On his death-bed his last requests of Sir Joshua were simpler:
"To forgive him thirty pounds which he had borrowed of him; to read the Bible; and never to use his pencil on a Sunday."
Sir Joshua readily acquiesced.
FOOTNOTES:
Bennet Langton and Topham Beauclerk
"Sir," said Dr Johnson "I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance," and even Boswell did not attempt "to trace his acquaintance with each particular person."
A task from which Boswell shrank will certainly not be attempted here; but two friends, who were both original members of the Literary Club and whose names occur very often in Boswell's story, must be considered for a moment—Bennet Langton and Topham Beauclerk.