--ED.
He was pleased to say to me one morning when we were left alone in
his study, 'Boswell, I think I am easier with you than with almost any
body.'
He would not allow Mr. David Hume any credit for his political
principles, though similar to his own; saying of him, 'Sir, he was a
Tory by chance.'
His acute observation of human life made him remark, 'Sir, there is
nothing by which a man exasperates most people more, than by displaying
a superiour ability or brilliancy in conversation. They seem pleased at
the time; but their envy makes them curse him in their hearts.'
Johnson's love of little children, which he discovered upon all
occasions, calling them 'pretty dears,' and giving them sweetmeats,
was an undoubted proof of the real humanity and gentleness of his
disposition.
His uncommon kindness to his servants, and serious concern, not only
for their comfort in this world, but their happiness in the next,
was another unquestionable evidence of what all, who were intimately
acquainted with him, knew to be true.
Pages:
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002