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Williams, Mrs. Anna, her death, ii. 463, 7.

Mifs Helen Maria, ii. 495.

Wilfon, Reverend Mr. letter of Johnfon to,

ii. 430.

Windham, Right Hon. William, letters of Johnfon to, ii. 458, 545, 6;—and see ii. 540. 576.

Wine, the ufe of, i. 378, 380; ii. 20, 64, 154, 199, 202, 248, 254, 286, 290, 371, 6, 383.

Wirtemberg, Prince of, anecdote of, i, 373.
Wit, ii. 391, 2.

Witches, i. 372; ii. 286.

Wraxall, Mr. ii. 316.

The World,' (periodical effays,) i. 228.

X.

XERXES, Juvenal's fine verfes on, i. 401.

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

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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 erroneoufly afcribed to Dr. Bathurst, whofe chriftian name was Richard:

P. 173, 1. 16, 17, 24, 26, før Jennings, read Jennyns.

P. 16c, l. 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 stood many years.

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

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P. 346, 1. 12, for one of his excellent prefatory discourses 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 l. 17, after impofition.

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"IT has pleafed GOD this morning to deprive me of the powers of fpeech; and as 1 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,

P. 562, 1. 3, from the foot, after tongue infert a
following word.

"SAM. JOHNSON."

and prefix inverted commas to the

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

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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 prefumptuous 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 preservation 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 preferved; 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 constantly 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

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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 less obvious parts of Johnson's character. His being appointed one of his executors, gave him an opportunity of taking poffeflion of fuch fragments of a diary and other papers as were left, of which, before delivering them up to the refiduary legatee, whofe 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 ftrictures was to make him feel fome compunction for his illiberal treatment of Dr. Johnfon. Since his decease, I have fuppreffed several of my remarks upon his work. But though I would not " war with the dead" offenfively, I think it necessary to be strenuous 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 fhould 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 refpects, 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 person who is the fubject of the book; and, in that, there is fuch an inaccuracy in the statement of facts, as in fo folemn an authour is hardly excufable, and certainly makes his narrative very unfatisfactory. But what is ftill worfe, there is throughout the whole of it a dark uncharitable caft, by which the most unfavourable conftruction is put upon almost every circumftance 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 fubject 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:

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" I SHALL endeavour (fays Dr. Warburton) to give you what fatisfaction I can in any thing you want to be satisfied in any subject 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 difinterefting paffages, that it makes their method quite naufeous. But the verbose, tasteless 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 stuff? 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 hiftory"."

"Nov. 24, 1737."

Instead of melting down my materials into one mafs, and constantly speaking in my own perfon, by which I might have appeared to have more merit

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

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