’CHAP。LXXII。Concerningsnakes。
’Therearenosnakestobemetwiththroughoutthewholeisland。’
Mr。TophamBeauclerkcameintheevening，andheandDr。JohnsonandIstaidtosupper。ItwasmentionedthatDr。DoddhadoncewishedtobeamemberofTHELITERARYCLUB。JOHNSON。’IshouldbesorryifanyofourClubwerehanged。Iwillnotsaybutsomeofthemdeserveit。’BEAUCLERK。supposingthistobeaimedatpersonsforwhomhehadatthattimeawonderfulfancy，which，however，didnotlastlong，wasirritated，andeagerlysaid，’You，Sir，haveafriend，naminghimwhodeservestobehanged；forhespeaksbehindtheirbacksagainstthosewithwhomhelivesonthebestterms，andattackstheminthenewspapers。HEcertainlyoughttobeKICKED。’JOHNSON。’Sir，wealldothisinsomedegree，“Veniampetimusdamusquevicissim。“Tobesureitmaybedonesomuch，thatamanmaydeservetobekicked。’BEAUCLERK。’Heisverymalignant。’JOHNSON。’No，Sir；heisnotmalignant。Heismischievous，ifyouwill。Hewoulddonomananessentialinjury；
hemay，indeed，lovetomakesportofpeoplebyvexingtheirvanity。I，however，onceknewanoldgentlemanwhowasabsolutelymalignant。Hereallywishedeviltoothers，andrejoicedatit。’
BOSWELL。’Thegentleman，Mr。Beauclerk，againstwhomyouaresoviolent，is，Iknow，amanofgoodprinciples。’BEAUCLERK。’Thenhedoesnotwearthemoutinpractice。’