He has discovered some old friends, among the invalids
of Bath; and, in particular, renewed his acquaintance with the
celebrated James Quin, who certainly did not come here to drink
water. You cannot doubt, but that I had the strongest curiosity
to know this original; and it was gratified by Mr Bramble, who
has had him twice at our house to dinner.
So far as I am able to judge, Quin's character is rather more
respectable than it has been generally represented. His bon mots
are in every witling's mouth; but many of them have a rank
flavour, which one would be apt to think was derived from a
natural grossness of idea. I suspect, however, that justice has
not been done the author, by the collectors of those Quiniana;
who have let the best of them slip through their fingers, and
only retained such as were suited to the taste and organs of the
multitude. How far he may relax in his hours of jollity, I cannot
pretend to say; but his general conversation is conducted by the
nicest rules of Propriety; and Mr James Quin is, certainly, one
of the best bred men in the kingdom. He is not only a most
agreeable companion but (as I am credibly informed) a very honest
man; highly susceptible of friendship, warm, steady, and even
generous in his attachments, disdaining flattery, and incapable
of meanness and dissimulation.
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