office, and in one of these, at least, he affords an interesting and profitable
study.

To the student of literature Burke's name must always suggest that of Johnson
and Goldsmith. It was eight years after Burke's first appearance as an author,
that the famous Literary Club was formed. At first it was the intention to limit
the club to a membership of nine, and for a time this was adhered to. The
original members were Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, Reynolds, and Hawkins. Garrick,
Pox, and Boswell came in later. Macaulay declares that the influence of the club
was so great that its verdict made and unmade reputations; but the thing most
interesting to us does not lie in the consideration of such literary
dictatorship. To Boswell we owe a biography of Johnson which has immortalized
its subject, and shed lustre upon all associated with him. The literary history
of the last third of the eighteenth century, with Johnson as a central figure,
is told nowhere else with such accuracy, or with better effect.

Although a Tory, Johnson was a great one, and his lasting friendship for Burke
is an enduring evidence of his generosity and great-mindedness. For twenty
years, and longer, they were eminent men in opposing parties, yet their mutual
respect and admiration continued to the last. To Burke, Johnson was a writer of
"eminent literary merit" and entitled to a pension "solely on that account." To
Johnson, Burke was the greatest man of his age, wrong politically, to be sure,
yet the only one "whose common conversation corresponded to the general fame
which he had in the world"--the only one "who was ready, whatever subject was
chosen, to meet you on your own ground." Here and there in the Life are
allusions to Burke, and admirable estimates of his many-sided character.

Coming directly to an estimate of Burke from the purely literary point of view,
it must be borne in mind that the greater part of his writings was prepared for
an audience. Like Macaulay, his prevailing style suggests the speaker, and his