It is remarkable, that at this time his fancied activity
was for the moment so vigorous, that he promised his work should be
published before Christmas, 1757. Yet nine years elapsed before it
saw the light. His throes in bringing it forth had been severe and
remittent; and at last we may almost conclude that the Caesarian
operation was performed by the knife of Churchill, whose upbraiding
satire, I dare say, made Johnson's friends urge him to dispatch.
'He for subscribers bates his hook,
And takes your cash; but where's the book?
No matter where; wise fear, you know,
Forbids the robbing of a foe;
But what, to serve our private ends,
Forbids the cheating of our friends?'
* First proposed in 1745--ED.
About this period he was offered a living of considerable value in
Lincolnshire, if he were inclined to enter into holy orders. It was
a rectory in the gift of Mr. Langton, the father of his much
valued friend. But he did not accept of it; partly I believe from
a conscientious motive, being persuaded that his temper and habits
rendered him unfit for that assiduous and familiar instruction of
the vulgar and ignorant which he held to be an essential duty in a
clergyman; and partly because his love of a London life was so strong,
that he would have thought himself an exile in any other place,
particularly if residing in the country.
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