"Though I
am always in haste," he says of himself, "I am never in a hurry; because
I never undertake any more work than I can go through with perfect
calmness of spirit."' Southey's _Wesley_, ii. 397.
[651] No doubt the Literary Club. See _ante_, ii. 330, 345. Mr. Croker
says 'that it appears by the books of the Club that the company on that
evening consisted of Dr. Johnson president, Mr. Burke, Mr. Boswell,
Dr. George Fordyce, Mr. Gibbon, Dr. Johnson (again named), Sir Joshua
Reynolds, Lord Upper Ossory, and Mr. R. B. Sheridan.' E. no doubt
stands for Edmund Burke, and J. for Joshua Reynolds. Who are meant by
the other initials cannot be known. Mr. Croker hazards some guesses; but
he says that Sir James Mackintosh and Chalmers were as dubious as
himself.
[652] See Langhorne's _Plutarch_, ed. 1809, ii. 133.
[653] 'A man came in balancing a straw upon his nose, and the audience
were clapping their hands in all the raptures of applause.' _The
Citizen of the World_, Letter xxi. According to Davis (_Life of Garrick_,
i. 113), 'in one year, after paying all expenses, L11,000 were the
produce of Mr. Maddocks (the straw-man's agility), added to the talents
of the players at Covent Garden theatre.
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