who returns late in life to receive honours in his native country, and meets with mortification instead of respect, was by him considered as a masterpiece in the science of life and manners[1]. The character of Prospero in the fourth volume, Garrick took to be his[2]; and I have heard the author say, that he never forgave the offence. Sophron was likewise a picture drawn from reality[3]; and by Gelidus the philosopher, he meant to represent Mr. Coulson, a mathematician, who formerly lived at Rochester[4]. The man immortalised for purring like a cat was, as he told me, one Busby, a proctor in the Commons[5]. He who barked so ingeniously, and then called the drawer to drive away the dog, was father to Dr. Salter of the Charterhouse[6]. He who sung a song and by correspondent motions of his arm chalked out a giant on the wall, was one Richardson, an attorney[7]. The letter signed Sunday, was written by Miss Talbot[8]; and he
which being, I suspect, borrowed by
Rogers suggested to Dickens, as he
confessed, in his Old Curiosity Shop,
'the beautiful thought of Nell's grand-
father wandering about after her
death as if looking for her.' Johnson
describes how where Rest came,
'Nothing was seen on every side but
multitudes wandering about they
knew not whither, in quest they knew
not of what.' Rogers writes in his
Italy, Ginevra: –
'And long was to be seen An old man wandering as in quest of something, Something he could not find – he knew not what.'
1 No. 165. The rich man describing his deliberations about his return to his native town says: – 'The acclamations of the populace I purposed to reward with six hogsheads of ale and a roasted ox, and then recommend to them to return to their work.'
2 No. 200. Life, i. 216.
3 Idler, No. 57.
4 Rambler, No. 24; Life, i. 101.
5 Doctors' Commons, the College of Civilians in London who practised in the Ecclesiastical Courts and the Court of Admiralty.
6 Dr. Salter's father belonged to Johnson's Ivy Lane Club. Life, i. 191, n. 5. Hawkins describes him as 'a dignitary of the Church; he was well-bred, courteous and affable.' Hawkins's Johnson, p. 220.
7 'One I have known for fifteen years the darling of a weekly club because every night, precisely at eleven, he begins his favourite song, and during the vocal performance by corresponding motions of his hand chalks out a giant upon the wall. Another has endeared himself to a long succession of acquaintances by purring like a cat and then pretending to be frighted; and another by yelping like a hound and calling to the drawers to drive out the dog.' Rambler, No. 188.
8 No. 30. For Miss Talbot, see Carter and Talbot Correspondence, vol. i. Preface, p. 6.
