Читать книгу The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. - James Boswell - Страница 198

‘Gough-Square, 16 March.’

In the margin of this letter there is a memorandum in these words:—‘March 16, 1756. Sent six guineas. Witness, Win. Richardson.’ In the European Mag., vii. 54, there is the following anecdote recorded, for which Steevens most likely was the authority:—‘I remember writing to Richardson’ said Johnson, ‘from a spunging-house; and was so sure of my deliverance through his kindness and liberality, that before his reply was brought I knew I could afford to joke with the rascal who had me in custody, and did so over a pint of adulterated wine, for which at that instant I had no money to pay.’ It is very likely that this anecdote has no other foundation than Johnson’s second letter to Richardson, which is dated, not from a spunging-house, but from his own residence. What kind of fate awaited a man who was thrown into prison for debt is shown by the following passage in Wesley’s Journal (ii. 267), dated Feb. 3, 1753:—‘I visited one in the Marshalsea prison, a nursery of all manner of wickedness. O shame to man, that there should be such a place, such a picture of hell upon earth!’ A few days later he writes:—‘I visited as many more as I could. I found some in their cells under ground; others in their garrets, half starved both with cold and hunger, added to weakness and pain.’