anybody  that  ever  was  talked  of.  He  forced  himself
upon  me  in  spite  of  my  teeth  and  my  doors,  and  I
see  has  given  a  foolish  account  of  all  he  could  pick  up
from  me  about  King  Theodore.  He  then  took  an
antipathy  to  me  on  Rousseau's  account,  abused  me  in
the  newspapers,  and  expected  Rousseau  to  do  so  too  ;
but  as  he  came  to  see  me  no  more,  I  forgave  all  the
rest.  I  see  he  now  is  a  little  sick  of  Rousseau  him-
self, but  I  hope  it  will  not  cure  him  of  his  anger  to
me;  however  his  book  will  amuse  you."

To  this  Gray,  in  his  reply  of  February  25th,  1768,
says : — "  Mr.  Boswell's  book  I  was  going  to  recom-
mend to  you  when  I  received  your  letter.  It  has
pleased  and  moved  me  strangely;  all  (I  mean)  that
relates  to  Paoli.  The  pamphlet  proves  what  I  have
always  maintained,  that  any  fool  may  write  a  most  va-
luable book  by  chance,  if  he  will  only  tell  us  what  he
heard  and  said  with  veracity.  Of  Mr.  Boswell's  truth
I  have  not  the  least  suspicion,  because  I  am  sure  he
could  invent  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  title  of  this
part  of  his  work  is  a  Dialogue  between  a  Green  Goose
and  a  Hero."  The  "veracity"  of  the  Journal  indeed
is  vouched  for  not  only  by  Boswell  himself,  who  de-
clares that  he  wrote  the  most  literal  account  of  what
he  saw  and  did,  but  also  by  the  same  characteristic
traits  which  have  given  his  '  Life  of  Johnson'  its  fame.
