He had all the articles accurately arranged,with their names upon labels,printed at his own little press;and on the staircase leading to it was a board,with the names of contributors marked in gold letters.A printed catalogue of the collection was to be had at a bookseller's.Johnson expressed his admiration of the activity and diligence and good fortune of Mr.Green,in getting together,in his situation,so great a variety of things;and Mr.
Green told me that Johnson once said to him,'Sir,I should as soon have thought of building a man of war,as of collecting such a museum.'Mr.Green's obliging alacrity in shewing it was very pleasing.
We drank tea and coffee at Mr.Peter Garrick's,where was Mrs.
Aston,one of the maiden sisters of Mrs.Walmsley,wife of Johnson's first friend,and sister also of the lady of whom Johnson used to speak with the warmest admiration,by the name of Molly Aston,who was afterwards married to Captain Brodie of the navy.
On Sunday,March 24,we breakfasted with Mrs.Cobb,a widow lady,who lived in an agreeable sequestered place close by the town,called the Friary,it having been formerly a religious house.She and her niece,Miss Adey,were great admirers of Dr.Johnson;and he behaved to them with a kindness and easy pleasantry,such as we see between old and intimate acquaintance.He accompanied Mrs.
Cobb to St.Mary's church,and I went to the cathedral,where I was very much delighted with the musick,finding it to be peculiarly solemn and accordant with the words of the service.
We dined at Mr.Peter Garrick's,who was in a very lively humour,and verified Johnson's saying,that if he had cultivated gaiety as much as his brother David,he might have equally excelled in it.
He was to-day quite a London narrator,telling us a variety of anecdotes with that earnestness and attempt at mimicry which we usually find in the wits of the metropolis.Dr.Johnson went with me to the cathedral in the afternoon.It was grand and pleasing to contemplate this illustrious writer,now full of fame,worshipping in the 'solemn temple'of his native city.
I returned to tea and coffee at Mr.Peter Garrick's,and then found Dr.Johnson at the Reverend Mr.Seward's,Canon Residentiary,who inhabited the Bishop's palace,in which Mr.Walmsley lived,and which had been the scene of many happy hours in Johnson's early life.
On monday,March 25,we breakfasted at Mrs.Lucy Porter's.Johnson had sent an express to Dr.Taylor's,acquainting him of our being at Lichfield,and Taylor had returned an answer that his postchaise should come for us this day.While we sat at breakfast,Dr.
Johnson received a letter by the post,which seemed to agitate him very much.When he had read it,he exclaimed,'One of the most dreadful things that has happened in my time.'The phrase my time,like the word age,is usually understood to refer to an event of a publick or general nature.I imagined something like an assassination of the King--like a gunpowder plot carried into execution--or like another fire of London.When asked,'What is it,Sir?'he answered,'Mr.Thrale has lost his only son!'This was,no doubt,a very great affliction to Mr.and Mrs.Thrale,which their friends would consider accordingly;but from the manner in which the intelligence of it was communicated by Johnson,it appeared for the moment to be comparatively small.I,however,soon felt a sincere concern,and was curious to observe,how Dr.
Johnson would be affected.He said,'This is a total extinction to their family,as much as if they were sold into captivity.'Upon my mentioning that Mr.Thrale had daughters,who might inherit his wealth;--'Daughters,(said Johnson,warmly,)he'll no more value his daughters than--'I was going to speak.--'Sir,(said he,)don't you know how you yourself think?Sir,he wishes to propagate his name.'In short,I saw male succession strong in his mind,even where there was no name,no family of any long standing.Isaid,it was lucky he was not present when this misfortune happened.JOHNSON.'It is lucky for ME.People in distress never think that you feel enough.'BOSWELL.'And Sir,they will have the hope of seeing you,which will be a relief in the mean time;and when you get to them,the pain will be so far abated,that they will be capable of being consoled by you,which,in the first violence of it,I believe,would not be the case.'JOHNSON.'No,Sir;violent pain of mind,like violent pain of body,MUST be severely felt.'BOSWELL.'I own,Sir,I have not so much feeling for the distress of others,as some people have,or pretend to have:but I know this,that I would do all in my power to relieve them.'JOHNSON.'Sir it is affectation to pretend to feel the distress of others,as much as they do themselves.It is equally so,as if one should pretend to feel as much pain while a friend's leg is cutting off,as he does.No,Sir;you have expressed the rational and just nature of sympathy.I would have gone to the extremity of the earth to have preserved this boy.'
He was soon quite calm.The letter was from Mr.Thrale's clerk,and concluded,'I need not say how much they wish to see you in London.'He said,'We shall hasten back from Taylor's.'
Mrs.Lucy Porter and some other ladies of the place talked a great deal of him when he was out of the room,not only with veneration but affection.It pleased me to find that he was so much BELOVEDin his native city.