When he said to Mrs. Williams, 'Well, Dr. Goldsmith's manifesto has got
into your paper;' I asked him if Dr. Goldsmith had written it, with
an air that made him see I suspected it was his, though subscribed by
Goldsmith. JOHNSON. 'Sir, Dr. Goldsmith would no more have asked me to
write such a thing as that for him, than he would have asked me to feed
him with a spoon, or to do anything else that denoted his imbecility. I
as much believe that he wrote it, as if I had seen him do it. Sir, had
he shewn it to any one friend, he would not have been allowed to publish
it. He has, indeed, done it very well; but it is a foolish thing well
done. I suppose he has been so much elated with the success of his new
comedy, that he has thought every thing that concerned him must be of
importance to the publick.' BOSWELL. 'I fancy, Sir, this is the first
time that he has been engaged in such an adventure.' JOHNSON. 'Why,
Sir, I believe it is the first time he has BEAT; he may have BEEN BEATEN
before.
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