'Aye, (said the King,) they are obliged to
Dr. Johnson for that;' for his Majesty had heard and remembered the
circumstance, which Johnson himself had forgot.
His Majesty expressed a desire to have the literary biography of this
country ably executed, and proposed to Dr. Johnson to undertake it.
Johnson signified his readiness to comply with his Majesty's wishes.
During the whole of this interview, Johnson talked to his Majesty with
profound respect, but still in his firm manly manner, with a sonorous
voice, and never in that subdued tone which is commonly used at the
levee and in the drawing-room. After the King withdrew, Johnson shewed
himself highly pleased with his Majesty's conversation, and gracious
behaviour. He said to Mr. Barnard, 'Sir, they may talk of the King as
they will; but he is the finest gentleman I have ever seen.' And he
afterwards observed to Mr. Langton, 'Sir, his manners are those of as
fine a gentleman as we may suppose Lewis the Fourteenth or Charles the
Second.
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