Chapter 27

'I found myselfAs women wish to be who love their lords.'Act i.'He seldom errsWho thinks the worse he can of womankind.'Act iii.'Honour, sole judge and umpire of itself.'Act iv.'Unknown I die; no tongue shall speak of me.Some noble spirits, judging by themselves,May yet conjecture what I might have proved,And think life only wanting to my fame.'Act v.'An honest guardian, arbitrator justBe thou; thy station deem a sacred trust.With thy good sword maintain thy country's cause;In every action venerate its laws:The lie suborn'd if falsely urg'd to swear,Though torture wait thee, torture firmly bear;To forfeit honour, think the highest shame,And life too dearly bought by loss of fame;Nor to preserve it, with thy virtue giveThat for which only man should wish to live.'

[Satires, viii. 79.]

For this and the other translations to which no signature is affixed, I am indebted to the friend whose observations are mentioned in the notes, pp. 78 and 399. BOSWELL. Sir Walter Scott says, 'probably Dr. Hugh Blair.' I have little doubt that it was Malone. 'One of the best criticks of our age,' Boswell calls this friend in the other two passages. This was a compliment Boswell was likely to pay to Malone, to whom he dedicated this book. Malone was a versifier. See Prior'sMalone, p. 463.

[971]I am sorry that I was unlucky in my quotation. But notwithstanding the acuteness of Dr. Johnson's criticism, and the power of his ridicule,The Tragedy of Douglassill continues to be generally and deservedly admired. BOSWELL. Johnson's scorn was no doubt returned, for Dr. A. Carlyle (Auto.p. 295) says of Home:—'as John all his life had a thorough contempt for such as neglected his poetry, he treated all who approved of his works with a partiality which more than approached to flattery.' Carlyle tells (pp. 301-305) how Home started for London with his tragedy in one pocket of his great coat and his clean shirt and night-cap in the other, escorted on setting out by six or seven Merse ministers. 'Garrick, after reading his play, returned it as totally unfit for the stage.' It was brought out first in Edinburgh, and in the year 1757 in Covent Garden, where it had great success. 'This tragedy,' wrote Carlyle forty-five years later, 'still maintains its ground, has been more frequently acted, and is more popular than any tragedy in the English language.'Ib.p. 325. Hannah More recorded in 1786 (Memoirs, ii. 22), 'I had a quarrel with Lord Monboddo one night lately. He saidDouglaswas a better play than Shakespeare could have written. He was angry and I was pert. Lord Mulgrave sat spiriting me up, but kept out of the scrape himself, and Lord Stormont seemed to enjoy the debate, but was shabby enough not to help me out.'

[972]Seeante, ii. 230, note 1.

[973]Seeante, p. 318.

[974]Seeante, iii. 54

[975]Seeante, p. 356.

[976]Seeante, iii. 241, note 2.

[977]As a remarkable instance of his negligence, I remember some years ago to have found lying loose in his study, and without the cover, which contained the address, a letter to him from Lord Thurlow, to whom he had made an application as Chancellor, in behalf of a poor literary friend. It was expressed in such terms of respect for Dr. Johnson, that, in my zeal for his reputation, I remonstrated warmly with him on his strange inattention, and obtained his permission to take a copy of it; by which probably it has been preserved, as the original I have reason to suppose is lost. BOSWELL. Seeante, iii. 441.

[978]'The islets, which court the gazer at a distance, disgust him at his approach, when he finds, instead of soft lawns and shady thickets, nothing more than uncultivated ruggedness.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 156.

[979]Seeante, i. 200, and iv. 179.

[980]In these arguments he says:—'Reason and truth will prevail at last. The most learned of the Scottish doctors would now gladly admit a form of prayer, if the people would endure it. The zeal or rage of congregations has its different degrees. In some parishes the Lord's Prayer is suffered: in others it is still rejected as a form; and he that should make it part of his supplication would be suspected of heretical pravity.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 102. Seeante, p. 121.

[981]'A very little above the source of the Leven, on the lake, stands the house of Cameron, belonging to Mr. Smollett, so embosomed in an oak wood that we did not see it till we were within fifty yards of the door.'Humphry Clinker, Letter of Aug. 28.

[982]Boswell himself was at times one of 'those absurd visionaries.'Ante, ii. 73.

[983]Seeante, p. 117.

[984]Lord Kames wrote one, which is published in Chambers'sTraditions of Edinburgh, ed. 1825, i. 280. In it he bids the traveller to 'indulge the hope of a Monumental Pillar.'

[985]Seeante, iii. 85; and v. 154.

[986]This address does not offend against the rule that Johnson lays down in hisEssay on Epitaphs(Works, v. 263), where he says:—'It is improper to address the epitaph to the passenger.' The impropriety consists in such an address in a church. He however did break through his rule in his epitaph in Streatham Church on Mr. Thrale, where he says:—'Abi viator.'Ib.i. 154.

[987]InHumphry Clinker(Letter of Aug. 28), which was published a few months before Smollett's death, is hisOde on Leven-Water.

[988]The epitaph which has been inscribed on the pillar erected on the banks of the Leven, in honour of Dr. Smollett, is as follows. The part which was written by Dr. Johnson, it appears, has been altered; whether for the better, the reader will judge. The alterations are distinguished by Italicks.

Siste viator!Si lepores ingeniique venam benignam,Si morum callidissimum pictorem, Unquam es miratus,Immorare paululum memoriaeTOBIAE SMOLLET, M.D.Viri virtutibushisceQuas in homine et civeEt laudes et imiteris,Haud mediocriter ornati:Qui in literis variis versatus,Postquam felicitatesibi propriaSese posteris commendaverat,Morte acerba raptusAnno aetatis 51,Eheu: quam procul a patria!Prope Liburni portum in Italia, Jacet sepultres.Tali tantoque viro, patrueli suo, Cui in decursu lampadaSe potius tradidisse decuit, Hanc Columnam,Amoris, eheu! inane monumentum In ipsis Leviniae ripis,Quasversiculis sub exitu vitae illustratasPrimis infans vagitibus personuit, Ponendam curavitJACOBUS SMOLLET de Bonhill. Abi et reminiscere,Hoc quidem honore, Non modo defuncti memoriae,Verum etiam exemplo, prospectum esse;Aliis enim, si modo digni sint,Idem erit virtutis praemium!BOSWELL.

[989]Baretti told Malone that, having proposed to teach Johnson Italian, they went over a few stanzas of Ariosto, and Johnson then grew weary. 'Some years afterwards Baretti said he would give him another lesson, but added, "I suppose you have forgotten what we read before." "Who forgets, Sir?" said Johnson, and immediately repeated three or four stanzas of the poem.' Baretti took down the book to see if it had been lately opened, but the leaves were covered with dust. Prior'sMalone, p. 160. Johnson had learnt to translate Italian before he knew Baretti.Ante, i. 107, 156. For other instances of his memory, seeante, i. 39, 48; iii. 318, note 1; and iv. 103, note 2.

[990]For sixty-eight days he received no letter—from August 21 (ante, p. 84) to October 28.

[991]Among these professors might possibly have been either Burke or Hume had not a Mr. Clow been the successful competitor in 1751 as the successor to Adam Smith in the chair of Logic. 'Mr. Clow has acquired a curious title to fame, from the greatness of the man to whom he succeeded, and of those over whom he was triumphant.' J.H. Burton'sHume, i. 351.

[992]Dr. Reid, the author of theInquiry into the Human Mind, had in 1763 succeeded Adam Smith as Professor of Moral Philosophy. Dugald Stewart was his pupil the winter before Johnson's visit. Stewart'sReid, ed. 1802, p. 38.

[993]Seeante, iv. 186.

[994]Mr. Boswell has chosen to omit, for reasons which will be presently obvious, that Johnson and Adam Smith met at Glasgow; but I have been assured by Professor John Miller that they did so, and that Smith, leaving the party in which he had met Johnson, happened to come to another companywhere Miller was. Knowing that Smith had been in Johnson's society, they were anxious to know what had passed, and the more so as Dr. Smith's temper seemed much ruffled. At first Smith would only answer, 'He's a brute—he's a brute;' but on closer examination, it appeared that Johnson no sooner saw Smith than he attacked him for some point of his famous letter on the death of Hume (ante, p. 30). Smith vindicated the truth of his statement. 'What did Johnson say?' was the universal inquiry. 'Why, he said,' replied Smith, with the deepest impression of resentment, 'he said,you lie!' 'And what did you reply?' 'I said, you are a son of a———!' On such terms did these two great moralists meet and part, and such was the classical dialogue between two great teachers of philosophy. WALTER SCOTT. This story is erroneous in the particulars of thetime, place,andsubjectof the alleged quarrel; for Hume did not die for [nearly] three years after Johnson's only visit to Glasgow; nor was Smith then there. Johnson, previous to 1763 (seeante, i. 427, and iii. 331), had an altercation with Adam Smith at Mr. Strahan's table. This may have been the foundation of Professor Miller's misrepresentation. But, eventhen, nothing of this offensive kind could have passed, as, if it had, Smith could certainly not have afterwards solicited admission to the Club of which Johnson was the leader, to which he was admitted 1st Dec. 1775, and where he and Johnson met frequently on civil terms. I, therefore, disbelieve the whole story. CROKER.

[995]'His appearance,' says Dr. A. Carlyle (Auto. p. 68), 'was that of an ascetic, reduced by fasting and prayer.' Seeante, p. 68.

[996]Seeante, ii. 27, 279.

[997]Seeante,p. 92.

[998]Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:—'I was not much pleased with any of the Professors.'Piozzi Letters,i. 199. Mme. D'Arblay says:— 'Whenever Dr. Johnson did not make the charm of conversation he only marred it by his presence, from the general fear he incited, that if he spoke not, he might listen; and that if he listened, he might reprove.'Memoirs of Dr. Burney,ii. 187. Seeante, ii. 63

[999]Boswell has not let us see this caution. When Robertson first came in, 'there began,' we are told, 'some animated dialogue' (ante,p.32). The next day we read that 'he fluently harangued to Dr. Johnson' (ante,p.43).

[1000]Seeante,iii. 366.

[1001]He was Ambassador at Paris in the beginning of the reign of George I., and Commander-in-Chief in 1744. Lord Mahon'sEngland, ed. 1836, i. 201 and iii. 275.

[1002]The unwilling gratitude of base mankind. POPE. [Imitations of Horace, 2Epis. i. 14.] BOSWELL.

[1003]Dr. Franklin (Memoirs, i. 246-253) gives a curious account of Lord Loudoun, who was general in America about the year 1756. 'Indecision,' he says, 'was one of the strongest features of his character.' He kept back the packet-boats from day to day because he could not make up his mind to send his despatches. At one time there were three boats waiting, one of which was kept with cargo and passengers on board three months beyond its time. Pitt at length recalled him, because 'he never heard from him, and could not know what he was doing.'

[1004]See Chalmers'sBiog. Dict.xi. 161 for an account of a controversy about the identity of this writer with an historian of the same name.

[1005]He had paid but little attention to his own rule. Seeante, ii. 119.

[1006]'I believe that for all the castles which I have seen beyond the Tweed, the ruins yet remaining of some one of those which the English built in Wales would supply Materials.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 152.

[1007]Seeante, p. 40, note 4.

[1008]Johnson described her as 'a lady who for many years gave the laws of elegance to Scotland.'Piozzi Letters, i. 200. Allan Ramsay dedicated to her hisGentle Shepherd, and W. Hamilton, of Bangour, wrote to her verses on the presentation of Ramsay's poem. Hamilton'sPoems, p. 23.

[1009]Seeante, ii. 66, and iii. 188.

[1010]'She called Boswell the boy: "yes, Madam," said I, "we will send him to school." "He is already," said she, "in a good school;" and expressed her hope of his improvement. At last night came, and I was sorry to leave her.'Piozzi Letters, i. 200. Seeante, iii. 366.

[1011]Seeante, pp. 318, 362.

[1012]Burns, who was in his fifteenth year, was at this time living at Ayr, about twelve miles away. When later on he moved to Mauchline, he and Boswell became much nearer neighbours.

[1013]He had, however, married again.Ante, ii. 140, note I. It is curious that Boswell in this narrative does not mention his step-mother.

[1014]'AsperIncolumi gravitate jocum tentavit.''Though rude his mirth, yet laboured to maintainThe solemn grandeur of the tragic scene.'FRANCIS. Horace,Ars Poet. l. 221.

[1015]Seeante, iii. 65, and v. 97.

[1016]Seeante, iv. 163, 241.

[1017]Johnson (Works, vii. 425) says of Addison's dedication of the opera ofRosamondto the Duchess of Marlborough, that 'it was an instance of servile absurdity, to be exceeded only by Joshua Barnes's dedication of a GreekAnacreonto the Duke.' For Barnes seeante, iii. 284, and iv. 19.

[1018]William Baxter, the editor ofAnacreon, was the nephew of Richard Baxter, the nonconformist divine.

[1019]He says of Auchinleck (Works, ix. 158) that 'like all the western side of Scotland, it isincommodedby very frequent rain.' 'In all September we had, according to Boswell's register, only one day and a half of fair weather; and in October perhaps not more.'Piozzi Letters, i. 182.

[1020]'By-the-bye,' wrote Sir Walter Scott, 'I am far from being of the number of those angry Scotsmen who imputed to Johnson's national prejudices all or a great part of the report he has given of our country in hisVoyage to the Hebrides. I remember the Highlands ten or twelve years later, and no one can conceive of 'how much that could have been easily remedied travellers had to complain.'Croker Corres. ii. 34

[1021]'Of these islands it must be confessed, that they have not many allurements but to the mere lover of naked nature. The inhabitants are thin, provisions are scarce, and desolation and penury give little pleasure.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 153. In an earlier passage (p. 138), in describing a rough ride in Mull, he says:—'We were now long enough acquainted with hills and heath to have lost the emotion that they once raised, whether pleasing or painful, and had our minds employed only on our own fatigue.'

[1022]Seeante, ii. 225.

[1023]In like manner Wesley said of Rousseau:—'Sure a more consummate coxcomb never saw the sun.... He is a cynic all over. So indeed is his brother-infidel, Voltaire; and well-nigh as great a coxcomb.' Wesley'sJournal,, ed. 1830, iii. 386.

[1024]This gentleman, though devoted to the study of grammar and dialecticks, was not so absorbed in it as to be without a sense of pleasantry, or to be offended at his favourite topicks being treated lightly. I one day met him in the street, as I was hastening to the House of Lords, and told him, I was sorry I could not stop, being rather too late to attend an appeal of the Duke of Hamilton against Douglas. 'I thought (said he) their contest had been over long ago.' I answered, 'The contest concerning Douglas's filiation was over long ago; but the contest now is, who shall have the estate.' Then, assuming the air of 'an ancient sage philosopher,' I proceeded thus: 'Were I topredicateconcerning him, I should say, the contest formerly was, Whatishe? The contest now is, Whathashe?'—'Right, (replied Mr. Harris, smiling,) you have done withquality, and have got intoquantity.' BOSWELL.

[1025]Most likely Sir A. Macdonald.Ante, p. 148.

[1026]Boswell wrote on March 18,1775:—'Mr. Johnson, when enumerating our Club, observed of some of us, that they talked from books,—Langton in particular. "Garrick," he said, "would talk from books, if he talked seriously." "I," said he, "do not talk from books;youdo not talk from books." This was a compliment to my originality; but I am afraid I have not read books enough to be able to talk from them.'Letters of Boswell, p. 181. Seeante, ii. 360, where Johnson said to Boswell:— 'I don't believe you have borrowed from Waller. I wish you would enable yourself to borrow more;' and i. 105, where he described 'a man of a great deal of knowledge of the world, fresh from life, not strained through books.'

[1027]'Lord Auchinleck has built a house of hewn stone, very stately and durable, and has advanced the value of his lands with great tenderness to his tenants. I was, however, less delighted with the elegance of the modern mansion, than with the sullen dignity of the old castle.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 159. 'The house is scarcely yet finished, but very magnificent and very convenient.'Piozzi Letters, i. 201. Seeante, i. 462.

[1028]Seeante, ii. 413, and v. 91.

[1029]The relation, it should seem, was remote even for Scotland. Their common ancestor was Robert Bruce, some sixteen generations back. Boswell's mother's grandmother was a Bruce of the Earl of Kincardine's family, and so also was his father's mother. Rogers'sBoswelliana, pp. 4, 5.

[1030]He refers to Johnson's pension, which was given nearly two years after George Ill's accession.Ante, i. 372.

[1031]Ante, p. 51.

[1032]He repeated this advice in 1777.Ante, iii. 207.

[1033]'Of their black cattle some are without horns, called by the Scotshumblecows, as we call a bee, anhumblebee, that wants a sting. Whether this difference be specifick, or accidental, though we inquired with great diligence, we could not be informed.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 78.

Johnson, in hisDictionary, gives the right derivation of humble-bee, fromhumandbee. The wordHumble-cowis found inGuy Mannering, ed. 1860, iii. 91:—'"Of a surety," said Sampson, "I deemed I heard his horse's feet." "That," said John, with a broad grin, "was Grizzel chasing the humble-cow out of the close."'

[1034]'Even the cattle have not their usual beauty or noble head.' Church and Brodribb'sTacitus.

[1035]'The peace you seek is here—where is it not? If your own mind be equal to its lot.' CROKER. Horace, IEpistles, xi. 29.

[1036]Horace, IEpistles, xviii. 112.

[1037]This and the next paragraph are not in the first edition. The paragraph that follows has been altered so as to hide the fact that the minister spoken of was Mr. Dun. Originally it stood:—'Mr. Dun, though a man of sincere good principles as a presbyterian divine, discovered,' &c. First edition, p. 478.

[1038]Seeante, p. 120.

[1039]Old Lord Auchinleck was an able lawyer, a good scholar, after the manner of Scotland, and highly valued his own advantages as a man of good estate and ancient family; and, moreover, he was a strict presbyterian and Whig of the old Scottish cast. This did not prevent his being a terribly proud aristocrat; and great was the contempt he entertained and expressed for his son James, for the nature of his friendships and the character of the personages of whom he wasengouéone after another. 'There's nae hope for Jamie, mon,' he said to a friend. 'Jamie is gaen clean gyte. What do you think, mon? He's done wi' Paoli—he's off wi' the land-louping scoundrel of a Corsican; and whose tail do you think he has pinned himself to now, mon?' Here the old judge summoned up a sneer of most sovereign contempt. 'Adominie, mon—an auld dominie: he keeped a schule, and cau'd it an acaadamy.' Probably if this had been reported to Johnson, he would have felt it more galling, for he never much liked to think of that period of his life [ante, i.97, note 2]; it would have aggravated his dislike of Lord Auchinleck's Whiggery and presbyterianism. These the old lord carried to such a height, that once, when a countryman came in to state some justice business, and being required to make his oath, declined to do so before his lordship, because he was not acovenantedmagistrate. 'Is that a'your objection, mon?' said the judge; 'come your ways in here, and we'll baith of us tak the solemn league and covenant together.' The oath was accordingly agreed and sworn to by both, and I dare say it was the last time it ever received such homage. It may be surmised how far Lord Auchinleck, such as he is here described, was likely to suit a high Tory and episcopalian like Johnson. As they approached Auchinleck, Boswell conjured Johnson by all the ties of regard, and in requital of the services he had rendered him upon his tour, that he would spare two subjects in tenderness to his father's prejudices; the first related to Sir John Pringle, president of the Royal Society, about whom there was then some dispute current: the second concerned the general question of Whig and Tory. Sir John Pringle, as Boswell says, escaped, but the controversy between Tory and Covenanter raged with great fury, and ended in Johnson's pressing upon the old judge the question, what good Cromwell, of whom he had said something derogatory, had ever done to his country; when, after being much tortured, Lord Auchinleck at last spoke out, 'God, Doctor! he gart kings ken that they had alithin their neck'—he taught kings they had ajointin their necks. Jamie then set to mediating between his father and the philosopher, and availing himself of the judge's sense of hospitality, which was punctilious, reduced the debate to more order. WALTER SCOTT. Paoli had visited Auchinleck. Boswell wrote to Garrick on Sept. 18, 1771:—'I have just been enjoying the very great happiness of a visit from my illustrious friend, Pascal Paoli. He was two nights at Auchinleck, and you may figure the joy of my worthy father and me at seeing the Corsican hero in our romantic groves.'Garrick Corres. i. 436. Johnson was not blind to Cromwell's greatness, for he says (Works, vii. 197), that 'he wanted nothing to raise him to heroick excellence but virtue.' Lord Auchinleck's famous saying had been anticipated by Quin, who, according to Davies (Life of Garrick, ii. 115), had said that 'on a thirtieth of January every king in Europe would rise with a crick in his neck.'

[1040]Seeante, p. 252.

[1041]James Durham, born 1622, died 1658, wrote many theological works. Chalmers'sBiog. Dict. In theBrit. Mus. Cata. I can find no work by him on theGalatians; Lord Auchinleck's triumph therefore was, it seems, more artful than honest.

[1042]Gray, it should seem, had given the name earlier. His friend Bonstetten says that about the year 1769 he was walking with him, when Gray 'exclaimed with some bitterness, "Look, look, Bonstetten! the great bear! There goesUrsa Major!" This was Johnson. Gray could not abide him.' Sir Egerton Brydges, quoted in Gosse'sGray, iii. 371. For the epithetbearapplied to Johnson seeante, ii. 66, 269, note i, and iv. 113, note 2. Boswell wrote on June 19, 1775:—'My father harps on my going over Scotland with a brute (think, how shockingly erroneous!), and wandering (or some such phrase) to London.'Letters of Boswell, p. 207.

[1043]It is remarkable that Johnson in hisLife of Blackmore[Works, viii. 42] calls the imaginary Mr. Johnson of theLay Monastery'a constellation of excellence.' CROKER.

[1044]Page 121. BOSWELL. See alsoante, iii. 336.

[1045]'The late Sir Alexander Boswell,' wrote Sir Walter Scott, 'was a proud man, and, like his grandfather, thought that his father lowered himself by his deferential suit and service to Johnson. I have observed he disliked any allusion to the book or to Johnson himself, and I have heard that Johnson's fine picture by Sir Joshua was sent upstairs out of the sitting apartments at Auchinleck.'Croker Corres. ii. 32. This portrait, which was given by Sir Joshua to Boswell (Taylor'sReynolds, i. 147), is now in the possession of Mr. Charles Morrison.

[1046]'I have always said that first Whig was the devil.'Ante, iii. 326

[1047]Seeante, ii. 26.

[1048]Dr. A. Carlyle (Auto. p. 266) has paid this tribute. 'Lord Elibank,' he writes, 'had a mind that embraced the greatest variety of topics, and produced the most original remarks. ... He had been a lieutenant-colonel in the army and was at the siege of Carthagena, of which he left an elegant account (which I'm afraid is lost). He was a Jacobite, and a member of the famous Cocoa-tree Club, and resigned his commission on some disgust.' Dr. Robertson and John Home were his neighbours in the country, 'who made him change or soften down many of his original opinions, and prepared him for becoming a most agreeable member of the Literary Society of Edinburgh.' Smollett inHumphry Clinker(Letter of July 18), describes him as 'a nobleman whom I have long revered for his humanity and universal intelligence, over and above the entertainment arising from the originality of his character.' Boswell, in theLondon Mag.1779, p. 179, thus mentions the Cocoa-tree Club:—'But even at Court, though I see much external obeisance, I do not find congenial sentiments to warm my heart; and except when I have the conversation of a very few select friends, I am never so well as when I sit down to a dish of coffee in the Cocoa Tree, sacred of old to loyalty, look round me to men of ancient families, and please myself with the consolatory thought that there is perhaps more good in the nation than I know.'

[1049]Johnson'sWorks, vii. 380. Seeante, i. 81.

[1050]Seeante, p. 53.

[1051]The Mitre tavern.Ante, i. 425.

[1052]Of this Earl of Kelly Boswell records the following pun:—'At a dinner at Mr. Crosbie's, when the company were very merry, the Rev. Dr. Webster told them he was sorry to go away so early, but was obliged to catch the tide, to cross the Firth of Forth. "Better stay a little," said Thomas Earl of Kelly, "till you be half-seas over."' Rogers'sBoswelliana, p. 325.

[1053]Seeante, i. 354.

[1054]In the first edition,and his son the advocate. Under this son, A. F. Tytler, afterwards a Lord of Session by the title of Lord Woodhouselee, Scott studied history at Edinburgh College. Lockhart'sScott, ed. 1839, i. 59, 278.

[1055]Seeante, i. 396, and ii. 296.

[1056]'If we know little of the ancient Highlanders, let us not fill the vacuity with Ossian. If we have not searched the Magellanick regions, let us however forbear to people them with Patagons.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 116. Horace Walpole wrote on May 22, 1766 (Letters, iv. 500):—'Oh! but we have discovered a race of giants! Captain Byron has found a nation of Brobdignags on the coast of Patagonia; the inhabitants on foot taller than he and his men on horseback. I don't indeed know how he and his sailors came to be riding in the South Seas. However, it is a terrible blow to the Irish, for I suppose all our dowagers now will be for marrying Patagonians.'

[1057]I desire not to be understood as agreeingentirelywith the opinions of Dr. Johnson, which I relate without any remark. The many imitations, however, ofFingal, that have been published, confirm this observation in a considerable degree. BOSWELL. Johnson said to Sir Joshua of Ossian:—'Sir, a man might write such stuff for ever, if he wouldabandonhis mind to it.'Ante, iv. 183.

[1058]In the first edition (p. 485) this paragraph ran thus:—'Young Mr. Tytler stepped briskly forward, and said, "Fingalis certainly genuine; for I have heard a great part of it repeated in the original."—Dr. Johnson indignantly asked him, "Sir, do you understand the original?"—Tytler. "No, Sir."—Johnson. "Why, then, we see to what this testimony comes:—Thus it is."—He afterwards said to me, "Did you observe the wonderful confidence with which young Tytler advanced, with his front alreadybrased?"'

[1059]Forin companywe should perhaps readin the company.

[1060]In the first edition,this gentleman's talents and integrity are, &c.

[1061]'A Scotchman must be a very sturdy moralist who does not love Scotland better than truth: he will always love it better than inquiry; and if falsehood flatters his vanity, will not be very diligent to detect it.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 116. Seeante, ii. 311.

[1062]Seeante, p. 164.

[1063]Seeante, p. 242.

[1064]Seeante, iv. 253.

[1065]Lord Chief Baron Geoffrey Gilbert published in 1760 a book on the Law of Evidence.

[1066]Seeante, ii. 302.

[1067]Three instances,ante, pp. 160, 320.

[1068]Seeante, ii. 318.

[1069]An instance is given in Sacheverell'sAccount of the Isle of Man, ed. 1702, p. 14.

[1070]Mr. J. T. Clark, the Keeper of the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, obligingly informs me that in the margin of the copy of Boswell'sJournalin that Library it is stated that this cause wasWilson versus Maclean.

[1071]Seeante, iv. 74, note 3.

[1072]Seeante, iii 69, 183.

[1073]He is described inGuy Mannering, ed. 1860, iv. 98.

[1074]Seeante, p. 50.

[1075]Seeante, i. 458.

[1076]'We now observe that the Methodists, where they scatter their opinions, represent themselves as preaching the Gospel to unconverted nations; and enthusiasts of all kinds have been inclined to disguise their particular tenets with pompous appellations, and to imagine themselves the great instruments of salvation.' Johnson'sWorks, vi. 417.

[1077]

Through various hazards and events we move.

Dryden, [Aeneid, I. 204]. BOSWELL.

[1078]

Long labours both by sea and land he bore.

Dryden, [Aeneid, I. 3]. BOSWELL.

[1079]The Jesuits, headed by Francis Xavier, made their appearance in Japan in 1549. The first persecution was in 1587; it was followed by others in 1590, 1597, 1637, 1638.Encyclo. Brit. 8th edit. xii. 697.

[1080]'They congratulate our return as if we had been with Phipps or Banks; I am ashamed of their salutations.'Piozzi Letters, i. 203. Phipps had gone this year to the Arctic Ocean (ante, p. 236), and Banks had accompanied Captain Cook in 1768-1771. Johnson says however (Works, ix. 84), that 'to the southern inhabitants of Scotland the state of the mountains and the islands is equally unknown with that of Borneo or Sumatra.' Seeante, p. 283, note 1, where Scott says that 'the whole expedition was highly perilous.' Smollett, inHumphry Clinker(Letter of July 18), says of Scotland in general:—'The people at the other end of the island know as little of Scotland as of Japan.'

[1081]In sailing from Sky to Col.Ante, p. 280.

[1082]Johnson, four years later, suggested to Boswell that he should write this history.Ante, iii. 162, 414.

[1083]Voltaire was born in 1694; hisLouis XIV.was published in 1751 or 1752.

[1084]A society for debate in Edinburgh, consisting of the most eminent men. BOSWELL. It was founded in 1754 by Allan Ramsay the painter, aided by Robertson, Hume, and Smith. Dugald Stewart (Life of Robertson, ed. 1802, p. 5) says that 'it subsisted in vigour for six or seven years' and produced debates, such as have not often been heard in modern assemblies.' See also Dr. A. Carlyle'sAuto. p. 297.

[1085]'As for Maclaurin's imitation of amade dish, it was a wretched attempt.'Ante,i. 469.

[1086]It was of Lord Elibank's French cook 'that he exclaimed with vehemence, "I'd throw such a rascal into the river."'Ib.

[1087]'He praisedGordon's palateswith a warmth of expression which might have done honour to more important subjects.'Ib.

[1088]For the alarm he gave to Mrs. Boswell before this supper, seeib.

[1089]On Dr. Boswell's death, in 1780, Boswell wrote of him:—'He was a very good scholar, knew a great many things, had an elegant taste, and was very affectionate; but he had no conduct. His money was all gone. And do you know he was not confined to one woman. He had a strange kind of religion; but I flatter myself he will be ere long, if he is not already, in Heaven.'Letters of Boswell, p. 258.

[1090]Johnson had written theLifeof 'the great Boerhaave,' as he called him.Works, vi. 292.

[1091]'At Edinburgh,' he wrote, 'I passed some days with men of learning, whose names want no advancement from my commemoration, or with women of elegance, which, perhaps, disclaims a pedant's praise.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 159.

[1092]Seeante, iv. 178.

[1093]'My acquaintance,' wrote Richardson (Corres. iv. 317), 'lies chiefly among the ladies; I care not who knows it.' Mrs. Piozzi, in a marginal note on her own copy of thePiozzi Letters, says:—'Dr. Johnson said, that if Mr. Richardson had lived tillIcame out, my praises would have added two or three years to his life. "For," says Dr. Johnson, "that fellow died merely from want of change among his flatterers: he perished for want ofmore, like a man obliged to breathe the same air till it is exhausted."' Hayward'sPiozzi, i. 311. In herJourney, i. 265, she says:—'Richardson had seen little, and Johnson has often told me that he had read little.' Seeante, iv. 28.

[1094]He may live like a gentleman, but he must not 'call himselfFarmer, and go about with a little round hat.'Ante, p. 111.

[1095]Boswell italicises this word, I think, because Johnson objected to the misuse of it. '"Sir," said Mr. Edwards, "I remember you would not let us sayprodigiousat college."'Ante, iii. 303.

[1096]As I have been scrupulously exact in relating anecdotes concerning other persons, I shall not withhold any part of this story, however ludicrous.—I was so successful in this boyish frolick, that the universal cry of the galleries was, 'Encorethe cow!Encorethe cow!' In the pride of my heart, I attempted imitations of some other animals, but with very inferior effect. My reverend friend, anxious for myfame, with an air of the utmost gravity and earnestness, addressed me thus: 'My dear sir, I wouldconfinemyself to thecow.' BOSWELL. Blair's advice was expressed more emphatically, and with a peculiarburr—'Stick to the cow, mon.' WALTER SCOTT. Boswell's record, which moreover is far more humorous, is much more trustworthy than Scott's tradition.

[1097]Mme. de Sévigné in describing a death wrote:—'Cela nous fit voir qu'on joue long-temps la comédie, et qu'à la mort on dit la vérité.' Letter of June 24, 1672. Addison says:—'The end of a man's life is often compared to the winding up of a well-written play, where the principal persons still act in character, whatever the fate is which they undergo.... That innocent mirth which had been so conspicuous in Sir Thomas More's life did not forsake him to the last. His death was of a piece with his life. There was nothing in it new, forced, or affected.'The Spectator, No. 349. Young also thought, or at least, wrote differently.

'A death-bed's a detector of the heart.Here tired dissimulation drops her mask.'

Night Thoughts, ii.

'"Mirabeau dramatized his death" was the happy expression of the Bishop of Autun (Talleyrand).' Dumont'sMirabeau, p. 251. Seeante, iii. 154.

[1098]Seeante, i. 408, 447; and ii. 219, 329.

[1099]Dr. A. Carlyle (Auto. p. 291) says of Blair's conversation that 'it was so infantine that many people thought it impossible, at first sight, that he could be a man of sense or genius. He was as eager about a new paper to his wife's drawing-room, or his own new wig, as about a new tragedy or a new epic poem.' He adds, that he was 'capable of the most profound conversation, when circumstances led to it. He had not the least desire to shine, but was delighted beyond measure to shew other people in their best guise to his friends. "Did not I shew you the lion well to-day?" used he to say after the exhibition of a remarkable stranger.' He had no wit, and for humour hardly a relish. Robertson's reputation for wisdom may have been easily won. Dr. A. Carlyle says (ib. p. 287):—'Robertson's translations and paraphrases on other people's thoughts were so beautiful and so harmless that I never saw anybody lay claim to their own.' He may have flattered Johnson by dexterously echoing his sentiments.

[1100]In theMarmor Norfolciense (ante, i. 141) Johnson says:—'I know that the knowledge of the alphabet is so disreputable among these gentlemen [of the army], that those who have by ill-fortune formerly been taught it have partly forgot it by disuse, and partly concealed it from the world, to avoid the railleries and insults to which their education might make them liable.' Johnson'sWorks,vi. III. Seeante, iii. 265.

[1101]'One of the young ladies had her slate before her, on which I wrote a question consisting of three figures to be multiplied by two figures. She looked upon it, and quivering her fingers in a manner which I thought very pretty, but of which I knew not whether it was art or play, multiplied the sum regularly in two lines, observing the decimal place; but did not add the two lines together, probably disdaining so easy an operation.' Johnson'sWorks, ix. 161.

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