the Roman Catholicks? His answer was, "It is a very harmless doctrine. They are "of opinion, that the generality of man"kind are neither so obstinately wicked as "to deserve everlasting punishment; nor so good as to merit being admitted into the society of blessed spirits; and, therefore, "that God is graciously pleased to allow a "middle state, where they may be purified by certain degrees of suffering. You see "there is nothing unreasonable in this; and "if it be once established that there are souls "in purgatory, it is as proper to pray for "them, as for our brethren of mankind who are yet yet in this life." This was Dr. Johnson's guess into futurity; and to guess is the utmost that man can do. Shadows, clouds, and darkness, rest upon it. Mrs. Johnson left a daughter, Lucy Porter, by her first husband. She had contracted a friendship with Mrs. Anne Williams, the daughter of Zachary Williams, a physician of eminence in South Wales, who had devoted more than thirty years of a long life to the study of the longitude, and was thought to have made great advances towards that important discovery. His let ters to Lord Halifax, and the Lords of the Admiralty, partly corrected and partly written by Dr. Johnson, are still extant in the hands of Mr. Nichols *. We there find Dr. Williams, in the eighty-third year of his age, stating, that he had prepared an instrument, which might be called an epitome or miniature of the terraqueous globe, shewing, with the assistance of tables constructed by himself, the variations of the magnetic needle, and ascertaining the longitude for the safety of navigation. It appears that this scheme had been referred to Sir Isaac Newton; but that great philosopher excusing himself on account of his advanced age, all applications were useless till 1751, when the subject was referred, by order of Lord Anson, to Dr. Bradley, the celebrated professor of astronomy. His report was unfavourable, though it allows that a considerable progress had been made. Dr. Williams, after all his Jabour and expence, died in a short time after, a melancholy instance of unrewarded merit. His • See Gentleman's Magazine for Nov. and Dec. 1787, + Ibid, for Dec. 1787, p. 1042. His daughter possessed uncommon talents, Garrick gave her a benefit-play, which pro- During the two years in which the Rambler was carried on, the Dictionary proceeded by slow degrees. In May 1752, having composed a prayer preparatory to his return from tears and sorrow to the duties of life, he resumed his grand design, and went on with vigour, giving, however, occasional assistance to his friend Dr. Hawkesworth in the Adventurer, which began soon after the Rambler was laid aside. Some of the most valuable essays in that collection were from the pen of Johnson. The Dictionary was completed towards the end of 1754; and, Cave being then then no more, it was a mortification to the author of that noble addition to our language, that his old friend did not live to see the triumph of his 'abours. In May 1755, that great work was published. Johnson was desirous that it should come from one who had obtained academical honours; and for that purpose his friend the Rev. Thomas Warton obtained for him, in the preceding month of February, a diploma for a master's degree from the University of Oxford. Garrick, on the publication of the Dictionary, wrote the following lines: *Talk of war with a Briton, he'll boldly advance, "That one English soldier can beat ten of France. *Would we alter the boast from the sword to the 66 pen, "Our odds are still greater, still greater our men. In the deep mines of science though Frenchmen 6.6 may toil, "Can their strength be compar'd to Locke, Newton, or Boyle? Let them rally their heroes, send forth all their "pow'rs, * Their versemen and prosemen, then match them "with ours. "First "First Shakspeare and Milton, like gods in the fight, "Have put their whole drama and epic to flight. "In satires, epistles, and odes would they cope? "Their numbers retreat before Dryden and Pope. "And Johnson well arm'd, like a hero of yore, "Has beat forty French, and will beat Forty 66 more." It is, perhaps, needless to mention, that Forty was the number of the French Academy, at the time when their Dictionary was published to settle their language. ་ In the course of the winter preceding this grand publication, the late Earl of Chesterfield gave two essays in the periodical Paper, called THE WORLD, dated November 28, and December 5, 1754, to prepare the public for so important a work. The original plan, addressed to his Lordship in the year 1747, is there mentioned in terms of the highest praise; and this was understood, at the time, to be a courtly way of soliciting a dedication of the Dictionary to himself. Johnson treated this civility with disdain. He said to Garrick and others, “I have sailed a long and pain 66 ful |