In Boswell's _Hebrides_ (Sept. 29), he said
'Hammond's _Love Elegies_ were poor things.'
[62] Perhaps Lord Corke and Orrery. _Ante_, iii. 183. CROKER.
[63] Colman assumed that Johnson had maintained that Shakespeare was
totally ignorant of the learned languages. He then quotes a line to
prove 'that the author of _The Taming of the Shrew_ had at least read
Ovid;' and continues:--'And what does Dr. Johnson say on this occasion?
Nothing. And what does Mr. Farmer say on this occasion? Nothing.'
Colman's _Terence_, ii. 390. For Farmer, see _ante_, iii. 38.
[64] 'It is most likely that Shakespeare had learned Latin sufficiently
to make him acquainted with construction, but that he never advanced to
an easy perusal of the Roman authors.' Johnson's _Works_, V. 129. 'The
style of Shakespeare was in itself ungrammatical, perplexed, and
obscure.' _Ib_. p. 135.
[65]
'May I govern my passion with
an absolute sway,
And grow wiser and better, as
my strength wears away,
Without gout or stone by a
gentle decay.'
_The Old Man's Wish_ was sung to Sir Roger de Coverley by 'the fair
one,' after the collation in which she ate a couple of chickens, and
drank a full bottle of wine.
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