He said, 'It
would have hung heavy on my heart if I had not seen him. No man ever
paid more attention to another than he has done to me; and I have
neglected him, not wilfully, but from being otherwise occupied. Always,
Sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination
prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, will love
you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you.'
I asked him if he was not dissatisfied with having so small a share
of wealth, and none of those distinctions in the state which are the
objects of ambition. He had only a pension of three hundred a year. Why
was he not in such circumstances as to keep his coach? Why had he not
some considerable office? JOHNSON. 'Sir, I have never complained of the
world; nor do I think that I have reason to complain. It is rather to
be wondered at that I have so much. My pension is more out of the usual
course of things than any instance that I have known. Here, Sir, was
a man avowedly no friend to Government at the time, who got a pension
without asking for it.
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