Is the nation ruined?
'Please to make my respectful compliments to Lady Rothes, and keep me in
the memory of all the little dear family, particularly pretty Mrs.
Jane.[421]
'I am, Sir,
'Your affectionate humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'Bolt-Court, June 16, 1781.'
Johnson's charity to the poor was uniform and extensive, both from
inclination and principle. He not only bestowed liberally out of his own
purse, but what is more difficult as well as rare, would beg from
others, when he had proper objects in view. This he did judiciously as
well as humanely. Mr. Philip Metcalfe[422] tells me, that when he has
asked him for some money for persons in distress, and Mr. Metcalfe has
offered what Johnson thought too much, he insisted on taking less,
saying 'No, no, Sir; we must not _pamper_ them.'
I am indebted to Mr. Malone, one of Sir Joshua Reynolds's executors, for
the following note, which was found among his papers after his death,
and which, we may presume, his unaffected modesty prevented him from
communicating to me with the other letters from Dr. Johnson with which
he was pleased to furnish me.
Pages:
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175