A gentleman mentioned Sir Richard Steele having published his Chriftian Hero' with the avowed purpose of obliging himself to lead a religious life, yet that his conduct was by no means ftrictly fuitable. JOHNSON. "Steele, I believe, practifed the lighter vices."

. A defire was expreffed to know his authority for the ftory of Addifon's fending an execution into Steele's houfe. "Sir (faid he), it is ge

Cato.'

nerally known, it is known to all who are acquainted with the literary hiftory of that period. It is as well known, as that he wrote Mr. Thomas Sheridan once defended Addifon, by alledging that he did it in order to cover Steele's goods from other creditors, who were going to feize them."

Johnson faid, that " Addison wrote Budgell's papers in the Spectator, at leaft mended them fo much, that he made them almoft his own; and that Draper, Tonfon's partner, affured Mrs. Johnson, that the much admired Epilogue to The Diftreffed Mother,' which came out in Budgell's name, was in reality written by Addifon."

Mr. Eliot, with whom Dr. Walter Harte had travelled, talked of Harte's Hiftory of Guftavus Adolpus,' which he faid was a very good book in the German tranflation. Johnfon faid, "Harte was exceffively vain: he put copies

of

of his book in manufcript into the hands of Lord Chesterfield and Lord Granville, that they might revife it. Now how abfurd was it to fuppofe that two fuch noblemen would revife fo big a manufcript. Poor man! he left London the day of the publication of his book, that he might be out of the way of the great praise he was to receive; and he was afhamed to return, when he found how ill his book had fucceeded. It was unlucky in coming out on the fame day with Robertfon's Hiftory of Scotland.' His husbandry, however, is good." BOSWELL. "So he was fitter for that than heroick hiftory. He did well when he turned his fword into a plough-fhare." Johnfon at another time much commended Harte as a scholar, and a man of the moft companionable talents he had ever known. He faid, the defects in his hiftory proceeded not from imbecillity, but from foppery.

Berkeley, he faid, was a profound fcholar, as well as a man of fine imagination; but Ufher was the great luminary of the Irish church; and a greater, he added, no church could boaft of; at leaft in modern times.

Bayle's Dictionary, he obferved, was a very ufeful work for thofe to confult who love the biographical part of literature, which was what he loved moft.

He

He faid, he had looked into the poems of a pretty voluminous writer, Mr. (now Dr.) John Ogilvie, one of the Prefbyterian minifters of Scotland, which had lately come out, but could find no thinking in them. Mr. Bofwell afked, "Is there not imagination in them, Sir?"-JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, there is in them what was imagination, but it is no more imagination in him, than found is found in the echo; and his diction too is not his own. We have long ago feen white-robed innocence, and flower-befpangled meads.”

Talking of the eminent writers in Queen Anne's reign, he obferved, "I think Dr. Arbuthnot the first man among them. He was the most univerfal genius, being an excellent phyfician, a man of deep learning, and a man of much humour. Mr. Addifon was, to be fure, a great man; his learning was not profound, but his morality, his humour, and his elegance of writing, fet him very high."

He enlarged very convincingly upon the excellence of rhyme over blank verfe in English poetry. Mr. Bofwell mentioned to him that Dr. Adam Smith, in his Lectures upon Compofition, when he ftudied under him in the College of Glasgow, had maintained the fame. opinion ftrenuously, and Mr. B. repeated fome of his arguments. Johnfon faid, "Sir, I was

once in company with Smith, and we did not take to each other; but had I known that he loved rhyme as much as you tell me he does, I fhould have hugged him."

Mr. B. mentioned Dr. Adam Smith's book

on 'The Wealth of Nations,' which was juft publifhed, and that Sir John Pringle had obferved to him, that Dr. Smith, who had never been in trade, could not be expected to write well on that fubject any more than a lawyer upon phyfick, Johnfon faid, "He is miftaken, Sir; a man who has never been engaged in trade himself may undoubtedly write well upon trade, and there is nothing which requires more to be illuftrated by philofophy than trade does. As to mere wealth, that is to fay money, it is clear that one nation or one individual cannot increase its ftore but by making another poorer; but trade procures what is more valuable, the reciprocation of the peculiar advantages of different countries. A merchant feldom thinks but of his own particular trade. To write a good book upon it, a man must have extenfive views. It is not neceffary to have practised, to write well upon a subject.'

Law was mentioned as a fubject on which no man could write well without practice, JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, in England, where fo much money is to be got by the practice of

the

the law, most of our writers upon it have been in practice; though Blackstone had not been much in practice when he published his Commentaries.' But upon the Continent, the great writers on law have not all been in practice: Grotius indeed was; but Puffendorf was not; Burlamaqui was not."

Sir Thomas Robinfon, fitting with Johnson one day, obferved, that the King of Pruffia valued himself upon three things:-upon being a hero, a musician, and an author. "Pretty well, Sir (faid Johnfon), for one man. As to his being an author, I have not looked at his poetry; but his profe is poor ftuff. He writes juft as you might fuppofe Voltaire's footboy to do, who has been his amanuenfis. He has fuch parts as the valet might have, and about as much of the colouring of the ftyle as might be got by tranfcribing his works."

The ballad of Hardyknute (he faid) had no great merit, if it were really ancient. "Peo

ple talk of nature; but mere obvious nature may be exhibited with very little power of mind."

Johnfon thought the poems published as tranflations from Offian had fo little merit, that he said, "Sir, a man might write such stuff for ever, if he would abandon his mind to it." Johnfon had all along denied their authenti