Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1841-06-12

las beaten them all. he wa, If we al
to give any credit to his " account, G
to the united testimony of a. who k ,e'
him, a man Of the m ,anest a d fcebles
intellect. Johnson described h n as
fellow who had missed his only cha nee Q
i'm mortality, by not h1ying boen allv
when the Dl lciad was written. B. u
clerk used his nam, as a proverbial e.
preston for a bore. H. was the laugh
lngst,ck Of tho whole Of that brillian D,
society which has owed to him the great.
err part of its fame. He was always lay.
ing himself at the feet of som, eminent
man, and b gging to be spit upon and
tram2led npon. He was always earning
some ridiculous nickname, and then " bind.
ing it as a crowa unto him. rot merely
in ~m,taphor, bat literally. II, exhibited
himself, at the 8 ~lakspsare Jubilee, to all
tho crowl which filed S.ratforl.on.Avon
with a placari aroani his hat, bearing the
inscription of Corsica B)sweH. In his
Tour, he proclaimed to all the world, that
at Edinburgh he was known by the appel.
lation Of Paoi BosreH. S,rvile and i'm.
pertinent-3hallow and pedantic--a bigot
and a so.-,loated with family pride, aud
~eternalIy clustering about the dignity of a
born g,ntleman, yet STOPPING to b. a tile.
bsarer, an eavesdropper, a common butt
ii the taverns of L~ondon--.o curious to
know everybody who was talked about,
that, Tory and High C%hurchman as he
was, he mannuvred, We have been told,
for an Introduction to Tom Paine--so
vain Of the most childish distinctions, that
waen he had been TO court, he drove to
the Office where his book was being print.
ed without changing his clothes, and sum.
moncd all the printers devils to admire
liz new ruflss aai sword such was this
maa-lnd such he was content and proul
to be. Everything which another man
would have hidIen-verything, the pub.
llcatio1 OF which would have made another
man hang himself, was matter of gay and
clamornus exul:a'inn to his weak and d.
seased mind. WAT silly things he said
what bitter retorts he prov ksd--low at
one place he was troubled with evil pie
sentiment wnich came to nothing-low
at another place on waking from a drunk.
en- doze, he read the prayer.book, and took
q hair Of the dog that had bitten him
how he went to Sc men hanged, and came
away mau1lin-aow he added five hum
dred pounds to the fortune of one of his
babies, because she was not frightened at
Johnson's ugly face-how be was frightened
out Of his wits at sea-lnd how the sailors
quoted him as they would have quoted n
chi dow tipsy he was at Ltd, Cork's
one evening, and how much his merri-
ment annoyed the ladies-aow mpertl-
nent he was to the Duchess of Argyle,
and with what stately contempt she put
dowa his Experimentation Colonel Nc
leoi sneerel to his face at his impudent
obstrusiveness-aow his father and the
very wife of his bosom laughed and fret
ted at his fonIeries !; all these things he
proclaimed to all tie world, as if they hal
been subjects for pride and o%stentatious
rejoicing. Ali the cap,ices Of hi, temper,
all the illusions Of his vanity, all his n.y.
pochondriac WITNESSES, all his castles in
the air, he displayed with a Good self-com-
~placeacy, a psrf. ct inconsistencies that
he was making a fool of himself, to which
it is Impossible to find a parallel in the
whole history of mankind. He has used
many people i'll, but assuredly he has used
nobody so al as himself.
Taat such a man should have written
one of the best books in the world, is
strange enough. Bat this is not all. Many
persons vac have conducted themselves
foolishly in active life, and whose coaver-
satioa has Indicated no superior pow srs of
mind, ave written valuable works. Gold
smith WIS very justly described by one of
his contemporaries as an inspired idiot,
and by another as a being,
"Who wrote like an angel, and talked
like poor Poll"
In Foataine was in society a mere simple
ton. His bIunders woa;d not coIne In
amiss among the stories of HierocIes.
Bat these men attained literary eminence
in spite of their weak lssses. Boswell
attained it by reas n of his weaknesses.
III he had not been a great fool, he would
aever hav been a great writer. With
out all the q~lallties watch made him the
Jest aai tor neat OF taos. anoag whom
ne liyod-yiiaoat the officiolsaess, the
i~aqlisidveaess, the etf;aatery, the toaieat-
rag, the in ensibiity to all raproof, he
never could have produced SO excellent II
BOOK. He was a slave, proud of his ser-
wtude; a Paul 2 y, convinced that his
,owl Curiosity and garuiity were virtues /;
al unsafe companion, whu never scrupled
to repay the most liberal hospitality by the
basest violation OF confidence; a man
without ~ieiicacy, without shame, without
seas. enough 10 know when he was hurt.
ing the feelings of others, or when ne wa,
exposing himself to darision, and because
he was all this, he has, in an important
department, of literature, immea sureably
surpassed saca writer's as Tacitus, Claren-
don, A.fori, aad his W lido; Johnson.
PuErs AND AUrHoas IN THE iSrH
CEy,USy.-fnas at the time wlen Joan
son co.n.n.lced mis- literary career, a wri-
ter had little to hope from the patronage
of powerful individuals. Tae patronage
of tae public did not yet furnish the
means of comfortable subsistence. Tne
prices paid by booksellers to authors
were SO low, that a man of considerable
talents aai uaremitting industry could do
little more than provide for the day which
was passing over him. The lean kline
had eaten up the fat kline. Tue thin and
withered ears mad devoured the good ears.
TIE seasoa of rich harvest was over, and
the perioa.of famine had begun. All that
is sqlahd and miserable might now be
SCANNED up in the n word-Poet. ! hat
wsrd denotei a creature dressed like a
searecrnw familiar with comn.ers and