I have tried it
frequently, with good effect. 'There is nothing (continued he) in this
mighty misfortune; nay, we shall be better at the Mitre.'
I had as my guests this evening at the Mitre tavern, Dr. Johnson, Dr.
Goldsmith, Mr. Thomas Davies, Mr. Eccles, an Irish gentleman, for whose
agreeable company I was obliged to Mr. Davies, and the Reverend Mr.
John Ogilvie, who was desirous of being in company with my illustrious
friend, while I, in my turn, was proud to have the honour of shewing one
of my countrymen upon what easy terms Johnson permitted me to live with
him.
Goldsmith, as usual, endeavoured, with too much eagerness, to SHINE, and
disputed very warmly with Johnson against the well-known maxim of the
British constitution, 'the King can do no wrong;' affirming, that 'what
was morally false could not be politically true; and as the King might,
in the exercise of his regal power, command and cause the doing of what
was wrong, it certainly might be said, in sense and in reason, that
he could do wrong.
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