“Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining, And thought of convincing, whilst they thought of dining; In short, ‘twas his fate, unemployed or in place, sir, To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor.” “What humour and wit there are in that poem of Goldsmith’s! and where is there any thing equal to his ‘Traveller?’” _Irishman_.--“Yet this is the man who used to be the butt of the company for his bulls.” _Englishman_.--“No, not for his bulls, but for _blurting_ out opinions in conversation that could not stand the test of Dr. Johnson’s critical powers. But what would become of the freedom of wit and humour if every word that came out of our mouths were subject to the tax of a professed critic’s censure, or if every sentence were to undergo a logical examination? It would be well for Englishmen if they were a little more inclined, like your open-hearted countrymen, to _blurt_ out their opinions freely.” _Scotchman_,--“I cannot forgive Dr. Johnson for calling Goldsmith an inspired idiot; I confess I see no idiotism, but much inspiration, in his works.” _Irishman_.--“But we must remember, that if Johnson did laugh at Goldsmith, he would let no one else laugh at him, and he was his most sincere and active friend. The world would, perhaps, never have seen the ‘Vicar of Wakefield’ if Johnson had not recommended it to a bookseller; and Goldsmith might have died in jail if the doctor had not got him a hundred pounds for it, when poor Goldsmith did not know it was worth a shilling. When we recollect this, we must forgive the doctor for calling him, in jest, an inspired idiot.” _Scotchman_.--“Especially as Goldsmith has wit enough to bear him up against a thousand such jests.” _Englishman_.--“It is curious to observe how nearly wit and absurdity are allied. We may forgive the genius of Ireland if he sometimes ‘Leap his light courser o’er the bounds of taste.’ Even English genius is not always to be restrained within the strict limits of common sense. For instance, Young is witty when he says, ‘How would a miser startle to be told Of such a wonder as insolvent gold.’ But Johnson is, I am afraid, absurd when he says, ‘Turn from the glittering bribe your scornful eye, Nor sell for gold what gold can never buy.’” “One case, to be sure, must be excepted,” said the Irishman; “a patriot may sell his reputation, and the purchaser get nothing by it. But, gentlemen, I have just recollected an example of an Irish bull in which are all the happy requisites, incongruity, confusion, and laughable confusion, both in thought and expression. When Sir Richard Steele was asked, how it happened that his countrymen made so many bulls, he replied, ‘It is the effect of climate, sir; if an Englishman were born in Ireland, he would make as many.’” _Scotchman_.--“This is an excellent bull, I allow; but I think I can match it.” _Englishman_.--“And if he can, you will allow yourself to be fairly vanquished?”