第77章

WhenwegottoDr。Johnson’shouse，andwereseatedinhislibrary，thedialoguewentonadmirably。EDWARDS。’Sir，IrememberyouwouldnotletussayPRODIGIOUSatCollege。Foreventhen，Sir，(turningtome，)hewasdelicateinlanguage，andweallfearedhim。’*JOHNSON。(toEdwards，)’Fromyourhavingpractisedthelawlong，Sir，Ipresumeyoumustberich。’EDWARDS。’No，Sir；Igotagooddealofmoney；butIhadanumberofpoorrelationstowhomIgaveagreatpartofit。’JOHNSON。’Sir，youhavebeenrichinthemostvaluablesenseoftheword。’EDWARDS。’ButIshallnotdierich。’JOHNSON。’Nay，sure，Sir，itisbettertoLIVErichthantoDIErich。’EDWARDS。’IwishIhadcontinuedatCollege。’

JOHNSON。’Whydoyouwishthat，Sir？’EDWARDS。’BecauseIthinkIshouldhavehadamucheasierlifethanminehasbeen。Ishouldhavebeenaparson，andhadagoodliving，likeBloxamandseveralothers，andlivedcomfortably。’JOHNSON。’Sir，thelifeofaparson，ofaconscientiousclergyman，isnoteasy。Ihavealwaysconsideredaclergymanasthefatherofalargerfamilythanheisabletomaintain。IwouldratherhaveChancerysuitsuponmyhandsthanthecureofsouls。No，Sir，Idonotenvyaclergyman’slifeasaneasylife，nordoIenvytheclergymanwhomakesitaneasylife。’Heretakinghimselfupallofasudden，heexclaimed，’O!

Mr。Edwards!I’llconvinceyouthatIrecollectyou。DoyourememberourdrinkingtogetheratanalehousenearPembrokegate？

Atthattime，youtoldmeoftheEtonboy，who，whenversesonourSAVIOUR’Sturningwaterintowinewereprescribedasanexercise，broughtupasingleline，whichwashighlyadmired，——

“ViditeterubuitlymphapudicaDEUM，“

andItoldyouofanotherfinelineinCamden’sRemains，aneulogyupononeofourKings，whowassucceededbyhisson，aprinceofequalmerit：——

“Miracano，Soloccubuit，noxnullasecutaest。“’

*Johnsonsaidtomeafterwards，’Sir，theyrespectedmeformyliterature：andyetitwasnotgreatbutbycomparison。Sir，itisamazinghowlittleliteraturethereisintheworld。’——BOSWELL

EDWARDS。’Youareaphilosopher，Dr。Johnson。Ihavetriedtooinmytimetobeaphilosopher；but，Idon’tknowhow，cheerfulnesswasalwaysbreakingin。’——Mr。Burke，SirJoshuaReynolds，Mr。

Courtenay，Mr。Malone，and，indeed，alltheeminentmentowhomI

havementionedthis，havethoughtitanexquisitetraitofcharacter。Thetruthis，thatphilosophy，likereligion，istoogenerallysupposedtobehardandsevere，atleastsograveastoexcludeallgaiety。

EDWARDS。’Ihavebeentwicemarried，Doctor。You，Isuppose，haveneverknownwhatitwastohaveawife。’JOHNSON。’Sir，Ihaveknownwhatitwastohaveawife，and(inasolemn，tender，faulteringtone)IhaveknownwhatitwastoLOSEAWIFE——Ithadalmostbrokemyheart。’

EDWARDS。’Howdoyoulive，Sir？Formypart，Imusthavemyregularmeals，andaglassofgoodwine。IfindIrequireit。’

JOHNSON。’Inowdrinknowine，Sir。EarlyinlifeIdrankwine：

formanyyearsIdranknone。Ithenforsomeyearsdrankagreatdeal。’EDWARDS。’Somehogs-heads，Iwarrantyou。’JOHNSON。’I

thenhadasevereillness，andleftitoff，andIhaveneverbegunitagain。Ineverfeltanydifferenceuponmyselffromeatingonethingratherthananother，norfromonekindofweatherratherthananother。Therearepeople，Ibelieve，whofeeladifference；butI

amnotoneofthem。Andastoregularmea

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