HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [199 



guage, he told him that " he had early laid it down as a fixed rule 

 to do his best on every occasion, and in every company to impart 

 whatever he knew in the most forcible language he could put it 

 in ; and that by constant practice, and never suffering any careless 

 expressions to escape him, or attempting to deliver his thoughts 

 without arranging them in the clearest manner, it became habitual 

 to him/' It does not appear that the Rambler gained that popu- 

 larity to which, from its excellent moral tendency, animated illus- 

 trations of manners, and superior elegance of diction, it was entitled ; 

 for the author, in the last number, says with a degree of candour, 

 " I have never been much a favourite of the public." He corrected 

 the two first editions, however, with that critical exactitude, in 

 which, when he exerted himself, he was known to excel, and lived 

 to see his great ethical work pass through successive editions with 

 increasing celebrity. 



The cessation of this periodical work was probably occasioned 

 by the illness of Mrs. Johnson, who expired three days after the 

 last number was published. This was the most severe affliction 

 which Johnson ever experienced, as his conjugal affection was 

 extreme, and he never, at the latest period of his life, recollected 

 the death of Mrs. Johnson without emotion. She was buried in 

 Bromley church-yard, and her husband placed an epitaph in Latin 

 on her tomb, expressive of her beauty and amiable qualities. His 

 affection for this estimable woman was doubtless increased by the 

 fortitude with which she shared all his vicissitudes. During their 

 intercourse their attachment was put to the test by adversity ; a 

 trial which, while it more firmly unites those who love with ge- 

 nuine feeling, has a tendency to produce strife and estrangement 

 among the indifferent. Mrs. Johnson was not only the sharer of 

 her husband's joys and sorrows, but a friend to whose judgment 

 and taste he frequently submitted his productions. Of this there 

 is one instance on record. After a few numbers of the Rambler 

 were published, she expressed her unqualified approbation, and 

 said, " I thought very well of you before, but I did not imagine 

 you could have written any thing equal to this/' The memory 

 of her excellence was cherished by Johnson to the latest period of 

 his life; his affection extended beyond the grave, and he often 

 mentioned her in his prayers and meditations, which gave occasion 

 to his enemies to ridicule his superstition, as they called it, and 

 to accuse him of a bias to popery. How unfounded these malig- 

 nant aspersions were every one who has read his excellent moral 



