Then Johnson--so report said--indignant,
not only for having been kept waiting but also for _whom_, went away, it
was affirmed, in disgust; but this was solemnly denied by the doctor,
who assured Boswell that his wrath proceeded from continual neglect on
the part of Chesterfield.
Whilst the Dictionary was in progress, Chesterfield seemed to forget the
existence of him, whom, together with the other literary men, he
affected to patronize.
He once sent him ten pounds, after which he forgot Johnson's address,
and said 'the great author had changed his lodgings.' People who really
wish to benefit others can always discover where they lodge. The days of
patronage were then expiring, but they had not quite ceased, and a
dedication was always to be in some way paid for.
When the publication of the Dictionary drew near, Lord Chesterfield
flattered himself that, in spite of all his neglect, the great
compliment of having so vast an undertaking dedicated to him would still
be paid, and wrote some papers in the 'World,' recommending the work,
more especially referring to the 'plan,' and terming Johnson the
'dictator,' in respect to language: 'I will not only obey him,' he said,
'as my dictator, like an old Roman, but like a modern Roman, will
implicitly believe in him as my pope.
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