t of Dodwell and 'the paradoxes after which he
seemed to hunt' is given in Burnet, iv. 303. He was Camden Professor of
Ancient History in the University of Oxford. 'It was about him that
William III uttered those memorable words: "He has set his heart on
being a martyr; and I have set mine on disappointing him."' Macaulay's
_England_, ed. 1874, iv. 226. See Hearne in Leland's _Itin._, 3rd ed.
v. 136.

[1194] By Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in 1579. DUPPA.

[1195] See _ante_, iii. 357, and v. 42.

[1196] Perhaps Johnson wrote _mere_.

[1197] Humphry Llwyd was a native of Denbigh, and practised there as a
physician, and also represented the town in Parliament. He died 1568,
aged 41. DUPPA.

[1198] Mrs. Thrale's father. DUPPA.

[1199] Cowper wrote a few years later in the first book of _The Task_,
in his description of the grounds at Weston Underwood:--

'Not distant far a length of colonnade
Invites us. Monument of ancient taste,
Now scorned, but worthy of a better fate.
Our fathers knew the value of a screen
From sultry suns, and in their shaded walks
And long-protracted bowers enjoyed at noon
The gloom and coolness of declining day.
We bear our shades about us: self-deprived
Of other screen, the thin umbrella spread,
And range an Indian waste without a tree.
Thanks to Benevolus [A]--he spares me yet
These chestnuts ranged in corresponding lines,
And though himself so polished still reprieves
The obsolete prolixity of shade.'

[1200] Such a passage as this shews that Johnson was not so insensible
to nature as is often asserted. Mrs. Piozzi (_Anec._ p. 99) says:--'Mr.
Thrale loved prospects, and was mortified that his friend could not
enjoy the sight of those different dispositions of wood and water, hill
and valley, that travelling through England and France affords a man.
But when he wished to point them out to his companion: "Never heed such
nonsense," would he reply; "a blade of grass is always a blade of grass,
whether in one country or another. Let us, if we _do_ talk, talk about
something; men and women are my subjects of enquiry; let us see how
these differ from those we have left behind."' She adds (p. 265):--
'Walking in a wood when it rained was, I think, the only rural image he
pleased his fancy with; "for," says he, "after one has gathered the
apples in an orchard, one wishes them well baked, and removed t