P 100
(1)

St. J. Chrton

25 Jan 1785

To the Printer of the St. J. CHRONICLE.

SIR,

I Read in your Paper with the highest Satisfaction a Character of my illustrious Friend Dr. Samuel Johnson, by a Writer who does me the Honour to pay me distinguished Compliments, as the intended Biographer of that great and good Man. I am only afraid, that while he animates my Mind to its best Exertions, he may teach the Publick to expect too much from me. Upon my Honour I have not the least Notion who this Writer is. But his Knowledge of the Intimacy between Dr. Johnson and me, and of my Means of obtaining Information for writing his Life, is so particular, that I am not sure it would not expressed with more Elegance than I am Master of, I should almost believe that his Effay was written by myself. If the Writer will have the Generosity to avow himself in your Paper, I shall be very much obliged to him. But if he has any Objection to a publick Discovery, I entreat he may be kind enough to let me know by a private Note to whom I am indebted for such encouraging Notice, that I may testify my Gratitude, and may be further indebted to him for his Advice in the Progreſs of my Labours.

And as my Name has, upon the late much la-
mented Occafion been often mentioned in the
News-Papers, I think it proper Solemnly to
declare, that I have not ſent a ſingle Article,
nor ſhall I ſend one, without being ſigned with my
Name.
JAMES BOSWELL.

JAMES BOSWELL.

Edinburgh, Jan. 18, 1785.

P100
tsj (4)

Mrs. Piozzi has been taught to look with terror on the approaching biography of JOHNSON, by Mr. JAMES BOSWELL. If Mrs. Piozzi has, indeed, any thing to apprehend respecting that work, it must be formidable indeed; for it will confest of facts only, Mr. BOSWELL being too honest and too benevolent a man to bring any charge but upon the most solid foundation and rational necessity. Mrs. Piozzi has, however, nothing to dread, for BOSWELL will be employed in purfuing AN EAGLE, and it is not likely that he will turn from so noble a flight to pluck a feather from a tom-tit.

Morning Post 22 febry 1796.

P 100

t6

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The frayeur of Madam Piozzi for the appearance of Mr. Boswell's book, still continues, with unabated force. She takes sedative and anodyne medicines, but with little effect. Her nerves shaken by a perturbed spirit, cannot be composed.

BOSWELL has even been tampered with to expunge every paflage concerning her. His good nature we know is great, but we hope his integrity, his inflexible love of truth, and his veneration for the memory of a friend, by her made to ftink in the public nose, will render him callous to every such application.

Star 3 March 1790.

Mr. Boswell, in his approaching book, we understand, cites the parts which he deems unconstitutional, in a TRIAL for the *admission* of a LIBEL, which took place the last term. He strengthens it with the great authority of Doctor JOHNSON on that subject.

World 2 Novr. 1790.

World, Tues, 2 Nov 1790, p 2, ch. 2

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(12)

JOHNSON AND BURKE.

No faying of Dr. JOHNSON's has been
more misunderstood than, his applying to Mr.
BURKE, when he firft saw him at his fine
place at Beaconsfield—*Non equidem invideo*;
*miror magis*. These two celebrated men had
been friends for many years before Mr. Burke
entered on his parliamentary career.—They
were both writers; both Members of THE
LITERARY CLUB.—When, therefore, Dr.
Johnson, saw Mr. Burke in a situation so
much more fplendid than that to which he
himself had attained, he did not mean to ex-
preſs that he thought it a disproportionate
prosperity; but, while he, as a philofopher,
aſſerted an exemption from envy, *Non equi-
dem invideo*, he went on in the words of the
Poet, *miror magis*; thereby signifying, either
that he was occupied in admiring what he
was glad to see; or, perhaps, that confider-
ing the general lot of men of fuprior abili-
ties, he wondered that Fortune, who is re-
prefented as blind, ſhould, in this instance,
have been so juſt.

J. St. 14 May 1791.

P 100

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(16)

BOSWELL has rescued Dr. JOHNSON's memory from many imputations thrown upon it by the inaccuracy and inattention of Sir JOHN HAWKINS and Mrs. THRALE. A more minute painting of a great character we have seldom seen. The illi- beral part of the Scotch, however, have still enough to growl at.

St. J. Chron. 17 May. 1791.

For The St. JAMES's CHRONICLE.

Anecdote of Dr. JOHNSON.

MR. BOSWELL has presented his Readers with an instance of Dr. JOHNSON's ambition, which is of so extraordinary a nature as to deserve to be transcribed :

" Johnson had a noble ambition floating in his mind, and had undoubtedly often speculated on the possibility of his super-eminent powers being rewarded in this great and liberal country by the highest honours of the State. Sir William Scott informs me, that upon the death of the late Lord Lichfield, who was Chancellor of the University of Oxford, he said to Johnson, ' What a pity it is, Sir, that you did not follow the profession of the Law. You might have been Lord Chancellor of Great-Britain, and attained to the dignity of the Peerage; and now that the title of Litchfield, your native city, is extinct, you might have had it.' Johnson, upon this, seemed much agitated; and, in an angry tone exclaimed, ' Why will you vex me by suggesting this, when it is too late?'"

P 100
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St. J. Chrén.

24 May 1791

Mr. BOSWELL, in his Life of JOHNSON, has endeavoured to refute the long received opinion that SAVAGE, the Poet, was Lady MACCLESFIELD's son. He supposes him to have been an impostor, and to have deceived JOHNSON into a belief of his story. Mr. B. brings forward some circumstances and reasoning, which do not, however, we think, amount to a certainty, when put into the balance against the evidence for SAVAGE'S illegitimately-honourable descent.

P 100

(22)

For the Public Advertiser.
DILLY AND DODSLEY.

DILLY.

TELL me no more, Pall-mall old boy,
Of BURKE, your florid writer—
Than this declaming Irish shoy,
BOSWELL, my Scot, moves lighter.

DODSLEY.

You paltry wag—who minds a work,
Fill’d with JOHNSONIAN jargon?
Keep you your BosWELL—I’ll have BURKE;
Which has the better bargain?

PA, Thurs., 26 May, 1791
p. 2, col. 2

P100
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PA, Fri, 27 May 1791

P2,
col. 1

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.

SIR,

IN the Verses, Dilly and Dodsley, in your
Paper of this day (being an imitation of
Congreve's

"Tell me no more I am deceiv'd,")

your Compoſitor has made a mistake, for
which he deferves to be corrected. Instead
of Poultry he has printed Paltry, as an epi-
thet by Mr. Dodsley to Mr. Dilly. Now,
Sir, you will obſerve, that in my manuſcript
of this ſuppoſed good-humoured altercation
concerning their ſeveral authors, BURKE
and BOSWRLL, Dilly calls Dodsley Pall-
Mall Old-boy, in allusion to the place of his
refidence, to which Dodsley, in return, calls
him Poultry wag. This is fair pleaſantry.
But Paltry is what Mr. Dodsley, a very gen-
tlemanly man, never would apply to his
worthy friend, Mr. Dilly. This Compoſi-
tor, therefore, instead of componere lites, muſt
be held as an inſtigator of offence, for which
he ought to be committed to the Poultry
Compter.

THE AUTHOR.

P 100
(26)

ST. J. Chron.
28 May 1791!

Dr. JOHNSON and Mr. BURKE.

It is strange that Dr. JOHNSON was unwilling to allow Wit to Mr. BURKE.—If he did not however, possest that rare and admirable quality, which, indeed, few will be willing to admit, he certainly shows a pleafantry in conversation which is nearly allied to it: and which, on account of its tendency to produce mirth, is equally agreeable.—We shall present our Readers with a few instances from Mr. BOSWELL’S Life.

“ The conversation having turned on Bon-Mots, JOHNSON quoted from one of the Ana, an exquisite instance of flattery in a maid of honour in France, who being asked by the Queen what o’clock it was, answered, “What your Majesty pleases.” He admitted that Mr. Burke’s classical pun upon Mr. Wilkes’s being carried upon the shoulders of the mob,

“ __________ Numerisque fertur

“ Lege solutus,”

was admirable; and though he was strangely unwilling to allow to that extraordinary man the talent of wit, he also laughed with approbation at another of his playful conceits, which was, that Horace has in one line given a description of a good desirable manour;

“ Eft modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines.”

that is to say a Modus as to the Tithes, and certain Fines.”

“ I told him of one of Mr. BURKE’s playful fallies upon Dean Marlay :—“ I don’t like the Deanery of Ferns, it sounds so like a barren Title.”

BENNET LANGTON, Esq.

Amongst the almost innumerable collection of distinguished persons in Boswell's LIFE of JOHNSON, the character perhaps most highly held forth to the regard of the world, is Benoit Langton, Esq; of Langton, in Lincolnshire. He is mentioned as a gentleman of very ancient family: Johnson fays of him, in a letter to the late Mr. Thomas Warton, " his mind is exalted as his station.—I am half afraid of him; but he is no lefs amiable than formidable." At Lord Scarfdale's, he exclaimed, "The earth does not bear a worthier man, than Bennet Langton;" and to Mr. Boswell, he said, "I know not who will go to Heaven, if Langton does not.—Sir, I could almost say, Sit anima mea cum Langtono!"

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ST. J. Chron.

4 June 1791

Mr. HASTINGS has, by his defense, thrown his Counsel quite in the back-ground. No long speeches, no declamatory harangues; but a round unvarnished tale of facts. That this Addrefs was composed by himself too is not to be doubted.—Mr. BosWELL gives some letters of Mr. HASTINGS to Dr. Johnson and himself, which show the Governor of India to be a proficient in force and elegance of language.

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6 June 1791

LINES

Written in a blank leaf of a PPESENTATION
COPY of BOSWELL's Life of
JOHNSON.

GAY BOSWELL! in this votive tablet * of thine
United the Friend and Philosopher fline;
Down the full stream of time they together shall glide,
Still shall JOHNSON be seen with his SCOT at his side;
And while Fame, in thy lines, shall his praises rofound,
For learning and virtue for ever renown'd,
This favour to thee shall fair Friendship impart,
To ennoble at once both thy head and thy heart.

* See the motto in Mr. B.'s title page.

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[c. 15 June 1791]

To the Public of the Ipswich Journal.

I have read Mr. Bofwell's Life of Dr. Johnson,
and should think it an injustice not to acknowledge
that there is in it, as might be expected, much to
entertain and to inform; much vigour of sentiment,
with suitable force and propriety of language;
much just and useful observation; much to confirm
virtue and enliven benevolence. Such anecdotes
and extracts would have been honourable to the
dead, inoffensive to the living, useful, and agree-
able. I hope, to all your readers. Unfortunately
an extract has dropt into your paper, which has
none of these recommendations. I do not so per-
fectly understand the full, indulgence which vry
polite persons may allow themselves, without de-
viating from the forms of good breeding: but of
the comparative merit of the Forms of Government,
I am not aware that any information can be collec-
ted from this singular address of the great Tory;
singular indeed, if accurately stated in all its cir-
comstances: but I have some reason for doubting
its absolute correctness. The lady to whom it re-
lates cannot now be coniuted on any thing so unim-
portant as this would at any time have been to her:
and there is too much reason to apprehend, from the
rate of her health for several weeks past, that she
will be soon added to the number of those whom it
is not invidious to praise; and from whom it is
reputed peculiarly dishonourable to detract.

In the mean time, though courage disdains ho-
tilities against the dead, courteously and candour
have some attention to the living: and in every
instance where the conversation of man eminent
for their colloquial powers, for their knowledge
and moral qualities, has been affiduously collected,
and published without reserve, it is merely just in
selecting where there is so much room for choice,
to give the public something estimable for good
sense, expression, and tendency: something which
could not have been read without pleasure and pro-
bability of improvement, by minds in any mode-
rate degree candid and unprejudiced.

June 15, 1971.

Yours, &c.

C. L.

FRIENDLY PATRONAGE.

Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS, with a munificence truly princely, has not only presented Mr. BOSWELL with the large portrait of Dr. JOHNSON, from which the capital engraving by HEATH, prefixed to THE LIFE, is taken, but also with his friend's own portrait, which appeared in the exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1786: it is allowed to be one of Sir JOHUA's very best pictures, both for likenesses, character, and colouring. The Mezzotinto from it, by JONES, is admirably executed. We have only to regret that it is of too extensive a size to be bound up with Boswell's Life of Johnfon, as it would be agreeable to have the images not only of the illustrious Sage, but of his Biographer, before us, while we read a work in which both their minds are depicted in a vivid style. If Mr. Jones could contract his plate, or would let us have another of his dimensions, he would gratify us much.

BOSWELL, when he speaks of his LIFE of JOHNSON, calls it my *Magnum Opus*; but it may more properly be called his *Opera*, for it is truly a composition founded on a true story, in which there is a *Hero* with a number of *subordinate characters*, and an alternation of *succession of recitative* and *airs* of various tone and effect, all however in delightful animation.

The European Magazine has given *Mmoirs of Boswell*. When one of the Proprietors asked him, Pray, Sir, will you give us leave to put your *Life* into our Magazine? he fantantly answered, Why, Sir, you may put in a part of my Life, but I trust the whole of it shall be in no Magazine for these many many years.

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PRESENTIMENT.

You cannot think
How ill all's here about my heart to day.

Shak.

St. J. Chron.
30 June 1791

OF the agency of ghouls or spirits Dr. Johnson used to remark “that all belief was for it; and all evidence against it.” This sentence might perhaps serve as a very concise and comprehensive answer to Mr. Hume’s “Essay on Miracles.”—Certain it is that a great variety of circumstances have, from time to time, been related by different persons, and on different occasions, in which the agency of some invisible powers seems to have taken place.—May not, however, all, or the greatest part of these incidents be resolved into that sensation which has been denominated presentiment? Of which every one is more or less conscious; and which has, in many instances, undoubtedly coincided with subsequent events in a very surprising manner. Of this nature is the following, related by Mr. Bofwell in his Life of Johnson, Vol. I. p. 374.

"The subject of ghouls having been introduced, Johnson repeated what he had told me of a friend of his, an honest man and a man of sense, having asserted to him that he had seen an apparition. Goldsmith told us that he was assured by his brother, the Rev. Mr. Goldsmith, that he had also seen one. General Oglethorpe, told us that Pendergraft, an officer in the Duke of Marlborough's army, had mentioned to many of his friends that he should die on a particular day. That upon that day a battle took place with the French; that after it was over, and Pendergraft was still alive, his brother officers, while they were yet in the field, jeeringly asked him, where was his prophet now. Pendergraft gravely answered, "I shall die, notwithstanding what you see."—Soon afterwards there came a shot from a French battery, to which the orders for a cession of arms had not yet reached, and he was killed upon the spot. Colonel Cecil, who took possession of his effects, found in his pocket the following solemn entry:

'[The date] Dreamt—or—' * Sir
John Friend meets me—[here the very day on
which he was killed was mentioned.]'

"Pendergraft had been a witness against Sir John Friend, who was executed for high treason. General Oglethorpe said he was in company with Colonel Clive when Pope came and enquired into the truth of this story, which made a great noise at the time, and was then confirmed by the Colonel."

* Here was a blank; which Mr. Bofwell says
may be filled up thus "was told by an apparition."
But this is certainly begging the question most
completely.

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[? July 1791]

Mr. Boswell's monument to the fame of Dr. Johnson, will last longer than those of Stone, with which his memory is about to be decorated.

This Biographer,

Exegit monumentum ære perennius,

for his illustrious friend. What Stone can
number the learning, the wisdom, the wit,
the virtue of that great man, whom he has
so pourtrayed, that

— Omnis

Votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella

Vita Senis.

Jeward

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St. J. Chron.
7 July 1791

For The St. JAMES's CHRONICLE.
JOHNSONIAN MARKET.

THE literary market for the sale of Johnsonian anecdotes and bon mots, where so many stalls have been opened, we imagine will now close with Mr. Bofwell's last assortment of goods; we are informed these goods sold well to the last, and though some of the commodities were inferior to others, they were so artfully blended together as to keep up the price. It might have been a disadvantage to the vender, that many of his most valuable materials had been forestalled; and were it not that these materials are of a nature never to grow stale, though laid by ever so long, nor to pall upon the sense, tho' tasted ever so often, this literary salesman would not have found his collection received with so much avidity by the publick. When the original Johnsonian fund is known to be entirely exhausted, it is rumoured a market will open where Johnsonian imitations will be retailed at an inferior price. It will, doubtless, be difficult to find a good mimick pen for the super-excellent bon mots of this great man; but those confifting of contradiction, asperity, and rudeness, beginning with his favourite monosyllables of "No Sir" may be copied with good success; as may many of the anecdotes that reduce him to the ordinary level of humanity, where he eats barley broth, and says he hopes to eat it again, and where he walks, rides, growls, and sleeps:—these may easily be imitated.

Few are the happy mortals that, like Dr. Johnson, are permitted to taste of the pure and genuine fountain of wit; but there is a little pert stream that bubbles by its side, whence many a thirsty writer drinks his inspiration; and which produces that second-hand species of wit called PLEASANTRY, that breaks out into imitation.—As these second-hand commodities commonly bear a second-hand price, many readers may be induced to make a purchase at this new market.

S—n.

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Morn. Herald
Coconuts after
5 July 1791

For the MORNING HERALD.

SIR,

THE admirable fatire in your Paper of Tues-
day, under the title of " Liffon in Biography,"
has given universal satisfaction; and I am one of
the many who were highly delighted with it: but
I could wifh a subject to be taken up seriously, in
somewhat of the following manner:—Do you,
Sir, think it honest or honourable, that every saying
that falls from the mouth of a literary character
should be expos'd in print, when many of such
sayings tend to the prejudice of living characters
of true merit and excellence ? If this is to be the
case, what is to become of that mutual confid-
ence which ought to subfift in all companies ?
You will say it is base and dishonourable to retail
in one company what has pafled in another; and
this is a position few will deny; but if this be
bad, what are we to say to the betraying of that
private conversation which pafles between two
persons in each other's confidence ? especially
when it tends to ridicule or injure the character of
others.

I hope some better excuse may be offered for
this new species of detraction, than merely the
desire to make a great book, and get money; and I
hope, that if no better excuse can be offered, the
new fashionable Biographers will meet with some-
thing more than contempt.

I am, Sir,
Your's,
AN ENEMY TO DETRACTION.

MURPHY'S ESSAY

On the LIFE and GENIUS of JOHNSON.

THIS is on the plan of the Essay prefixed by the fame writer to the Booksellers' edition of Fielding's works. But we cannot flatter the authour with its having added any thing to the reputation he before enjoyed in the world of letters.

After the highly-finished picture afforded by Mr. Bofwell of the Monarch of Literature, the mind is not contented with that skeleton of facts which Mr. Murphy exhibits; though perhaps to thofe, who, purchasing this edition of Johnson's works, with not to apply to other sources for an account of him, it may be sufficiently amusing and satisfactory.

It strikes us, that Johnson here appears rather as a learned drudge, than as a great and respectable authour, to whom a nation is indebted for her highest improvements in language and in morality. He does not appear with that dignity, nor we think with that benevolence so remarkably characteristic in Mr. Bofwell's portrait. In faying this we do not forget the compliment which Mr. Murphy pays—that no vice could be attributed to him. The remarks on the unnatural coalition between Johnson and Lord Chesterfield are laughable enough.

The criticisms on Johnson's works are light and short; they will serve, no doubt, to lead the judgement of curfory readers, who will not take the pains to dive below and search for pearls.

For The St. JAMES's CHRONICLE.
BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON.

PREVIOUS to any remarks on this work, it
is to be recollected, that the Authour does
not appear among the herd of life-writers, who,
for the mere purpose of attracting publick notice,
hurry to the preſs with unauthenticated accounts
of celebrated characters whom they little knew
and little reverenced while living.—From almost
the first moment of Mr. BOSWELL's acquaintance
with JOHNSON, it was his determination to poffeſs
himself of materials for the history of a man,
whom, previous to his personal knowledge of him,
he had always regarded with a peculiar degree of
efteem. This plan he has uniformly kept in view,
and avowed; and has waited, (doubtles with some
portion of self-denying impolicy) till the publick
has been almost cloyed with the productions of
others, in order to bring up the rear with a well-
attested and well-digested tribute to the memory
of his great and illuſtrious friend;

—quo fit ut OMNIS

Votivá pateat veluti descripta tabellá

VITA Senis—

which lines have been very appoſtely chofen by
Mr. BOSWELL, as a motto to his title-page.

Thoroughly to relish a life in which every par-
ticular of JOHNSON's manners, habits, and con-
verfation is minutely detailed, it is neceſsary per-
haps to be poffeſſed of the enthufiaſtick veneration
of his Biographer; and to think with him that
every thing relating to JOHNSON is worth pre-
ferving, merely becaufe he is the ſubject of it.—
Few, however, we apprehend, are now ſuch com-
plete Johnſonians, ſuch true, candid, warm ad-
mirers (Vol. I. p. 230.) as with Mr. BOSWELL,
to dare the ſhafts of ridicule, and the keen far-
casms of wit, ſatisfied with preferving the un-
ſuited reputation of a faithful and impartial
Hiftorian. As far as that character is valuable in
the writer of a private life, we commend Mr. B.
for the perſeverance which he has ſhewn in his
endeavours to deferve it; undaunted, as he himſelf
declares, by the repeated attacks of this nature,
which have already been made on him in confe-
quence of his " Journal of a Tour to the
Hebrides,"—which work may be confidered as a
very fair ſpecimen of the preſent.

Mr. BOSWELL's Life of Johnson, muſt certainly
be allowed, on the whole, to be peculiarly au-
thentick, very amuſing, and in general, in the
light already mentioned, very intereſting. We
cannot, however, help being of opinion, that
there are a few ſuperfluous pages.—In ſaying this,
we by no means wiſh to detract from the merit of
the work; which contains a ſurprisſing quantity of
Dr. J's original converſation and correfpondence;
and displays his real and unbiassed opinions on a
vaſt variety of ſubjects, many of confiderable im-
portance and general utility; and which, from the
acutenefs of his obſervations, and exacſneſs of
manner, independent of his high character, carry
with them confiderable weight and conviction.
This, we understand, is the part on which Mr.
BOSWELL more particularly prides himſelf; and,
with great justice, eſteems the prefervation of
theſe relicks a ſervice done not merely to the ad-
mirers of JOHNSON, but alſo to the Republick
of Literature, of which he was ſo diſtinguilſhed a
Member.

JOHNSON's Letter to Lord Cheflerfield, with
the history of that controversy, is here accu-
rately preferred. His interview with *The King*
is admirably related; and, which we are much
gratified in observing, does equal honour, in all
points of view, to both parties.—The dignified
confeſsion of Royalty, and the no leſs digni-
fied but modeſt aſſertion of the honours of learn-
ing appear in a manner equally new, intereſting,
and pleasing.

An aſtoniſhing variety of anecdotes and circum-
stances are introduced respecting a vaſt number
of well-known characters, in many different
spheres of life, from LORD THURLOW down to
Joseph Rieter, the Authour's Bohemian footman ;
and from the old DUCHESS of MARLBOROUGH
to Bet Flint. In this very wide and extended
range of perſons and materials, the whole is re-
lated with that vivacity and naïveté, which,
whatever eſſe may be objeſted to Mr. BOSWELL's
ſtyle and manner, muſt be allowed to be his pe-
culiar excellence.

The Dedication is, with peculiar propriety,
addreſſ'd to Sir Jofhua Reynolds, and contains a
a ſpirited account of the authour's plan and mo-
tives—with a cruſt or two for the Criticks, and
*The World in general, whom he characteriſes, ra-
ther cavalierly, in three ſhort words.*

Jolins.

WARREN HASTINGS.

It is remarkable that the grand and ultimate consideration of the conduct of the GOVERNOR GENERAL of INDIA, comes before the Lords, on the very day on which Mr. BOSWELL'S Life of Dr. JOHNSON appears, in which is the following passage—
> "While my friend is thus contemplated in
> the splendour derived from his laft, and,
> perhaps, most admirable work, I introduce
> him with peculiar propriety as the correspondent of Warren Hastings, a man
> whose regard reflects dignity even upon
> Johnson; a man, the extent of whose abilities, was equal to that of his power;
> and who, by those who are fortunate
> enough to know him in private life, is admired for his literature and tafe, and beloved for that candour, moderation, and
> mildness of his character. Were I capable
> of paying a suitable tribute of admiration
> to him, I should certainly not withhold it at
> a moment, when it is not possible that I
> should be suspected of being an interested
> flatterer. But how weak would be my
> voice, after that of the millions whom he
> governed."

P. A. 16 May 1791.

Notwithstanding the numberless retailers of Johnfonianæ, we still find that Mr. Bofwell has amaffed sufficient for two quartos; in which, from what little we have yet seen of them, he seems to have baffled the arcl-heretic and his late friend completely, by an unexpected union of matter and spirit.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS.

Mr. Grey's laudable motion upon this subject must be greatly strengthened by the authority of Dr. JOHNSON, who has not only written an Idler in their favour; but in a letter, for which we are obliged to Mr. BOSWELL, in his LIFE, thus expresses himself to a friend who was in straightened circumstances: "Neither the great nor little debts difgrace you. I am sure you have my esteem for the courage with which you have contracted them, and the spirit with which you endure them!"

P. A. 19 May 1791.

EARL of ABERCORN.

The late Earl of Abercorn was remarkable for strong laconick sayings. Talking of the advantage of experience, his Lordship observed, "We should live twice—but we don't." Mr. BOSWELL, however, would perLLUade us that he is able to make Dr. JOHNSON live over again, and gravely tells his readers, that by perusing his quarto volumes, they may "live with him."

P. A. 20 May 1791.

(b)

PORTABLE SOUP.

There are many competitors for this valuable article. ARCHIBALD DUKE OF ARGYLL, a wife and fagacious Statesman, who governed SCOTLAND, all his life, never traveled without it; for, upon coming into the worst inn upon earth, if there were but fire and water he had immediately a good and comfortable dith. Doctors differ which sort is best; whether of beef, mutton, veal, or chicken. But what shall we say to Portable Soup of the LION?

The Poet farcically says of Achilles going to war,

"He din'd on Lion's marrow bread

"On toasts of ammunition bread."

How must the BRITISH NATION now be invigorated, when BOSWELL feeds them with the portable soup?—The LION's marrow of a JOHNSON!

PA, Sat., 21 May 1791

p. 3, col. 3

(7)

LITERARY PROPERTY.

PRIOR well observes that there should be in the better sort something

"Beyond the fix'd and settled rules

"Of vice and virtue in the schools."

There is no doubt much equity in maintaining Literary Property. But it should not be too strictly enforced, especially so as to catch any man, and hold him hard.

The Rev. Mr. William Mafon prosecuted Mr. Murray, the Bookseiler, for having inferted a single poem of Gray's, in his collection of that authour's works, beyond what he had a right to take; and refused offers of accomodation. Mr. Bofwell's conduct is very different, as appears from the following article in The London Packet :

"Mr. BOSWELL.

From our desire to furnish interesting entertainment to our readers, we inferted Dr. Johnson's Conversation with his Majesty, and his celebrated Letter to the Earl of Chesterfield, which we extracted from Mr. Bofwell's Life of Dr. Johnson. We had not the smallest apprehension that we were invading Literary Property, which we hold sacred. But it seems thofe two articles were entered in Stationer's-Hall, as separate publications, which were advertifed in some of the news-papers, but the advertisements escaped us.—We cannot but be forry for the mistake; but Mr. Bofwell is too candid to take any advantage, and upon our affuring him of the fact, he declared he will not prosecute."

This is a fair specimen of confidence, and that liberality which should subfift between the different votaries of Literature.

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