308 George Caiman's Random Records. [MARCH;, 



his old yellow wig was of formidable dimensions, and the learned head 

 which sustained it rolled about in a seemingly paralytic motion, chiefly 

 inclining to one shoulder ; whether to the right or left I cannot now 

 remember ; a fault never to be forgiven by the Twaddleri, who think 

 these matters of the utmost importance. 



" He deigned not to rise on our entrance ; and we stood before him 

 while he and my father talked. There was soon a pause in the col- 

 loquy ; and my father, making his advantage of it, took me by the 

 hand, and said, ' Doctor Johnson, this is a little Colman.' The doctor 

 bestowed a slight ungracious glance on me, and continuing the rotatory 

 motion of his head, renewed the conversation. Again there was a 

 pause ; again the anxious father, who had failed in his first effort, seized 

 the opportunity for pushing his progeny, with ' This is my son, Doctor 

 Johnson.' The great man's contempt was now roused to wrath ; and, 

 knitting his brows, he exclaimed, in a voice of thunder " I see him, Sir/' 

 He then fell back in his rose-coloured fauteuil, as if giving himself up 

 to meditation, implying ' that he would be no further plagued with 

 either an old fool or a young one/ " This was savage enough, and we 

 can scarcely wonder at the title conferred by the indignant object of 

 his rejection. (f A new species of Barbarian, a learned Attila, come to 

 subjugate polished society/' 



He had previously seen Goldsmith, and found him the good-natured 

 doctor that all the world found him. He was but five years old when the 

 doctor first took him on his knee, and was rewarded for it by a " blow 

 which left the marks of his little spiteful paw on his cheek/' For this 

 the striker was banished to an adjoining room, to enjoy the benefit of soli- 

 tary imprisonment. But Goldsmith himself came to liberate the prisoner, 

 brought him back to the dinner table, and finally completed the treaty 

 of pacification by showing him his skill in art magic. " He placed 

 three hats upon the carpet, and a shilling under each, which represented 

 England, France, arid Spain. ' Hey, presto, cocolorum,' said the Doc- 

 tor ; and, on removing the hats, the shillings were found congregated 

 under one. I was no politician at five years old, and, therefore, might 

 not have wondered at the sudden revolution which brought England, 

 France, and Spain, under one crown; but as I was also no conjuror, - 

 it amazed me beyond measure. From that time, whenever the Doctor 

 came to visit my father, a game at romps constantly ensued, and we 

 were always cordial friends, and merry playfellows. Our unequal com- 

 panionship varied somewhat in point of sports as I grew older, but it did 

 not last long. My senior playmate died, alas ! in his forty-fifth year, 

 some months after I had attained my eleventh." 



Of Foote, of course he must know much ; but his avoidance of build- 

 ing on the foundations of other men is so punctilious, that his only 

 record is, of the player's wooden leg. c< This prop to his person I once 

 saw standing by his bedside, ready dressed, in a handsome silk stocking, 

 with a polished shoe and gold buckle, awaiting the owner's getting up. 

 It had a kind of tragicomical appearance. And I leave to inveterate 

 wags the ingenuity of punning upon a Foote in bed, and a leg out of it. 

 His undressed supporter was the common wooden leg, like a mere stick, 

 which was not a little injurious to a well-kept pleasure-ground. I 

 remember following him after a shower of rain upon a nicely rolled 

 terrace, in which he stamped a deep round hole at every other step he 

 took, tul it appeared as if the gardener had been there with his dibble, 



