ir Joshua,
you shall not be treated so, I WILL take a bottle with you.'

On Wednesday, April 29, I dined with him at Mr. Allan Ramsay's, where
were Lord Binning, Dr. Robertson the historian, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and
the Honourable Mrs. Boscawen, widow of the Admiral, and mother of the
present Viscount Falmouth; of whom, if it be not presumptuous in me to
praise her, I would say, that her manners are the most agreeable,
and her conversation the best, of any lady with whom I ever had the
happiness to be acquainted. Before Johnson came we talked a good deal of
him; Ramsay said he had always found him a very polite man, and that he
treated him with great respect, which he did very sincerely. I said I
worshipped him. ROBERTSON. 'But some of you spoil him; you should
not worship him; you should worship no man.' BOSWELL. 'I cannot help
worshipping him, he is so much superiour to other men.' ROBERTSON. In
criticism, and in wit in conversation, he is no doubt very excellent;
but in other respects he is not above other men; he will believe
any thing, and will strenuously defend the most minute circumstance
connected with the Church of England.' BOSWELL. 'Believe me, Doctor,
you are much mistaken as to this; for when you talk with him calmly in
private, he is very liberal in his way of thinking.' ROBERTSON. 'He
and I have been always very gracious; the first time I met him was one
evening at Strahan's, when he had just had an unlucky altercation with
Adam Smith, to whom he had been so rough, that Strahan, after Smith was
gone, had remonstrated with him, and told him that I was coming soon,
and that he was uneasy to think that he might behave in the same manner
to me. "No, no, Sir, (said Johnson,) I warrant you Robertson and I
shall do very well." Accordingly he was gentle and good-humoured, and
courteous with me the whole evening; and he has been so upon every
occasion that we have met since. I have often said (laughing,) that I
have been in a great measure indebted to Smith for my good reception.'
BOSWELL. 'His power of reasoning is very strong, and he has a peculiar
art of drawing characters, which is as rare as good portrait painting.'
SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 'He is undoubtedly admirable in this; but, in order
to mark the characters which he draws, he overcharges them, and gives
people more than they really have, whether of good or bad.'

No sooner did he, of whom we had been thus talking so easily, arrive,
than we were all as qu