136 THE COACHING ERA 



right and proper, but it was quite another state of 

 things when his wife made friends with a gentleman on 

 the coach, and invited him to come to supper. Pepys 

 worked himself up into a great state of mind about it, 

 and considered her conduct most reprehensible, but he 

 need not have distressed himself, for the stranger did not 

 come to the feast Elizabeth Pepys prepared for him, 

 and thereby passed into obscurity instead of being im- 

 mortalized in the pages of the famous diary. 



Dr. Johnson's conversation showed to great advantage 

 in the Oxford coach on June 3rd, 1764. His companions 

 inside were the faithful Boswell and two American 

 ladies who had seen the names on the Way-bill and 

 were ecstatic at the prospedl of travelling with such a 

 celebrity. The elder could scarcely believe her good 

 fortune, for she leant across to Boswell and inquired in a 

 whisper: "Is this the great Dr. Johnson?" 



Boswell, much gratified, replied that it was. The lady, 

 encouraged, imparted the news that her husband had 

 been a member of the American Congress. This gave 

 Boswell considerable alarm, for Dr. Johnson was 

 accustomed to state his views with complete disregard 

 of his listeners' feelings, and he had on a previous occa- 

 sion expressed his opinion of Americans thus strongly: 

 "Sir, they are a race of convi<5ls, and ought to be 

 thankful for anything we allow them short of hanging." 



Boswell therefore besought the lady earnestly not to 

 betray her nationality, and then for their edification 

 proceeded to draw out his tame lion, the said lion 

 responding with the most gratifying result. 



