Excise, as "the lowest of all human beings:" for they could have retorted with a vengeance, by appealing to the Doctor's nearest associates, who would have found it not a little puzzling to defend him from the imputation of being himself at the bottom of the scale; when we read—that, at his club, when Mr. Cox was in the chair, he exclaimed "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel!"— to a philosopher respected like Dr. Adam Smith, he could give the lie direct! And to his friend, Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose fame and consequence were mainly dependant on his skill in the art, he spoke with all possible contempt of painting. It is no excuse, that his sight was bad, for he knew it very well, and, unless he was ungovernably obstinate and opiniated, should have known his incompetency to decide without appeal on such a subject: besides he was opposed to the general sentiment, to which he could be no stranger; which tells us that—
These polished arts have humanized mankind,
Soften'd the rude, and calm'd the savage mind.
Again—he who well knowing his chief intimate, Boswell, had an over-measure of vanity,[1] could harrow his feelings, by in-
- ↑ The character of a jolly fellow, which Mr. Croker finds Boswell had got among his countrymen and which, to many, is synonymous with that of a hearty one, does not accord with an anecdote in Holcroft's diary. Mr. Lowry, an engraver, applied to Boswell's literary patron to write him a letter to serve his interest in some advantage he was soliciting: with tikis the Doctor kindly complied. As the applicant was leaving the house, Boswell met him, and, as might be expected, was inquisitive to know his business, and to see the letter. For which purpose, he showed him the greatest attention, to draw him to the next coffee-house, and induce him to wait till he had copied it; but the moment the copy was finished, and in his pocket, the proud Scotchman took no further notice of him. From the above it seems, Boswell, when off his guard, and not apprehending any future consequences, had more dissimulation in his composition than Johnson would at all have relished: for had he detected him at such a season with a bifrons, like Janus, he would have held a tremendous cat-o'nine-tails over the young laird of Auchenleek; any lash in which, would have been equivalent to Simkin's denunciation of the Captain (in the New Bath Guide)
