he first
page of the first number of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ itself, it is
stated to contain "more than any book of the _kind_ and price."

* * * * *

MRS. TRIMMER.

This ingenious woman was the daughter of Joshua and Sarah Kirby, and was
born at Ipswich, January 6, 1741. Kirby taught George the Third, when
Prince of Wales, perspective and architecture. He was also President of
the Society of Artists of Great Britain, out of which grew the Royal
Academy. It was the last desire of Gainsborough to be buried beside his
old friend Kirby, and their tombs adjoin each other in the churchyard at
Kew.

Mrs. Trimmer, when a girl, was constantly reading Milton's _Paradise
Lost_; and this circumstance so pleased Dr. Johnson, that he invited her
to see him, and presented her with a copy of his _Rambler_. She also
repeatedly met Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Gregory, Sharp, Hogarth, and
Gainsborough, with all of whom her father was on terms of intimacy. Mrs.
Trimmer advocated religious education against the latitudinarian views
of Joseph Lancaster. It was at her persuasion that Dr. Bell entered the
field, and paved the way for the establishment of the National Society.
Mrs. Trimmer died, in her seventieth year, in 1810. She was seated at
her table reading a letter, when her head sunk upon her bosom, and she
"fell asleep;" and so gentle was the wafting, that she seemed for some
time in a refreshing slumber, which her family were unwilling to
interrupt.

* * * * *

BOSWELL'S BEAR-LEADING.

It was on a visit to the parliament house that Mr. Henry Erskine,
(brother of Lord Buchan and Lord Erskine,) after being presented to Dr.
Johnson by Mr. Boswell, and having made his bow, slipped a shilling
into Boswell's hand, whispering that it was for the sight of his
_bear_.--_Sir Walter Scott._

* * * * *

LORD ELIBANK AND DR. JOHNSON

Lord Elibank made a happy retort on Dr. Johnson's definition of oats, as
the food of horses in England, and men in Scotland. "Yes," said he, "and
where else will you see _such horses, and such men_?"--_Sir Walter Scott._

* * * * *

RELICS OF DR. JOHNSON AT LICHFIELD.

The house in which Dr. Johnson was born, at Lichfield--where his father,
it is well known, kept a small bookseller's shop, and where he was
partly educated--stood on the west side of the market-place. In t