第87章

Sheshallhaveallthat’sfineandfair，Andthebestofsilkandsatinshallwear；

Andrideinacoachtotaketheair，AndhaveahouseinSt。James’s-square。“

Tohearaman，oftheweightanddignityofJohnson，repeatingsuchhumbleattemptsatpoetry，hadaveryamusingeffect。He，however，seriouslyobservedofthelaststanzarepeatedbyhim，thatitnearlycomprizedalltheadvantagesthatwealthcangive。

’Aneminentforeigner，whenhewasshewntheBritishMuseum，wasverytroublesomewithmanyabsurdinquiries。“Nowthere，Sir，(saidhe，)isthedifferencebetweenanEnglishmanandaFrenchman。

AFrenchmanmustbealwaystalking，whetherheknowsanythingofthematterornot；anEnglishmaniscontenttosaynothing，whenhehasnothingtosay。“

’Hisunjustcontemptforforeignerswas，indeed，extreme。Oneevening，atoldSlaughter’scoffee-house，whenanumberofthemweretalkingloudaboutlittlematters，hesaid，“DoesnotthisconfirmoldMeynell’sobservation——ForanythingIsee，foreignersarefools。“’

’Hesaid，thatonce，whenhehadaviolenttooth-ache，aFrenchmanaccostedhimthus：——“Ah，Monsieurvousetudieztrop。“’

’Colman，inanoteonhistranslationofTerence，talkingofShakspeare’slearning，asks，“WhatsaysFarmertothis？WhatsaysJohnson？“Uponthisheobserved，“Sir，letFarmeranswerforhimself：Ineverengagedinthiscontroversy。Ialwayssaid，ShakspearehadLatinenoughtogrammaticisehisEnglish。“’

’Aclergyman，whomhecharacterisedasonewholovedtosaylittleoddities，wasaffectingoneday，ataBishop’stable，asortofslynessandfreedomnotincharacter，andrepeated，asifpartofTheOldMan’sWish，asongbyDr。WalterPope，averseborderingonlicentiousness。Johnsonrebukedhiminthefinestmanner，byfirstshewinghimthathedidnotknowthepassagehewasaimingat，andthushumblinghim：

“Sir，thatisnotthesong：itisthus。“Andhegaveitright。

Thenlookingstedfastlyonhim，“Sir，thereisapartofthatsongwhichIshouldwishtoexemplifyinmyownlife：——

“MayIgovernmypassionswithabsolutesway!“’

’Heusedfrequentlytoobserve，thatmenmightbeveryeminentinaprofession，withoutourperceivinganyparticularpowerofmindintheminconversation。“Itseemsstrange(saidhe，)thatamanshouldseesofartotheright，whoseessoshortawaytotheleft。Burkeistheonlymanwhosecommonconversationcorrespondswiththegeneralfamewhichhehasintheworld。Takeupwhatevertopickyouplease，heisreadytomeetyou。“’

’Mr。Langton，whenaveryyoungman，readDodsley’sCleone，aTragedy，tohim，notawareofhisextremeimpatiencetobereadto。

Asitwentonheturnedhisfacetothebackofhischair，andputhimselfintovariousattitudes，whichmarkedhisuneasiness。Attheendofanact，however，hesaid，“Comelet’shavesomemore，let’sgointotheslaughter-houseagain，Lanky。ButIamafraidthereismorebloodthanbrains。“

’Snatchesofreading(saidhe，)willnotmakeaBentleyoraClarke。Theyare，however，inacertaindegreeadvantageous。I

wouldputachildintoalibrary(wherenounfitbooksare)andlethimreadathischoice。Achildshouldnotbediscouragedfromreadinganythingthathetakesalikingto，fromanotionthatitisabovehisreach。Ifthatbetheease，thechildwillsoonfinditoutanddesist；ifnot，heofcoursegainstheinstruction；

whichissomuchthemorelikelytocome，fromtheinclinationwithwhichhetakesupthestudy。’

’AgentlemanwhointroducedhisbrothertoDr。JohnsonwasearnesttorecommendhimtotheDoctor’snotice，whichhedidbysaying，“Whenwehavesattogethersometime，you’llfindmybrothergrowveryentertaining。“——“Sir，(saidJohnson，)Icanwait。“’

’Inthelatterpartofhislife，inordertosatisfyhimselfwhetherhismentalfacultieswereimpaired，heresolvedthathewouldtrytolearnan

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