I never courted the great; they sent for me; but
I think they now give me up. They are satisfied; they have seen enough
of me.'
Strange, however, it is, to consider how few of the great sought his
society; so that if one were disposed to take occasion for satire on
that account, very conspicuous objects present themselves. His noble
friend, Lord Elibank, well observed, that if a great man procured an
interview with Johnson, and did not wish to see him more, it shewed a
mere idle curiosity, and a wretched want of relish for extraordinary
powers of mind. Mrs. Thrale justly and wittily accounted for such
conduct by saying, that Johnson's conversation was by much too strong
for a person accustomed to obsequiousness and flattery; it was mustard
in a young child's mouth!
On Saturday, June 2, I set out for Scotland, and had promised to pay a
visit in my way, as I sometimes did, at Southill, in Bedfordshire, at
the hospitable mansion of 'Squire Dilly, the elder brother of my worthy
friends, the booksellers, in the Poultry.
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