I conjecture that Strahan had hoped to get a share in
the lease.
VIII.
_A letter about a cancel in Johnson's 'Journey to the Western Islands
of Scotland', dated Nov. 30_, 1774.[In the possession of Messrs. Pearson
and Co., 46, Pall Mall.]
'SIR,
'I waited on you this morning having forgotten your new engagement; for
this you must not reproach me, for if I had looked upon your present
station with malignity I could not have forgotten it. I came to consult
you upon a little matter that gives me some uneasiness. In one of the
pages there is a severe censure of the clergy of an English Cathedral
which I am afraid is just, but I have since recollected that from me
it may be thought improper, for the Dean did me a kindness about forty
years ago. He is now very old, and I am not young. Reproach can do
him no good, and in myself I know not whether it is zeal or wantonness.
Can a leaf be cancelled without too much trouble? tell me what I shall
do. I have no settled choice, but I would not wish to allow the charge.
To cancel it seems the surer side. Determine for me.
'I am, Sir, Your most humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'Nov. 30, 1774.
'Tell me your mind: if you will cancel it I will write something to fill
up the vacuum. Please to direct to the borough.'
Mr. Strahan's 'new engagement' was in the House of Commons at Westminster,
to which he had been elected for the first time as member for Malmesbury.
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