Note 910 — THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. (continued 5)

Dr. Sheridan tells how Swift overheard a Captain Hamilton say to a gentleman at whose house he had arrived 'that he was very sorry he had chosen that time for his visit. "Why so?" "Because I hear Dean Swift is with you. He is a great scholar, a wit; a plain country squire will have but a bad time of it in his company, and I don't like to be laughed at." Swift then stepped up and said, "Pray, Captain Hamilton, do you know how to say yes or no properly?" "Yes, I think I have understanding enough for that." "Then give me your hand—depend upon it, you and I will agree very well."' 'The Captain told me,' continues Sheridan, 'that he never passed two months so pleasantly in his life.' Swift's Works, ed. 1803, ii. 104.