and of my dear Lucy and other affairs, my

heart will be at ease on Monday to give thee a particular account, especially if a Letter should inform me that thy leg is better, for I hope you do not think so unkindly of me as to imagine that I can be at rest while I believe my dear Tetty in pain.

Be assured, my dear Girl, that I have seen nobody in these rambles upon which I have been forced, that has not contribute \sic~\ to confirm my esteem and affection for thee, though that esteem and affection only con- tributed to encrease my unhappiness when I reflected that the most amiable woman in the world was exposed by my means to miseries which I could not relieve.

I am,

My charming Love Yours

SAM. JOHNSON.

January 3 1st, 1739-40.

To Mr. James Elphinston

DEAR SIR,

You have, as I find by every kind of evidence, lost an excellent mother ; and I hope you will not think me incapable of partaking of your grief. I have a mother, now eighty-two years

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