inscription, in monkish rhyme, discovered at Lynn, in Norfolk. By Probus
Britannicus. This was a pamphlet against sir Robert Walpole. According
to sir John Hawkins, a warrant was issued to apprehend the author, who
retired, with his wife, to an obscure lodging near Lambeth marsh, and
there eluded the search of the messengers. But this story has no
foundation in truth. Johnson was never known to mention such an incident
in his life; and Mr. Steele, late of the treasury, caused diligent
search to be made at the proper offices, and no trace of such a
proceeding could be found. In the same year (1739) the lord chamberlain
prohibited the representation of a tragedy, called Gustavus Vasa, by
Henry Brooke. Under the mask of irony, Johnson published, A Vindication
of the Licenser from the malicious and scandalous Aspersions of Mr.
Brooke. Of these two pieces, sir John Hawkins says, "they have neither
learning nor wit; nor a single ray of that genius, which has since
blazed forth;" but, as they have been lately reprinted, the reader, who
wishes to gratify his curiosity, is referred to the fourteenth volume of
Johnson's works, published by Stockdale[h]. The lives of Boerhaave,
Blake, Barratier, father Paul, and others, were, about that time,
printed in the Gentleman's Magazine. The subscription of fifty pounds a
year for Savage was completed; and, in July 1739, Johnson parted with
the companion of his midnight hours, never to see him more. The
separation was, perhaps, an advantage to him, who wanted to make a right
use of his time, and even then beheld, with self-reproach, the waste
occasioned by dissipation. His abstinence from wine and strong liquors
began soon after the departure of Savage. What habits he contracted in
the course of that acquaintance cannot now be known. The ambition of
excelling in conversation, and that pride of victory, which, at times,
disgraced a man of Johnson's genius, were, perhaps, native blemishes. A
fierce spirit of independence, even in the midst of poverty, may be seen
in Savage; and, if not thence transfused by Johnson into his own