; but
that I was not sufficiently careful in gathering it in. I, therefore, in
some instances can only exhibit a few detached fragments.

Talking of the wonderful concealment of the authour of the celebrated
letters signed Junius; he said, 'I should have believed Burke to be
Junius, because I know no man but Burke who is capable of writing these
letters; but Burke spontaneously denied it to me. The case would
have been different had I asked him if he was the authour; a man so
questioned, as to an anonymous publication, may think he has a right to
deny it.'

On Wednesday, March 31, when I visited him, and confessed an excess of
which I had very seldom been guilty; that I had spent a whole night
in playing at cards, and that I could not look back on it with
satisfaction; instead of a harsh animadversion, he mildly said, 'Alas,
Sir, on how few things can we look back with satisfaction.'

On Friday, April 2, being Good-Friday, I visited him in the morning as
usual; and finding that we insensibly fell into a train of ridicule upon
the foibles of one of our friends, a very worthy man, I, by way of a
check, quoted some good admonition from The Government of the Tongue,
that very pious book. It happened also remarkably enough, that the
subject of the sermon preached to us to-day by Dr. Burrows, the rector
of St. Clement Danes, was the certainty that at the last day we must
give an account of 'the deeds done in the body;' and, amongst various
acts of culpability he mentioned evil-speaking. As we were moving slowly
along in the crowd from church, Johnson jogged my elbow, and said, 'Did
you attend to the sermon?' 'Yes, Sir, (said I,) it was very applicable
to US.' He, however, stood upon the defensive. 'Why, Sir, the sense
of ridicule is given us, and may be lawfully used. The authour of The
Government of the Tongue would have us treat all men alike.'

In the interval between morning and evening service, he endeavoured
to employ himself earnestly in devotional exercises; and as he has
mentioned in his Prayers and Meditations, gave me Les Pensees de
Paschal, that I might not interrupt him. I preserve the book with
reverence. His presenting it to me is marked upon it with his own hand,
and I have found in it a truly divine unction. We went to church again
in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, April 7, I dined with him at Sir Joshua Reynolds's. I have
not marked what company was there. Johnson harangued upon the qualities
of differe