he judged justly of the work, and his opinion exactly
corresponded with yours![4]

Not that she regretted the cost of printing the 250 copies. That was a
minor consideration. She concluded:

If I ever should shew it to any person it will be to Mr.
Langton, from a motive of wishing him to see the alteration I
have made in it for the better, since he saw it, and as it is
also since Dr. Johnson saw it, and particularly that part
he most objected to, my belief that I had obviated that
objection, is another apology for my printing it.

To this Mrs. Montagu returned a wordy and diffuse reply, commenting
that "having for many years past left off all metaphysical studies,"
she was "not a competent judge of any work on subjects of that
nature," yet insisting that she doubted if contemporary readers would
like it. It was obvious that Mrs. Montagu refused to be a party to
further dissemination of the printed copies. And there the matter
rested for almost three more years.

The wish to have some of the copies read by the general public proved
too strong, and on 15 April 1788 Miss Reynolds wrote again to Mrs.
Montagu, asking her aid in recovering a letter, or transcription of a
letter, of Johnson's:

It is of great importance to me the recovery of this letter
particularly so as I perceive I must not presume to hope for
the only patronage that could countervail the loss of Dr.
Johnsons, should I ever be induced to publish the work. I
do not mean that I would publish the letter, but that the
testimony it conveys of Dr. Johnsons approbation, would be
highly advantageous to me in the disposal of the copy to
a Bookseller, indeed _approbation_ is an improper Word,
inadequate to the
praises he bestows on the work, I durst not repeat his
expressions tho I well remember them. Some friendly strictures
also the letter contained, all these I remember I transcribed
verbatim in a letter I sent to you in the beginning of the
year 82. they begin

Many of your notions seem not to be very clear in your own
imagination....[5]

It was not until the next year that with the help of James Northcote
she finally made active preparations to have the work published. As
Miss Reynolds wrote to Mrs. Montagu on 5 February,

I forgot to say that Mr. Nurse recommended Mr. Northcote to a
Mr. Bladen in Paternoster Row for a Publisher, but I sent
in the