397, n. 2, 420). Johnson had the remission of the
convulsions on June 18, 1779. He recorded on June 18, 1780:--
'In the morning of this day last year I perceived the remission of
those convulsions in my breast which had distressed me for more than
twenty years. I returned thanks at church for the mercy granted me,
which has now continued a year.'--_Prayers and Meditations_, p. 183.
Three days later he wrote to Mrs. Thrale:--
'It was a twelvemonth last Sunday since the convulsions in my breast
left me. I hope I was thankful when I recollected it; by removing
that disorder a great improvement was made in the enjoyment of life.'
--_Piozzi Letters_, ii. 163. (See _ante_, iii. 397, n. 1.)
He was at Ashbourne on June 18, 1779 (_ante_, iii. 453).
On April 20, 1778, the very day of which this letter bears the date,
he recorded:--
'After a good night, as I am forced to reckon, I rose seasonably....
In reviewing my time from Easter, 1777, I found a very melancholy
and shameful blank. So little has been done that days and months are
without any trace. My health has, indeed, been very much interrupted.
My nights have been commonly not only restless, but painful and fatiguing.
....Some relaxation of my breast has been procured, I think, by opium,
which, though it never gives me sleep, frees my breast from spasms.'
--_Prayers and Meditations_, p. 169. See _ante_, iii. 317, n.
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