ss; and a man who gave away, freely, money acquired by
himself. He began the world with a great hunger for money; the son of a
half-pay officer, bred in a family, whose study was to make four-pence
do as much as others made four-pence halfpenny do. But, when he had got
money, he was very liberal.' I presumed to animadvert on his eulogy on
Garrick, in his Lives of the Poets. 'You say, Sir, his death eclipsed
the gaiety of nations.' JOHNSON. 'I could not have said more nor less.
It is the truth; ECLIPSED, not EXTINGUISHED; and his death DID eclipse;
it was like a storm.' BOSWELL. 'But why nations? Did his gaiety extend
farther than his own nation?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, some exaggeration must
be allowed. Besides, nations may be said--if we allow the Scotch to be a
nation, and to have gaiety,--which they have not. YOU are an exception,
though. Come, gentlemen, let us candidly admit that there is one
Scotchman who is cheerful.' BEAUCLERK. 'But he is a very unnatural
Scotchman.' I, however, continued to think the compliment to Garrick
hyperbolically untrue. His acting had ceased some time before his death;
at any rate he had acted in Ireland but a short time, at an early period
of his life, and never in Scotland. I objected also to what appears
an anticlimax of praise, when contrasted with the preceding
panegyrick,--'and diminished the public stock of harmless
pleasure!'--'Is not HARMLESS PLEASURE very tame?' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir,
harmless pleasure is the highest praise. Pleasure is a word of dubious
import; pleasure is in general dangerous, and pernicious to virtue; to
be able therefore to furnish pleasure that is harmless, pleasure pure
and unalloyed, is as great a power as man can possess.' This was,
perhaps, as ingenious a defence as could be made; still, however, I was
not satisfied.

Talking of celebrated and successful irregular practisers in physick; he
said, 'Taylor was the most ignorant man I ever knew; but sprightly.
Ward the dullest. Taylor challenged me once to talk Latin with him;
(laughing). I quoted some of Horace, which he took to be a part of my
own speech. He said a few words well enough.' BEAUCLERK. 'I remember,
Sir, you said that Taylor was an instance how far impudence could carry
ignorance.' Mr. Beauclerk was very entertaining this day, and told us a
number of short stories in a lively elegant manner, and with that air of
THE WORLD which has I know not what impressive effect, as if there were
something mor