ThatportionoftheUniversalHistorywhichwaswrittenbyhimdoesnotseemtometobecomposedwithpeculiarspirit，butalltracesofthewitandthewandererwereprobablywornoutbeforeheundertookthework。Hispiousandpatientenduranceofatediousillness，endinginanexemplarydeath，confirmedthestrongimpressionhismerithadmadeuponthemindofMr。Johnson。\"ItissoVERYdifficult，\"saidhe，always，\"forasickmannottobeascoundrel。Oh！setthepillowssoft，hereisMr。Grumblera—coming。Ah！letnoairinfortheworld，Mr。Grumblerwillbeherepresently。\"
Thisperpetualpreferenceissooffensive，wheretheprivilegesofsicknessare，besides，supportedbywealth，andnourishedbydependence，thatonecannotmuchwonderthataroughmindisrevoltedbythem。Itwas，however，atoncecomicalandtouchant（astheFrenchcallit），toobserveMr。
Johnsonsohabituallywatchfulagainstthissortofbehaviour，thathewasoftenreadytosuspecthimselfofit;andwhenoneaskedhimgently，howhedid？——\"Readytobecomeascoundrel，madam，\"wouldcommonlybetheanswer;
\"withalittlemorespoilingyouwill，Ithink，makemeacompleterascal！\"
Hisdesireofdoinggoodwasnot，however，lessenedbyhisaversiontoasickchamber。Hewouldhavemadeanillmanwellbyanyexpenseorfatigueofhisown，soonerthananyofthecanters。Canter，indeed，washenone：