Johnson's father was a bookseller in a small way in the English city of Lichfield, where there is a beautiful cathedral, which some day you may see. Both Johnson's father and mother did everything they could for their son. It soon was evident at home and at school that the boy had an unusually fine intelligence. He went to Oxford as a sizar. This means that he had not enough money to live on, so he worked in the college to pay his way. There were few opportunities then for students to earn money. Samuel Johnson had a fine, sturdy self-respect. He was poor, but he was not ashamed of being poor. When someone, who knew {190} that his clothes were shabby, put a pair of boots outside his door, Johnson threw the boots out of the window. He was not the kind of man to take help. There is something comical about this story. We cannot help laughing, yet we like, and respect, the shabby student who was independent. Johnson was not good-looking, and he had odd tricks of manner, but his mind and character impressed everyone. One day, when he was a famous man, he performed what he considered an act of penance in memory of his father. His father, whose business was going very badly, had wanted him to stand beside a bookstall in Uttoxeter, near Lichfield, and sell any books that he could. Johnson was not willing to do this. Afterwards, he must have regretted his refusal keenly. Many years later, when he visited Lichfield with friends, they missed him one day from breakfast till night. Presently he drove up in a post chaise; and when they inquired urgently what he had been doing, he told them the story of how he had been unwilling to help his father. To show his sorrow, he had gone to Uttoxeter and had stood, bareheaded, beside the bookstall from which his father used to sell books, for an hour at the busiest time of day. Perhaps some people might think it was an odd thing for him to do. But only a great and humble spirit can inspire anyone to carry out such an action. After he left Oxford, he was a tutor. But since his appearance and manner were both odd, he had difficulty in finding and keeping situations. All the while he wanted to be a writer, and we may be sure that he practised writing. He married, when {191} he was a comparatively young man, a widow much older than he was. He was deeply attached to his wife. After her death, years later, he never ceased to mourn for her, and he treasured every memory of their life together.