' Upon which Johnson
afterwards observed, '_He_ durst not do such a thing. His _wife_ would
not _let_ him!'
[Page 252: The Adventurer. A.D. 1753.]
1753: AETAT. 44.--He entered upon this year 1753 with his usual piety,
as appears from the following prayer, which I transcribed from that part
of his diary which he burnt a few days before his death[741]:
'Jan. 1, 1753, N. S. which I shall use for the future.
'Almighty God, who hast continued my life to this day, grant that, by
the assistance of thy Holy Spirit, I may improve the time which thou
shall grant me, to my eternal salvation. Make me to remember, to thy
glory, thy judgements and thy mercies. Make me so to consider the loss
of my wife, whom thou hast taken from me, that it may dispose me, by thy
grace, to lead the residue of my life in thy fear. Grant this, O LORD,
for JESUS CHRIST'S sake. Amen.'
He now relieved the drudgery of his _Dictionary_, and the melancholy of
his grief, by taking an active part in the composition of _The
Adventurer_, in which he began to write April 10[742], marking his essays
with the signature T[743], by which most of his papers in that collection
are distinguished: those, however, which have that signature and also
that of _Mysargyrus_, were not written by him, but, as I suppose, by Dr.
Bathurst. Indeed Johnson's energy of thought and richness of language,
are still more decisive marks than any signature.
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