" He only got eight pupils, amongst
whom was David Garrick, who afterwards became the leading tragic actor
of his time. Johnson had for some time been at work on a tragedy called
_The Tragedy of Irene_, though whether this decided Garrick to become a
tragedy actor is not known; the play, however, did not succeed with the
play-going public in London, and had to be withdrawn. Neither did the
school succeed, and it had to be given up, Johnson, accompanied by David
Garrick, setting off to London, where it was said that he lived in a
garret on fourpence-halfpenny per day. Many years afterwards, when
Johnson was dining with a fashionable company, a remark was made
referring to an incident that occurred in a certain year, and Johnson
exclaimed: "That was the year when I came to London with
twopence-halfpenny in my pocket."
Garrick overheard the remark, and exclaimed: "Eh, what do you say? with
twopence-halfpenny in your pocket?"
"Why, yes; when I came with twopence-halfpenny in my pocket, and thou,
Davy, with three-halfpence in thine."
Poverty haunted Johnson all through life until 1762, when he was granted
a pension of L300 a year by King George III, on the recommendation of
Lord Bute, the Prime Minister, who, in making the offer, said: "It is
not given you for anything you are to do, but for what you have done.
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