As for the epithet _probabili_,
he 'never reflected upon it without almost a triumphant feeling in its
felicity.' Nevertheless he would change it into 'poetae sententiarum et
verborum ponderibus admirabili.' Yet these words, 'energetic and
sonorous' though they were, 'fill one with a secret and invincible
loathing, because they tend to introduce into the epitaph a character of
magnificence.' With every fresh objection he rose in importance. He
wrote for the approbation of real scholars of generations yet unborn.
'That the epitaph was written by such or such a man will, from the
publicity of the situation, and the popularity of the subject, be long
remembered.' Johnstone's _Life of Parr_, iv. 694-712. No objection seems
to have been raised to the five pompous lines of perplexing dates and
numerals in which no room is found even for Johnson's birth and
birth-place.
'After I had written the epitaph,' wrote Parr to a friend, 'Sir Joshua
Reynolds told me there was a scroll. I was in a rage. A scroll! Why,
Ned, this is vile modern contrivance. I wanted one train of ideas. What
could I do with the scroll? Johnson held it, and Johnson must speak in
it.
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