Having given Dr. Johnson a full account of what I was doing at
Auchinleck, and particularly mentioned what I knew would please him,--my
having brought an old man of eighty-eight from a lonely cottage to a
comfortable habitation within my enclosures, where he had good
neighbours near to him,--I received an answer in February, of which I
extract what follows:--
'I am delighted with your account of your activity at Auchinleck, and
wish the old gentleman, whom you have so kindly removed, may live long
to promote your prosperity by his prayers. You have now a new character
and new duties: think on them and practise them.
'Make an impartial estimate of your revenue, and whatever it is, live
upon less. Resolve never to be poor. Frugality is not only the basis of
quiet, but of beneficence. No man can help others that wants help
himself; we must have enough before we have to spare.
'I am glad to find that Mrs. Boswell grows well; and hope that to keep
her well, no care nor caution will be omitted. May you long live
happily together.
'When you come hither, pray bring with you Baxter's _Anacreon_[509].
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