To please th’ ill-judging rabble rout:
But when he swears, to furnish laughter,
The beadle’s whip should follow after.”
The Tour of Dr. Syntax in search of the Picturesque. 1812, Canto XXIV. ll. 173 sq.
Tanto cum strepitu, etc., Horace, Epistles, II. i. 203-7.
CHARLES LAMB, 1826.
(1775-1834)
Your fair critic in the coach reminds me of a Scotchman who assured me that he did not see much in Shakespeare. I replied, I dare say not. He felt the equivoke, lookd awkward, and reddish, but soon returnd to the attack, by saying that he thought Burns was as good as Shakespeare: I said that I had no doubt he was—to a Scotchman. We exchangd no more words that day.
Letter to J. B. Dibdin, June 30, 1826. Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. Ed. E. V. Lucas. 1903-4. Vol. vii.