' But Johnson's juvenile poem was naturally
impregnated with the fire of opposition, and upon every account was
universally admired.
Though thus elevated into fame, and conscious of uncommon powers, he
had not that bustling confidence, or, I may rather say, that animated
ambition, which one might have supposed would have urged him to
endeavour at rising in life. But such was his inflexible dignity of
character, that he could not stoop to court the great; without which,
hardly any man has made his way to a high station. He could not expect
to produce many such works as his London, and he felt the hardships of
writing for bread; he was, therefore, willing to resume the office of a
schoolmaster, so as to have a sure, though moderate income for his life;
and an offer being made to him of the mastership of a school, provided
he could obtain the degree of Master of Arts, Dr. Adams was applied
to, by a common friend, to know whether that could be granted him as
a favour from the University of Oxford.
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