JOHNSON. 83 



Sir/ will he say, 'is my will, which I have just made, with 

 the assistance of one of the ablest lawyers in the king- 

 dom/ and he will read it to him, (laughing all the time.) 

 He believes he has made this will ; but he did not make 

 it : you, Chambers, made it for him. I trust you have 

 had more conscience than to make him say 'being of 

 sound understanding' ha! ha! ha! I hope he has left 

 me a legacy. I'd have his will turned into verse, like a 

 ballad/ Mr. Chambers/' says Boswell, "-didn't by any 

 means relish this jocularity, upon a matter of which pars 

 magna fuit, and seemed impatient till he got rid of us. 

 Johnson couldn't stop his merriment, but continued it all 

 the way, till he got without the Temple gate ; he then 

 burst into such a fit of laughter, that he appeared to be 

 almost in a convulsion, and, in order to support himself, 

 laid hold of one of the posts on the side of the foot pave- 

 ment, and sent forth peals so loud that, in the silence of 

 the night, his voice seemed to resound from Temple Bar 

 to Fleet Ditch." (II, 270.) 



His laugh is described as being peculiarly hearty, 

 though like a good humoured growl; and one drolly 

 enough said, " he laughs like a rhinoceros." He was, 

 when in good spirits, ever ready for idleness, and even 

 frolic ; and his friend has recorded an amusing anecdote of 

 himself and Messrs. Beauclerk and Langton, once rousing 

 him at three in the morning after dining in a tavern, 

 when he cheerfully got up and said they must " make a 

 day of it." So forth they sallied, played such pranks in 

 Covent Garden Market as boys broke loose from school 

 might indulge in, and ended by going down the river and 

 dining at Greenwich. 



His love of children may be added to the account of 



G2 



