Richardson, mentioned to him a very
flattering circumstance,--that he had seen his _Clarissa_ lying on the
King's brother's table. Richardson observing that part of the company
were engaged in talking to each other, affected then not to attend to
it. But by and by, when there was a general silence, and he thought that
the flattery might be fully heard, he addressed himself to the
gentleman, 'I think, Sir, you were saying something about,--' pausing in
a high flutter of expectation. The gentleman provoked at his inordinate
vanity, resolved not to indulge it, and with an exquisitely sly air of
indifference answered, 'A mere trifle Sir, not worth repeating.' The
mortification of Richardson was visible, and he did not speak ten words
more the whole day. Dr. Johnson was present, and appeared to enjoy it
much. BOSWELL.
[101]
'E'en in a bishop I can spy desert;
Seeker is decent, Rundel has a heart.'
Pope, _Epil. to Sat_. ii. 70. Horace Walpole wrote on Aug. 4,1768
(Letters, v. 115):--'We have lost our Pope. Canterbury [Archbishop
Seeker] died yesterday. He had never been a Papist, but almost
everything else.
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