“This was not showing the attention which might have been expected to the ‘guide, philosopher, and friend;’ the Imlac who had hastened from the country to console a distressed mother, who he understood was very anxious for his return.  They had, I found, without ceremony, proceeded on their journey.  I was glad to understand from him that it was still resolved that his tour to Italy with Mr. and Mrs. Thrale should take place, of which he had entertained some doubt, on account of the loss which they had suffered; and his doubts afterwards appeared to be well founded.  He observed, indeed, very justly, that ’their loss was an additional reason for their going abroad; and if it had not been fixed that he should have been one of the party, he would force them out; but he would not advise them unless his advice was asked, lest they might suspect that he recommended what he wished on his own account.’  I was not pleased that his intimacy with Mr. Thrale’s family, though it no doubt contributed much to his comfort and enjoyment, was not without some degree of restraint[1]:  not, as has been grossly suggested[2], that it was required of him as a task to talk for the entertainment of them and their company; but that he was not quite at his ease:  which, however, might partly be owing to his own honest pride—­that dignity of mind which is always jealous of appearing too compliant.”

[Footnote 1:  (Marginal note).  “What restraint can he mean?  Johnson kept every one else under restraint.”]

[Footnote 2:  (Marginal note.) “I do not believe it ever was suggested.”]

In his first letter of condolence on Mr. Thrale’s death, Johnson speaks of her having enjoyed happiness in marriage, “to a degree of which, without personal knowledge, I should have thought the description fabulous.”  The “Autobiography” and “Thraliana” tell a widely different tale.  The mortification of not finding herself appreciated by her husband was poignantly increased, during the last years of his life, by finding another offensively preferred to her.  He was so fascinated by one of her fair friends, as to lose sight altogether of what was due to appearances or to the feelings of his wife.

A full account of the lady in question is given in the “Thraliana”: 

“Miss Streatfield.—­I have since heard that Dr. Collier picked up a more useful friend, a Mrs. Streatfield, a widow, high in fortune and rather eminent both for the beauties of person and mind; her children, I find, he has been educating; and her eldest daughter is just now coming out into the world with a great character for elegance and literature.—­20 November, 1776.”