s, &c. But after it is conquered, it
will admit of other studies. He said, a little law, a good tongue, and a
good memory, would fit a man for the Chancery.' Seward's
_Anecdotes_, ii. 92.

[954] Wednesday was the 16th

[955] See _ante_, i. 41.

[956] _Letters to Mrs. Thrale_, vol. ii. p. 372. BOSWELL.

[957] See _ante/_, i. 155.

[958] The recommendation in this list of so many histories little agrees
'with the fierce and boisterous contempt of ignorance' with which,
according to Lord Macaulay, Johnson spoke of history. Macaulay's
_Essays_, ed. 1843, i. 403.

[959] See _ante_, iii. 12.

[960] Northcote's account of Reynolds's table suits the description of
this 'gentleman's mode of living.' 'A table prepared for seven or eight
was often compelled to contain fifteen or sixteen.' There was a
'deficiency of knives and forks, plates and glasses. The attendance was
in the same style.' There were 'two or three undisciplined domestics.
The host left every one at perfect liberty to scramble for himself.'
'Rags' is certainly a strong word to apply to any of the company; but
then strong words were what Johnson used. Northcote mentions 'the
mixture of company.' Northcote's _Reynolds_, ii. 94-6. See _ante_, iii.
375, note 2.

[961] The Mayor of Windsor. Rogers's _Boswelliana_, p. 211.

[962] The passage occurs in Brooke's _Earl of Essex_(1761) at the close
of the first act, where Queen Elizabeth says:

'I shall henceforth seek
For other lights to truth; for righteous monarchs,
Justly to judge, with their own eyes should see;
_To rule o'er freemen should themselves be free_.'
_Notes and Queries_, 5th S. viii. 456.

The play was acted at Drury Lane Theatre, old Mr. Sheridan taking the
chief part. He it was who, in admiration, repeated the passage to
Johnson which provoked the parody. Murphy's _Garrick_, p. 234.

[963] 'Letters to Mrs. Thrale, vol. ii. p. 284. BOSWELL. In a second
letter (_ib_. p. 347) he says:--'Cator has a rough, manly independent
understanding, and does not spoil it by complaisance.' Miss Burney
accuses him of emptiness, verbosity and pomposity, all of which she
describes in an amusing manner. Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, ii. 47.

[964] 'All general reflections upon nations and societies are the trite,
thread-bare jokes of those who set up for wit without having any, and so
have recourse to common-place.' Chesterfield's _Letters_, i. 231.

[965] See vol. ii. p. 12