ble, the ostler would have said, "here has been a
comical fellow"; but he would not have respected him.' BOSWELL. 'And,
Sir, the ostler would have answered him, would have given him as good
as he brought, as the common saying is.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; and Foote
would have answered the ostler.--When Burke does not descend to be
merry, his conversation is very superiour indeed. There is no proportion
between the powers which he shews in serious talk and in jocularity.
When he lets himself down to that, he is in the kennel.' I have in
another place opposed, and I hope with success, Dr. Johnson's very
singular and erroneous notion as to Mr. Burke's pleasantry. Mr. Windham
now said low to me, that he differed from our great friend in this
observation; for that Mr. Burke was often very happy in his merriment.
It would not have been right for either of us to have contradicted
Johnson at this time, in a Society all of whom did not know and value
Mr. Burke as much as we did. It might have occasioned something more
rough, and at any rate would probably have checked the flow of Johnson's
good-humour. He called to us with a sudden air of exultation, as the
thought started into his mind, 'O! Gentlemen, I must tell you a very
great thing. The Empress of Russia has ordered the Rambler to be
translated into the Russian language: so I shall be read on the banks of
the Wolga. Horace boasts that his fame would extend as far as the banks
of the Rhone; now the Wolga is farther from me than the Rhone was
from Horace.' BOSWELL. 'You must certainly be pleased with this, Sir.'
JOHNSON. 'I am pleased, Sir, to be sure. A man is pleased to find he has
succeeded in that which he has endeavoured to do.'

One of the company mentioned his having seen a noble person driving in
his carriage, and looking exceedingly well, notwithstanding his great
age. JOHNSON. 'Ah, Sir; that is nothing. Bacon observes, that a stout
healthy old man is like a tower undermined.'

On Sunday, May 16, I found him alone; he talked of Mrs. Thrale with much
concern, saying, 'Sir, she has done every thing wrong, since
Thrale's bridle was off her neck;' and was proceeding to mention some
circumstances which have since been the subject of publick discussion,
when he was interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of
Salisbury.

In one of his little manuscript diaries, about this time, I find a
short notice, which marks his amiable disposition more certainly than
a thous