ow just my observation is. That shall
be the criterion. Let me hear you repeat the ninth Commandment, "Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."' Both tried at it,
said Dr. Taylor, and both mistook the emphasis, which should be upon not
and false witness. Johnson put them right, and enjoyed his victory with
great glee.

Johnson's partiality for Savage made him entertain no doubt of his
story, however extraordinary and improbable. It never occurred to him
to question his being the son of the Countess of Macclesfield, of whose
unrelenting barbarity he so loudly complained, and the particulars of
which are related in so strong and affecting a manner in Johnson's
life of him. Johnson was certainly well warranted in publishing his
narrative, however offensive it might be to the lady and her relations,
because her alledged unnatural and cruel conduct to her son, and
shameful avowal of guilt, were stated in a Life of Savage now lying
before me, which came out so early as 1727, and no attempt had been made
to confute it, or to punish the authour or printer as a libeller: but
for the honour of human nature, we should be glad to find the shocking
tale not true; and, from a respectable gentleman connected with the
lady's family, I have received such information and remarks, as
joined to my own inquiries, will, I think, render it at least somewhat
doubtful, especially when we consider that it must have originated from
the person himself who went by the name of Richard Savage.

1746: AETAT. 37.]--It is somewhat curious, that his literary career
appears to have been almost totally suspended in the years 1745 and
1746, those years which were marked by a civil war in Great-Britain,
when a rash attempt was made to restore the House of Stuart to the
throne. That he had a tenderness for that unfortunate House, is well
known; and some may fancifully imagine, that a sympathetick anxiety
impeded the exertion of his intellectual powers: but I am inclined to
think, that he was, during this time, sketching the outlines of his
great philological work.

1747: AETAT. 38.]--This year his old pupil and friend, David Garrick,
having become joint patentee and manager of Drury-lane theatre, Johnson
honoured his opening of it with a Prologue, which for just and manly
dramatick criticism, on the whole range of the English stage, as well as
for poetical excellence, is unrivalled. Like the celebrated Epilogue to
the Distressed Mother, it