He added, 'my father was a foolish old
man; that is to say, foolish in talking of his children.'
Young Johnson had the misfortune to be much afflicted with the
scrophula, or king's evil, which disfigured a countenance naturally well
formed, and hurt his visual nerves so much, that he did not see at all
with one of his eyes, though its appearance was little different from
that of the other. There is amongst his prayers, one inscribed 'When, my
EYE was restored to its use,' which ascertains a defect that many of his
friends knew he had, though I never perceived it. I supposed him to be
only near-sighted; and indeed I must observe, that in no other respect
could I discern any defect in his vision; on the contrary, the force of
his attention and perceptive quickness made him see and distinguish all
manner of objects, whether of nature or of art, with a nicety that is
rarely to be found. When he and I were travelling in the Highlands of
Scotland, and I pointed out to him a mountain which I observed resembled
a cone, he corrected my inaccuracy, by shewing me, that it was indeed
pointed at the top, but that one side of it was larger than the other.
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