at table with a Prince of Wirtemberg. The Prince took up a glass of wine, and, by a fillip, made some of it fly in Oglethorpe's face. Here was a nice dilemma. To have challenged him inftantly might have fixed a quarrelsome character upon the young foldier: to have taken no notice of it might have been confidered as cowardice. Oglethorpe therefore, keeping his eye upon the Prince, andsmiling all the time, as if he took what his Highness had done in jeft, faid, in French, "That's a good joke; but we do it much better in England;" and threw a whole glass of wine in the Prince's face. An old General who sat by, said, 'Il a bien fait ; mon Prince, vous l'avez commencé;' and thus all ended in good humour."

At another time Johnson defended duelling, and put his argument upon what is perhaps the most solid bafis; namely, that if public war be allowed to be confiftent with morality, private war must be equally so *.

* Indeed (says Mr. Boswell) we may observe what strained arguments are used to reconcile war with the Christian religion. But, in my opinion, it is exceedingly clear, that duelling, having better reasons for its barbarous violence, is more justifiable than war, in which thousands go forth, without any cause of personal quarrel, and massacre each other,"

WOMEN,

WOMEN.

"Public

JOHNSON thought portrait-painting an im proper employment for a woman. practice of any art (he observed), and staring in men's faces, is very indelicate in a female."

He remarked once, at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, "that a beggar in the street will more readily ask alms from a man, though there should be no marks of wealth in his appearance, than from even a well-dressed woman; which he accounted for from the greater degree of carefulness as to money that is to be found in women; saying farther upon it, that the opportunities in general that they possess of improving their condition are much fewer than men have; and adding, as he looked round the company, which consisted of men only, there is not one of us who does not think he might be richer if he would use his endeavour."

He talked with ferious concern of a certain female friend's "laxity of narration, and inattention to truth."-" I am as much vexed (faid he) at the cafe with which she hears it mentioned to her, as at the thing itself. I told her, 'Madam, you are contented to hear every day faid to you, what the highest of mankind have died rather than bear.'-You know, Mr. Bofwell, the highest of mankind have died rather than bear to be told they have uttered a false hood. Do talk to her of it: I am weary."

The wife of one of his acquaintance hadfraudulently made a purse for herself out of her hufband's fortune. Feeling a proper compunction in her last moments, the confefsed how much the had fecreted; but before the could tell where it was placed, she was seized with a convulfive fit, and expired. Her husband said, he was more hurt by her want of confidence in him, than by the lofs of his money. "I told him (faid Johnfon) that he should console himself; for perhaps the money might be found, and he was fure that his wife was lost."

Mr. Bofwell once stated to him this cafe :"Suppose a man has a daughter, who he knows has been feduced, but her misfortune is concealed from the world, should he keep her in his house ? Would he not, by doing so, be accessary to impofition? And, perhaps, a worthy unsuspecting man might come and marry this woman, unless the father inform him of the truth." Johnfon replied, " Sir, he is accessary to no impofition. His daughter is in his house, and if a man courts her, he takes his chance. If a friend, or, indeed, if any man afks his opinion whether he should marry her, he ought to advise him against it, without telling why, becaufo

1

cause his real opinion is then required. Or, if
he has other daughters who know of her frailty,
he ought not to keep her in his house. You
are to confider, the state of life is this; we are
to judge of one another's characters as well as
we can; and a man is not bound, in honesty
or honour, to tell us the faults of his daughter
or of himself. A man who has debauched his
friend's daughter is not obliged to say to every
body
Take care of me; don't let me into
your houses without fufpicion. I once de-
bauched a friend's daughter. I may debauch
yours."

As Johnson was a zealous friend of fubordination, he was at all times watchful to repress the vulgar cant against the manners of the great. -"High people, Sir (faid he), are the best.Take a hundred ladies of quality, you'll find them better wives, better mothers, more willing to facrifice their own pleasure to their children, than a hundred other women. Tradefwomen (I mean the wives of tradesmen) in the city, who are worth from ten to fifteen thousand pounds, are the worst creatures upon the earth; grofsly ignorant, and thinking viciousness fashionable. Farmers, I think, are often worthless fellows. Few lords will cheat; and, if they do, they'll be ashamed of it; farmers cheat, and are not ashamed of it: they have all the sensual vices,

too,

1

too, of the nobility, with cheating into the bargain. There is as much fornication and adultery amongst farmers as amongst noblemen."B. "The notion of the world, Sir, however, is, that the morals of women of quality are worse than those in lower stations."-7. "Yes, Sir; the licentiousness of one woman of quality makes more noise than that of a number of women in lower stations. Then, Sir, you are to confider the malignity of women in the city against women of quality, which will make them believe any thing of them, such as that they call their coachmen to their bed. No, Sir; fo far as I have observed, the higher in rank, the richer ladies are, they are the better instructed, and the more virtuous."

INEQUALITIES OF RANK.

JOHNSON infisted much on the duty of maintaining fubordination of rank. -" Sir (faid he), I would no more deprive a nobleman of his respect, than of his money. I confider myself as acting a part in the great system of society, and I do to others as I would have them do to I would behave to a nobleman as I should