'
In the argument on Tuesday night, about natural goodness, Dr. Johnson
denied that any child was better than another, but by difference of
instruction; though, in consequence of greater attention being paid to
instruction by one child than another, and of a variety of imperceptible
causes, such as instruction being counteracted by servants, a notion was
conceived, that of two children, equally well educated, one was
naturally much worse than another. He owned, this morning, that one
might have a greater aptitude to learn than another, and that we
inherit dispositions from our parents[603]. 'I inherited, (said he,) a
vile melancholy from my father, which has made me mad all my life, at
least not sober[604].' Lady M'Leod wondered he should tell this. 'Madam,
(said I,) he knows that with that madness he is superior to other men.'
I have often been astonished with what exactness and perspicuity he will
explain the process of any art. He this morning explained to us all the
operation of coining, and, at night, all the operation of brewing, so
very clearly, that Mr. M'Queen said, when he heard the first, he thought
he had been bred in the Mint; when he heard the second, that he had been
bred a brewer.
I was elated by the thought of having been able to entice such a man to
this remote part of the world. A ludicrous, yet just image presented
itself to my mind, which I expressed to the company.
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