1228. Chatsworth: The Derbyshire seat of the dukes of Devonshire.
1229. Prceterea… sola: ‘Besides all this, the little blood in his now chilly frame is never warm except with fever’ – Juvenal, Satires, x.217–18.
1230. Born… in London die: The Spectator, 518 (24 October 1712).
1231. But who… with death: George Colman, Two Odes (1760), p. 9; the line is reused in his and Robert Lloyd’s affectionate parody of Gray’s ‘The Bard’, printed in Poems by Mr. Gray (1768), p. 181.
1232. non progredi, est regredi: Not to make progress is to go back.
1233. Aug. 25: In fact 26 August.
1234. acceptum et expensum: Income and expense.
1235. res familiares: Domestic economies.
1236. a little favour from the court: Johnson probably refers to Reynolds’s appointment as court painter to George III.
1237. hydropick tumour: A tumour charged or swollen with water (OED).
1238. Mr. Garrick’s… his edition of Shakspeare: See above, p. 362.
1239. a curious edition of Politian: See above, p. 53.
1240. There was wanting… and right: Hawkins, The Life of Samuel Johnson, p. 409.
1241. a judicious friend: Probably Edmond Malone.
1242. Broad-market-street: In fact Bread Market Street.
1243. Salve… parens: ‘Hail, great Mother!’ – Virgil, Georgics, ii.173.
1244. invictum… Catonis: ‘Cato’s stubborn soul’ – Horace, Odes, II.i.24.
1245. Intentum… senectuti: ‘His mind was always as resilient as a strung bow, and he was never affected by the slackening of old age’ –Cato Major, XI.38 (slightly misremembered at the end).
1246. Ita… suum: ‘A truly admirable old age is one in which a man still defends his opinions, still claims justice for himself, is beholden to no one, and maintains his just rights until his last breath’ – ibid.
1247. Spartam… orna: ‘Sparta is your country – make the most of it’ – Erasmus, Chiliades, II.i (1559), p. 485.
1248. Be… when you are not angry: A remark Sir William Temple makes apropos the spleen (to which he thinks the Dutch are particularly prone) in his ‘Observations Upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands’ (1673): ‘this is a Disease too refin’d for this Country and People, who are well, when they are not ill; and pleas’d, when they are not troubled; are content, because they think little of it; and seek their Happiness in the common Ease and Commodities of Life, or the encrease of Riches; not amusing themselves with the more speculative Contrivance of Passion, or Refinements of Pleasure’ (Works, 2 vols. (1720), I, 54).
1249. JEgri Ephemeris: ‘A sick man’s journal’.
1250. cum notis variorum: With various notes.
1251. De Natura Deorum: ‘On the nature of the gods’.
1252. Minutice Literarice: ‘Literary trifles’.
1253. While through life’s maze… glows: John Courtenay, A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the late Samuel Johnson (1786), pp. 24, 26-7.
1254. De Bello Catilinario: ‘On the Catiline War’.
1255. the Anthologia: The Greek Anthology, a collection of Greek epigrams, songs, epitaphs and rhetorical exercises that includes about 3,700 short poems, mostly written in elegiac couplets.
1256. The Observer: Richard Cumberland, The Observer (1785).
1257. ignotum per ignotius: The unknown by the less well-known.
1258. A distinguished authour: Henry Mackenzie.
1259. imitari aveo: ‘Eager emulation’ – Lucretius, iii.6.
1260. Alma Mater: A title given by the Romans to several goddesses, especially to Ceres and Cybele, and transferred in England to universities and schools regarded as ‘fostering mothers’ to their alumni (OED).
1261. tumidity: The quality or condition of being tumid; swollenness (OED).
1262. An ingenious member: William Seward.
1263. Eumelian: Musical or rhythmical.
1264. Fraxinean: Pertaining to the ash (fraxinus being the Latin word for an ash tree).
1265. warring against the law of his mind: Romans 7:23.
1266. presumptuous sin: Psalms 19:13.
1267. cast a stone: John 8:7.
1268. die… one of the Princes: Psalms 82:7.
1269. Can’st thou not… the heart: Macbeth, V.iii.42-7.
1270. therein the patient… himself: Macbeth, V.iii.48-9.
1271. Orandum… sano: ‘We should pray for a sound mind in a sound body’ – Juvenal, Satires, x.356.
1272. Qui… ponat: ‘Who considers long life to be the least of Nature’s gifts’ – Juvenal, Satires, x.358.
1273. supremum for extremum: Supremum: final or dying. Extremum: long.
1274. nobilissimus: Most noble.
1275. Preces… inauditas: ‘He seems to have been careful in his prayers; I hope they were heard.’
1276. a person: George Steevens.
1277. Melius… non errasse: ‘Better so to have repented than never to have sinned.’
1278. Te teneam… manu: ‘When I expire, let my trembling hand hold yours’ – Tibullus, I.i.60. Cf. Johnson, Adventurer, 58 (1753).
1279. Mr. Blackwelclass="underline" In fact the Revd Anthony Blackwall.
1280. Tantùm… Virgilium: ‘I caught a glimpse of Virgil’ – Ovid, Tristia, IV.x.5.
1281. Dr. P∗∗∗∗∗∗∗: Joseph Priestley.
1282. long hundred: Six score, or 120.
1283. an excellent lady: Mrs John Hoole.
1284. a rich… young gentleman: Sir John Lade.
1285. ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗∗: Sir John.
1286. use his penciclass="underline" Paint (and thus engage in gainful work).
1287. Samuel Johnson… lxxv : ‘Samuel Johnson, LL.D., died 13 December in the year of Our Lord 1784. Aged 75.’
1288. venew: A thrust or hit in fencing; a stroke or wound with a weapon (OED, 2a).
1289. Guide, Philosopher, and Friend: Pope, An Essay on Man, iv.390.
1290. a lady: Anne Penny.
1291. A… CVRAVER: ‘Alpha Omega | To Samuel Johnson, | a grammarian and critic | of great skill in English literature; | a poet admirable for the light of his sentences | and the weight of his words; | a most grave teacher of virtue | an excellent man of singular example, | who lived 75 years, 2 months, 14 days. | He died on the 13 December in the year of Christ 1784, | was buried in the Church of St Peter, Westminster, | the 20 December 1784. | His literary friends and companions | by a collection of money | caused this monument to be made.’
1292. ENMAKAPEΣΣIΠONΩNANTAIOΣEIHAMOIBH: An alteration by Dr Samuel Parr of a line of Dionysius Periegetes (l. 1186) which Johnson himself had used to conclude the final Rambler paper (208, 4 March 1752): Aντων x μαxαων ανταζιo ιη αμoιβη. Johnson himself translated the line into a couplet: ‘Celestial Pow’rs! that piety regard, | From you my labours wait their last reward.’