"Which the Reader is requested to make with his Pen, before perufing the following Life.

VOLUME 1.

P. 32, 1. 3 from the foot, for cotemporaries, read contemporaries.

P. 80, 1. 13, dele out.

Page 133, line 24, for a warren, read free warren.

P. 136, 1.6, for is certainly the performance of Dr. Charles Bathurst, read has been erroneously afcribed to Dr. Bathurst, whofe chriftian name was Richard.

P. 173, l. 16, 17, 24, 26, for Jennings, read Jennyns.

P. 16c, 1. 8, for Pancoek, read Panckoucke.

P. 195,

1. 4, upon the word name put the following note:-I have had inquiry made in Ireland as to this ftory, but do not find it recollected there. I give it on the authority of Dr. Johnson, to which may be added, that of "The Biographical Dictionary," in which it has ftood many years.

Ibid. 1. 4, for a book on the authenticity of the Gospel History, read " An Enquiry into the
Origin of Moral Virtue.”

Ibid. 1. 13 & 14, for Innys read Innes.

P. 303, for Nuž sgxetai, read Nuž vag Egxetai.

P.

329, 1. 25, for drives read drove.

P. 344, 1. 18, for wrote, read written.

P. 374, 1. 24, for been a witness against, read connected with.

P. 346, 1. 12, for one of his excellent prefatory difcourfes to his plays, read his excellent Dedication of his Juvenal.

Ibid. 1. 15, after novelty infert and.

P. 367, in Note, for Chalmers, read Chambers.

P. 352, 1. 16, after Pope infert inverted commas, and dele them 1. 17, after impofition,

"IT has pleafed GOD this morning to deprive me of the powers of fpeech; and as I do not know but that it may be his farther good pleasure to deprive me foon of my fenfes, I request you will, on the receipt of this note, come to me, and act for me, as the exigencies of my cafe may require. I am fincerely yours,

"SAM. JOHNSON."

P. 562, 1. 3, from the foot, after tongue infert a - and prefix inverted commas to the following word.

P. 582, 1. 10, after refpectable contribution, add-But the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's having come to a refolution of admitting monuments there, upon a liberal and magnificent plan, that cathedral was afterwards fixed on as the place,

THE

T

O write the life of him who excelled all mankind in writing the lives of others, and who, whether we confider his extraordinary endowments, or his various works, has been equalled by few in any age,

is an arduous, and may be reckoned in me a presumptuous task.

Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man's life may be beft written by himself; had he employed in the prefervation of his own hiftory, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed fo many eminent perfons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited. But although he at different times, in a defultory manner, committed to writing many particulars of the progress of his mind and fortunes, he never had perfevering diligence enough to form them into a regular compofition. Of thefe memorials a few have been preserved; but the greater part was configned by him to the flames, a few days before his death.

As I had the honour and happiness of enjoying his friendship for upwards of twenty years; as I had the scheme of writing his life conftantly in view; as he was well apprised of this circumstance, and from time to time obligingly fatisfied my inquiries, by communicating to me the incidents of his early years; as I acquired a facility in recollecting, and was very affiduous in

recording his converfation, of which the extraordinary vigour and vivacity conftituted one of the first features of his character; and as I have spared no pains in obtaining materials concerning him, from every quarter where I could discover that they were to be found, and have been favoured with the moft liberal communications by his friends; I flatter myself that few biographers have entered upon fuch a work as this, with more advantages, independent of literary abilities, in which I am not vain enough to compare myself with some great names who have gone before me in this kind of writing.

Since my work was announced, feveral Lives and Memoirs of Dr. Johnson have been published, the most voluminous of which is one compiled for the Bookfellers of London, by Sir John Hawkins, Knight', a man, whom, during my long intimacy with Dr. Johnson, I never faw in his company, I think but once, and I am fure not above twice. Johnfon might have esteemed him for his decent, religious demeanour, and his knowledge of books and literary history; but from the rigid formality of his manners, it is evident that they never could have lived together with companionable ease and familiarity; nor had Sir John Hawkins that nice perception which was neceffary to mark the finer and lefs obvious parts of Johnson's character. His being appointed one of his executors, gave him an opportunity of taking poffeflion of such fragments of a diary and other papers as were left, of which, before delivering them up to the refiduary legatee, whose property they were, he endeavoured to extract the fubftance. In this he has not been very fuccefsful, as I have found upon a perufal of thofe papers, which have been fince transferred to me. Sir John Hawkins's ponderous labours, I must acknowledge, exhibit a farrago, of which a confiderable portion is not devoid of entertainment to the lovers of literary goffiping; but befides its being fwelled out

The greatest part of this book was written while Sir John Hawkins was alive; and I avow, that one object of my strictures was to make him feel fome compunction for his illiberal treatment of Dr. Johnfon. Since his deceafe, I have fuppressed several of my remarks upon his work. But though I would not "war with the dead" offenfively, I think it necessary to be ftrenuous in defence of my illuftrious friend, which I cannot be, without ftrong animadverfion upon a writer who has greatly injured him, Let me add, that though I doubt I should not have been very prompt to gratify Sir John Hawkins with any compliment in his life-time, I do now frankly acknowledge, that, in my opinion, his volume, however inadequate and improper as a life of Dr. Johnson, and however difcredited by unpardonable inaccuracies in other respects, contains a collection of curious anecdotes and obfervations, which few men but its authour could have brought together.

with long unneceffary extracts from various works, (even one of several leaves from Ofborne's Harleian Catalogue, and thofe not compiled by Johnson, but by Oldys) a very small part of it relates to the perfon who is the fubject of the book; and, in that, there is fuch an inaccuracy in the ftatement of facts, as in fo folemn an authour is hardly excufable, and certainly makes his narrative very unfatisfactory. But what is ftill worse, there is throughout the whole of it a dark uncharitable caft, by which the most unfavourable construction is put upon almost every circumstance in the character and conduct of my illuftrious friend; who, I truft, will, by a true and fair delineation, be vindicated both from the injurious mifreprefentations of this authour, and from the flighter afperfions of a lady who once lived in great intimacy with him.

There is, in the British Museum, a letter from Bishop Warburton to Dr. Birch, on the subject of biography; which, though I am aware it may expose me to a charge of artfully raising the value of my own work, by contrasting it with that of which I have spoken, is fo well conceived and expreffed, that I cannot refrain from here inferting it:

" I SHALL endeavour (fays Dr. Warburton) to give you what fatisfaction I can in any thing you want to be fatisfied in any fubject of Milton, and am extremely glad you intend to write his life. Almost all the life-writers we have had before Toland and Defmaifeaux, are indeed ftrange infipid creatures; and yet I had rather read the worst of them, than be obliged to go through with this of Milton's, or the other's life of Boileau, where there is fuch a dull, heavy fucceffion of long quotations of difinteresting paffages, that it makes their method quite naufeous. But the verbose, tastelefs Frenchman feems to lay it down as a principle, that every life must be a book, and what's worse, it proves a book without a life; for what do we know of Boileau, after all his tedious ftuff? You are the only one, (and I fpeak it without a compliment) that by the vigour of your stile and fentiments, and the real importance of your materials, have the art (which one would imagine no one could have miffed) of adding agreements to the most agreeable fubject in the world, which is literary history"."

"Nov. 24, 1737."

Instead of melting down my materials into one mafs, and conftantly fpeaking in my own person, by which I might have appeared to have more merit

3 Brit. Muf. 4320. Afcough's Catal. Sloane MSS.

B 2

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