Imatges de pàgina
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Pozz. "Yes, Sir, you shall know now. You shall not go to Mr. Wilkins, and to Mr. Jenkins, and to Mr. Stubbs, and say, why does not Pozz keep a coach?

will tell you myself

Sir, I can't afford it."

I

We talked of drinking. I asked him whether, in the course of his long and valuable life, he had not known some men who drank more than they could bear? Pozz. "Yes, Sir; and then, Sir, nobody could bear them.

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A man who is drunk, Sir, is a very foolish fellow." 66 Bozz. But, Sir, as the poet says, he is devoid of all care.' Pozz. "Yes, Sir, he cares for nobody; he has none of the cares of life: he cannot be a merchant, Sir, for he cannot write his name; he cannot be a politician, Sir, for he cannot talk; he cannot be an artist, Sir, for he cannot see; and yet, Sir, there is science in drinking." Bozz. "I suppose you mean that a man ought to know what he drinks.' Pozz. "No, Sir, to know what one drinks is nothing; but the science consists of three parts. Now, Sir, were I to drink wine, I should wish to know them all; I should wish to know when I had too little, when I had enough, and when I had too much. There is our friend

*** (mentioning a gentleman of our acquaintance); he knows when he has too little, and when he has too much, but he knows not when he has enough. Now, Sir, that is the science of drinking, to know when one has enough."

We talked this day on a variety of topics, but I find very few memorandums in my journal. On small beer, he said it was flatulent liquor. He disapproved of those who deny the utility of absolute power, and seemed to be offended with a friend of ours who would always have his eggs poached. Sign-posts, he observed, had degenerated within his memory; and he particularly found fault with the moral of the "Beggar's Opera." I enIdeavoured to defend a work which had afforded me so much pleasure, but could not master that strength of mind

with which he argued; and it was with great satisfaction that he communicated to me afterwards a method of curing corns by applying a piece of oiled silk. In the early history of the world, he preferred Sir Isaac Newton's Chronology; but as they gave employment to useful artisans, he did not dislike the large buckles then coming into use.

Next day we dined at the Mitre. I mentioned spirits. Pozz. "Sir, there is as much evidence for the existence of spirits as against it. You may not believe it, but you cannot deny it." I told him that my great grandmother once saw a spirit. He asked me to relate it, which I did very minutely, while he listened with profound attention. When I mentioned that the spirit once appeared in the shape of a shoulder of mutton, and another time in that of a tea-pot, he interrupted Pozz. "There, Sir, is the point; the evidence is good, but the scheme is defective in consistency. We cannot deny that the spirit appeared in these shapes ; but then we cannot reconcile them. What has a tea

me:

Neither is it a

pot to do with a shoulder of mutton? terrific object. There is nothing contemporaneous. Sir, these are objects which are not seen at the same time nor in the same place." Bozz. "I think, Sir, that old women in general are used to see ghosts." Pozz. "Yes, Sir, and their conversation is full of the subject: I would have an old woman to record such conversations; their loquacity tends to minuteness."

We talked of a person who had a very bad character. Pozz. "Sir, he is a scoundrel." Bozz. "I hate a scoundrel." Pozz. "There you are wrong: don't hate scoundrels. Scoundrels, Sir, are useful. There are many things we cannot do without scoundrels. I would not choose to keep company with scoundrels, but something may be got from them." Bozz. "Are not

scoundrels generally fools?" Pozz. "No, Sir, they are not. A scoundrel must be a clever fellow; he must know

many things of which a fool is ignorant. Any man may be a fool. I think a good book might be made out of scoundrels. I would have a Biographia Flagitiosa, the Lives of Eminent Scoundrels, from the earliest accounts to the present day." I mentioned hanging: I thought it a very awkward situation. Pozz. "No, Sir, hanging is not an awkward situation; it is proper, Sir, that a man whose actions tend towards flagitious obliquity should appear perpendicular at last." I told him that I had lately been in company with some gentlemen, every one of whom could recollect some friend or other who had been hanged. Pozz. "Yes, Sir, that is the easiest way. We know those who have been hanged; we can recollect that: but we cannot number those who deserve it; it would not be decorous, Sir, in a mixed company. No, Sir, that is one of the few things which we are compelled to think."

Our regard for literary property (1) prevents our making a larger extract from the above important work. We have, however, we hope, given such passages as will tend to impress our readers with a high idea of this vast undertaking. —Note by the Author.

(1) This alludes to the jealousy about copyright, which Mr. Boswell carried so far that he actually printed separately, and entered at Stationers' Hall, Johnson's Letter to Lord Chesterfield (antè, Vol. II. p. 7.), and the Account of Johnson's Conversation with George III. at Buckingham House III. p. 19.), to prevent his rivals making use of them.

No. II. DR. JOHNSON'S GHOST.

[From the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. lvi. p. 427.]

'Twas at the solemn hour of night,
When men and spirits meet,
That JOHNSON, huge majestic sprite,
Repair'd to Boswell's feet.

His face was like the full-orb'd moon
Wrapt in a threatening cloud,

That bodes the tempest bursting soon,
And winds that bluster loud.

Terrific was his angry look,

His pendent eyebrows frown'd;
Thrice in his hand he wav'd a book,
Then dash'd it on the ground.

"Behold," he cry'd, "perfidious man!
This object of my rage:

Bethink thee of the sordid plan
That form'd this venal page.

"Was it to make this base record,

That you my friendship sought;
Thus to retain each vagrant word,
Each undigested thought?

"Dar'st thou pretend that, meaning praise,
Thou seek'st to raise my name;

When all thy babbling pen betrays
But gives me churlish fame?

"Do readers in these annals trace

The man that's wise and good?
No! - rather one of savage race,

"A traveller, whose discontent

No kindness can appease;
Who finds for spleen perpetual vent
In all he hears and sees :

"One whose ingratitude displays The most ungracious guest;

Who hospitality repays

With bitter, biting jest.

"Ah! would, as o'er the hills we sped, And climb'd the sterile rocks,

Some vengeful stone had struck thee dead, Or steeple, spar'd by Knox!

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He ceas d, and stalk'd from Boswell's sight

With fierce indignant mien,

Scornful as Ajax' sullen sprite,

By sage Ulysses seen.

Dead paleness Boswell's cheek o'erspread,

His limbs with horror shook;

With trembling haste he left his bed,

And burnt his fatal book.

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