The Life of Samuel Johnson - James Boswell [858]
a Beside this Latin Epitaph, Johnson honoured the memory of his friend Goldsmith with a short one in Greek. See ante, July 5, 1774.
b Upon a settlement of our account of expences on a Tour to the Hebrides, there was a balance due to me, which Dr. Johnson chose to discharge by sending books.
c Baretti told me that Johnson complained of my writing very long letters to him when I was upon the continent; which was most certainly true; but it seems my friend did not remember it.
a The son of Johnson’s old friend, Mr. William Drummond. (See pp. 279–81.) He was a young man of such distinguished merit, that he was nominated to one of the medical professorships in the College of Edinburgh without solicitation while he was at Naples. Having other views, he did not accept of the honour, and soon afterwards died.
a A Florentine nobleman, mentioned by Johnson in his Notes of his Tour in France. I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with him in London, in the spring of this year.
a Why his Lordship uses the epithet pleasantly, when speaking of a grave piece of reasoning, I cannot conceive. But different men have different notions of pleasantry. I happened to sit by a gentleman one evening at the Opera-house in London, who, at the moment when Medea appeared to be in great agony at the thought of killing her children, turned to me with a smile, and said, ‘funny enough.’
b Dr. Johnson afterwards told me, that he was of opinion that a clergyman had this right.
a For this and Dr. Johnson’s other letters to Mr. Levett, I am indebted to my old acquaintance Mr. Nathaniel Thomas, whose worth and ingenuity have been long known to a respectable, though not a wide circle; and whose collection of medals would do credit to persons of greater opulence.
a Pr. and Med. p. 155.
b Ib. p. 158.
a For a character of this very amiable man, see Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 3rd edit. p. 36 {17 Aug.}.
b By the then course of the post, my long letter of the 14th had not yet reached him.
c History of Philip the Second.
a Johnson is the most common English formation of the Sirname from John; Johnston the Scotch. My illustrious friend observed that many North Britons pronounced his name in their own way.
b On account of their differing from him as to religion and politicks.
a Pr. and Med. p. 155.
a [Johnson’s moderation in demanding so small a sum is extraordinary. Had he asked one thousand, or even fifteen hundred guineas, the booksellers, who knew the value of his name, would doubtless have readily given it. They have probably got five thousand guineas by this work in the course of twenty-five years.]
b Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker, of the Treasury, Dublin, who obligingly communicated to me this and a former letter from Dr. Johnson to the same gentleman (for which see p. 172), writes to me as follows: – ‘Perhaps it would gratify you to have some account of Mr. O’Connor. He is an amiable, learned, venerable old gentleman, of an independent fortune, who lives at Belanagar, in the county of Roscommon; he is an admired writer, and Member of the Irish Academy. – The above Letter is alluded to in the Preface to the 2nd edit. of his Dissert. p. 3.’ – Mr. O’Connor afterwards died at the age of eighty-two. See a well-drawn character of him in the Gent. Mag. for August 1791.
a [It was not at Drury-lane, but at Covent Garden theatre, that it was acted.]
a Part First, Chap. 4.
b Life of Richard Savage, by Dr. Johnson.
a See ante, p. 534.
b [Formerly Sub-preceptor to his present Majesty, and afterwards a Commissioner of Excise.]
c [Dr. Johnson was not the editor of this Collection