You must consider, Madam;
beforehand they may be bad, as well as good. Nobody has a right to put
another under such a difficulty, that he must either hurt the person
by telling the truth, or hurt himself by telling what is not true.'
BOSWELL. 'A man often shews his writings to people of eminence, to
obtain from them, either from their good-nature, or from their not
being able to tell the truth firmly, a commendation, of which he may
afterwards avail himself.' JOHNSON. 'Very true, Sir. Therefore the man,
who is asked by an authour, what he thinks of his work, is put to the
torture, and is not obliged to speak the truth; so that what he says is
not considered as his opinion; yet he has said it, and cannot retract
it; and this authour, when mankind are hunting him with a cannister
at his tail, can say, "I would not have published, had not Johnson, or
Reynolds, or Musgrave, or some other good judge, commended the work."
Yet I consider it as a very difficult question in conscience, whether
one should advise a man not to publish a work, if profit be his object;
for the man may say, "Had it not been for you, I should have had the
money.
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