Inference, however, is no longer needful, as
there is positive evidence. Mr. Timmins in his _Dr. Johnson in
Birmingham_ (p. 4) writes:--'My friend, Mr. Joseph Hill, says, A copy of
an old deed which has recently come into my hands, shews that a hundred
pounds of Mrs. Johnson's fortune was left in the hands of a Birmingham
attorney named Thomas Perks, who died insolvent; and in 1745, a bulky
deed gave his creditors 7_s_. 4_d_. in the pound. Among the creditors
for L100 were "Samuel Johnson, gent., and Elizabeth his wife, executors
of the last will and testament of Harry Porter, late of Birmingham
aforesaid, woollen draper, deceased." Johnson and his wife were almost
the only creditors who did not sign the deed, their seals being left
void. It is doubtful, therefore, whether they ever obtained the amount
of the composition L36 13_s_. 4_d_.'
[291] Sir Walter Scott has recorded Lord Auchinleck's 'sneer of most
sovereign contempt,' while he described Johnson as 'a dominie, monan
auld dominie; he keeped a schule, and cau'd it an acaadamy.' Croker's
_Boswell_, p. 397, note.
[292] 'Edial is two miles west of Lichfield.' Harwood's _Lichfield_, p.
564.
[293] Johnson in more than one passage in his writings seems to have in
mind his own days as a schoolmaster. Thus in the _Life of Milton_ he
says:--'This is the period of his life from which all his biographers
seem inclined to shrink.
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