water, and when he has reached ground encum bers him with help? Boswell's Life of Johnson. An. 1755. Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned. Ibid. An. 1759. The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high-road that leads him to England. Ibid. An. 1763. Sir, your levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves. Ibid. An. 1763. If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons. Ibid. An. 1763. Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all. A very unclubable man. Ibid. An. 1763. Ibid. An. 1764. That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one.1 Ibid. An. 1770. Ibid. An. 1772. Much may be made of a Scotchman if he be caught young. A man may write at any time if he will set himself doggedly to it. Ibid. An. 1773. 1 Mr. Kremlin was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong.- Disraeli, Sybil, Book iv. Ch. 5. Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place where he is not known. Don't let him go to the devil where he is known. Boswell's Life of Johnson. An. 1773. Was ever poet so trusted before! Ibid. An. 1774 A man will turn over half a library to make one book. Ibid. An. 1775. Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Knowledge is of two kinds. Ibid. An. 1775. We know a sub ject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. Ibid. An. 1775. Attack is the reaction; I never think I have hit hard unless it rebounds. Ibid. An. 1775. Hell is paved with good intentions.1 There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn. All this (wealth) excludes poverty. Ibid. An. 1776. but one evil Ibid. An. 1777. Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men ; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy. Ibid. An. 1779. 1 S. Francis de Sales writes to Mad. de Chantal (1605) Do not be troubled by S. Bernard's saying that hell is full of good intentions and wills. — From Selection from the Spiritual Letters of Francis de Sales. Translated by the author of A Let. xii. Dominican Artist. The potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice.1 Ibid. An. 1781. Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world. Ibid. An. 1781. My friend was of opinion that when a man of rank appeared in that character (as an author), he deserved to have his merits handsomely allowed.2 Ibid. An. 1781. I have always looked upon it as the worst condition of man's destiny, that persons are so often torn asunder just as they become happy in each other's society. Ibid. An. 1783. I have found you an argument, I am not obliged to find you an understanding. Books that you may carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are the most useful after all. Ibid. Hawkins, 197 1 I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice. — Edward Moore, The Gamester, Act ii. Sc. 2 (1753). ? Usually quoted as "when a nobleman writes a book he ought to be encouraged." 3 Parody on "Who rules o'er freemen should himself be free." From Brooke's Gustavus Vasa, First edition. The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honourable gentleman has, with such spirit and decency, charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny, but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience.1 Pitt's Reply to Walpole. Speech, March 6, 1741. WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 1708-1778. Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom. Speech, January 14, 1766. A long train of these practices has at length unwillingly convinced me that there is something behind the Throne greater than the King himself.2 Speech, March 2, 1770. (Chatham Correspondence.) Where law ends, tyranny begins. Speech, Jan. 9, 1770. Case of Wilkes. Reparation for our rights at home, and security against the like future violations. Letter to the Earl of Shelburne, Sept. 29, 1770. 1 This is the composition of Johnson, founded on some note or statement of the actual speech. Johnson said, "That speech I wrote in a garret, in Exeter Street." (See Boswell's Johnson, An. 1741.) 2 Quoted by Lord Mahon, "greater than the Throne itself." History of England, Vol. v. p. 258. 3 Indemnity for the past and security for the future, If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms, never Speech, Nov. 18, 1777. never never. The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter, but the King of England cannot enter! all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement.1 Speech on the Excise Bill. We have a Calvinistic creed, a Popish liturgy, and an Arminian clergy. From Prior's Life of Burke, 1790. LORD LYTTELTON. 1709-1773. For his chaste Muse employed her heaven-taught lyre None but the noblest passions to inspire, is said to be Mr. Pitt's phrase. See De Quincey, Theol. Essays, Vol. ii. p. 170, and Russell's Memoir of Fox, Vol. iii. p. 345. Letter to the Hon. T. Maitland. 1 From Brougham's Statesmen of George III., First Series, p. 41. |