Hoole having answered that he believed he was too mathematical, and
used to draw squares and triangles on his shop-board, so that he did not
excel in the cut of a coat;--'I am sorry for it (said Johnson,) for I
would have every man to be master of his own business.'
In pleasant reference to himself and Mr. Hoole, as brother authours, he
often said, 'Let you and I, Sir, go together, and eat a beef-steak in
Grub-street.'
He said to Sir William Scott, 'The age is running mad after innovation;
all the business of the world is to be done in a new way; men are to
be hanged in a new way; Tyburn itself is not safe from the fury of
innovation.' It having been argued that this was an improvement,--'No,
Sir, (said he, eagerly,) it is NOT an improvement: they object that the
old method drew together a number of spectators. Sir, executions are
intended to draw spectators. If they do not draw spectators they don't
answer their purpose. The old method was most satisfactory to all
parties; the publick was gratified by a procession; the criminal was
supported by it.
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