HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [203 



discontinued his regular contributions to that miscellany, though 

 this was by no means a time of prosperity with him, for he was ac- 

 tually arrested for a debt of <5. 18s. which was paid by Richardson, 

 the author of Sir Charles Grandison, &c. This circumstance is 

 magnified by some of Johnson's biographers into a calamitous proof 

 of the miseries of authors, but it probably originated in the im- 

 providence of our author, whose mind was so deeply engaged with 

 his literary pursuits that he forgot the debt till reminded by the 

 severity of his creditor. It was one of those trifling casualties 

 to which men of genius are continually liable among the pitfalls of 

 civilized life, which no where abound more than in London, and a 

 moment's reflection must convince us that if a friend had not been 

 at hand, the booksellers who engaged him to write his Dictionary 

 would have discharged the debt. 



In the spring of 1755, the degree of M. A. was conferred upon 

 Johnson by the University of Oxford, and immediately afterwards 

 his Dictionary was published in two volumes folio. A few days 

 prior to that event Johnson transmitted a part of the work to Dr. 

 Birch, with the following cautionary note: 



"Sin, "March 29, 1755. 



" I have sent some parts of my Dictionary, such as were at hand, 

 for your inspection. The favour which I beg is, that if you do not 

 like them, you will say nothing. 



" I am, Sir, your most affectionate humble servant, 



JOHNSON." 



Dr. Birch's answer is too remarkable to be omitted, as it antici- 

 pated that universal approbation with which this production of our 

 great philologist has been received by a grateful nation. 



SIR, " Norfolk-street, April 3, 1755. 



" The part of your Dictionary which you have favoured me 

 with the sight of, has given me such an idea of the whole, that I 

 most sincerely congratulate the public upon the acquisition of a 

 work long wanted, and now executed with an industry, accuracy, 

 and judgment, equal to the importance of the subject. You might 

 perhaps have chosen one in which yonr genius would have ap- 

 peared to more advantage, but you could not have fixed upon any 

 other in which your labours could have done such substantial ser- 

 vice to the present age and to posterity. I am glad that your 

 health has supported the application necessary to the performance 

 of so vast a task, and can undertake to promise you as one 



