Dr. Burney's
_Memoirs_, i. 106.
[426] Burney visited Johnson first in 1758, when he was living in Gough
Square. _Ante_, i. 328.
[427] Mme. D'Arblay says that Dr. Johnson sent them to Dr. Burney's
house, directed 'For the Broom Gentleman.' Dr. Burney's _Memoirs_,
ii. 180.
[428] 'Sept. 14, 1781. Dr. Johnson has been very unwell indeed. Once I
was quite frightened about him; but he continues his strange
discipline--starving, mercury, opium; and though for a time half
demolished by its severity, he always in the end rises superior both to
the disease and the remedy, which commonly is the most alarming of the
two.' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, ii. 107. On Sept. 18, his birthday, he
wrote:--'As I came home [from church], I thought I had never begun any
period of life so placidly. I have always been accustomed to let this
day pass unnoticed, but it came this time into my mind that some little
festivity was not improper. I had a dinner, and invited Allen and
Levett.' _Pr. and Med._ p. 199.
[429] This remark, I have no doubt, is aimed at Hawkins, who (_Life_, p.
553) pretends to account for this trip.
Pages:
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704