第83章

knowit。But(inalowertone，)itwastopayacomplimenttotheDuchessofDevonshire，withwhichherGracewaspleased。SheiswalkingacrossCoxheath，inthemilitaryuniform，andIsupposehertobetheGeniusofBritain。’JOHNSON。’Sir，youaregivingareasonforit；butthatwillnotmakeitright。Youmayhaveareasonwhytwoandtwoshouldmakefive；buttheywillstillmakebutfour。’

AlthoughIwasseveraltimeswithhiminthecourseofthefollowingdays，suchitseemsweremyoccupations，orsuchmynegligence，thatIhavepreservednomemorialofhisconversationtillFriday，March26，whenIvisitedhim。HesaidheexpectedtobeattackedonaccountofhisLivesofthePoets。’However(saidhe，)Iwouldratherbeattackedthanunnoticed。Fortheworstthingyoucandotoanauthouristobesilentastohisworks。Anassaultuponatownisabadthing；butstarvingitisstillworse；

anassaultmaybeunsuccessful；youmayhavemoremenkilledthanyoukill；butifyoustarvethetown，youaresureofvictory。’

Talkingofafriendofoursassociatingwithpersonsofverydiscordantprinciplesandcharacters；Isaidhewasaveryuniversalman，quiteamanoftheworld。JOHNSON。’Yes，Sir；butonemaybesomuchamanoftheworldastobenothingintheworld。IrememberapassageinGoldsmith’sVicarofWakefield，whichhewasafterwardsfoolenoughtoexpunge：“Idonotloveamanwhoiszealousfornothing。“’BOSWELL。’Thatwasafinepassage。’JOHNSON。’Yes，Sir：therewasanotherfinepassagetoo，whichbestruckout：“WhenIwasayoungman，beinganxioustodistinguishmyself，Iwasperpetuallystartingnewpropositions。

ButIsoongavethisover；for，Ifoundthatgenerallywhatwasnewwasfalse。“’IsaidIdidnotliketositwithpeopleofwhomI

hadnotagoodopinion。JOHNSON。’Butyoumustnotindulgeyourdelicacytoomuch；oryouwillbeatete-a-tetemanallyourlife。’

DuringmystayinLondonthisspring，IfindIwasunaccountablynegligentinpreservingJohnson’ssayings，moresothanatanytimewhenIwashappyenoughtohaveanopportunityofhearinghiswisdomandwit。Thereisnohelpforitnow。ImustcontentmyselfwithpresentingsuchscrapsasIhave。ButIamneverthelessashamedandvexedtothinkhowmuchhasbeenlost。Itisnotthattherewasabadcropthisyear；butthatIwasnotsufficientlycarefulingatheringitin。I，therefore，insomeinstancescanonlyexhibitafewdetachedfragments。

TalkingofthewonderfulconcealmentoftheauthourofthecelebratedletterssignedJunius；hesaid，’IshouldhavebelievedBurketobeJunius，becauseIknownomanbutBurkewhoiscapableofwritingtheseletters；butBurkespontaneouslydeniedittome。

ThecasewouldhavebeendifferenthadIaskedhimifhewastheauthour；amansoquestioned，astoananonymouspublication，maythinkhehasarighttodenyit。’

OnWednesday，March31，whenIvisitedhim，andconfessedanexcessofwhichIhadveryseldombeenguilty；thatIhadspentawholenightinplayingatcards，andthatIcouldnotlookbackonitwithsatisfaction；insteadofaharshanimadversion，hemildlysaid，’Alas，Sir，onhowfewthingscanwelookbackwithsatisfaction。’

OnFriday，April2，beingGood-Friday，Ivisitedhiminthemorningasusual；andfindingthatweinsensiblyfellintoatrainofridiculeuponthefoiblesofoneofourfriends，averyworthyman，I，bywayofacheck，quotedsomegoodadmonitionfromTheGovernmentoftheTongue，thatverypiousbook。Ithappenedalsoremarkablyenough，thatthesubjectofthesermonpreachedtousto-daybyDr。Burrows，therectorofSt。ClementDanes，wasthecertaintythatatthelastdaywemustgiveanaccountof’thedeedsdoneinthebody；’and，amongstvariousactsofculpabilityhementionedevil-speaking。Asweweremovingslowlyalonginthecrowdfromchurch，Johnsonjoggedmyelbow，andsaid，’Didyouattendtothesermon？’’Yes，Sir，(saidI，)itwasveryapplicable

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