n to
believe, on the same authority, participated in the guilt of what the
enthusiasts for our immortal bard deem almost a species of sacrilege.

After dinner Dr. Johnson wrote a letter to Mrs. Thrale on the death of
her son. I said it would be very distressing to Thrale, but she would
soon forget it, as she had so many things to think of. JOHNSON. 'No,
Sir, Thrale will forget it first. SHE has many things that she MAY think
of. HE has many things that he MUST think of.' This was a very just
remark upon the different effect of those light pursuits which occupy
a vacant and easy mind, and those serious engagements which arrest
attention, and keep us from brooding over grief.

In the evening we went to the Town-hall, which was converted into a
temporary theatre, and saw Theodosius, with The Stratford Jubilee. I was
happy to see Dr. Johnson sitting in a conspicuous part of the pit, and
receiving affectionate homage from all his acquaintance. We were quite
gay and merry. I afterwards mentioned to him that I condemned myself for
being so, when poor Mr. and Mrs. Thrale were in such distress. JOHNSON.
'You are wrong, Sir; twenty years hence Mr. and Mrs. Thrale will not
suffer much pain from the death of their son. Now, Sir, you are to
consider, that distance of place, as well as distance of time, operates
upon the human feelings. I would not have you be gay in the presence
of the distressed, because it would shock them; but you may be gay at a
distance. Pain for the loss of a friend, or of a relation whom we love,
is occasioned by the want which we feel. In time the vacuity is filled
with something else; or sometimes the vacuity closes up of itself.'

Mr. Seward and Mr. Pearson, another clergyman here, supt with us at our
inn, and after they left us, we sat up late as we used to do in London.

Here I shall record some fragments of my friend's conversation during
this jaunt.

'Marriage, Sir, is much more necessary to a man than to a woman; for he
is much less able to supply himself with domestick comforts. You will
recollect my saying to some ladies the other day, that I had often
wondered why young women should marry, as they have so much more
freedom, and so much more attention paid to them while unmarried, than
when married. I indeed did not mention the STRONG reason for their
marrying--the MECHANICAL reason.' BOSWELL. 'Why, that IS a strong one.
But does not imagination make it much more important than it is in
reality