with real affection, and I know you will love him for it, and will also respect Johnson the more for such testimony; but to balance all this I must, in duty to my friend Seagrave,[1] tell you that Mr. Rose repeated to me his great opinion of Mr. Johnson's integrity, while we were talking concerning Seagrave's printing. It is but justice, therefore, to tell you that I perceive a determination in the London booksellers to injure Seagrave in your opinion, if possible. Johnson may be very honest and very generous, too, where his own interest is concerned; but I must say that he leaves no stone unturned to serve that interest, and often (I think) unfairly. He always has taken care, when I have seen him, to rail against Seagrave, and I perceive that he does the same by Mr. Rose. Mr. Phillips took care to repeat Johnsons railing to me, and to say that the country printers could not do anything of consequence. Luckily he found fault with the paper which Cowper's Life is printed on, not knowing that it was furnished by Johnson. I let him run on so far as to say that it was scandalous and unfit for such a work; here I cut him short by asking if he knew who furnished the paper. He answered: "I hope Mr. J. did not." I assured him that he did, and here he left off, desiring
- ↑ See note i, p. 128.
