Britain. The concluding observations are written with so much ease and spirit, that they may be read by those who are the least interested in the subject."

The following is, as far as we have been able to ascertain, a correct list of Sheffield's Works:

1. Observations on the Commerce of the American States; 8vo. 1783.

2. Observations on the Manufactures, Trade, and present State of Ireland; 8vo. 1785.

3. Observations on a Project for Abolishing the SlaveTrade; 8vo. 1789.

4. Observations on the Corn Bill now pending in Parliament; 8vo. 1791.

5. Substance of Lord Sheffield's Speech on the Subject of the Union with Ireland; 8vo. 1799.

6. Remarks on the Deficiency of Grain, occasioned by the bad Harvest of 1799; 8vo. 1800.

7. Observations on the Objections made to the Exportation of Wool from Great Britain to Ireland; 8vo. 1800.

8. Strictures on the Necessity of maintaining the Navigation and Colonial System of Great Britain; 8vo. 1800.

9. The Orders in Council and the American Embargo, beneficial to the Commercial and Political Interests of Great Britain; 8vo. 1809.

10. A Letter on the Corn Laws, and on the Means of obviating the Mischiefs and Distresses which are rapidly increasing; 8vo. 1815.

11. On the Trade in Wool and Woollens, extracted from the Reports addressed to the Wool Meetings in 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1812.

12. Report at the Meeting at Lewes Wool Fair, July 26,

1813.

[The last two pamphlets have been recorded in the Pamphleteer.]

13. Report at the Meeting at Lewes Wool Fair, 1820.

331

No. V.

MRS. PIOZZI.

THE name of this lady has been so frequently connected with the literary annals of this country, for the last fifty years, that a succinct account of her life, illustrated by anecdotes of the distinguished society in which she moved, and of which she generally formed the nucleus, would of itself occupy a volume. We must, therefore, content ourselves with a narrower field of discussion, and referring our readers to an abundant fund of anecdote, already before the public, of her contemporaries, confine the present notice almost exclusively to herself and her writings.

Hester Lynch Salusbury was the daughter of John Salusbury, Esq. by Miss Hester Maria Cotton, formerly of Bach-yGraig, in North Wales, and niece to Sir Thomas Salusbury, who rose to considerable eminence as a civilian in Doctors' Commons. She was born in 1740, at Bodville, in Caernarvonshire, and received a regular classical education under the superintendance of the late learned Dr. Collyer. Of her early years but little information has been transmitted; they must have passed in seclusion and study, or she could never have acquired that variety of knowledge, and that general acquaintance with literature, even in its most abstract and difficult branches, which she so soon began to display; for, besides an acquaintance, by no means superficial, with the Greek and Latin languages, Miss Salusbury was considered a tolerably good Hebraist, acquirements which, added to her great personal attractions, conduced to render her the admiration of the fashionable circles to which she was introduced.

In her twenty-fourth year Miss Salusbury married the late Henry Thrale, Esq., an eminent brewer in the Borough of

Southwark. This respectable man, a year subsequent to his marriage, was introduced by Mr. Murphy to Dr. Johnson; with whom an intimacy was speedily cultivated, which ended only with the lives of the parties. So well pleased was our great biographer with the hospitable attentions he received from the new-married pair, and so highly were they gratified by his visits, that their invitations grew more frequent, and he at length became as one of the family, and an apartment was appropriated to him both in their house at Southwark, and in their villa at Streatham.

"Johnson (says Boswell) had a very sincere esteem for Mr. Thrale, as a man of excellent principles, a good scholar, well skilled in trade, of a sound understanding, and of manners such as presented the character of a plain English 'squire. As a false notion has prevailed that Mr. Thrale was inferior, and, in some degree, insignificant, compared with Mrs. Thrale, may be proper to give a true state of the case from the authority of Johnson himself, in his own words:

it

"I know no man (said the Doctor) who is more master of his wife and family than Thrale; if he but holds up a finger he is obeyed. It is a great mistake to suppose that she is above him in literary attainments: she is more flippant; but he has ten times her learning: he is a regular scholar; but her learning is that of a school-boy in one of the lower forms.""

Perhaps Johnson, who appears to have had a rooted dislike to the assumption of literary talent by a woman, with whatever justice her pretensions might be urged, was a little too severe upon his friend, whose attainments were unquestionably very far beyond those of the ladies of her time.

"Nothing (continues Boswell) could be more fortunate for Johnson than his connexion with this family. He had at Mr. Thrale's all the comforts and luxuries of life; his melancholy was diverted, and his irregular habits lessened by association with an agreeable and well-ordered family. He was treated with the utmost cordiality, and even affection. The vivacity of Mrs. Thrale's literary parties roused him to cheerfulness and exer

tion, even when they were alone; but this was not often the case; for he found here a constant succession of what gave him the highest enjoyment, -the society of the learned, the witty, and the eminent in every way; who were assembled in numerous companies, called forth his wonderful powers, and gratified him to admiration with which no man could be insensible."

Mrs. Piozzi, in her anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, gives the following account of her first interview with that literary colossus :

"The first time I ever saw this extraordinary person was in the year 1764, when Mr. Murphy, who had been long the friend and confidential intimate of Mr. Thrale, persuaded him to wish for Johnson's conversation, extolling it in terms which that of no other person could have deserved, till we are only in doubt how to obtain his company, and find an excuse for the invitation.

"Dr. Johnson liked his new acquaintance so much, however, that, from time to time, he dined with us every Thursday through the winter, and in the autumn of the next year went to Brighton, whence we were gone before his arrival; so that he was disappointed and enraged, and wrote us a letter expressive of anger, which we were very desirous to pacify, and to obtain his company again if possible. Mr. Murphy brought him back again to us very kindly, and from that time his visits grew more frequent; till, in the year 1766, his health, which he always complained of, grew so exceedingly bad, that he could not stir out of his room in the court he inhabited for many weeks together, I think months.

"Mr. Thrale's attentions and my own now became so acceptable to him, that he quitted his close habitation in London and came with us to Streatham, where I undertook the cure of his health; and had the honour and happiness of contributing to its restoration."

It appears that during the interval of Dr. Johnson's sojourn in Mr. Thrale's family, many differences arose between him and Mrs. Thrale's mother. Previous to her death, however, which happened in 1773, the Doctor and this lady were pre

fectly reconciled, and he consented to write an inscription for her tomb a few years afterwards. Whatever petty squabbles might have arisen out of the overbearing and impatient manners of Johnson, it is quite certain that this family contributed for fifteen years to the prolongation and comfort of his valuable life; and when the benevolent master of this social circle sank into the grave, the remembrance of his kindness was acknowledged by the living object of his regard, with the confession, that with him were buried many of his hopes and pleasures; that the face upon which he had looked for the last time, had never been turned upon him but with respect and benignity; that he obtained from him many opportunities of amusement, and turned to him as a refuge from disappointment and misfortune.

The death of Mr. Thrale took place April 4, 1781. Dr. Johnson was with him when he expired, and upon receiving a call to attend a meeting of the literary club, excused his absence by the following note:

"Mr. Johnson knows that Sir Joshua Reynolds, and the other gentlemen, will excuse his incompliance with his call, when they are told that Mr. Thrale died this morning.

"April 4, 1781."

The death of this worthy and hospitable man was a serious loss to Johnson, who, although he could not foresee all that afterwards happened, was sufficiently convinced; that the comforts which Mr. Thrale's family afforded him, would now, in a great measure cease. "He, however (says Boswell) continued to shew a kind attention to his widow and children, as long as it was acceptable; and he took upon him with a very earnest concern the office of one of the executors, the importance of which seemed greater than was usual to him, from his circumstances having been always such, that he had scarcely any share in the real business of life. His friends of the club were in hopes that Mr. Thrale might have made a liberal provision for him for life, which, as Mr. Thrale had left no son, and a very large fortune, it would have been highly to his honour to have done; and, considering Dr. Johnson's