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Shakespeare on the whole; but only maintaining that
Congreve has one finer passage than any that can be
found in Shakespeare. Sir, a man may have no more
than ten guineas in the world, but he may have those
ten guineas in one piece; and so may have a finer
piece than a man who has ten thousand pound: but
then he has only one ten-guinea piece. What I mean
is, that you can show me no passage where there is
simply a description of material objects, without any
intermixture of moral notions, which produces such
an effect.' Mr. Murphy mentioned Shakespeare's
description of the night before the battle of Agincourt;
but it was observed it had men in it. Mr. Davies
suggested the speech of Juliet, in which she figures
herself awaking in the tomb of her ancestors.
one mentioned the description of Dover Cliff. JOHN-
SON: No, sir; it should be all precipice,-all vacuum.
The crows impede your fall. The diminished appear-
ance of the boats, and other circumstances, are all
very good description, but do not impress the mind
at once with the horrible idea of immense height.
The impression is divided; you pass on by compu-
tation from one stage of the tremendous space to
another. Had the girl in The Mourning Bride said,
she could not cast her shoe to the top of one of the
pillars in the temple, it would not have aided the idea,
but weakened it.'

Some

Talking of a Barrister who had a bad utterance, some one (to rouse Johnson) wickedly said, that he was unfortunate in not having been taught oratory by Sheridan. JOHNSON: 'Nay, sir, if he had been taught by Sheridan he would have cleared the room.' GARRICK : 'Sheridan has too much vanity to be a

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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

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