He had aided in its arrangement; added much of his own matter; revised large portions of the volumes as we have seen ere they issued from the press; and friendship for the author, added to unbounded admiration of the great man whom it commemorates, rendered success as dear to him as a production of his own. It became further dear by the request of the dying author that he would give such advice for the disposal of any of his works as his judgment should decide. This charge he faithfully fulfilled. Successive editions passed under his eye, particularly the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, in 1799, 1804, 1807, and 1811.
His notes in a small recent edition which trench not on Mr. Croker’s labours, amount to no less than two hundred and twenty-six, exhibiting his customary research and accuracy. The younger Boswell felt grateful for the labour; and by a species of poetical justice, repaid the debt of his father by editing, according to the wish of Malone, his great work, the second edition of Shakspeare in twenty-one volumes.
Early in their acquaintance, he carried through the press the second edition of Boswell’s Tour to the Hebrides, when the author was absent in Scotland. To this likewise he gave a few notes. One is on the wit of Burke, written as if by Boswell, who, however, insisted that the credit should be surrendered to the actual writer.
In the early part of 1812 his health, which had been gradually declining, seriously gave way. Without being wholly confined, he could take little exercise; his appetite failed; the stomach imperfectly
