A STATUE FOR DR. JOHNSON IN LONDON. [To THY EDITOR
OF THY "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—September 18th, 1909, will be the bicentenary of Dr. Samuel Johnson's birth. As one who owes much to this great man, may I suggest that his statue should be erected iu some part of London connected with the philosopher's daily life? A friend suggests Kingsway, as the site outside St. Clement Danes is now occupied by Gladstone's statue. If an appeal for funds were made by a representative body of literary men, I feel sure it would evoke a world-wide response. Let it be a statue of the Doctor "in his habit as he lived " after Reynolds's great picture in the National Gallery, with bas-reliefs showing Johnson at the club (with portraits of Reynolds, Goldsmith, Garrick, Burke, &c.), Johnson in the Hebrides (meeting with Flora Macdonald), and other notable scenes from the life of this good and just man.—I am, Sir, &c., S. S.
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