject: and Dr. Brocklesby having complied with the request, he made him sign the paper, and urged him to keep it in his own custody as long as he lived. Johnson, with that native fortitude, which, amidst all his bodily distress and mental sufferings, never forsook him, asked Dr. Brocklesby, as a man in whom he had confidence, to tell him plainly whether he could recover. "Give me (said he) a direct answer." The Doctor having first asked him if he could bear the whole truth, which way soever it might lead, and being answered that he could, declared that, in his opinion, he could not recover without a miracle. "Then, (said Johnson,) I will take no more physick, not even my opiates; for I have prayed that I may render up my soul to GoD Ætat. 75. unclouded." In this resolution he persevered, and, 1784. at the same time, used only the weakest kinds of sustenance. Being pressed by Mr. Windham to take somewhat more generous nourishment, lest too low a diet should have the very effect which he dreaded, by debilitating his mind, he said, "I will take any thing but inebriating sustenance.” The Reverend Mr. Strahan, who was the son of his friend, and had been always one of his great favourites, had, during his last illness, the satisfaction. of contributing to soothe and comfort him. That gentleman's house, at Islington, of which he is Vicar, afforded Johnson, occasionally and easily, an agreeable change of place and fresh air; and he attended also upon him in town in the discharge of the sacred offices of his profession. Mr. Strahan has given me the agreeable assurance, that, after being in much agitation, Johnson became quite composed, and continued so till his death. Dr. Brocklesby, who will not be suspected of fanaticism, obliged me with the following accounts: "For some time before his death, all his fears were calmed and absorbed by the prevalence of his faith, and his trust in the merits and propitiation of JESUS CHRIST. "He talked often to me about the necessity of faith in the sacrifice of Jesus, as necessary beyond all good works whatever, for the salvation of mankind. "He pressed me to study Dr. Clarke and to read his Sermons. I asked him why he pressed Dr. Clarke, an Arian. Because, (said he,) he is fullest on the propitiatory sacrifice." 3 The change of his sentiments with regard to Dr. Clarke, is |