'Goldsmith one day brought to THE CLUB a printed Ode, which he, with
others, had been hearing read by its authour in a publick room at the
rate of five shillings each for admission. One of the company having
read it aloud, Dr. Johnson said, "Bolder words and more timorous
meaning, I think never were brought together."

'Talking of Gray's Odes, he said, "They are forced plants raised in a
hot-bed; and they are poor plants; they are but cucumbers after all." A
gentleman present, who had been running down Ode-writing in general,
as a bad species of poetry, unluckily said, "Had they been literally
cucumbers, they had been better things than Odes."--"Yes, Sir, (said
Johnson,) for a HOG."'

'It is very remarkable, that he retained in his memory very slight and
trivial, as well as important things. As an instance of this, it seems
that an inferiour domestick of the Duke of Leeds had attempted to
celebrate his Grace's marriage in such homely rhimes as he could make;
and this curious composition having been sung to Dr. Johnson he got it
by heart, and used to repeat it in a very pleasant manner. Two of the
stanzas were these:--

"When the Duke of Leeds shall married be
To a fine young lady of high quality,
How happy will that gentlewoman be
In his Grace of Leeds's good company.

She shall have all that's fine and fair,
And the best of silk and satin shall wear;
And ride in a coach to take the air,
And have a house in St. James's-square."

To hear a man, of the weight and dignity of Johnson, repeating such
humble attempts at poetry, had a very amusing effect. He, however,
seriously observed of the last stanza repeated by him, that it nearly
comprized all the advantages that wealth can give.

'An eminent foreigner, when he was shewn the British Museum, was very
troublesome with many absurd inquiries. "Now there, Sir, (said he,) is
the difference between an Englishman and a Frenchman. A Frenchman must
be always talking, whether he knows any thing of the matter or not; an
Englishman is content to say nothing, when he has nothing to say."

'His unjust contempt for foreigners was, indeed, extreme. One evening,
at old Slaughter's coffee-house, when a number of them were talking
loud about little matters, he said, "Does not this confirm old Meynell's
observation--For any thing I see, foreigners are fools."'

'He said, that once, when he had a violent tooth-ache, a Frenchman
accosted h