Some Account xxix
their excellence and their value consisted in
being the observations of a strong mind ope
rating upon life j and in consequence you
find there what you seldom find in other
books/ — It is this kind of excellence which
gives a value to the performances of artists
also* It is the thoughts expressed in the
ivorks of Michael Angelo, Correggio, Raf-
faelle, Parmegiano, and perhaps some of
the old Gothick masters, and not the inven-
tions of Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Maratti,
Luca Giordano, and others that I might
mention, which we seek after with avidity.
From the former we learn to think originally.
May I presume to introduce myself on this
occasion, and even to mention as an instance
of the truth of what I have remarked, the
very Discourses which I have had the ho-
nour of delivering from this place. What-
ever merit they have, must be imputed, in a
great measure, to the education which I may
be said to have had under Dr. Johnson. I
dp not mean to say, though it certainly would