第103章

believehehimself，inhiscarelessnessconcerningworldlymatters，knewittobe，hadhetravelledupontheContinent，anaugmentationofhisincomewouldbynomeanshavebeenunnecessary。

OnThursday，June24，IdinedwithhimatMr。Dilly’s，whereweretheRev。Mr。(nowDr。)Knox，masterofTunbridge-school，Mr。Smith，VicarofSouthill，Dr。Beattie，Mr。Pinkerton，authourofvariousliteraryperformances，andtheRev。Dr。Mayo。AtmydesireoldMr。

Sheridanwasinvited，asIwasearnesttohaveJohnsonandhimbroughttogetheragainbychance，thatareconciliationmightbeeffected。Mr。Sheridanhappenedtocomeearly，andhavinglearnedthatDr。Johnsonwastobethere，wentaway；soIfound，withsincereregret，thatmyfriendlyintentionswerehopeless。I

recollectnothingthatpassedthisday，exceptJohnson’squickness，who，whenDr。Beattieobserved，assomethingremarkablewhichhadhappenedtohim，thathehadchancedtoseebothNo。1，andNo。

1000，ofthehackney-coaches，thefirstandthelast；’Why，Sir，(saidJohnson，)thereisanequalchanceforone’sseeingthosetwonumbersasanyothertwo。’

OnFriday，June25，IdinedwithhimatGeneralPaoli’s，where，hesaysinoneofhisletterstoMrs。Thrale，’Ilovetodine。’Therewasavarietyofdishesmuchtohistaste，ofallwhichheseemedtometoeatsomuch，thatIwasafraidhemightbehurtbyit；andIwhisperedtotheGeneralmyfear，andbeggedhemightnotpresshim。’Alas!(saidtheGeneral，)seehowveryillhelooks；hecanlivebutaveryshorttime。Wouldyourefuseanyslightgratificationstoamanundersentenceofdeath？ThereisahumanecustominItaly，bywhichpersonsinthatmelancholysituationareindulgedwithhavingwhatevertheylikebesttoeatanddrink，evenwithexpensivedelicacies。’

OnSunday，June27，Ifoundhimratherbetter。ImentionedtohimayoungmanwhowasgoingtoJamaicawithhiswifeandchildren，inexpectationofbeingprovidedforbytwoofherbrotherssettledinthatisland，oneaclergyman，andtheotheraphysician。JOHNSON。

’Itisawildscheme，Sir，unlesshehasapositiveanddeliberateinvitation。Therewasapoorgirl，whousedtocomeaboutme，whohadacousininBarbadoes，that，inalettertoher，expressedawishsheshouldcomeouttothatIsland，andexpatiatedonthecomfortsandhappinessofhersituation。Thepoorgirlwentout：

hercousinwasmuchsurprised，andaskedherhowshecouldthinkofcoming。“Because，(saidshe，)youinvitedme。““NotI，“answeredthecousin。Theletterwasthenproduced。“Iseeitistrue，(saidshe，)thatIdidinviteyou：butIdidnotthinkyouwouldcome。“Theylodgedherinanout-house，whereshepassedhertimemiserably；andassoonasshehadanopportunityshereturnedtoEngland。Alwaystellthis，whenyouhearofpeoplegoingabroadtorelations，uponanotionofbeingwellreceived。Inthecasewhichyoumention，itisprobabletheclergymanspendsallhegets，andthephysiciandoesnotknowhowmuchheistoget。’

WethisdaydinedatSirJoshuaReynolds’s，withGeneralPaoli，LordEliot，(formerlyMr。Eliot，ofPortEliot，)Dr。Beattie，andsomeothercompany。TalkingofLordChesterfield；——JOHNSON。’Hismannerwasexquisitelyelegant，andhehadmoreknowledgethanI

expected。’BOSWELL。’Didyoufind，Sir，hisconversationtobeofasuperiourstyle？’JOHNSON。’Sir，intheconversationwhichI

hadwithhimIhadthebestrighttosuperiority，foritwasuponphilologyandliterature。’LordEliot，whohadtravelledatthesametimewithMr。Stanhope，LordChesterfield’snaturalson，justlyobserved，thatitwasstrangethatamanwhoshewedhehadsomuchaffectionforhissonasLordChesterfielddid，bywritingsomanylongandanxiousletterstohim，almostallofthemwhenhewasSecretaryofState，whichcertainlywasaproofofgreatgoodnessofdisposition，shouldendeavourtomakehissonarascal。

HisLordshiptoldus，thatFootehadintendedtobringonthestageafatherwhohadthustutoredhisson，andto

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