Mr. Williams had followed the
profession of physick in Wales; but having a very strong propensity to
the study of natural philosophy, had made many ingenious advances
towards a discovery of the longitude, and repaired to London in hopes of
obtaining the great parliamentary reward[884]. He failed of success; but
Johnson having made himself master of his principles and experiments,
wrote for him a pamphlet, published in quarto, with the following title:
_An Account of an Attempt to ascertain the Longitude at Sea, by an exact
Theory of the Variation of the Magnetical Needle; with a Table of the
Variations at the most remarkable Cities in Europe, from the year 1660
to 1680_.[Dagger] To diffuse it more extensively, it was accompanied
with an Italian translation on the opposite page, which it is supposed
was the work of Signor Baretti[885], an Italian of considerable
literature, who having come to England a few years before, had been
employed in the capacity both of a language-master and an authour, and
formed an intimacy with Dr. Johnson. This pamphlet Johnson presented to
the Bodleian Library[886]. On a blank leaf of it is pasted a paragraph cut
out of a news-paper, containing an account of the death and character of
Williams, plainly written by Johnson[887].
[Page 302: Joseph Baretti. A.D. 1755.]
[Page 303: A scheme of life for Sunday. AEtat 47.]
In July this year he had formed some scheme of mental improvement, the
particular purpose of which does not appear.
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