If it be true that whatever has by his negligence been
amiss, may be redressed for a sum much less than has been awarded, the
remaining part ought in equity to be returned, or, what is more
desirable, abated. When the money is once paid, there is little hope of
getting it again.
'The load is, I believe, very hard upon him; he indulges some flattering
opinions that by the influence of his academical friends it may be
lightened, and will not be persuaded but that some testimony of my
kindness may be beneficial. I hope he has been guilty of nothing worse
than credulity, and he then certainly deserves commiseration. I never
heard otherwise than that he was an honest man, and I hope that by your
countenance and that of other gentlemen who favour or pity him some
relief may be obtained.
'I am, Sir, 'Your most humble servant, 'SAM. JOHNSON.' 'Bolt Court,
Fleet-street, 'Jan. 30, 1778.'
[1237] An ancestor of mine, a nursery-gardener, Thomas Wright by name,
after whom my grandfather, Thomas Wright Hill, was called, planted this
walk. The tradition preserved in my family is that on his wedding-day he
took six men with him and planted these trees. When blamed for keeping
the wedding-dinner waiting, he answered, that if what he had been doing
turned out well, it would be of far more value than a wedding-dinner.
[1238] The Rector of St.
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