We know that Johnson stated that all prison chaplains ought to be Catholic priests or Wesleyan ministers, "Sir," he said, "one of our regular clergy will probably not impress their mind sufficient ly; they should be attended by a Methodist preacher or a popish priest."
Sorrow and loss drove Johnson, like many others, to consider the lawfulness of prayers for the dead and the doctrine of purgatory. He was only 42 years of age when he lost his wife in 1751, his beloved "Tottie," and for the Temaining 33 years of his life he never ceased to pray for the repose of her soul and that she might be finally received into eternal happiness, at first preface ing his prayers with the proviso, so far as it may be lawful in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.