of your design. Sir William Temple complains that Ireland is less known than any other country, as to its ancient state. The natives have had little leisure, and little encouragement for inquiry; and strangers, not knowing the language, have had no ability.

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I have long wished that the Irish literature were cultivated.1 Ireland is known by tradition to have been once the seat of piety and learning; and surely it would be very acceptable to all those who are curious either in the original of nations, or the affinities of languages, to be further informed of the revolution of a people so ancient, and once so illustrious.

"What relation there is between the Welsh and Irish language, or between the language of Ireland and that of Biscay, deserves inquiry. Of these provincial and unextended tongues, it seldom happens that more than one are understood by any one man; and, therefore, it seldom happens that a fair comparison can be made. I hope you will continue to cultivate this kind of learning, which has too long lain neglected, and which, if it be suffered to remain in oblivion for another century, may, perhaps, never be retrieved. As I wish well to all useful undertakings, I would not forbear to let you know how much you deserve, in my opinion, from all lovers of study, and how much pleasure your work has given to, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant,

"SAM. JOHNSON."

of Roscommon, July, 1791, in his eighty-second year, some account may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine of that date. Of the Dissertations on the History of Ireland a second and much-improved edition was published in 1766.—Malone.

1 The celebrated orator, Mr. Flood [who died December, 1791], has shown himself to be of Dr. Johnson's opinion, having by his will bequeathed his estate, after the death of his wife, Lady Frances, to the University of Dublin; "desiring that immediately after the said estate shall come into their possession, they shall appoint two professors, one for the study of the native Erse or Irish Language, and the other for the study of Irish antiquities and Irish history, and for the study of any other European language illustrative of, or auxiliary to, the study of Irish antiquities or Irish history; and that they shall give yearly two liberal premiums for two compositions, one in verse, and the other in prose, in the Irish language." Note in the second edition, vol. i. p. 293. Since the above was written, Mr. Flood's will has been set aside, after a trial at bar, in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland.-Malone.

TO THE REV. MR. THOMAS WARTON.

"DEAR SIR,

“[London,] June 21. 1757.

"Dr. Marsili, of Padua, a learned gentleman, and good Latin poet, has a mind to see Oxford. I have given him a letter to Dr. Huddesford,' and shall be glad if you will introduce him, and show him any thing in Oxford.

"I am printing my new edition of Shakspeare.

"I long to see you all, but cannot conveniently come yet. You might write to me now and then, if you were good for anything. But 2 honores mutant mores. Professors forget their friends. I shall certainly complain to Miss Jones.3 I am your, "SAM. JOHNSON."

&c.

"Please to make my compliments to Mr. Wise."

4

TO BENNET LANGTON, ESQ., OF TRINITY
COLLEGE, OXFORD.

"DEAR SIR,

66

"Jan. 28. 1758.5

Though I might have expected to hear from you, upon your entrance into a new state of life at a new place, yet recol

1 Now, or late Vice-Chancellor.- Warton.

2 Mr. Warton was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford in the preceding year. Warton.

3 Miss Jones lived at Oxford, and was often of our parties. She was a very ingenious poetess, and published a volume of poems; and, on the whole, was a most sensible, agreeable, and amiable woman. She was sister to the Rev. River Jones, Chanter of Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford, and Johnson used to call her the Chantress. I have heard him often address her in this passage from Il Penseroso:

She died unmarried.-Warton.

4 First inserted in the third edition, vol. i. p. 297.-Editor.

5 This letter is dated June 28, 1758, and so placed by Mr. Boswell; but this must be a mistake; for it is evidently written on Mr. Langton's entrance into college life: now Langton entered Trinity College, Oxford, 7th July, 1757, and no doubt began to reside in the following autumn, and we shall see in a subsequent letter dated June 1, 1758, that Langton had been already some time the pupil of Warton. The true date, therefore, of this letter was, probably, January and not June.—Croker.

lecting (not without some degree of shame) that I owe you a letter upon an old account, I think it my part to write first. This, indeed, I do not only from complaisance but from interest; for living on in the old way, I am very glad of a correspondent so capable as yourself to diversify the hours. You have, at present, too many novelties about you to need any help from me to drive along your time.

"I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed. You, who are very capable of anticipating futurity, and raising phantoms before your own eyes, must often have imagined to yourself an academical life, and have conceived what would be the manners, the views, and the conversation of men devoted to letters; how they would choose their companions, how they would direct their studies, and how they would regulate their lives. Let me know what you expected, and what you have found. At least record it to yourself, before custom has reconciled you to the scenes before you, and the disparity of your discoveries to your hopes has vanished from your mind. It is a rule never to be forgotten, that whatever strikes strongly, should be described while the first impression remains fresh upon the mind. 'I love, dear Sir, to think on you, and therefore should willingly write more to you, but that the post will not now give me leave to do more than send my compliments to Mr. Warton, and tell you that I am, dear Sir, most affectionately, your very humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON."

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Mr. Burney having enclosed to him an extract from the review of his "Dictionary" in the Bibliothèque des Savans [t. iii. p. 482] and a list of subscribers to his Shakspeare, which Mr. Burney had procured in Norfolk, he wrote the following answer :

TO MR. BURNEY, IN LYNNE, NORFOLK.

"SIR,

"Gough Square, Dec. 24. 1757.

"That I may show myself sensible of your favours, and not commit the same fault a second time, I make haste to answer

the letter which I received this morning. The truth is, the other likewise was received, and I wrote an answer; but being desirous to transmit you some proposals and receipts, I waited till I could find a convenient conveyance, and day was passed after day, till other things drove it from my thoughts; yet not so, but I remember with great pleasure your commendation of my Dictionary. Your praise was welcome, not only because I believe it was sincere, but because praise has been very scarce. A man of your candour will be surprised when I tell that you, among all my acquaintance there were only two, who upon the publication of my book did not endeavour to depress me with threats of censure from the public, or with objections learned from those who had learned them from my own preface. Yours is the only letter of good-will that I have received; though, indeed, I am promised something of that sort from Sweden.

"How my new edition [of Shakspeare] will be received I know not; the subscription has not been very successful. I shall publish about March.

"If you can direct me how to send proposals, I should wish they were in such hands.

"I remember, Sir, in some of the first letters with which you favoured me, you mentioned your lady. May I inquire after her? In return for the favours which you have shewn me, it is not much to tell you, that I wish you and her all that can conduce to your happiness. I am, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON."

In 1758 we find him, it should seem, in as easy and pleasant a state of existence, as constitutional unhappiness ever permitted him to enjoy.'

TO MR. BURNEY, AT LYNNE, NORFOLK.

"SIR,

"London, March 8. 1758.

"Your kindness is so great, and my claim to any particular regard from you so little, that I am at a loss how to express

1 Here Mr. Boswell had inserted a letter to Mr. Langton, dated, by mistake, June 9, 1758, which, from its internal evidence, clearly belongs to 1759, where it will be found.-Croker.

1

my sense of your favours; but I am, indeed, much pleased to be thus distinguished by you.

"I am ashamed to tell you that my Shakspeare will not be out so soon as I promised my subscribers; but I did not promise them more than I promised myself. It will, however, be published before summer.

"I have sent you a bundle of proposals, which, I think, do not profess more than I have hitherto performed. I have printed many of the plays, and have hitherto left very few passages unexplained; where I am quite at a loss, I confess my ignorance, which is seldom done by commentators.

"I have likewise enclosed twelve receipts; not that I mean to impose upon you the trouble of pushing them with more importunity than may seem proper, but that you may rather have more than fewer than you shall want. The proposals you will disseminate as there shall be an opportunity. I once printed them at length in the 'Chronicle,' and some of my friends (I believe Mr. Murphy, who formerly wrote the 'Gray's-Inn Journal') introduced them with a splendid encomium.

"Since the Life of Browne,' I have been a little engaged, from time to time, in the 'Literary Magazine,' but not very lately. I have not the collection by me, and therefore cannot draw out a catalogue of my own parts, but will do it, and send it. Do not buy them, for I will gather all those that have anything of mine in them, and send them to Mrs. Burney, as a small token of gratitude for the regard which she is pleased to bestow upon me. "I am, Sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON."

Dr. Burney has kindly favoured me with the following memorandum, which I take the liberty to insert in his own genuine easy style. I love to exhibit sketches of my illustrious friend by various eminent hands.

"Soon after this, Mr. Burney, during a visit to the capital, had an interview with him in Gough Square, where he dined and drank tea with him, and was introduced to the acquaintance of Mrs. Williams. After dinner, Mr. Johnson proposed to Mr. Burney to go up with him into his garret, which being accepted, he there found about five

1 This letter was an answer to one in which was enclosed a draft for the payment of some subscriptions to his Shakspeare.