"
This extract is copied from a valuable contribution to the literary
annals of the eighteenth century, for which we are indebted to the
colonial press.[1] It is the diary of an Irish clergyman, containing
strong internal evidence of authenticity, although nothing more is
known of it than that the manuscript was discovered behind an old
press in one of the offices of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
That such a person saw a good deal of Johnson in 1775, is proved by
Boswell, whose accuracy is frequently confirmed in return. In one
marginal note Mrs. Thrale says: "He was a fine showy talking man.
Johnson liked him of all things in a year or two." In another: "Dr.
Campbell was a very tall handsome man, and, speaking of some other
_High_-bernian, used this expression: 'Indeed now, and upon my honour,
Sir, I am but a Twitter to him.'"[2]
[Footnote 1: Diary of a Visit to England in 1775. By an Irishman (the
Rev. Doctor Thomas Campbell, author of "A Philosophical Survey of the
South of Ireland.") And other Papers by the same hand. With Notes by
Samuel Raymond, M.A., Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South
Wales. Sydney. Waugh and Cox. 1854.]
[Footnote 2: He is similarly described in the "Letters," vol. i. p.
329.]
Several of his entries throw light on the Thrale establishment:
"_14th._--This day I called at Mr. Thrale's, where I was received
with all respect by Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. She is a very learned lady,
and joins to the charms of her own sex, the manly understanding of
ours.
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