certainly have a turn for the drama, for you have Southerne and Farquhar and Congreve *, and many living authors and players. Encouraged by this, I went back to assert the genius of Ireland in old times, and ventured to say that the first professors of Oxford and Paris, &c., were Irish. ' Sir,' says he, ' I believe there is something in what you say 2 ; and I am content with it, since they are not Scotch V
APRIL 8th. Very cold, and some rain, but not enough to allay the blowing of the dust. Dined with Thrale 4 , where Dr. Johnson was, and Boswell, (and Baretti as usual.) The Doctor was not in as good spirits as he was at Dilly's. He
,had supped the night before with Lady Miss JefFry's, one
of the maids of honour, Sir Joshua Reynolds, &c., at Mrs. Abington's 5 . He said Sir C. Thompson, and some others who were there, spoke like people who had seen good company, and so did Mrs. Abington herself, who could not have seen good company 6 . He seems fond of Boswell, and yet he is always abusing the Scots before him, by way of joke 7 : talking of their nationality, he said they were not singular : the Negros and Jews being so too. Boswell lamented there was no good map of Scotland. ' There never can be a good (map) of Scot land,' says the Doctor sententiously. This excited Boswell to ask wherefore. 'Why Sir, to measure land, a man must go over it; but who could think of going over Scotland 8 .' When Dr. Goldsmith was mentioned, and Dr. Percy's intention of writing his life 9 , he expressed his approbation strongly, adding that Goldsmith was the best writer he ever knew, upon every
1 He passes over Goldsmith. know not how much kiss of Mrs.
2 Johnson described Ireland as Abington, and very good looks from
having once been ' the school of the Miss , the maid of honour.'
west, the quiet habitation of sanctity Letters, i. 316.
and literature.' Life, iii. 112. 6 Northcote described her as 'the
3 'The Irish (he said) have not Grosvenor Square of Comedy.' Con- that extreme nationality which we versations of Northcote, p. 298. find in the Scotch.' Ib. ii. 242. 7 Boswell describes ' the good-
4 Ib. ii. 349. humoured pleasantry with which he
5 Ib. On March 27 he had gone played off his wit against Scotland.' with ' a body of wits ' to her benefit. Life, ii. 77.
Ib. ii. 324. On May 12 he wrote to 8 Ib. ii. 356.
Mrs. Thrale :' Yesterday I had I 9 Ib. iii. 100, n. i.
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