' BOSWELL. 'Believe me, Doctor,
you are much mistaken as to this; for when you talk with him calmly in
private, he is very liberal in his way of thinking.' ROBERTSON. 'He
and I have been always very gracious; the first time I met him was one
evening at Strahan's, when he had just had an unlucky altercation with
Adam Smith, to whom he had been so rough, that Strahan, after Smith was
gone, had remonstrated with him, and told him that I was coming soon,
and that he was uneasy to think that he might behave in the same manner
to me. "No, no, Sir, (said Johnson,) I warrant you Robertson and I
shall do very well." Accordingly he was gentle and good-humoured, and
courteous with me the whole evening; and he has been so upon every
occasion that we have met since. I have often said (laughing,) that I
have been in a great measure indebted to Smith for my good reception.'
BOSWELL. 'His power of reasoning is very strong, and he has a peculiar
art of drawing characters, which is as rare as good portrait painting.
Pages:
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832