666 SAMUEL JOHNSON him a family group, which was afterward much enlarged, made up of a strangely assort- ed set of dependants and pensioners. Anna "Williams, the blind daughter of a Welsh phy- sician ; Robert Levett, who practised medicine among the very poor, and often received his fees in liqnor ; Mrs. Desmoulins and her daugh- ter, who had no other claim upon his benevo- lence than the service which the father of the former, Dr. Swinfen, had rendered to John- son in a professional capacity in his youth; and Francis Barber, his negro servant, were among the inmates of his house. Johnson had an implicit belief in the supernatural and invis- ible world. He practically adopted the maxim that it is safer to believe too much than too lit- tle. He believed in the existence and appear- ance of disembodied spirits, and that they might be manifested to our cognizance. A case of this kind occurred in 1763, which ex- posed Johnson to the ridicule of his enemies. Certain strange phenomena in the form of " rappings " about the bed of a young girl, in a house in Cook lane, caused a considerable ex- citement, and a number of gentlemen, of whom Johnson was one, attempted to solve the mys- tery. Their examinations satisfied them that the whole was a cheat and imposture, and Johnson afterward wrote out a statement of it for the " Gentleman's Magazine." But the af- fair was seized upon by Johnson's enemies, as exposing a vulnerable point for their attacks. Churchill, in his poem " The Ghost," depicted Johnson in such broad caricature that it was at once recognized ; and Foote the comedian pro- posed to present him on the stage for the amusement of the town, but abandoned his purpose upon being assured that Johnson was preparing to chastise him if he undertook it. In 1762 Johnson received from the king a pen- sion of 300. He had often stigmatized the whole business of giving and receiving pensions as the basest kind of bribery; but it being urged by his friends that the whole nation was his debtor for what he had written, and espe- cially for the dictionary, and the premier assu- ring him that no service to the ministry would ever bo expected from his pen in return for the favor, he allowed his scruples to be overcome. Early in 1765 the long promised and long de- layed edition of Shakespeare made its appear- ance, with an elaborate preface discussing the genius and writings of the dramatist, and with a concise account of each play, and notes and commentaries, both original and selected, on various passages. Bnt the work was not such as the reputation of the editor had promised. He no doubt possessed many valuable qualifi- cations for such a work, yet he was better adapted for original compositions, and in this case his powers were but moderately called into requisition. His own estimate of the work did not differ greatly from that of others. He had now fully attained the height of his ambition as a scholar and man of letters. His claim to the first place among his peers was cheerfully conceded to him with almost absolute unanimity. The university of Ox- ford, from which he sought in vain for the de- gree of M. A. when it would have been valu- able to him, now accorded a tardy recognition of his greatness by granting to him by diploma the honor of LL. D. He had received the same degree ten years earlier from Dublin univer- sity ; but after returning thanks for the honor, ho declined to wear it, and would not consent to be called doctor till Oxford had given him the title. About this time Johnson was intro- duced by Arthur Murphy to Mr. Thrale, a wealthy brewer of Southwark. Thrale was a man of a well cultivated mind, of sound judg- ment, and great force of character;, and his wife, whose name has become intimately con- nected with Johnson's history, was also a per- son of some learning and of almost unbounded vivacity, flippant, versatile, and addicted to hero worship. The acquaintance thus begun soon grew into friendship. Johnson dined with his new friends weekly during several succeeding months, when, having suffered by an attack of sickness, he was removed in 17<i(i to their residence, and had apartments assigned him in their house at Southwark, and also in their villa at Streatham. Thrale was a mem- ber of parliament for Southwark, and as his political creed was nearly allied to that of his guest, Johnson became interested in the poli- tics of the times, and there was at one time a purpose to bring him into parliament ; but the government, fearing that he would not prove sufficiently facile, did not encourage it, and so the design was abandoned. He accompanied his friends on their annual excursions, visiting various parts of the kingdom with them, and also making a visit of several weeks at Paris. His connection with this family not only brought him innumerable comforts and plea- sures, but it also afforded him a retreat from his. own strangely assorted household, where strifes and complaints were loud and frequent. It continued till the death of Thrale, and the subsequent marriage of his widow to Signor Piozzi, greatly to the chagrin of her friends. A few years previous to his connection with the Thralcs, Johnson had formed another asso- ciation, by which his future renown was to be very largely affected. In 1763 James Boswell, a young man, the son of a Scotch judge, visit- ed London and obtained an introduction to Johnson. Boswell was loose in life and con- versation, conceited, meddling, and inquisi- tive, yet endowed with an insight into charac- ter, and an appreciation of qualities the fur- thest possible removed from his own. Johnson fancied this young Scot on first acquaintance, and Boswell at once fastened himself upon him. They were together almost daily, ram- bling in the parks, supping together at the Mitre tavern, or wandering the streets till after midnight. Boswell lived in Johnson's shadow, noting his words, describing his manners, and detailing the most trivial occurrences ; all of
