Note 1233 — THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. (continued 7)
Reading edition
'He burned,' writes Mrs. Piozzi, 'many letters in the last week, I am told, and those written by his mother drew from him a flood of tears. Mr. Sastres saw him cast a melancholy look upon their ashes, which he took up and examined to see if a word was still legible.'—Piozzi Letters, ii. 383.