t this life-like picture of his interview with
the presiding genius (Dryden) at Will's.

"I was about seventeen when I first came up to town," says the
Dean, "an odd-looking boy, with short rough hair, and that sort of
awkwardness which one always brings up at first out of the country
with one. However, in spite of my bashfulness and appearance, I
used, now and then, to thrust myself into Will's to have the
pleasure of seeing the most celebrated wits of that time, who then
resorted thither. The second time that ever I was there, Mr. Dryden
was speaking of his own things, as he frequently did, especially of
such as had been lately published. 'If anything of mine is good,'
says he, ''tis 'Mac-Flecno', and I value myself the more upon it,
because it is the first piece of ridicule written in heroics.' On
hearing this I plucked up my spirit so far as to say, in a voice
but just loud enough to be heard, 'that "Mac-Flecno" was a very
fine poem, but that I had not imagined it to be the first that was
ever writ that way.' On this, Dryden turned short upon me, as
surprised at my interposing; asked me how long 'I had been a dealer
in poetry'; and added, with a smile, 'Pray, Sir, what is it that
you did imagine to have been writ so before?'--I named Boileau's
'Lutrin' and Tassoni's 'Secchia Rapita,' which I had read, and knew
Dryden had borrowed some strokes from each. ''Tis true,' said
Dryden, 'I had forgot them.' A little after, Dryden went out, and
in going, spoke to me again, and desired me to come and see him the
next day. I was highly delighted with the invitation; went to see
him accordingly; and was well acquainted with him after, as long as
he lived."

* * * * *

Will's Coffee-house was the open market for libels and lampoons,
the latter named from the established burden formerly sung to them:

_Lampone, lampone, camerada lampone._

There was a drunken fellow, named Julian, who was a characterless
frequenter of Will's, and Sir Walter Scott has given this account
of him and his vocation:

"Upon the general practice of writing lampoons, and the necessity
of finding some mode of dispersing them, which should diffuse the
scandal widely while the authors remained concealed, was founded
the self-erected office of Ju