man, when he had finished his Dictionary, "not," as he says himself, "in
the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academick
bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in
sorrow, and without the patronage of the great," was not likely to be
caught by the lure, thrown out by lord Chesterfield. He had, in vain,
sought the patronage of that nobleman; and his pride, exasperated by
disappointment, drew from him the following letter, dated in the month
of February, 1755.

"TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD.

MY LORD,--I have been lately informed, by the proprietors of The
World, that two papers, in which my Dictionary is recommended to the
publick, were written by your lordship. To be so distinguished is an
honour which, being very little accustomed to favours from the great,
I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge.

When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your lordship, I
was overpowered, like the rest of mankind, by the enchantment of your
address, and could not forbear to wish, that I might boast myself "le
vainqueur du vainqueur de la terre;" that I might obtain that regard
for which I saw the world contending. But I found my attendance so
little encouraged, that neither pride nor modesty would suffer me to
continue it. When I had once addressed your lordship in publick, I had
exhausted all the art of pleasing, which a retired and uncourtly
scholar can possess. I had done all that I could; and no man is well
pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.

Seven years, my lord, have now passed, since I waited in your outward
room, or was repulsed from your door; during which time, I have been