On April 15, the Conservative History blog celebrated the anniversary of that great Tory Dr Samuel Johnsonâs achievement: the first publication of the Dictionary.
It occurred to me that readers of this blog might like to know the verse critique published by Dr Johnsonâs friend, David Garrick:
âTalk of war with a Briton, heâll boldly advance,
That one English soldier will beat ten of France;
Would we alter the boast from the sword to the pen,
Our odds are still greater, still greater our men â¦
First Shakespeare and Milton, like gods in the fight,
Have put their whole drama and epick to flight â¦
And Johnson, well armâd like a hero of yore,
Has beat forty French, and will beat forty more!â
The forty French were, of course, the Academicians, whose number has been that since the founding of the Académie by Cardinal Richelieu in 1535 to this day.
One can only say: they donât write âem like that any more.
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