第50章

Imust，againandagain，intreatofmyreadersnottosupposethatmyimperfectrecordofconversationcontainsthewholeofwhatwassaidbyJohnson，orothereminentpersonswholivedwithhim。WhatIhavepreserved，however，hasthevalueofthemostperfectauthenticity。

HeurgedGeneralOglethorpetogivetheworldhisLife。Hesaid，’IknownomanwhoseLifewouldbemoreinteresting。IfIwerefurnishedwithmaterials，Ishouldbeverygladtowriteit。’

Mr。ScottofAmwell’sElegieswerelyingintheroom。Dr。Johnsonobserved，’Theyareverywell；butsuchastwentypeoplemightwrite。’UponthisItookoccasiontocontrovertHorace’smaxim，’——mediocribusessepoetisNonDi，nonhomines，nonconcesserecolumnae。’

Forhere，(Iobserved，)wasaverymiddle-ratepoet，whopleasedmanyreaders，andthereforepoetryofamiddlesortwasentitledtosomeesteem；norcouldIseewhypoetryshouldnot，likeeverythingelse，havedifferentgradationsofexcellence，andconsequentlyofvalue。Johnsonrepeatedthecommonremark，that，’asthereisnonecessityforourhavingpoetryatall，itbeingmerelyaluxury，aninstrumentofpleasure，itcanhavenovalue，unlesswhenexquisiteinitskind。’Ideclaredmyselfnotsatisfied。’Whythen，Sir，(saidhe，)Horaceandyoumustsettleit。’Hewasnotmuchinthehumouroftalking。

Nomoreofhisconversationforsomedaysappearsinmyjournal，exceptthatwhenagentlemantoldhimhehadboughtasuitoflaceforhislady，hesaid，’Well，Sir，youhavedoneagoodthingandawisething。’’Ihavedoneagoodthing，(saidthegentleman，)butIdonotknowthatIhavedoneawisething。’JOHNSON。’Yes，Sir；

nomoneyisbetterspentthanwhatislaidoutfordomesticksatisfaction。Amanispleasedthathiswifeisdrestaswellasotherpeople；andawifeispleasedthatsheisdrest。’

OnFriday，April14，beingGood-Friday，Irepairedtohiminthemorning，accordingtomyusualcustomonthatday，andbreakfastedwithhim。Iobservedthathefastedsoverystrictly，thathedidnoteventastebread，andtooknomilkwithhistea；Isupposebecauseitisakindofanimalfood。

ItoldhimthatIhadbeeninformedbyMr。Orme，thatmanypartsoftheEast-IndieswerebettermappedthantheHighlandsofScotland。

JOHNSON。’Thatacountrymaybemapped，itmustbetravelledover。’’Nay，(saidI，meaningtolaughwithhimatoneofhisprejudices，)can’tyousay，itisnotWORTHmapping？’

AswewalkedtoSt。Clement’schurch，andsawseveralshopsopenuponthismostsolemnfast-dayoftheChristianworld，Iremarked，thatonedisadvantagearisingfromtheimmensityofLondon，was，thatnobodywasheededbyhisneighbour；therewasnofearofcensurefornotobservingGood-Friday，asitoughttobekept，andasitiskeptincountry-towns。Hesaid，itwas，uponthewhole，verywellobservedeveninLondon。He，however，owned，thatLondonwastoolarge；butadded，’Itisnonsensetosaytheheadistoobigforthebody。Itwouldbeasmuchtoobig，thoughthebodywereeversolarge；thatistosay，thoughthecountrywereeversoextensive。Ithasnosimilaritytoaheadconnectedwithabody。’

Dr。Wetherell，MasterofUniversityCollege，Oxford，accompaniedushomefromchurch；andafterhewasgone，therecametwoothergentlemen，oneofwhomutteredthecommonplacecomplaints，thatbytheincreaseoftaxes，labourwouldbedear，othernationswouldundersellus，andourcommercewouldberuined。JOHNSON。

(smiling，)’Neverfear，Sir。Ourcommerceisinaverygoodstate；

andsupposewehadnocommerceatall，wecouldliveverywellontheproduceofourowncountry。’Icannotomittomention，thatI

neverknewanymanwhowaslessdisposedtobequerulousthanJohnson。Whetherthesubjectwashisownsituation，orthestateofthepublick，orthestateofhumannatureingeneral，tho

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