That Favorite Subject, Myself.

[a]s A Lady Adjusts Her Dress Before A Mirror, A Man Adjusts His Character By Looking At His Journal.

I Find I Journalize Too Tediously. Let Me Try To Abbreviate.

Addison Writes With The Ease Of A Gentleman. His Readers Fancy That A Wise And Accomplished Companion Is Talking To Them; So Thathe Insinuates His Sentiments And Taste Into Their Minds By An Imperceptible Influence. Johnson Writes Like A Teacher. He Dictates To His Readers As If From An Academical Chair. They Attend With Awe And Admiration; And His Precepts Are Impressed Upon Them By His Commanding Eloquence. Addison's Style, Like A Light Wine, Pleases Everybody From The First. Johnson's, Like A Liquor Of More Body, Seems Too Strong At First, But, By Degrees, Is Highly Relished.

I Suppose No Person Ever Enjoyed With More Relish The Infusion Of That Fragrant Leaf Than Johnson.

My Curiosity To See The Melancholy Spectacle Of The Executions Was So Strong That I Could Not Resist It, Although I Was Sensible That I Would Suffer Much From It.... I Got Upon A Scaffold Near The Fatal Tree So That I Could Clearly See All The Dismal Scene.... I Was Most Terribly Shocked, And Thrown Into A Very Deep Melancholy.