They were quite frank and easy. Johnson told the story of his asking Mrs. Macaulay to
allow her footman to sit down with them, to prove the ridiculousness of the argument for
the equality of mankind; and he said to me afterwards, with a nod of satisfaction, 'You
saw Mr. Wilkes acquiesced.' Wilkes talked with all imaginable freedom of the ludicrous
title given to the Attorney-General, Diabolus Regis; adding, 'I have reason to know
something about that officer; for I was prosecuted for a libel.' Johnson, who many people
would have supposed must have been furiously angry at hearing this talked of so lightly,
said not a word. He was now, INDEED, 'a good-humoured fellow.'
After dinner we had an accession of Mrs. Knowles, the Quaker lady, well known for her
various talents, and of Mr. Alderman Lee. Amidst some patriotick groans, somebody (I
think the Alderman) said, 'Poor old England is lost.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it is not so much to
be lamented that Old England is lost, as that the Scotch have found it.' WILKES. 'Had
Lord Bute governed Scotland only, I should not have taken the trouble to write his
eulogy, and dedicate Mortimer to him.'
Mr. Wilkes held a candle to shew a fine print of a beautiful female figure which hung in
the room, and pointed out the elegant contour of the bosom with the finger of an arch
connoisseur. He afterwards, in a conversation with me, waggishly insisted, that all the
time Johnson shewed visible signs of a fervent admiration of the corresponding charms of
the fair Quaker.
This record, though by no means so perfect as I could wish, will serve to give a notion of
a very curious interview, which was not only pleasing at the time, but had the agreeable
and benignant effect of reconciling any animosity, and sweetening any acidity, which in
the various bustle of political contest, had been produced in the minds of two men, who
though widely different, had so many things in common--classical learning, modern
literature, wit, and humour, and ready repartee--that it would have been much to be
regretted if they had been for ever at a distance from each other.
Mr. Burke gave me much credit for this successful NEGOCIATION; and pleasantly said,
that 'there was nothing to equal it in the whole history of the Corps Diplomatique.'
I attended Dr. Johnson home, and had the satisfaction to hear him tell Mrs. Williams how
much he had been pleased with Mr. Wilkes's company, and what an agreeable day he had
passed.
I talked a good deal to him of the celebrated Margaret Caroline Rudd, whom I had
visited, induced by the fame of her talents, address, and irresistible power of fascination.
To a lady who disapproved of my visiting her, he said on a former occasion, 'Nay,
Madam, Boswell is in the right; I should have visited her myself, were it not that they
have now a trick of putting every thing into the news-papers.' This evening he exclaimed,
'I envy him his acquaintance with Mrs. Rudd.'
On the evening of the next day I took leave of him, being to set out for Scotland. I
thanked him with great warmth for all his kindness. 'Sir, (said he,) you are very welcome.
Nobody repays it with more.
The following letters concerning an Epitaph which he wrote for the monument of Dr.
Goldsmith, in Westminster-Abbey, afford at once a proof of his unaffected modesty, his
carelessness as to his own writings, and of the great respect which he entertained for the
taste and judgement of the excellent and eminent person to whom they are addressed:
TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
DEAR SIR,--I have been kept away from you, I know not well how, and of these
vexatious hindrances I know not when there will be an end. I therefore send you the poor
dear Doctor's epitaph. Read it first yourself; and if you then think it right, shew it to the
Club. I am, you know, willing to be corrected. If you think any thing much amiss, keep it
to yourself, till we come together. I have sent two copies, but prefer the card. The dates
must be settled by Dr. Percy. I am, Sir, your most humble servant,
'May 16, 1776.'
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
It was, I think, after I had left London this year, that this Epitaph gave occasion to a
Remonstrance to the MONARCH OF LITERATURE, for an account of which I am
indebted to Sir William Forbes, of Pitsligo.
That my readers may have the subject more fully and clearly before them, I shall first
insert the Epitaph.
OLIVARII GOLDSMITH,
Poetae, Physici, Historici,
Qui nullum fere scribendi genus
Non tetigit,
Nullum quod tetiqit non ornavit:
Sive risus essent movendi,
Sive lacrymae,
Affectuum potens at lenis dominator:
Ingenio sublimis, vividus, versatilis,
Oratione grandis, nitidus, venustus:
Hoc monumento memoriam coluit
Sodalium amor,
Amicorum fides,
Lectorum veneratio.
Natus in Hibernia Forniae Longfordiensis,
In loco cui nomen Pallas,
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