Thirteen gentlemen's carriages closed the procession, which reached the Abbey a little before one. The corpse was met at the west door by the prebendaries in residence, to the number of six, in their surplices and doctor's hoods; and the officers of the church, and attendants on the funeral, were then marshalled in the following order: Two vergers. The Rev. Mr. Strahan. Sir Joshua Reynolds, as chief mourner and executor. The body then proceeded to the south cross, and, in view of the three executors, was deposited by the side of Mr. Garrick, with the feet opposite to the monument of Shakspeare. The Rev. Dr. Taylor performed the burial service, attended by some gentlemen of the Abbey; but it must be regretted by all who continue to reverence the hierarchy, that the cathedral service was withheld from its invariable friend; and the omission was truly offensive to the audience at large. How this omission happened, we are unable to account. Perhaps the executors should have asked for it; but at all events it should have been performed. That the fees for opening the ground were paid, was a matter of indispensable necessity; and there can be no doubt, from the liberality of the present dean and chapter, but they will be returned, as was offered in the case of Dryden, and was done in that of St. Evremond, who "died," says Atterbury, "renouncing the Christian religion; yet the church of Westminster thought fit, in honour to his memory, to give his body room in the Abbey, and allow him to be buried there gratis, so far as the chapter were concerned, though he left 8007. sterling behind him, which is thought every way an unaccountable piece of management." How striking the contrast between St. Evremond and Johnson!(*) (*) "[It must be told, that a dissatisfaction was expressed in the public papers that he was not buried with all possible funeral rites and honours. In all processions and solemnities something will be forgotten or omitted. Here no disrespect was intended. The executors did not think themselves justified in doing more than they did; for only a little cathedral service, accompanied with lights and music, would have raised the price of interment. In this matter fees ran high; they could not be excused; and the expenses were to be paid from the property of the deceased. His funeral expenses amounted to more than two hundred pounds. Future monumental charges may be defrayed by the generosity of subscription.”—Gentleman's Magazine, 1785, p. 911, probably by Mr. Tyers. It is supposed that the fees were not returned, and it is to be added, that all Dr. Johnson's friends, but especially Mr. Malone and Mr. Steevens, were indignant at the mean and selfish spirit which the dean and chapter exhibited on this occasion; but they were especially so against Dr. Taylor, not only for not having prevailed on his colleagues to show more respect to his old friend, but for the unfeeling manner in which he himself performed the burial service.-C.] PART VI. ANECDOTES, BY MISS REYNOLDS. (*) 321. "Clarissa Harlowe." THE first time I was in company with Dr. Johnson, which was at Miss Cotterell's (†), I well remember the flattering notice he took of a lady present, on her saying that she was inclined to estimate the morality of every person according as they liked or disliked "Clarissa Harlowe." He was a great admirer of Richardson's works in general, but of "Clarissa" he always spoke with the highest enthusiastic praise. He used to say, that it was the first book in the world for the knowledge it displays of the human heart. 322. Richardson. Yet of the author I never heard him speak with any degree of cordiality, but rather as if impressed with some cause of resentment against him; and this has been imputed to something of jealousy, not to say envy, on account (*) [From a MS. entitled "Recollections of Dr. Johnson," communicated, in 1829, to Mr. Croker, by Mr. Palmer, grand-nephew of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Of Miss Reynolds, Dr. Johnson thought so highly, that he once said to Mrs. Piozzi, "I never knew but one mind which would bear a microscopical examination, and that is dear Miss Reynolds', and hers is very near to purity itself."-C.] (†) [The daughter of Rear-Admiral Cotterell.] of Richardson's having engrossed the attentions and affectionate assiduities of several very ingenious literary ladies, whom he used to call his adopted daughters, and for whom Dr. Johnson had conceived a paternal affection (particularly for two of them, Miss Carter and Miss Mulso, now Mrs. Chapone), previous to their acquaintance with Richardson; and it was said, that he thought himself neglected by them on his account. 323. Female Friendship. Dr. Johnson set a higher value upon female friendship than, perhaps, most men; which may reasonably be supposed was not a little enhanced by his acquaintance with those ladies, if it was not originally derived from them. To their society, doubtless, Richardson owed that delicacy of sentiment, that feminine excellence, as I may say, that so peculiarly distinguishes his writings from those of his own sex in general, how high soever they may soar above the other in the more dignified paths of literature, in scientific investigations, and abstruse inquiries. 324. What is Love? Dr. Johnson used to repeat, with very apparent delight, some lines of a poem, written by Miss Mulso: Say, Stella, what is Love, whose cruel power "Some say, by Idleness and Pleasure bred, 325. An Inn. Dr. Johnson had an uncommonly retentive memory for everything that appeared to him worthy of observation. Whatever he met with in reading, particularly poetry, I believe he seldom required a revisal to be able to repeat verbatim. If not literally so, his deviations were generally (*) [Johnson paid the first of these stanzas the great and undeserved compliment of quoting it in his Dictionary, under the word "QUATRAIN."-C.] improvements. This was the case, in some respects, in Shenstone's poem of "The Inn," which I learned from hearing Mr. Johnson repeat it; and I was surprised, on seeing it lately among the author's works for the first time, to find it so different. One stanza he seems to have extemporised himself: "And once again I shape my way Through rain, through shine, through thick and thin, Secure to meet, at close of day, A kind reception at an inn."(*) 326. Quick Reading. He always read amazingly quick, glancing his eye from the top to the bottom of the page in an instant. If he made any pause, it was a compliment to the work; and, after seesawing over it a few minutes, generally repeated the passage, especially if it was poetry. 327. Pope's "Essay on Man." One day, on taking up Pope's "Essay on Man,” a particular passage seemed more than ordinarily to engage his attention; so much so, indeed, that, contrary to his usual custom, after he had left the book and the seat in which he was sitting, he returned to revise it, turning over the pages with anxiety to find it, and then repeated "Passions, though selfish, if their means be fair, His task, probably, was the whole paragraph, but these lines only were audible. 328. Favourite Verses. He seemed much to delight in reciting verses, particularly from Pope. Among the many I have had the pleasure of hearing him recite, the conclusion of the “Dun (*) [The lines in the corrected edition of Shenstone's works run thus: "Whoe'er has travelled life's dull round, Where'er his stages may have been, |