mber Dr. King
would write verses in a tavern, three hours after he could not
speak: and there is Sir Richard, in that rumbling old chariot of
his, between Fleet Ditch and St. Giles's pound shall make you half a
Job.'

" 'Pray, Mr. Lintot,' said I, 'now you talk of translators, what is
your method of managing them?' 'Sir,' replied he, 'these are the
saddest pack of rogues in the world: in a hungry fit, they'll swear
they understand all the languages in the universe. I have known one
of them take down a Greek book upon my counter, and cry, "Ah, this
is Hebrew," and must read it from the latter end. By G-d, I can
never be sure in these fellows, for I neither understand Greek,
Latin, French, nor Italian myself. But this is my way; I agree with
them for ten shillings per sheet, with a proviso that I will have
their doings corrected with whom I please; so by one or the other
they are led at last to the true sense of an author; my judgement
giving the negative to all my translators.' 'Then how are you sure
these correctors may not impose upon you?' 'Why, I get any civil
gentleman (especially any Scotchman) that comes into my shop, to
read the original to me in English; by this I know whether my first
translator be deficient, and whether my corrector merits his money
or not.

" 'I'll tell you what happened to me last month. I bargained with
S---- for a new version of _Lucretius_, to publish against Tonson's,
agreeing to pay the author so many shillings at his producing so
many lines. He made a great progress in a very short time, and I
gave it to the corrector to compare with the Latin; but he went
directly to Creech's translation, and found it the same, word for
word, all but the first page. Now, what d'ye think I did? I arrested
the translator for a cheat; nay, and I stopped the corrector's pay,
too, upon the proof that he had made use of Creech instead of the
original.'

" 'Pray tell me next how you deal with the critics?' 'Sir,' said he,
'nothing more easy. I can silence the most formidable of them; the
rich ones for a sheet a-piece of the blotted manuscript, which cost
me nothing; they'll go about with it to their acquaintance, and
pretend they had it from the author, who submitted it to their
correcti