t; but give it a certain portion of time,
suppose four hours, and pass the rest of the day in Latin or English.
I would have you learn French, and take in a literary journal once a
month, which will accustom you to various subjects, and inform you what
learning is going forward in the world. Do not omit to mingle some
lighter books with those of more importance; that which is read _remisso
animo_ is often of great use, and takes great hold of the remembrance.
However, take what course you will, if you be diligent you will be a
scholar.'

George Strahan attended Johnson on his death-bed, and published the
volume called _Prayers and Meditations composed by Samuel Johnson_.
_Ante_, i. 235, n. i; iv. 376, n. 4.

William Strahan's 'affair with the University' was very likely connected
with the lease of the University Printing House. From the 'Orders of
the Delegates of the Press,' 1758, I have been permitted to copy the
following entry, which bears a date but six days later than that of
Johnson's letter.

'Tuesday, Oct. 30, 1764. At a meeting of the Delegates of the Press.

'Ordered,

'That the following articles be made the foundation of the new lease
to be granted of the moiety of the Printing House; that a copy of them
be delivered to Mr. Baskett and Mr. Eyre, and that they be desired to
give in their respective proposals at a meeting to be held on Tuesday
the sixth of November.' (P. 41.)

The chief part of the lease consisted of the privilege to print Bibles
and Prayer Books. I conjecture that Strahan had hoped to get a share in
the lease.

VIII.

_A letter about a cancel in Johnson's 'Journey to the Western Islands
of Scotland', dated Nov. 30_, 1774.[In the possession of Messrs. Pearson
and Co., 46, Pall Mall.]

'SIR,

'I waited on you this morning having forgotten your new engagement; for
this you must not reproach me, for if I had looked upon your present
station with malignity I could not have forgotten it. I came to consult
you upon a little matter that gives me some uneasiness. In one of the
pages there is a severe censure of the clergy of an English Cathedral
which I am afraid is just, but I have since recollected that from me
it may be thought improper, for the Dean did me a kindness about forty
years ago. He is now very old, and I am not young. Reproach can do
him no good, and in myself I know not whether it is zeal or wantonness.
Can a leaf be cancelled without too much trouble? tell me what I