Mr. Thrale called upon him, and appeared to bear the loss of his son with a manly composure.  There was no affectation about him; and he talked, as usual, upon indifferent subjects.  He seemed to me to hesitate as to the intended Italian tour, on which, I flattered myself, he and Mrs. Thrale and Dr. Johnson were soon to set out; and, therefore, I pressed it as much as I could.  I mentioned, that Mr. Beauclerk had said, that Baretti, whom they were to carry with them, would keep them so long in the little towns of his own district, that they would not have time to see Rome.  I mentioned this, to put them on their guard.  Johnson.  ’Sir, we do not thank Mr. Beauclerk for supposing that we are to be directed by Baretti.  No, Sir; Mr. Thrale is to go, by my advice, to Mr. Jackson, (the all-knowing) and get from him a plan for seeing the most that can be seen in the time that we have to travel.  We must, to be sure, see Rome, Naples, Florence, and Venice, and as much more as we can.’ (Speaking with a tone of animation.)

When I expressed an earnest wish for his remarks on Italy, he said, ’I do not see that I could make a book upon Italy; yet I should be glad to get two hundred pounds, or five hundred pounds, by such a work.’  This shewed both that a journal of his Tour upon the Continent was not wholly out of his contemplation, and that he uniformly adhered to that strange opinion, which his indolent disposition made him utter:  ’No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.’  Numerous instances to refute this will occur to all who are versed in the history of literature.

He gave us one of the many sketches of character which were treasured in his mind, and which he was wont to produce quite unexpectedly in a very entertaining manner.  ’I lately, (said he,) received a letter from the East Indies, from a gentleman whom I formerly knew very well; he had returned from that country with a handsome fortune, as it was reckoned, before means were found to acquire those immense sums which have been brought from thence of late; he was a scholar, and an agreeable man, and lived very prettily in London, till his wife died.  After her death, he took to dissipation and gaming, and lost all he had.  One evening he lost a thousand pounds to a gentleman whose name I am sorry I have forgotten.  Next morning he sent the gentleman five hundred pounds, with an apology that it was all he had in the world.  The gentleman sent the money back to him, declaring he would not accept of it; and adding, that if Mr. ------ had occasion for five hundred pounds more, he would lend it to him.  He resolved to go out again to the East Indies, and make his fortune anew.  He got a considerable appointment, and I had some intention of accompanying him.  Had I thought then as I do now, I should have gone:  but, at that time, I had objections to quitting England.’