esses he was most generous: numerous, indeed, are the recorded
instances; those unrecorded may be infinitely more numerous, for
generosity was with him a habit. In the teeth of Mr Cunningham's
insinuations we will extract from Northcote some passages upon this
point. "At that time, indeed, Johnson was under many pecuniary
obligations, as well as literary ones, to Sir Joshua, whose generous
kindness would never permit his friends to _ask_ a pecuniary favour, his
purse and heart being always open." That his heart as well as his purse
was open, the following anecdote more than indicates. We are tempted to
give it unaltered, as we find it in the words of Northcote:--

"Sir Joshua, as his usual custom, looked over the daily morning
paper at his breakfast time; and on one of those perusals,
whilst reading an account of the Old Bailey sessions, to his
great astonishment, saw that a prisoner had been tried and
condemned to death for a robbery committed on the person of one
of his own servants, a negro, who had been with him for some
time. He immediately rung the bell for the servants, in order
to make his enquiries, and was soon convinced of the truth of
the matter related in the newspaper. This black man had lived
in his service as footman for several years, and has been
portrayed in several pictures, particularly in one of the
Marquis of Granby, where he holds the horse of that general.
Sir Joshua reprimanded this black servant for his conduct, and
especially for not having informed him of this curious
adventure; when the man said he had concealed it only to avoid
the blame he should have incurred had he told it. He then
related the following circumstances of the business, saying,
that Mrs Anna Williams (the old blind lady lived at the house
of Dr Johnson) had some time previous dined at Sir Joshua's
with Miss Reynolds; that in the evening she went home to Bolt
Court, Fleet Street, in a hackney coach, and that he had been
sent to attend her to her house. On his return he had met with
companions who had detained him till so late an hour, that when
he came to Sir Joshua's house, he found the doors were shut,
and all the servants gone to rest. In this dilemma he wandered
in the street till he came to a watch-house, in which he took
shelter for the remainder of the night, among the variety of
miserable companions to be