"Being asked if Barnes knew a good deal of Greek, he answered, 'I doubt, sir, he was unoculus inter cæcos".' "He used frequently to observe, that men might be very eminent in a profession, without our perceiving any particular power of mind in them in conversation. It seems strange,' said he, 'that a man should see so far to the right, who sees so short a way to the left. Burke is the only man whose common conversation corresponds with the general fame which he has in the world. Take up whatever topick you please, he is ready to meet you."" "A gentleman, by no means deficient in literature, having discovered less acquaintance with one of the classicks than Johnson expected, when the gentleman left the room, he observed, 'You see, now, how little any body reads.' Mr. Langton happening to mention his having read a good deal in Clenardus's Greek Grammar; Why, sir,' said he, 'who is there in this town who knows any thing of Clenardus but you and I?' And upon Mr. Langton's mentioning that he had taken the pains to learn by heart the epistle of St. Basil, which is given in that grammar as a praxis; 'Sir,' said he, 'I never made such an effort to attain Greek."" "Of Dodsley's Publick Virtue, a Poem, he said, 'It was fine blank: (meaning to express his usual contempt for blank verse :) however, this miserable poem did not m Johnson, in his life of Milton, after mentioning that great poet's extraordinary fancy, that the world was in its decay, and that his book was to be written in an age too late for heroick poesy, thus concludes: "However inferiour to the heroes who were born in better ages, he might still be great among his contemporaries, with the hope of growing every day greater in the dwindle of posterity: he might still be a giant among the pygmies, the one-eyed monarch of the blind."-J. Boswell. Nicholas Clenard, who was born in Brabant, and died at Grenada in 1542, was a great traveller and linguist. Beside his Greek Grammar, (of which an improved edition was published by Vossius at Amsterdam in 1626,) he wrote a Hebrew Grammar, and an account of his travels in various countries, in Latin, (Epistolarum Libri Duo, 8vo. 1556,) a very rare work, of which there is a copy in the Bodleian library. His Latin (says the author of Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique, 1789,) would have been more pure if he had not known so many languages.-MALONE. sell; and my poor friend Doddy said, publick virtue was not a subject to interest the age." "Mr. Langton, when a very young man, read Dodsley's Cleone, a Tragedy, to him, not aware of his extreme impatience to be read to. As it went on, he turned his face to the back of his chair, and put himself into various attitudes, which marked his uneasiness. At the end of an act, however, he said, 'Come, let's have some more; let's go into the slaughter-house again, Lanky. But I am afraid there is more blood than brains.' Yet he afterwards said, When I heard you read it, I thought higher of its power of language; when I read it myself, I was more sensible of its pathetick effect:' and then he paid it a compliment which many will think very extravagant. 'Sir,' said he, if Otway had written this play, no other of his pieces would have been remembered.' Dodsley himself, upon this being repeated to him, said, 'It was too much.' It must be remembered, that Johnson always appeared not to be sufficiently sensible of the merit of Otway"." "Snatches of reading," said he, "will not make a Bentley or a Clarke. They are, however, in a certain degree advantageous. I would put a child into a library, (where no unfit books are,) and let him read at his choice. A child should not be discouraged from reading any thing that he takes a liking to, from a notion that it is above his reach. If that be the case, the child will soon find it out and desist; if not, he of course gains the instruction; which is so much the more likely to come, from the inclination with which he takes up the study." "Though he used to censure carelessness with great vehemence, he owned that he once, to avoid the trouble of locking up five guineas, hid them, he forgot where, so that he could not find them." "A gentleman who introduced his brother to Dr. John • This assertion concerning Johnson's insensibility to the pathetick powers of Otway is too round. I once asked him, whether he did not think Otway frequently tender; when he answered, "Sir, he is all tenderness."-Burney. son, was earnest to recommend him to the doctor's notice, which he did by saying, ' When we have sat together some time, you'll find my brother grow very entertaining.'-'Sir,' said Johnson, I can wait."" "When the rumour was strong that we should have a war, because the French would assist the Americans, he rebuked a friend with some asperity for supposing it, saying, No, sir; national faith is not yet sunk so low.'" ઃઃ In the latter part of his life, in order to satisfy himself whether his mental faculties were impaired, he resolved that he would try to learn a new language, and fixed upon the Low Dutch for that purpose; and this he continued till he had read about one half of Thomas à Kempis; and finding that there appeared no abatement of his power of acquisition, he then desisted, as thinking the experiment had been duly tried. Mr. Burke justly observed, that this was not the most vigorous trial, Low Dutch being a language so near to our own: had it been one of the languages entirely different, he might have been very soon satisfied." "Mr. Langton and he having gone to see a freemason's funeral procession, when they were at Rochester, and some solemn musick being played on French horns, he said, 'This is the first time that I have ever been affected by musical sounds;' adding, that the impression made upon him was of a melancholy kind.' Mr. Langton saying, that this effect was a fine one;-JOHNSON. 'Yes, if it softens the mind so as to prepare it for the reception of salutary feelings, it may be good: but inasmuch as it is melancholy per se, it is bad P."" "Goldsmith had long a visionary project, that some time or other, when his circumstances should be easier, he would go to Aleppo, in order to acquire a knowledge, as far as might be, of any arts peculiar to the east, and in P The French horn, however, is so far from being melancholy per se, that when the strain is light, and in the field, there is nothing so cheerful. It was the funeral occasion, and probably the solemnity of the strain, that produced the plaintive effect here mentioned.-BURNEY. VOL. IV. troduce them into Britain. When this was talked of in Dr. Johnson's company, he said, ' Of all men Goldsmith is the most unfit to go out upon such an enquiry; for he is utterly ignorant of such arts as we already possess, and consequently could not know what would be accessions to our present stock of mechanical knowledge. Sir, he would bring home a grinding-barrow, which you see in every street in London, and think that he had furnished a wonderful improvement."" "Greek, sir," said he, "is like lace; every man gets as much of it as he can." "When lord Charles Hay, after his return from America, was preparing his defence to be offered to the courtmartial which he had demanded, having heard Mr. Langton as high in expressions of admiration of Johnson as he usually was, he requested that Dr. Johnson might be introduced to him; and Mr. Langton having mentioned it to Johnson, he very kindly and readily agreed; and, being presented by Mr. Langton to his lordship while under arrest, he saw him several times; upon one of which occasions lord Charles read to him what he had prepared, which Johnson signified his approbation of, saying, 'It is a very good soldierly defence.' Johnson said that he had advised his lordship, that as it was in vain to contend with those who were in possession of power, if they would offer him the rank of lieutenant-general, and a government, it would be better judged to desist from urging his complaints. It is well known that his lordship died before the sentence was made known." "Johnson one day gave high praise to Dr. Bentley's verses' in Dodsley's collection, which he recited with his q It should be remembered, that this was said twenty-five or thirty years ago, when lace was very generally worn.-MALONE. r Dr. Johnson, in his life of Cowley, says that these are "the only English verses which Bentley is known to have written." I shall here insert them, and hope my readers will apply them. Who strives to mount Parnassus' hill, And thence poetick laurels bring, usual energy. Dr. Adam Smith, who was present, observed in his decisive professorial manner, Very well,— Very well.' Johnson, however, added, Yes, they are very well, sir; but you may observe in what manner they are well. They are the forcible verses of a man of a Must first acquire due force and skill, Who studies ancient laws and rites, Who travels in religious jars, (Truth mixt with errour, shades with rays,) Like Whiston, wanting pyx or stars, In ocean wide or sinks or strays. But grant, our hero's hope long toil Yet what reward, or what renown? Envy, innate in vulgar souls, Envy steps in and stops his rise; His lustre, and his worth decries. He lives inglorious or in want, To college and old books confin'd; Dunces advanc'd, he's left behind : Yet left content, a genuine stoick he, Great without patron, rich without South Sea. A different, and probably a more accurate copy of these spirited verses is to be found in The Grove, or a Collection of Original Poems and Translations, etc. 1721. In this miscellany the last stanza, which in Dodsley's copy is unquestionably uncouth, is thus exhibited : Inglorious or by wants enthrall'd, To college and old books confin'd, J. BOSWELL, |