I am now writing in the room where his
venerable remains exhibit a spectacle, the interesting solemnity of
which, difficult as it would be in any sort to find terms to express, so
to you, my dear Sir, whose own sensations will paint it so strongly, it
would be of all men the most superfluous to attempt to--.'--CROKER.
The interruption of the note was perhaps due to a discovery made by
Langton. Hawkins says, 'at eleven, the evening of Johnson's death, Mr.
Langton came to me, and in an agony of mind gave me to understand that
our friend had wounded himself in several parts of the body.' Hawkins's
_Life_, p. 590. To the dying man, 'on the last day of his existence on
this side the grave the desire of life,' to use Murphy's words (_Life_,
p. 135), 'had returned with all its former vehemence.' In the hope of
drawing off the dropsical water he gave himself these wounds (see
_ante_, p. 399). He lost a good deal of blood, and no doubt hastened his
end. Langton must have suspected that Johnson intentionally
shortened his life.
[1270] Servant to the Right Honourable William Windham.
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