Pope took occasion to say, "That young gentleman
seems to have little to do." Mr. Beauclerk observed, "Then, to be sure,
Spence turned round and wrote that down;" and went on to say to Dr.
Johnson, "Pope, Sir, would have said the same of you, if he had seen
you distilling." JOHNSON. "Sir, if Pope had told me of my distilling, I
would have told him of his grotto."'
'He would allow no settled indulgence of idleness upon principle, and
always repelled every attempt to urge excuses for it. A friend one
day suggested, that it was not wholesome to study soon after dinner.
JOHNSON. "Ah, Sir, don't give way to such a fancy. At one time of my
life I had taken it into my head that it was not wholesome to study
between breakfast and dinner."'
'Dr. Goldsmith, upon occasion of Mrs. Lennox's bringing out a play, said
to Dr. Johnson at THE CLUB, that a person had advised him to go and hiss
it, because she had attacked Shakspeare in her book called Shakspeare
Illustrated. JOHNSON. "And did not you tell him he was a rascal?"
GOLDSMITH.
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