"
In the meantime Johnson had brought out his great Dictionary, at which
he had worked for years in extreme poverty, and in the progress of which
he had asked Lord Chesterfield to become his patron, in the hope that he
would render him some financial assistance. When he went to see him,
however, he was kept waiting for over an hour, while his lordship amused
himself by conversing with some second-rate mortal named "Colley
Cibber," and when this man came out, and Johnson saw who it was for whom
he had been kept waiting, he hurriedly and indignantly took his
departure. When his Dictionary was nearly ready for publication and
likely to become a great success, his lordship wrote to Johnson offering
to become his patron; but it was now too late, and Johnson's reply was
characteristic of the man, as the following passages from his letter
show:
Seven years, my Lord, have now passed since I waited in your outward
rooms, or was repulsed from your door; during which time I have been
pushing on with my work through Difficulties, of which it is useless
to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of
publication, without one act of assistance, one word of
encouragement, or one-smile of favour.
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