knowit。Butinalowertone，itwastopayacomplimenttotheDuchessofDevonshire，withwhichherGracewaspleased。SheiswalkingacrossCoxheath，inthemilitaryuniform，andIsupposehertobetheGeniusofBritain。’JOHNSON。’Sir，youaregivingareasonforit；butthatwillnotmakeitright。Youmayhaveareasonwhytwoandtwoshouldmakefive；buttheywillstillmakebutfour。’
AlthoughIwasseveraltimeswithhiminthecourseofthefollowingdays，suchitseemsweremyoccupations，orsuchmynegligence，thatIhavepreservednomemorialofhisconversationtillFriday，March26，whenIvisitedhim。HesaidheexpectedtobeattackedonaccountofhisLivesofthePoets。’Howeversaidhe，Iwouldratherbeattackedthanunnoticed。Fortheworstthingyoucandotoanauthouristobesilentastohisworks。Anassaultuponatownisabadthing；butstarvingitisstillworse；
anassaultmaybeunsuccessful；youmayhavemoremenkilledthanyoukill；butifyoustarvethetown，youaresureofvictory。’
Talkingofafriendofoursassociatingwithpersonsofverydiscordantprinciplesandcharacters；Isaidhewasaveryuniversalman，quiteamanoftheworld。JOHNSON。’Yes，Sir；butonemaybesomuchamanoftheworldastobenothingintheworld。IrememberapassageinGoldsmith’sVicarofWakefield，whichhewasafterwardsfoolenoughtoexpunge：“Idonotloveamanwhoiszealousfornothing。“’BOSWELL。’Thatwasafinepassage。’JOHNSON。’Yes，Sir：therewasanotherfinepassagetoo，whichbestruckout：“WhenIwasayoungman，beinganxioustodistinguishmyself，Iwasperpetuallystartingnewpropositions。
ButIsoongavethisover；for，Ifoundthatgenerallywhatwasnewwasfalse。“’IsaidIdidnotliketositwithpeopleofwhomI