to the top of one of the pillars in the temple, it would not have aided the idea, but weakened it." Talking of a Barrifter who had a bad utterance, fome one, (to roufe Johnson,) wickedly faid, that he was unfortunate in not having been taught oratory by Sheridan. JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, if he had been taught by Sheridan, he would have cleared the room." GARRICK. "Sheridan has too much vanity to be a good man."-We fhail now fee Johnson's mode of defending a man; taking him into his own hands, and difcriminating. JOHNSON. "No, Sir. There is, to be fure, in Sheridan, fomething to reprehend, and every thing to laugh at; but, Sir, he is not a bad man. No, Sir; were mankind to be divided into good and bad, he would ftand confiderably within the ranks of good. And, Sir, it must be allowed that Sheridan excels in plain declamation, though he can exhibit no character." I should, perhaps, have fuppreffed this difquifition concerning a perfon of whofe merit and worth I think with respect, had he not attacked Johnson so outrageously in his Life of Swift, and, at the fame time, treated us his admirers as a fet of pigmies. He who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it. Mrs. Montagu, a lady distinguished for having written an Effay on Shakspeare, being mentioned; -REYNOLDS." I think that effay does her honour." JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir; it does her honour, but it would do nobody elfe honour. I have, indeed, not read it all. But when I take up the end of a web, and find it packthread, I do 1769. Etat, 60. not not expect, by looking further, to find embroidery. Sir, I will venture to fay, there is not one fentence of true criticism in her book." GARRICK. "But, Sir, furely it fhews how much Voltaire has miftaken Shakspeare, which nobody else has done." JOHNSON. "Sir, nobody elfe has thought it worth while. And what merit is there in that? You may as well praise a schoolmafter for whipping a boy who has conftrued ill. No, Sir, there is no real criticism in it; none fhewing the beauty of thought, as formed on the workings of the human heart." The admirers of this Effay 4 may be offended at the flighting manner in which Johnson spoke of it; but let it be remembered, that he gave his honest opinion, unbiaffed by any prejudice, or any proud jealousy of a woman intruding herself into the chair of criticifm; for Sir Joshua Reynolds has told me, that when the Effay firft came out, and it was not known who had written it, Johnson wondered how Sir Joshua could like it. At this time Sir Joshua himself had received no information concerning the authour, except being affured by one and 4 Of whom I acknowledge myself to be one, confidering it as a piece of the secondary or comparative fpecies of criticism, not of that profound fpecies which alone Dr. Johnson would allow to be "real criticifm." It is, befides, clearly and elegantly expreffed, and has done effectually what it profeffed to do, namely, vindicated Shakspeare from the mifrepresentations of Voltaire; and confidering how many young people were misled by his witty, though false observations, Mrs. Montagu's Effay was of service to Shakspeare with a certain class of readers, and is, therefore, entitled to praife. Johnson, I am affured, allowed the merit which I have stated, faying, (with reference to Voltaire,)" it is conclufive ad hominem.”. of of our most eminent literati, that it was clear it's authour did not know the Greek tragedies in the original. One day at Sir Joshua's table, when it was related that Mrs. Montague, in an excefs of compliment to the authour of a modern tragedy, had exclaimed, "I tremble for Shakspeare;" Johnson faid, "When Shakspeare has got for his rival, and Mrs. Montague for his defender, he is in a poor flate indeed." Johnfon proceeded: "The Scotchman has taken the right method in his Elements of Criticism.' I do not mean that he has taught us any thing; but he has told us old things in a new way.' MURPHY, "He feems to have read a great deal of French criticism, and wants to make it his own; as if he had been for years anatomifing the heart of man, and peeping into every cranny of it." GOLDSMITH." It is easier to write that book, than to read it." JOHNSON. "We have an example of true criticism in Burke's Effay on the Sublime and Beautiful;' and, if I recollect, there is alfo Du Bos; and Bouhours, who fhews all beauty to depend on truth. There is no great merit in telling how many plays have ghofts in them, and how this Ghoft is better than that. You must shew how terrour is impreffed on the human heart.In the description of night in Macbeth, the beetle and the bat detract from the general idea of darknefs,-infpiffated gloom." Politicks being mentioned, he faid, "This petitioning is a new mode of diftreffing government, and a mighty eafy one. I will undertake to get petitions either against quarter guineas or half 1769. Etat. 60. 1769. Etat. 60. The half guineas, with the help of a little hot wine. The converfation then took another turn JOHNSON. "It is amazing what ignorance of certain points one fometimes finds in men of eminence. A wit about town, who wrote Latin bawdy verses, afked me, how it happened that England and Scotland, which were once two kingdoms, were now one-and Sir Fletcher Norton did not seem to know that there were fuch publications as the Reviews." "The ballad of Hardyknute has no great merit, if it be really ancient. People talk of nature. But mere obvious nature may be exhibited with very litpower of mind." tle "Sir, On Thursday, October 19, I paffed the evening with him at his houfe. He advised me to complete a Dictionary of words peculiar to Scotland, of which I fhewed him a fpecimen. (faid he,) Ray has made a collection of north-country words. By collecting those of your country, you will do a useful thing towards the history of the language." He bade me alfo go on with collections which I was making upon the antiquities of Scotland. "Make a large book; a folio.' BOSWELL." But of what use will it be, Sir?" JOHNSON. "Never mind the ufe; do it." I complained that he had not mentioned Garrick in his Preface to Shakspeare; and asked him if he did not admire him. JOHNSON, "Yes, as 'a poor poor player, who frets and struts his hour upon the ftage;'-as a fhadow." BOSWELL. "But has he not brought Shakspeare into notice?" JOHNSON. "Sir, to allow that, would be to lampoon the age. Many of Shakspeare's plays are the worfe for being acted: Macbeth, for instance." BOSWELL. "What, Sir, is nothing gained by decoration and action? Indeed, I do wish that you had mentioned Garrick." JOHNSON. "My dear Sir, had I mentioned him, I must have mentioned many more: Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. Cibber,-nay, and Mr. Cibber too; he too altered Shakspeare." BOSWELL. "You have read his apology, Sir?" JOHNSON. "Yes, it is very entertaining. But as for Cibber himself, taking from his converfation all that he ought not to have faid, he was a poor creature. I remember when he brought me one of his Odes to have my opinion of it, I could not bear fuch nonfenfe, and would not let him read it to the end; fo little respect had I for that great man! (laughing). Yet I remember Richardfon wondering that I could treat him with familiarity." Sir?” I mentioned to him that I had seen rhe execution of feveral convicts at Tyburn, two days before, and that none of them feemed to be under any concern. JOHNSON." Moft of them, Sir, have never thought at all." BOSWELL. "But is not the fear of death natural to man?" JOHNSON. "So much fo, Sir, that the whole of life is but keeping away the thoughts of it." He then, in a low and earnest tone, talked of his meditating upon the aweful hour of his own diffolution, and in what manner he should conduct himself upon that occafion : Nn 2 1769. tat. 60, |