effusion brought on the dozing, though his pulse continued firm till three o'clock.
That this act was not done to hasten his end, but to dis charge the water that he conceived to be in him, I have not the least doubt J . A dropsy was his disease ; he looked upon himself as a bloated carcase ; and, to attain the power of easy respira tion, would have undergone any degree of temporary pain. He dreaded neither punctures nor incisions, and, indeed, defied the trochar 2 and the lancet ; he had often reproached his physicians and surgeon with cowardice ; and, when Mr. Cruikshank scarified his leg, he cried out ' Deeper, deeper ; I will abide the con sequence : you are afraid of your reputation, but that is nothing to me.' To those about him, he said, ' You all pretend to love me, but you do not love me so well as I myself do.'
I have been thus minute in recording the particulars of his last moments, because I wished to attract attention to the con duct of this great man, under the most trying circumstances human nature is subject to. Many persons have appeared pos sessed of more serenity of mind in this awful scene : some have remained unmoved at the dissolution of the vital union ; and, it may be deemed a discouragement from the severe practice of religion, that Dr. Johnson, whose whole life was a preparation / for his death, and a conflict with natural infirmity, was disturbed / with terror at the prospect of the grave. Let not this relax!/ the circumspection of any one. It is true, that natural firmness of spirit, or the confidence of hope, may buoy up the mind to the last ; but, however heroic an undaunted death may appear, it is not what we should pray for. As Johnson lived the life of the righteous, his end was that of a Christian : he strictly fulfilled the injunction of the apostle, to work out his salvation with fear and trembling 3 ; and, though his doubts and
1 ' This bold experiment,' writes thought it necessary to do. It is
Boswell, ' Sir John Hawkins has re- evident, that what Johnson did in
lated in such a manner as to suggest hopes of relief indicated an extra-
a charge against Johnson of inten- ordinary eagerness to retard his dis-
tionally hastening his end ; a charge solution.' Life, iv. 399, n. 6.
so very inconsistent with his character 2 Johnson defines trocar as 'a
in every respect, that it is injurious chirurgical instrument.'
even to refute it, as Sir John has 3 Philippians ii. 12.
scruples
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