JOHNSON. 33 



vices whatever, of any kind, were expected in consideration 

 of the grant ; that it had reference to his past labours 

 alone, and that whatever political tracts he might have 

 written, they were not taken into the account, because it 

 was believed that he had, in the composition of them, only 

 followed the bent of his inclination and expressed his 

 unbiassed opinions. 



Nothing could be more opportune than this grant ; 

 nothing more entirely change the whole aspect of his si- 

 tuation. When we consider that it put him in possession 

 of a much larger free income, without any exertion what- 

 ever, than he had ever been able to earn by a life of hard 

 labour, we at once perceive that there could hardly have 

 been wrought a greater revolution, or a happier, in any 

 man's fortunes. The delicate manner in which the grant 

 was bestowed, heightened the obligation ; and, indeed, 

 something might be required to soothe the feeling with 

 which he must have regarded his exposing himself to the 

 taunts of party, and the envy of disappointed men ; for 

 he had, but a few years before, gone out of his way to 

 define a pensioner, " a slave of state hired to obey a 

 master," and a pension, " pay given to a state hireling for 

 treason to his country." 



The change in his circumstances of course produced 

 as great a change as possible in his habits. He no longer 

 laboured as before to gain money ; nor during the remain- 

 ing twenty-two years of his life do we find him compos- 

 ing any considerable number of works, even for his amuse- 

 ment. His edition of Shakspeare was published in 1765, 

 but begun twenty years earlier, and it had been almost 

 all finished before the grant. He wrote his two pamph- 

 lets, ' Taxation no Tyranny/ and ' On the Falkland 



D 



