Imust，againandagain，intreatofmyreadersnottosupposethatmyimperfectrecordofconversationcontainsthewholeofwhatwassaidbyJohnson，orothereminentpersonswholivedwithhim。WhatIhavepreserved，however，hasthevalueofthemostperfectauthenticity。
HeurgedGeneralOglethorpetogivetheworldhisLife。Hesaid，’IknownomanwhoseLifewouldbemoreinteresting。IfIwerefurnishedwithmaterials，Ishouldbeverygladtowriteit。’
Mr。ScottofAmwell’sElegieswerelyingintheroom。Dr。Johnsonobserved，’Theyareverywell；butsuchastwentypeoplemightwrite。’UponthisItookoccasiontocontrovertHorace’smaxim，’——mediocribusessepoetisNonDi，nonhomines，nonconcesserecolumnae。’
Forhere，Iobserved，wasaverymiddle-ratepoet，whopleasedmanyreaders，andthereforepoetryofamiddlesortwasentitledtosomeesteem；norcouldIseewhypoetryshouldnot，likeeverythingelse，havedifferentgradationsofexcellence，andconsequentlyofvalue。Johnsonrepeatedthecommonremark，that，’asthereisnonecessityforourhavingpoetryatall，itbeingmerelyaluxury，aninstrumentofpleasure，itcanhavenovalue，unlesswhenexquisiteinitskind。’Ideclaredmyselfnotsatisfied。’Whythen，Sir，saidhe，Horaceandyoumustsettleit。’Hewasnotmuchinthehumouroftalking。
Nomoreofhisconversationforsomedaysappearsinmyjournal，exceptthatwhenagentlemantoldhimhehadboughtasuitoflaceforhislady，hesaid，’Well，Sir，youhavedoneagoodthingandawisething。’’Ihavedoneagoodthing，saidthegentleman，butIdonotknowthatIhavedoneawisething。’JOHNSON。’Yes，Sir；