I reminded him that he had General Oughton and many others
to see. JOHNSON. 'Nay, I shall neither go in jest, nor stay in jest. I
shall do what is fit.' BOSWELL. 'Ay, Sir, but all I desire is, that you
will let me tell you when it is fit.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I shall not consult
you.' BOSWELL. 'If you are to run away from us, as soon as you get
loose, we will keep you confined in an island.' He was, however, on the
whole, very good company. Mr. Donald McLeod expressed very well the
gradual impression made by Dr. Johnson on those who are so fortunate as
to obtain his acquaintance. 'When you see him first, you are struck with
awful reverence;--then you admire him;--and then you love him
cordially.'
I read this evening some part of Voltaire's _History of the War_ in
1741[739], and of Lord Kames against Hereditary Indefeasible Right. This
is a very slight circumstance, with which I should not trouble my
reader, but for the sake of observing that every man should keep minutes
of whatever he reads. Every circumstance of his studies should be
recorded; what books he has consulted; how much of them he has read; at
what times; how often the same authors; and what opinions he formed of
them, at different periods of his life. Such an account would much
illustrate the history of his mind.[740]
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1.
I shewed to Dr.
Pages:
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319