' Malone wrote
in 1783:--'I have always found him very communicative; ready to give his
opinion on any subject that was mentioned. He seldom, however, starts a
subject himself; but it is very easy to lead him into one.' Prior's
_Malone_, p. 92. What Dugald Stewart says of Adam Smith (_Life_, p. 114)
was equally true of Johnson:--'He was scarcely ever known to start a new
topic himself, or to appear unprepared upon those topics that were
introduced by others.' Johnson, in his long fits of silence, was perhaps
like Cowper, but when aroused he was altogether unlike. Cowper says of
himself:--'The effect of such continual listening to the language of a
heart hopeless and deserted is that I can never give much more than half
my attention to what is started by others, and very rarely start
anything myself.' Southey's _Cowper_, v. 10.
[906] In summer 1792, additional and more expensive decorations having
been introduced, the price of admission was raised to two shillings. I
cannot approve of this. The company may be more select; but a number of
the honest commonalty are, I fear, excluded from sharing in elegant and
innocent entertainment.
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