第104章

SoonafterthistimeDr。JohnsonhadthemortificationofbeinginformedbyMrs。Thrale，that，’whatshesupposedheneverbelieved，’wastrue；namely，thatshewasactuallygoingtomarrySignorPiozzi，anItalianmusick-master。Heendeavouredtopreventit；butinvain。IfshewouldpublishthewholeofthecorrespondencethatpassedbetweenDr。Johnsonandheronthesubject，weshouldhaveafullviewofhisrealsentiments。Asitis，ourjudgementmustbebiassedbythatcharacteristickspecimenwhichSirJohnHawkinshasgivenus：’PoorThrale!Ithoughtthateitherhervirtueorhervicewouldhaverestrainedherfromsuchamarriage。Sheisnowbecomeasubjectforherenemiestoexultover；andforherfriends，ifshehasanyleft，toforget，orpity。’

ItmustbeadmittedthatJohnsonderivedaconsiderableportionofhappinessfromthecomfortsandelegancieswhichheenjoyedinMr。

Thrale’sfamily；butMrs。Thraleassuresushewasindebtedforthesetoherhusbandalone，whocertainlyrespectedhimsincerely。

HavingleftthePIOUSNEGOCIATION，asIcalledit，inthebesthands，Ishallhereinsertwhatrelatestoit。JohnsonwrotetoSirJoshuaReynoldsonJuly6，asfollows：——

’Iamgoing，Ihope，inafewdays，totrytheairofDerbyshire，buthopetoseeyoubeforeIgo。Letme，however，mentiontoyouwhatIhavemuchatheart。IftheChancellorshouldcontinuehisattentiontoMr。Boswell’srequest，andconferwithyouonthemeansofrelievingmylanguidstate，Iamverydesiroustoavoidtheappearanceofaskingmoneyuponfalsepretences。IdesireyoutorepresenttohisLordship，what，assoonasitissuggested，hewillperceivetobereasonable，——That，ifIgrowmuchworse，I

shallbeafraidtoleavemyphysicians，tosuffertheinconveniencesoftravel，andpineinthesolitudeofaforeigncountry；That，ifIgrowmuchbetter，ofwhichindeedthereisnowlittleappearance，Ishallnotwishtoleavemyfriendsandmydomestickcomforts；forIdonottravel，forpleasureorcuriosity；

yetifIshouldrecover，curiositywouldrevive。Inmypresentstate，Iamdesiroustomakeastruggleforalittlelongerlife，andhopetoobtainsomehelpfromasofterclimate。Doformewhatyoucan。’

ByaletterfromSirJoshuaReynoldsIwasinformed，thattheLordChancellorhadcalledonhim，andacquaintedhimthattheapplicationhadnotbeensuccessful；butthathisLordship，afterspeakinghighlyinpraiseofJohnson，asamanwhowasanhonourtohiscountry，desiredSirJoshuatolethimknow，thatongrantingamortgageofhispension，heshoulddrawonhisLordshiptotheamountoffiveorsixhundredpounds；andthathisLordshipexplainedthemeaningofthemortgagetobe，thathewishedthebusinesstobeconductedinsuchamanner，thatDr。Johnsonshouldappeartobeundertheleastpossibleobligation。SirJoshuamentioned，thathehadbythesamepostcommunicatedallthistoDr。Johnson。

HowJohnsonwasaffectedupontheoccasionwillappearfromwhathewrotetoSirJoshuaReynolds：——

’Ashbourne，Sept。9。ManywordsIhopearenotnecessarybetweenyouandme，toconvinceyouwhatgratitudeisexcitedinmyheartbytheChancellor’sliberality，andyourkindoffices……

’IhaveenclosedalettertotheChancellor，which，whenyouhavereadit，youwillbepleasedtosealwithahead，oranyothergeneralseal，andconveyittohim：hadIsentitdirectlytohim，Ishouldhaveseemedtooverlookthefavourofyourintervention。’

’TOTHELORDHIGHCHANCELLOR。

’MYLORD，——Afteralongandnotinattentiveobservationofmankind，thegenerosityofyourLordship’sofferraisesinmenotlesswonderthangratitude。Bounty，soliberallybestowed，Ishouldgladlyreceive，ifmyconditionmadeitnecessary；for，tosuchamind，whowouldnotbeproudtoownhisobligations？ButithaspleasedGODtorestoremetosogreatameasureofheal

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