Could you have a
better purveyor for a little scandal? But I wish I was at Streatham.
I beg Miss to come early, and I may perhaps reward you with more
mischief."
She went to Streatham on the 18th April, 1782, and Johnson evidently
with her. In "Thraliana" she writes:
"_Saturday, 9th May, 1782._--To-day I bring home to Streatham my poor
Dr. Johnson: he went to town a week ago by the way of amusing
himself, and got so very ill that I thought I should never get him
home alive,"--by _home_ meaning Streatham.
Johnson to Mrs. Thrale:
"June 4th, 1782.
"This day I dined upon skate, pudding, goose, and your asparagus, and
could have eaten more, but was prudent. Pray for me, dear Madam; I
hope the tide has turned. The change that I feel is more than I durst
have hoped, or than I thought possible; but there has not yet passed
a whole day, and I may rejoice perhaps too soon. Come and see me, and
when you think best, upon due consideration, take me away."
From her to him:
"Streatham, June 14th, 1782.
"DEAR SIR,--I am glad you confess yourself peevish, for confession
must precede amendment. Do not study to be more unhappy than you are,
and if you can eat and sleep well, do not be frighted, for there can
be no real danger. Are you acquainted with Dr. Lee, the master of
Baliol College? And are you not delighted with his gaiety of manners
and youthful vivacity now that he is eighty-six years old? I never
heard a more perfect or excellent pun than his, when some one told
him how, in a late dispute among the Privy Counsellors, the Lord
Chancellor (Thurlow) struck the table with such violence that he
split it.
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