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    aient he inspired Were entirely the result of his solid judgment , his unaffected sincerity , and the friendly benevolence with which he entered intd the interests of all who were connected with him . Although he was not remarkable for the encouragement he

    held out to authors- —the consequence of his being neither sanguine nor pushing ; yet it was his invariable rule , when the success of a work surpassed his expectations , to make the writer a partaker in the emolument , though he lay under no other obligation to do so

    than his own notions of justice and generosity . The kindness of his heart was equally conspicuous in . all the relations of life . His house and purse were always open to the calls of-friendship , kindred , or misfortune ; and perhaps few men of his means and condition have done more substantial services

    to persons whose merits and necessities recommended them to his notice . It is "well known that Mr . Johnson's literary connexions have lain in great part among the free inquirers both on religious and political topics . To these he applied for assistance when he established his Ci Analytical Review / ' which was first published in I 788 , and whjclj ,

    during the ten years of its existence ^ was unquestionably a principal repository of sentiments most favourable to the cause of liberty , both in politics and religion . For this exertion in favour of free inquiry , he was marked out as a victim by the administration of that important period of our history ; an administration that must forever be

    execrated by all those who wish well to the interests of mankind . For the unconscious offence of selling a few copies of a pamphlet of which he was "not-the publisher , and which was a reply , to one , of which he had sold a much

    larger number * the opportunity was taken of involving him in a prosecution that brought upon him the iufliction of fine and irnprisonrnent . IVTr . Johnson , who was not the publisher , who probably did not know the contents ¦ of the

    pamphlet > was sentenced to nine months confinement in the King ' s-Bench prison , and to a fine of 50 L while the publisher , who might be supposed to know the contents of the work , was , for the same offence of selling , sentenced to a fortnight ' s imprisonment only . Nevertheless it is understood , by the principles of our constitution , that j udges , in

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    their sentences , as well as juries iri their verdicts , know nothing more bf any * man than £ s proved in open court . It is gratifying , however * to relate , that during the height of party animosity , so little was he regarded personally as a party man , that

    he . continued to number among his in- * timate friends , several worthy persons of opposite sentiments and connections * who , with fiimself , were capable of considering a man s performance of the duties of life apart from his speculative opinions .

    Mr Johnson was superior in a high degree to mercenary views \ he frequently re-pablished works which he considered as conducive to the best interests of man ,, with no expectation of profit , sometimes with the almost

    certain prospect of loss . He often purchasd manuscripts of worthy and distressed persons , without any intention of printing , but as affording him an opportunity of relieving their necessities in the most handsome way , making them

    appear , as it were , parties in a contract , rather than dependents on his bounty . His mind was so admirably formed , as scarcely ever to be worn out by importunity ; and ^ perhaps , he rarely refused the solicitations of a needy author without expressing th 6 se feelings of sympathy and kindness which rendered him the object of general esteem 1 " I can-1

    not , ' said he , * ' afford you employment , and I am truly gr ieved that so many worthy characters should be willing and anxious to employ their industry and talents , and yet be without the means of so doing . ' Mr Johnson was of a weak and

    delicate frame of body , and was much afflicted - with asthmatic complaints , which visibly gained ground upon him as he advanced in years . The irhme ~ diate cause of his dissolution was a

    pleuritic attack , under which he quietly sunk after three days of patient suffering . His remains were deposited in the church-yard of Fulham , in which parish he had a country house . Pie was never married . He died on the

    jjoth of December , the same day nominally , that finished the earthly career of Mr . jjThonias Frmin , another benevolent citizen of London , whose character Jias been held in the highest venaration for more than a century . In many respects , there is' great similarity between these two excellent men .

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    Bbiivarg . $$

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1810, page 95, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2401/page/47/