Hawkins says, "they have neither
learning nor wit; nor a single ray of that genius, which has since
blazed forth;" but, as they have been lately reprinted, the reader, who
wishes to gratify his curiosity, is referred to the fourteenth volume of
Johnson's works, published by Stockdale[h]. The lives of Boerhaave,
Blake, Barratier, father Paul, and others, were, about that time,
printed in the Gentleman's Magazine. The subscription of fifty pounds a
year for Savage was completed; and, in July 1739, Johnson parted with
the companion of his midnight hours, never to see him more. The
separation was, perhaps, an advantage to him, who wanted to make a right
use of his time, and even then beheld, with self-reproach, the waste
occasioned by dissipation. His abstinence from wine and strong liquors
began soon after the departure of Savage. What habits he contracted in
the course of that acquaintance cannot now be known. The ambition of
excelling in conversation, and that pride of victory, which, at times,
disgraced a man of Johnson's genius, were, perhaps, native blemishes. A
fierce spirit of independence, even in the midst of poverty, may be seen
in Savage; and, if not thence transfused by Johnson into his own
manners, it may, at least, be supposed to have gained strength from the
example before him. During that connexion, there was, if we believe sir
John Hawkins, a short separation between our author and his wife; but a
reconciliation soon took place. Johnson loved her, and showed his
affection in various modes of gallantry, which Garrick used to render
ridiculous by his mimicry. The affectation of soft and fashionable airs
did not become an unwieldy figure: his admiration was received by the
wife with the flutter of an antiquated coquette; and both, it is well
known, furnished matter for the lively genius of Garrick.

It is a mortifying reflection, that Johnson, with a store of learning
and extraordinary talents, was not able, at the age of thirty, to force
his way to the favour of the public:

"Slow rises worth by poverty depress'd."

"He was still," as he says himself, "to provide for the day that was
passing over him." He saw Cave involved in a state of warfare with the
numerous competitors, at that time, struggling with the Gentleman's
Magazine; and gratitude for such supplies as Johnson received, dictated
a Latin ode on the subject of that contention. The first lines,

"Urbane, nullis fesse laboribus,
Urbane, nul