AcircumstancewhichcouldnotfailtobeverypleasingtoJohnsonoccurredthisyear。TheTragedyofSirThomasOverbury，writtenbyhisearlycompanioninLondon，RichardSavage，wasbroughtoutwithalterationsatDrury-lanetheatre。TheProloguetoitwaswrittenbyMr。RichardBrinsleySheridan；inwhich，afterdescribingverypatheticallythewretchednessof’Ill-fatedSavage，atwhosebirthwasgiv’nNoparentbuttheMuse，nofriendbutHeav’n：’
heintroducedanelegantcomplimenttoJohnsononhisDictionary，thatwonderfulperformancewhichcannotbetoooftenortoohighlypraised；ofwhichMr。Harris，inhisPhilologicalInquiries，justlyandliberallyobserves：’Suchisitsmerit，thatourlanguagedoesnotpossessamorecopious，learned，andvaluablework。’TheconcludinglinesofthisProloguewerethese：——
’SopleadsthetalethatgivestofuturetimesTheson’smisfortunesandtheparent’scrimes；
Thereshallhisfameifown’dto-nightsurvive，Fix’dbyTHEHANDTHATBIDSOURLANGUAGELIVE。’
Mr。Sheridanhereatoncedidhonourtohistasteandtohisliberalityofsentiment，byshewingthathewasnotprejudicedfromtheunluckydifferencewhichhadtakenplacebetweenhisworthyfatherandDr。Johnson。Ihavealreadymentioned，thatJohnsonwasverydesirousofreconciliationwitholdMr。Sheridan。Itwill，therefore，notseematallsurprizingthathewaszealousinacknowledgingthebrilliantmeritofhisson。Whileithadasyetbeendisplayedonlyinthedrama，JohnsonproposedhimasamemberofTHELITERARYCLUB，observing，that’Hewhohaswrittenthetwobestcomediesofhisage，issurelyaconsiderableman。’Andhehad，accordingly，thehonourtobeelected；foranhonouritundoubtedlymustbeallowedtobe，whenitisconsideredofwhomthatsocietyconsists，andthatasingleblackballexcludesacandidate。