the chief excellence
of our language is numerous prose.' JOHNSON. 'Sir William Temple was
the first writer who gave cadence to English prose. Before his time they
were careless of arrangement, and did not mind whether a sentence ended
with an important word or an insignificant word, or with what part of
speech it was concluded.'

GARRICK. 'Of all the translations that ever were attempted, I think
Elphinston's Martial the most extraordinary. He consulted me upon it,
who am a little of an epigrammatist myself, you know. I told him freely,
"You don't seem to have that turn." I asked him if he was serious; and
finding he was, I advised him against publishing. Why, his translation
is more difficult to understand than the original. I thought him a man
of some talents; but he seems crazy in this.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, you have
done what I had not courage to do. But he did not ask my advice, and I
did not force it upon him, to make him angry with me.' GARRICK. 'But as
a friend, Sir--.' JOHNSON. 'Why, such a friend as I am with him--no.'
GARRICK. 'But if you see a friend going to tumble over a precipice?'
JOHNSON. 'That is an extravagant case, Sir. You are sure a friend will
thank you for hindering him from tumbling over a precipice; but, in the
other case, I should hurt his vanity, and do him no good. He would not
take my advice. His brother-in-law, Strahan, sent him a subscription
of fifty pounds, and said he would send him fifty more, if he would not
publish.' GARRICK. 'What! eh! is Strahan a good judge of an Epigram? Is
not he rather an OBTUSE man, eh?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, he may not be
a judge of an Epigram: but you see he is a judge of what is not an
Epigram.' BOSWELL. 'It is easy for you, Mr. Garrick, to talk to an
authour as you talked to Elphinston; you, who have been so long the
manager of a theatre, rejecting the plays of poor authours. You are
an old Judge, who have often pronounced sentence of death. You are a
practiced surgeon, who have often amputated limbs; and though this may
have been for the good of your patients, they cannot like you. Those
who have undergone a dreadful operation, are not very fond of seeing
the operator again.' GARRICK. 'Yes, I know enough of that. There was
a reverend gentleman, (Mr. Hawkins,) who wrote a tragedy, the SIEGE
of something, which I refused.' HARRIS. 'So, the siege was raised.'
JOHNSON. 'Ay, he came to me and complained; and told me, that Garrick
said his play was wrong in the CONCOC