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Enemies of Dr. Johnſon ſuppoſe that he could have been the Author of the Eſſay, and yet in ſo public and daring a Manner renounce every Principle therein adopted and inferred? Can it be imagined that his Probity and Honour were ſo unſtable and pliable as to become the eaſy Purchaſe of the firſt State Corrupter that ſhould aſſail his Virtue? or is it probable that he ſhould revolt from the glaring Principles of Jacobitiſm (if ever he had adopted them) which your ſtanch Tories hold with equal Faith as they do their Bibles, and which they defend with Apoſtolic Zeal?—If, ſaid I, the Doctor had ever taken up this Creed, I am thoroughly convinced that no Conſiderations in the World would ever have induced him to diſcard it: He is pertinacious almoſt to a Fault; and ſo fully convinced of his own Tenets, that his beſt Friends cannot produce One Inſtance of his Conviction.—All Inſinuations that the Doctor’s former political Principles leaned towards Jacobitiſm are refuted by the forward Zeal he has ſhewn, and
Affection
