[5] This Saturday was in fact 14 March.
[6] Johnson originally wrote garret, but, after his treatment by Lord Chesterfield, altered it to patron.
[7] This is now disputed, as it has been shown that there are in the second edition many variations from the original text.
[8] This was omitted in later editions and the following version retained: "A slave of state hired by a stipend to obey his master." See also the lines quoted from London, page 22.
[9] The Prime Minister.
[10] The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by the University of Dublin in 1765 and by the University of Oxford in 1775.
Johnson's Household
So far we have seen little of Johnson's domestic life. He was happiest in a club or a tavern and, in the early days of struggle, home was not much more for him than the place where he sat down to write for a living. In his garret, which he considered as his library, a visitor would find "about five or six Greek folios, a deal writing-desk, and a chair and a half. Johnson giving to his guest the entire seat, tottered himself on one with only three legs and one arm."
But the household which he gradually gathered round him was a remarkable one.