ted by some persons, as it has been by one of my friends,
that he who has the power of thus exhibiting an exact transcript of
conversations is not a desirable member of society. I repeat the answer
which I made to that friend:--'Few, very few, need be afraid that their
sayings will be recorded. Can it be imagined that I would take the
trouble to gather what grows on every hedge, because I have collected
such fruits as the _Nonpareil_ and the BON CHRETIEN[1146]?'

On the other hand, how useful is such a faculty, if well exercised! To
it we owe all those interesting apophthegms and _memorabilia_ of the
ancients, which Plutarch, Xenophon, and Valerius Maximus, have
transmitted to us. To it we owe all those instructive and entertaining
collections which the French have made under the title of _Ana_, affixed
to some celebrated name. To it we owe the _Table-Talk_ of Selden[1147],
the _Conversation_ between Ben Jonson and Drummond of Hawthornden,
Spence's _Anecdotes_ of Pope[1148], and other valuable remains in our
own language. How delighted should we have been, if thus introduced into
the company of Shakspeare and of Dryden[1149], of whom we know scarcely
any thing but their admirable writings! What pleasure would it have
given us, to have known their petty habits, their characteristick
manners, their modes of composition, and their genuine opinion of
preceding writers and of their contemporaries! All these are now
irrecoverably lost. Considering how many of the strongest and most
brilliant effusions of exalted intellect must have perished, how much is
it to be regretted that all men of distinguished wisdom and wit have not
been attended by friends, of taste enough to relish, and abilities
enough to register their conversation;

'Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona
Multi, sed omnes illacrymabiles
Urgentur, ignotique longa
Nocte, carent quia vate sacro[1150].'

They whose inferiour exertions are recorded, as serving to explain or
illustrate the sayings of such men, may be proud of being thus
associated, and of their names being transmitted to posterity, by being
appended to an illustrious character.

Before I conclude, I think it proper to say, that I have
suppressed[1151] every thing which I thought could _really_ hurt any
one now living. Vanity and self-conceit indeed may sometimes suffer.
With respect to what _is_ related, I considered it my duty to 'extenuate
nothing, nor set down aught in malice[115