ief and a
harlot.... Mrs. Williams," he added, "did not love Bet Flint, but Bet
Flint made herself very easy about that."' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_,
i. 87, 90.

[334] Johnson, whose memory was wonderfully retentive [see _ante_, i.
39], remembered the first four lines of this curious production, which
have been communicated to me by a young lady of his acquaintance:--

'When first I drew my vital breath,
A little minikin I came upon
earth;
And then I came from a dark
abode,
Into this gay and gaudy world.'
BOSWELL.

[335] The _Sessional Reports of the Old Bailey Trials_ for 1758, p. 278,
contain a report of the trial. The Chief Justice Willes was in the
Commission, but, according to the _Report_, it was before the Recorder
that Bet Flint was tried. It may easily be, however, that either the
reporter or the printer has blundered. It is only by the characters *
and that the trials before the Chief Justice and the Recorder are
distinguished. Bet had stolen not only the counterpane, but five other
articles. The prosecutrix could not prove that the articles were hers,
and not a captain's, whose servant she said she had been, and who was
now abroad. On this ground the prisoner was acquitted. Of Chief Justice
Willes, Horace Walpole writes:--'He was not wont to disguise any of his
passions. That for gaming was notorious; for women unbounded.' He
relates an anecdote of his wit and licentiousness. Walpole's _Reign of
George II_, i. 89. He had been Johnson's schoolfellow (_ante_, i. 45).

[336] Burke is meant. See _ante_, ii. 131, where Johnson said that Burke
spoke too familiarly; and _post_, May 15, 1784, where he said that 'when
Burke lets himself down to jocularity he is in the kennel.'

[337] Wilkes imperfectly recalled to mind the following passage in
Plutarch:--'[Greek: Euphranor ton Thaesea ton heatou to Parrhasiou
parebale, legon tor men ekeinou hroda bebrokenai, tor de eautou krea
boeia.]' 'Euphranor, comparing his own Theseus with Parrhasius's, said
that Parrhasius's had fed on roses, but his on beef.' _Plutarch_, ed.
1839, iii. 423.

[338] Portugal, receiving from Brazil more gold than it needed for home
uses, shipped a large quantity to England. It was said, though probably
with exaggeration, that the weekly packet-boat from Lisbon, brought one
week with another, more than L50,000 in gold to England. Smith's _Wealth
of Nations_, book iv. ch. 6. Portugal pieces were current in