etain more than almost any other can hope to possess. You
are high in the opinion of mankind; you have children from whom much
pleasure may be expected; and that you will find many friends, you
have no reason to doubt. Of my friendship, be it worth more or less,
I hope you think yourself certain, without much art or care. It will
not be easy for me to repay the benefits that I have received; but I
hope to be always ready at your call. Our sorrow has different
effects; you are withdrawn into solitude, and I am driven into
company. _I_ am afraid of thinking what I have lost. I never had such
a friend before. Let me have your prayers and those of my dear
Queeny.

"The prudence and resolution of your design to return so soon to your
business and your duty deserves great praise; I shall communicate it
on Wednesday to the other executors. Be pleased to let me know
whether you would have me come to Streatham to receive you, or stay
here till the next day."

Johnson was one of the executors and took pride in discharging his
share of the trust. Mrs. Thrale's account of the pleasure he took in
signing the documents and cheques, is incidentally confirmed by
Boswell:

"I could not but be somewhat diverted by hearing Johnson talk in a
pompous manner of his new office, and particularly of the concerns of
the brewery, which it was at last resolved should be sold. Lord Lucan
tells a very good story, which, if not precisely exact, is certainly
characteristical; that when the sale of Thrale's brewery was going
forward, Johnson appeared bustling about, with an ink-horn and pen in
his button-hole, like an excise-man; and on being asked what he
really considered to be the value of the property which was to be
disposed of, answered, 'We are not here to sell a parcel of boilers
and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of
avarice.'"

The executors had legacies of 200_l._ each; Johnson, to the surprise
of his friends, being placed on no better footing than the rest. He
himself was certainly disappointed. Mrs. Thrale says that his
complacency towards Thrale was not wholly devoid of interested
motives; and she adds that his manner towards Reynolds and Dr. Taylor
was also softened by the vague expectation of being named in their
wills. One of her marginal notes is: "Johnson mentioned to Reynolds
that he had been told by Taylor he was to be his heir. His fondness
for Reynolds, ay, and for Thrale, had a dash of interest