Johnson lamented to Mr. Hector the state of one of their school-fellows,
Mr. Charles Congreve, a clergyman, which he thus described: 'He
obtained, I believe, considerable preferment in Ireland, but now lives
in London, quite as a valetudinarian, afraid to go into any house but
his own. He takes a short airing in his post-chaise every day. He has
an elderly woman, whom he calls cousin, who lives with him, and jogs
his elbow when his glass has stood too long empty, and encourages him in
drinking, in which he is very willing to be encouraged; not that he gets
drunk, for he is a very pious man, but he is always muddy. He confesses
to one bottle of port every day, and he probably drinks more. He is
quite unsocial; his conversation is quite monosyllabical: and when,
at my last visit, I asked him what a clock it was? that signal of my
departure had so pleasing an effect on him, that he sprung up to look at
his watch, like a greyhound bounding at a hare.' When Johnson took leave
of Mr.
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