" I
communicated to him your apology for keeping the sheets of his _Annals_
so long. He says, "I am sorry to see that Dr. Johnson is in a state of
languor. Why should a sober Christian, neither an enthusiast nor a
fanatick, be very merry or very sad?" I envy his Lordship's comfortable
constitution: but well do I know that languor and dejection will afflict
the best, however excellent their principles. I am in possession of Lord
Hailes's opinion in his own hand-writing, and have had it for some time.
My excuse then for procrastination must be, that I wanted to have it
copied; and I have now put that off so long, that it will be better to
bring it with me than send it, as I shall probably get you to look at it
sooner, when I solicit you in person.
'My wife, who is, I thank GOD, a good deal better, is much obliged to
you for your very polite and courteous offer of your apartment: but, if
she goes to London, it will be best for her to have lodgings in the more
airy vicinity of Hyde-Park. I, however, doubt much if I shall be able to
prevail with her to accompany me to the metropolis; for she is so
different from you and me, that she dislikes travelling; and she is so
anxious about her children, that she thinks she should be unhappy if at
a distance from them.
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