FOOTNOTES:

AUGUST 1.

We visited Denbigh, and the remains of its Castle.

The town consists of one main street, and some that cross it, which I have not seen. The chief street ascends with a quick rise for a great length: the houses are built, some with rough stone, some with brick, and a few are of timber.

The Castle, with its whole enclosure, has been a prodigious pile; it is now so ruined, that the form of the inhabited part cannot easily be traced.

There are, as in all old buildings, said to be extensive vaults, which the ruins of the upper works cover and conceal, but into which boys sometimes find a way. To clear all passages, and trace the whole of what remains, would require much labour and expense. We saw a Church, which was once the Chapel of the Castle, but is used by the town: it is dedicated to St. Hilary, and has an income of about—

At a small distance is the ruin of a Church said to have been begun by the great Earl of Leicester[1194], and left unfinished at his death. One side, and I think the east end, are yet standing. There was a stone in the wall, over the door-way, which it was said would fall and crush the best scholar in the diocese. One Price would not pass under it[1195]. They have taken it down.

We then saw the Chapel of Lleweney, founded by one of the Salusburies: it is very compleat: the monumental stones lie in the ground. A chimney has been added to it, but it is otherwise not much injured, and might be easily repaired.

We went to the parish Church of Denbigh, which, being near a mile from the town, is only used when the parish officers are chosen.

In the Chapel, on Sundays, the service is read thrice, the second time only in English, the first and third in Welsh. The Bishop came to survey the Castle, and visited likewise St. Hilary's Chapel, which is that which the town uses. The hay-barn, built with brick pillars from space to space, and covered with a roof. A more[1196]elegant and lofty Hovel.

The rivers here, are mere torrents which are suddenly swelled by the rain to great breadth and great violence, but have very little constant stream; such are the Clwyd and the Elwy. There are yet no mountains. The ground is beautifully embellished with woods, and diversified by inequalities.

In the parish church of Denbigh is a bas relief of Lloyd the antiquary, who was before Camden. He is kneeling at his prayers[1197].

AUGUST 2.

We rode to a summer-house of Mr. Cotton, which has a very extensive prospect; it is meanly built, and unskilfully disposed.

We went to Dymerchion Church, where the old clerk acknowledged his Mistress. It is the parish church of Bâch y Graig. A mean fabrick: Mr. Salusbury[1198]was buried in it. Bâch y Graig has fourteen seats in it.

As we rode by, I looked at the house again. We saw Llannerch, a house not mean, with a small park very well watered. There was an avenue of oaks, which, in a foolish compliance with the present mode, has been cut down[1199]. A few are yet standing. The owner's name is Davies.

The way lay through pleasant lanes, and overlooked a region beautifully diversified with trees and grass[1200].

At Dymerchion Church there is English service only once a month. This is about twenty miles from the English border.

The old clerk had great appearance of joy at the sight of his Mistress, and foolishly said, that he was now willing to die. He had only a crown given him by my Mistress[1201].

At Dymerchion Church the texts on the walls are in Welsh.

AUGUST 3.

We went in the coach to Holywell.Talk with Mistress about flattery[1202].

Holywell is a market town, neither very small nor mean. The spring called Winifred's Well is very clear, and so copious, that it yields one hundred tuns of water in a minute. It is all at once a very great stream, which, within perhaps thirty yards of its eruption, turns a mill, and in a course of two miles, eighteen mills more. In descent, it is very quick. It then falls into the sea. The well is covered by a lofty circular arch, supported by pillars; and over this arch is an old chapel, now a school. The chancel is separated by a wall. The bath is completely and indecently open. A woman bathed while we all looked on.

In the Church, which makes a good appearance, and is surrounded by galleries to receive a numerous congregation, we were present while a child was christened in Welsh.

We went down by the stream to see a prospect, in which I had no part. We then saw a brass work, where the lapis calaminaris[1203]is gathered, broken, washed from the earth and the lead, though how the lead was separated I did not see; then calcined, afterwards ground fine, and then mixed by fire with the copper.

We saw several strong fires with melting pots, but the construction of the fire-places I did not learn.

At a copper-work which receives its pigs of copper, I think, from Warrington, we saw a plate of copper put hot between steel rollers, and spread thin; I know not whether the upper roller was set to a certain distance, as I suppose, or acted only by its weight.

At an iron-work I saw round bars formed by a knotched hammer and anvil. There I saw a bar of about half an inch, or more, square cut with shears worked by water, and then beaten hot into a thinner bar. The hammers all worked, as they were, by water, acting upon small bodies, moved very quick, as quick as by the hand.

I then saw wire drawn, and gave a shilling. I have enlarged my notions[1204], though not being able to see the movements, and having not time to peep closely, I know less than I might. I was less weary, and had better breath, as I walked farther.

AUGUST 4.

Ruthin Castle is still a very noble ruin; all the walls still remain, so that a compleat platform, and elevations, not very imperfect, may be taken. It encloses a square of about thirty yards. The middle space was always open.

The wall is, I believe, about thirty feet high, very thick, flanked with six round towers, each about eighteen feet, or less, in diameter. Only one tower had a chimney, so that there was[1205]commodity of living. It was only a place of strength. The garrison had, perhaps, tents in the area.

Stapylton's house is pretty[1206]: there are pleasing shades about it, with a constant spring that supplies a cold bath. We then went to see a Cascade.

I trudged unwillingly, and was not sorry to find it dry. The water was, however, turned on, and produced a very striking cataract. They are paid an hundred pounds a year for permission to divert the stream to the mines. The river, for such it may be termed[1207], rises from a single spring, which, like that of Winifred's, is covered with a building.

We called then at another house belonging to Mr. Lloyd, which made a handsome appearance. This country seems full of very splendid houses.

Mrs. Thrale lost her purse. She expressed so much uneasiness, that I concluded the sum to be very great; but when I heard of only seven guineas, I was glad to find that she had so much sensibility of money.

I could not drink this day either coffee or tea after dinner. I know not when I missed before.

AUGUST 5.

Last night my sleep was remarkably quiet. I know not whether by fatigue in walking, or by forbearance of tea[1208].

I gave the ipecacuanha[1209]. Vin. emet. had failed; so had tartar emet.

I dined at Mr. Myddleton's, of Gwaynynog. The house was a gentleman's house, below the second rate, perhaps below the third, built of stone roughly cut. The rooms were low, and the passage above stairs gloomy, but the furniture was good. The table was well supplied, except that the fruit was bad. It was truly the dinner of a country gentleman. Two tables were filled with company, not inelegant.

After dinner, the talk was of preserving the Welsh language. I offered them a scheme. Poor Evan Evans was mentioned, as incorrigibly addicted to strong drink. Worthington[1210]was commended. Myddleton is the only man, who, in Wales, has talked to me of literature. I wish he were truly zealous. I recommended the republication of David ap Rhees's Welsh Grammar.

Two sheets ofHebridescame to me for correction to-day, F.G.[1211]

AUGUST 6.

I corrected the two sheets. My sleep last night was disturbed.

Washing at Chester and here, 5s. 1d.

I did not read.

I saw to-day more of the out-houses at Lleweney. It is, in the whole, a very spacious house.

AUGUST 7.

I was at Church at Bodfari. There was a service used for a sick woman, not canonically, but such as I have heard, I think, formerly at Lichfield, taken out of the visitation.

The Church is mean, but has a square tower for the bells, rather too stately for the Church.

OBSERVATIONS.

Dixit injustus, Ps. 36, has no relation to the English[1212].

Preserve us, Lord, has the name of Robert Wisedome, 1618.—Barker'sBible[1213].

Battologiam ab iteratione, recte distinguit Erasmus.—Mod. Orandi Deum, p. 56-144[1214].

Southwell's Thoughts of his own death[1215].

Baudius on Erasmus[1216].

AUGUST 8.

The Bishop and much company dined at Lleweney. Talk of Greek—and of the army[1217]. The Duke of Marlborough's officers useless. ReadPhocylidis[1218], distinguished the paragraphs. I looked in Leland: an unpleasant book of mere hints.

Lichfield School, ten pounds; and five pounds from the Hospital[1219].

AUGUST 10.

At Lloyd's, of Maesmynnan; a good house, and a very large walled garden. I read Windus's Account of hisJourney to Mequinez, and of Stewart's Embassy[1220]. I had read in the morning Wasse'sGreek Trochaics to Bentley. They appeared inelegant, and made with difficulty. The Latin Elegy contains only common-place, hastily expressed, so far as I have read, for it is long. They seem to be the verses of a scholar, who has no practice of writing. The Greek I did not always fully understand. I am in doubt about the sixth and last paragraphs, perhaps they are not printed right, for [Greek: eutokon] perhaps [Greek: eustochon.] q?

The following days I read here and there. TheBibliotheca Literariawas so little supplied with papers that could interest curiosity, that it could not hope for long continuance[1221]. Wasse, the chief contributor, was an unpolished scholar, who, with much literature, had no art or elegance of diction, at least in English.

AUGUST 14.

At Bodfari I heard the second lesson read, and the sermon preached in Welsh. The text was pronounced both in Welsh and English. The sound of the Welsh, in a continued discourse, is not unpleasant.

[Greek: Brosis oligae][1222].

The letter of Chrysostom, against transubstantiation. Erasmus to the Nuns, full of mystick notions and allegories.

AUGUST 15.

Imbecillitas genuum non sine aliquantulo doloris inter ambulandum quem a prandio magis sensi[1223].

AUGUST 18.

We left Lleweney, and went forwards on our journey.

We came to Abergeley, a mean town, in which little but Welsh is spoken, and divine service is seldom performed in English.

Our way then lay to the sea-side, at the foot of a mountain, called Penmaen Rhôs. Here the way was so steep, that we walked on the lower edge of the hill, to meet the coach, that went upon a road higher on the hill. Our walk was not long, nor unpleasant: the longer I walk, the less I feel its inconvenience. As I grow warm, my breath mends, and I think my limbs grow pliable.

We then came to Conway Ferry, and passed in small boats, with some passengers from the stage coach, among whom were an Irish gentlewoman, with two maids, and three little children, of which, the youngest was only a few months old. The tide did not serve the large ferry-boat, and therefore our coach could not very soon follow us. We were, therefore, to stay at the Inn. It is now the day of the Race at Conway, and the town was so full of company, that no money could purchase lodgings. We were not very readily supplied with cold dinner. We would have staid at Conway if we could have found entertainment, for we were afraid of passing Penmaen Mawr, over which lay our way to Bangor, but by bright daylight, and the delay of our coach made our departure necessarily late. There was, however, no stay on any other terms, than of sitting up all night.

The poor Irish lady was still more distressed. Her children wanted rest. She would have been content with one bed, but, for a time, none could be had. Mrs. Thrale gave her what help she could. At last two gentlemen were persuaded to yield up their room, with two beds, for which she gave half a guinea. Our coach was at last brought, and we set out with some anxiety, but we came to Penmaen Mawr by daylight; and found a way, lately made, very easy, and very safe.[1224]It was cut smooth, and enclosed between parallel walls; the outer of which secures the passenger from the precipice, which is deep and dreadful. This wall is here and there broken, by mischievous wantonness.[1225]The inner wall preserves the road from the loose stones, which the shattered steep above it would pour down. That side of the mountain seems to have a surface of loose stones, which every accident may crumble. The old road was higher, and must have been very formidable. The sea beats at the bottom of the way.

At evening the moon shone eminently bright; and our thoughts of danger being now past, the rest of our journey was very pleasant. At an hour somewhat late, we came to Bangor, where we found a very mean inn, and had some difficulty to obtain lodging. I lay in a room, where the other bed had two men.

AUGUST 19.

We obtained boats to convey us to Anglesey, and saw Lord Bulkeley's House, and Beaumaris Castle.

I was accosted by Mr. Lloyd, the Schoolmaster of Beaumaris, who had seen me at University College; and he, with Mr. Roberts, the Register of Bangor, whose boat we borrowed, accompanied us. Lord Bulkeley's house is very mean, but his garden garden is spacious, and shady with large trees and smaller interspersed. The walks are straight, and cross each other, with no variety of plan; but they have a pleasing coolness, and solemn gloom, and extend to a great length.

The castle is a mighty pile; the outward wall has fifteen round towers, besides square towers at the angles. There is then a void space between the wall and the Castle, which has an area enclosed with a wall, which again has towers, larger than those of the outer wall. The towers of the inner Castle are, I think, eight. There is likewise a Chapel entire, built upon an arch as I suppose, and beautifully arched with a stone roof, which is yet unbroken. The entrance into the Chapel is about eight or nine feet high, and was, I suppose, higher, when there was no rubbish in the area.

This Castle corresponds with all the representations of romancing narratives. Here is not wanting the private passage, the dark cavity, the deep dungeon, or the lofty tower. We did not discover the Well. This is the most compleat view that I have yet had of an old Castle.[1226]It had a moat.

The Towers.

We went to Bangor.

AUGUST 20.

We went by water from Bangor to Caernarvon, where we met Paoli and Sir Thomas Wynne. Meeting by chance with one Troughton,[1227]an intelligent and loquacious wanderer, Mr. Thrale invited him to dinner. He attended us to the Castle, an edifice of stupendous magnitude and strength; it has in it all that we observed at Beaumaris, and much greater dimensions: many of the smaller rooms floored with stone are entire; of the larger rooms, the beams and planks are all left: this is the state of all buildings left to time. We mounted the Eagle Tower by one hundred and sixty-nine steps, each of ten inches. We did not find the Well; nor did I trace the Moat; but moats there were, I believe, to all castles on the plain, which not only hindered access, but prevented mines. We saw but a very small part of this mighty ruin, and in all these old buildings, the subterraneous works are concealed by the rubbish.

To survey this place would take much time: I did not think there had been such buildings; it surpassed my ideas.

AUGUST 21.

We were at Church; the service in the town is always English; at the parish Church at a small distance, always Welsh. The town has by degrees, I suppose, been brought nearer to the sea side.

We received an invitation to Dr. Worthington. We then went to dinner at Sir Thomas Wynne's,—the dinner mean, Sir Thomas civil, his Lady nothing.[1228]Paoli civil.

We supped with Colonel Wynne's Lady, who lives in one of the towers of the Castle.

I have not been very well.

AUGUST 22.

We went to visit Bodville, the place where Mrs. Thrale was born; and the Churches called Tydweilliog and Llangwinodyl, which she holds by impropriation.

We had an invitation to the house of Mr. Griffiths of Bryn o dol, where we found a small neat new built house, with square rooms: the walls are of unhewn stone, and therefore thick; for the stones not fitting with exactness, are not strong without great thickness. He had planted a great deal of young wood in walks. Fruit trees do not thrive; but having grown a few years, reach some barren stratum and wither.

We found Mr. Griffiths not at home; but the provisions were good. Mr. Griffiths came home the next day. He married a lady who has a house and estate at [Llanver], over against Anglesea, and near Caernarvon, where she is more disposed, as it seems, to reside than at Bryn o dol.

I read Lloyd's account of Mona, which he proves to be Anglesea.

In our way to Bryn o dol, we saw at Llanerk a Church built crosswise, very spacious and magnificent for this country. We could not see the Parson, and could get no intelligence about it.

AUGUST 24.

We went to see Bodville. Mrs. Thrale remembered the rooms, and wandered over them with recollection of her childhood. This species of pleasure is always melancholy. The walk was cut down, and the pond was dry. Nothing was better.[1229]

We surveyed the Churches, which are mean, and neglected to a degree scarcely imaginable. They have no pavement, and the earth is full of holes. The seats are rude benches; the Altars have no rails. One of them has a breach in the roof. On the desk, I think, of each lay a folio Welsh Bible of the black letter, which the curate cannot easily read.[1230]

Mr. Thrale purposes to beautify the Churches, and if he prospers, will probably restore the tithes. The two parishes are, Llangwinodyl and Tydweilliog.[1231]The Methodists are here very prevalent. A better church will impress the people with more reverence of publick worship.

Mrs. Thrale visited a house where she had been used to drink milk, which was left, with an estate of two hundred pounds a year, by one Lloyd, to a married woman who lived with him.

We went to Pwllheli, a mean old town, at the extremity of the country. Here we bought something, to remember the place.

AUGUST 25.

We returned to Caernarvon, where we ate with Mrs. Wynne.

AUGUST 26.

We visited, with Mrs. Wynne, Llyn Badarn and Llyn Beris, two lakes, joined by a narrow strait. They are formed by the waters which fall from Snowdon and the opposite mountains. On the side of Snowdon are the remains of a large fort, to which we climbed with great labour. I was breathless and harassed. The Lakes have no great breadth, so that the boat is always near one bank or the other.

Note. Queeny's goats, one hundred and forty-nine, I think.[1232]

AUGUST 27.

We returned to Bangor, where Mr. Thrale was lodged at Mr. Roberts's, the Register.

AUGUST 28.

We went to worship at the Cathedral. The quire is mean, the service was not well read.

AUGUST 29.

We came to Mr. Myddelton's, of Gwaynynog, to the first place, as my Mistress observed, where we have been welcome.

Note. On the day when we visited Bodville, we turned to the house of Mr. Griffiths, of Kefnamwycllh, a gentleman of large fortune, remarkable for having made great and sudden improvements in his seat and estate. He has enclosed a large garden with a brick wall. He is considered as a man of great accomplishments. He was educated in literature at the University, and served some time in the army, then quitted his commission, and retired to his lands. He is accounted a good man, and endeavours to bring the people to church.

In our way from Bangor to Conway, we passed again the new road upon the edge of Penmaen Mawr, which would be very tremendous, but that the wall shuts out the idea of danger. In the wall are several breaches, made, as Mr. Thrale very reasonably conjectures, by fragments of rocks which roll down the mountain, broken perhaps by frost, or worn through by rain.

We then viewed Conway.

To spare the horses at Penmaen Rhôs, between Conway and St. Asaph, we sent the coach over the road across the mountain with Mrs. Thrale, who had been tired with a walk sometime before; and I, with Mr. Thrale and Miss, walked along the edge, where the path is very narrow, and much encumbered by little loose stones, which had fallen down, as we thought, upon the way since we passed it before.

At Conway we took a short survey of the Castle, which afforded us nothing new. It is larger than that of Beaumaris, and less than that of Caernarvon. It is built upon a rock so high and steep, that it is even now very difficult of access. We found a round pit, which was called the Well; it is now almost filled, and therefore dry. We found the Well in no other castle. There are some remains of leaden pipes at Caernarvon, which, I suppose, only conveyed water from one part of the building to another. Had the garrison had no other supply, the Welsh, who must know where the pipes were laid, could easily have cut them.

AUGUST 29.

We came to the house of Mr. Myddelton, (on Monday,) where we staid to September 6, and were very kindly entertained. How we spent our time, I am not very able to tell[1233].

We saw the wood, which is diversified and romantick.

SEPTEMBER 4, SUNDAY.

We dined with Mr. Myddelton, the clergyman, at Denbigh, where I saw the harvest-men very decently dressed, after the afternoon service, standing to be hired. On other days, they stand at about four in the morning. They are hired from day to day.

SEPTEMBER 6.

We lay at Wrexham; a busy, extensive, and well built town. It has a very large and magnificent Church. It has a famous fair.

SEPTEMBER 7.

We came to Chirk Castle.

SEPTEMBER 8, THURSDAY.

We came to the house of Dr. Worthington[1234], at Llanrhaiadr. Our entertainment was poor, though his house was not bad. The situation is very pleasant, by the side of a small river, of which the bank rises high on the other side, shaded by gradual rows of trees. The gloom, the stream, and the silence, generate thoughtfulness. The town is old, and very mean, but has, I think, a market. In this house, the Welsh translation of the Old Testament was made. The Welsh singing Psalms were written by Archdeacon Price. They are not considered as elegant, but as very literal, and accurate.

We came to Llanrhaiadr, through Oswestry; a town not very little, nor very mean. The church, which I saw only at a distance, seems to be an edifice much too good for the present state of the place.

SEPTEMBER 9.

We visited the waterfall, which is very high, and in rainy weather very copious. There is a reservoir made to supply it. In its fall, it has perforated a rock. There is a room built for entertainment. There was some difficulty in climbing to a near view. Lord Lyttelton[1235]came near it, and turned back.

When we came back, we took some cold meat, and notwithstanding the Doctor's importunities, went that day to Shrewsbury.

SEPTEMBER 10.

I sent for Gwynn[1236], and he shewed us the town. The walls are broken, and narrower than those of Chester. The town is large, and has many gentlemen's houses, but the streets are narrow. I saw Taylor's library. We walked in the Quarry; a very pleasant walk by the river.[1237]Our inn was not bad.

SEPTEMBER 11.

Sunday. We were at St. Chads, a very large and luminous Church. We were on the Castle Hill.

SEPTEMBER 12.

We called on Dr. Adams,[1238]and travelled towards Worcester, through Wenlock; a very mean place, though a borough. At noon, we came to Bridgenorth, and walked about the town, of which one part stands on a high rock; and part very low, by the river. There is an old tower, which, being crooked, leans so much, that it is frightful to pass by it.

In the afternoon we came through Kinver, a town in Staffordshire; neat and closely built. I believe it has only one street.

The road was so steep and miry, that we were forced to stop at Hartlebury, where we had a very neat inn, though it made a very poor appearance.

SEPTEMBER 13.

We came to Lord Sandys's, at Ombersley, where we were treated with great civility.[1239]

The house is large. The hall is a very noble room.

SEPTEMBER 15.

We went to Worcester, a very splendid city. The Cathedral is very noble, with many remarkable monuments. The library is in the Chapter House. On the table lay theNuremberg Chronicle, I think, of the first edition. We went to the china warehouse. The Cathedral has a cloister. The long aisle is, in my opinion, neither so wide nor so high as that of Lichfield.

SEPTEMBER 16.

We went to Hagley, where we were disappointed of the respect and kindness that we expected[1240].

SEPTEMBER 17.

We saw the house and park, which equalled my expectation. The house is one square mass. The offices are below. The rooms of elegance on the first floor, with two stories of bedchambers, very well disposed above it. The bedchambers have low windows, which abates the dignity of the house. The park has one artificial ruin[1241], and wants water; there is, however, one temporary cascade. From the farthest hill there is a very wide prospect.

I went to church. The church is, externally, very mean, and is therefore diligently hidden by a plantation. There are in it several modern monuments of the Lytteltons.

There dined with us, Lord Dudley, and Sir Edward Lyttelton, of Staffordshire, and his Lady. They were all persons of agreeable conversation.

I found time to reflect on my birthday, and offered a prayer, which I hope was heard.

SEPTEMBER 19.

We made haste away from a place, where all were offended[1242]. In the way we visited the Leasowes[1243]. It was rain, yet we visited all the waterfalls. There are, in one place, fourteen falls in a short line. It is the next place to Ham Gardens[1244]. Poor Shenstone never tasted his pension. It is not very well proved that any pension was obtained for him. I am afraid that he died of misery[1245].

We came to Birmingham, and I sent for Wheeler, whom I found well.

SEPTEMBER 20.

We breakfasted with Wheeler,[1246]and visited the manufacture of Papier Maché. The paper which they use is smooth whited brown; the varnish is polished with rotten stone. Wheeler gave me a tea-board. We then went to Boulton's,[1247]who, with great civility, led us through his shops. I could not distinctly see his enginery.

Twelve dozen of buttons for three shillings.[1248]Spoons struck at once.

SEPTEMBER 21.

Wheeler came to us again.

We came easily to Woodstock.

SEPTEMBER 22.

We saw Blenheim and Woodstock Park.[1249]The Park contains two thousand five hundred acres; about four square miles. It has red deer. Mr. Bryant[1250]shewed me the Library with great civility.Durandi Rationale, 1459[1251]. Lascaris'Grammarof the first edition, well printed, but much less than later editions[1252]. The firstBatrachomyomachia[1253].

The Duke sent Mr. Thrale partridges and fruit.

At night we came to Oxford.

SEPTEMBER 23.

We visited Mr. Coulson[1254]. The Ladies wandered about the University.

SEPTEMBER 24.

We dine with Mr. Coulson. Vansittart[1255]told me his distemper.

Afterwards we were at Burke's, where we heard of the dissolution of the Parliament. We went home[1256].

[1]Seeante, ii. 434, note 1, and iii. 209.

[2]HisAccount of Corsica, published in 1768.

[3]Horace Walpole wrote on Nov.6, 1769 (Letters, v. 200):—'I found Paoli last week at Court. The King and Queen both took great notice of him. He has just made a tour to Bath, Oxford, &c., and was everywhere received with much distinction.' Seeante, ii. 71.

[4]Boswell, when in London, was 'his constant guest.' Ante, iii 35.

[5]Boswell's son James says that 'in 1785 Mr. Malone was shewn at Mr. Baldwin's printing-house a sheet of theTour to the Hebrideswhich contained Johnson's character. He was so much struck with the spirit and fidelity of the portrait that he requested to be introduced to its writer. From this period a friendship took place between them, which ripened into the strictest and most cordial intimacy. After Mr. Boswell's death in 1795 Mr. Malone continued to shew every mark of affectionate attention towards his family.'Gent. Mag.1813, p. 518.

[6]Malone began his edition ofShakespearein 1782; he brought it out in 1790. Prior'sMalone, pp. 98, 166.

[7]Boswell in the 'Advertisement' to the second edition, dated Dec. 20, 1785, says that 'the whole of the first impression has been sold in a few weeks.' Three editions were published within a year, but the fourth was not issued till 1807. A German translation was published in Lübeck in 1787. I believe that in no language has a translation been published of theLife of Johnson. Johnson was indeed, as Boswell often calls him, 'a trueborn Englishman'—so English that foreigners could neither understand him nor relish hisLife.

[8]The man thus described is James I.

[9]Seeante, i. 450 and ii. 291.

[10]A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. Johnson'sWorksix. 1.

[11]Seeante, i. 450. On a copy of Martin in the Advocates' Library [Edinburgh] I found the following note in the handwriting of Mr. Boswell:—'This very book accompanied Mr. Samuel Johnson and me in our Tour to the Hebrides.' UPCOTT. Croker'sBoswell, p. 267.

[12]Macbeth, act i. sc. 3.

[13]Seeante, iii. 24, andpost, Nov. 10.

[14]Our friend Edmund Burke, who by this time had received some pretty severe strokes from Dr. Johnson, on account of the unhappy difference in their politicks, upon my repeating this passage to him, exclaimed 'Oil of vitriol !' BOSWELL.

[15]Psalms, cxli. 5.

[16]'We all love Beattie,' he had said.Ante, ii. 148.

[17]This, I find, is a Scotticism. I should have said, 'It will not be long before we shall be at Marischal College.' BOSWELL. In spite of this warning Sir Walter Scott fell into the same error. 'The light foot of Mordaunt was not long of bearing him to Jarlok [Jarlshof].'Pirate, ch. viii. CROKER. Beattie was Professor of Moral Philosophy and Logic in Marischal College.

[18]'Nil mihi rescribas; attamen ipse veni.' Ovid,Heroides, i. 2. Boswell liked to display such classical learning as he had. When he visited Eton in 1789 he writes, 'I was asked by the Head-master to dine at the Fellows' table, and made a creditable figure. I certainly have the art of making the most of what I have. How should one who has had only a Scotch education be quite at home at Eton? I had my classical quotations very ready.'Letters of Boswell, p. 308.

[19]Gray, Johnson writes (Works, viii. 479), visited Scotland in 1765. 'He naturally contracted a friendship with Dr. Beattie, whom he found a poet,' &c.

[20]Post, Sept. 12.

[21]Seeante, i. 274.

[22]Afterwards Lord Stowell. He, his brother Lord Eldon, and Chambers were all Newcastle men. Seeante, i. 462, for an anecdote of the journey and for a note on 'the Commons.'

[23]Seeante, ii. 453.

[24]Seeante, iv. III.

[25]Baretti, in a MS. note onPiozzi Letters, i. 309, says:—'The most unaccountable part of Johnson's character was his total ignorance of the character of his most familiar acquaintance.'

[26]Lord Pembroke said once to me at Wilton, with a happy pleasantry, and some truth, that 'Dr. Johnson's sayings would not appear so extraordinary, were it not for hisbow-wow way:' but I admit the truth of this only on some occasions. TheMessiah, played upon theCanterbury organ, is more sublime than when played upon an inferior instrument, but very slight musick will seem grand, when conveyed to the ear through that majestick medium.While therefore Dr. Johnson's sayings are read, let his manner be taken along with them. Let it, however, be observed, that the sayings themselves are generally great; that, though he might be an ordinary composer at times, he was for the most part a Handel. BOSWELL. Seeante, ii. 326, 371, and under Aug. 29, 1783.

[27]Seeante, i. 42.

[28]Seeante, i. 41.

[29]Such they appeared to me; but since the first edition, Sir Joshua Reynolds has observed to me, 'that Dr. Johnson's extraordinary gestures were only habits, in which he indulged himself at certain times. When in company, where he was not free, or when engaged earnestly in conversation, he never gave way to such habits, which proves that they were not involuntary.' I still however think, that these gestures were involuntary; for surely had not that been the case, he would have restrained them in the publick streets. BOSWELL. Seeante, i. 144.

[30]By an Act of the 7th of George I. for encouraging the consumption of raw silk and mohair, buttons and button-holes made of cloth, serge, and other stuffs were prohibited. In 1738 a petition was presented to Parliament stating that 'in evasion of this Act buttons and button-holes were made of horse-hair to the impoverishing of many thousands and prejudice of the woollen manufactures.' An Act was brought in to prohibit the use of horse-hair, and was only thrown out on the third reading.Parl. Hist.x. 787.

[31]Boswell wrote to Erskine on Dec. 8, 1761: 'I, James Boswell Esq., who "am happily possessed of a facility of manners"—to use the very words of Mr. Professor [Adam] Smith, which upon honour were addressed to me.'Boswell and Erskine Corres. ed. 1879, p. 26.

[32]Post, Oct. 16.

[33]Hamlet, act iii, sc. 4.

[34]Seeante, iv., March 21, 1783. Johnson is often reproached with his dislike of the Scotch, though much of it was assumed; but no one blames Hume's dislike of the English, though it was deep and real. On Feb. 21, 1770, he wrote:—'Our Government is too perfect in point of liberty for so rude a beast as an Englishman; who is a man, a bad animal too, corrupted by above a century of licentiousness.' J. H. Burton'sHume, ii. 434. Dr. Burton writes of the English as 'a people Hume so heartily disliked.'Ib. p. 433.

[35]Seeante, iv. 15.

[36]The termJohn Bullcame into the English language in 1712, when Dr. Arbuthnot wroteThe History of John Bull.

[37]Boswell in three other places so describes Johnson. Seeante, i.129, note 3.

[38]Seeante, i.467.

[39]'All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.'Rev. vii.9.

[40]Seeante, ii. 376

[41]In Cockburn'sLife of Jeffrey, i.157, there is a description of Edinburgh, towards the close of the century, 'the last purely Scotch age that Scotland was destined to see. Almost the whole official state, as settled at the Union, survived; and all graced the capital, unconscious of the economical scythe which has since mowed it down. All our nobility had not then fled. The lawyers, instead of disturbing good company by professional matter, were remarkably free of this vulgarity; and being trained to take difference of opinion easily, and to conduct discussions with forbearance, were, without undue obtrusion, the most cheerful people that were to be met with. Philosophy had become indigenous in the place, and all classes, even in their gayest hours, were proud of the presence of its cultivators. And all this was still a Scotch scene. The whole country had not begun to be absorbed in the ocean of London. According to the modern rate of travelling [written in 1852] the capitals of Scotland and of England were then about 2400 miles asunder. Edinburgh was still more distant in its style and habits. It had then its own independent tastes, and ideas, and pursuits.' Scotland at this time was distinguished by the liberality of mind of its leading clergymen, which was due, according to Dr. A. Carlyle (Auto. p 57), to the fact that the Professor of Theology under whom they had studied was 'dull and Dutch and prolix.' 'There was one advantage,' he says, 'attending the lectures of a dull professor—viz., that he could form no school, and the students were left entirely to themselves, and naturally formed opinions far more liberal than those they got from the Professor.'

[42]Chambers (Traditions of Edinburgh, ed. 1825, ii.297) says that 'the very spot which Johnson's armchair occupied is pointed out by the modern possessors.' The inn was called 'The White Horse.' 'It derives its name from having been the resort of the Hanoverian faction, the White Horse being the crest of Hanover.' Murray'sGuide to Scotland, ed. 1867, p. 111.

[43]Boswell writing of Scotland says:—'In the last age it was the common practice in the best families for all the company to eat milk, or pudding, or any other dish that is eat with a spoon, not by distributing the contents of the dish into small plates round the table, but by every person dipping his spoon into the large platter; and when the fashion of having a small plate for each guest was brought from the continent by a young gentleman returned from his travels, a good old inflexible neighbour in the country said, "he did not see anything he had learnt but to take his broth twice." Nay, in our own remembrance, the use of a carving knife was considered as a novelty; and a gentleman of ancient family and good literature used to rate his son, a friend of mine, for introducing such a foppish superfluity.'—London Mag. 1778, p.199.

[44]Seeante, ii. 403. Johnson, in describing Sir A. Macdonald's house in Sky, said:—'The Lady had not the common decencies of her tea-table; we picked up our sugar with our fingers.'Piozzi Letters, i.138.

[45]Chambers says that 'James's Court, till the building of the New Town, was inhabited by a select set of gentlemen. They kept a clerk to record their names and their proceedings, had a scavenger of their own, and had balls and assemblies among themselves.' Paoli was Boswell's guest there in 1771.Traditions of Edinburgh, i. 219. It was burnt down in 1857. Murray'sGuide to Scotland, ed. 1883, p.49. Johnson wrote:—'Boswell has very handsome and spacious rooms, level with the ground on one side of the house, and on the other four stories high.'Piozzi Letters, i. 109. Dr. J.H. Burton says that Hume occupied them just before Boswell. He continues:—'Of the first impression made on a stranger at that period when entering such a house, a vivid description is given by Sir Walter Scott inGuy Mannering; and in Counsellor Pleydell's library, with its collection of books, and the prospect from the window, we have probably an accurate picture of the room in which Hume spent his studious hours.'Life of Hume, ii. 137, 431. At Johnson's visit Hume was living in his new house in the street which was humorously named after him, St. David Street.Ib. p. 436.

[46]The English servant-girl inHumphry Clinker(Letter of July 18), after describing how the filth is thus thrown out, says:—'The maid callsgardy looto the passengers, which signifiesLord have mercy upon you!'

[47]Wesley, when at Edinburgh in May, 1761, writes:—'How can it be suffered that all manner of filth should still be thrown even into this street [High Street] continually? How long shall the capital city of Scotland, yea, and the chief street of it, stink worse than a common sewer?' Wesley'sJournal, iii. 52. Baretti (Journey from London to Genoa, ii.255) says that this was the universal practice in Madrid in 1760. He was driven out of that town earlier than he had intended to leave it by the dreadful stench. A few years after his visit the King made a reform, so that it became 'one of the cleanest towns in Europe.'Ib. p 258. Smollett inHumphry Clinkermakes Matthew Bramble say (Letter of July 18):—'The inhabitants of Edinburgh are apt to imagine the disgust that we avow is little better than affectation.'

[48]'Most of their buildings are very mean; and the whole town bears some resemblance to the old part of Birmingham.'Piozzi Letters, i. 109.

[49]Seeante, i. 313.

[50]Miss Burney, describing her first sight of Johnson, says:—'Upon asking my father why he had not prepared us for such uncouth, untoward strangeness, he laughed heartily, and said he had entirely forgotten that the same impression had been at first made upon himself; but had been lost even on the second interview.'Memoirs of Dr. Burney, ii.91.

[51]Seepost, Aug. 22.

[52]seeante, iii. 216.

[53]Boswell writes, in hisHypochondriacks:—'Naturally somewhat singular, independent of any additions which affectation and vanity may perhaps have made, I resolved to have a more pleasing species of marriage than common, and bargained with my bride that I should not be bound to live with her longer than I really inclined; and that whenever I tired of her domestic society I should be at liberty to give it up. Eleven years have elapsed, and I have never yet wished to take advantage of my stipulated privilege.'London Mag. 1781, p.136. Seeante, ii. 140, note 1.

[54]Sir Walter Scott was two years old this day. He was born in a house at the head of the College Wynd. When Johnson and Boswell returned to Edinburgh Jeffrey was a baby there seventeen days old. Some seventeen or eighteen years later 'he had the honour of assisting to carry the biographer of Johnson, in a state of great intoxication, to bed. For this he was rewarded next morning by Mr. Boswell clapping his head, and telling him that he was a very promising lad, and that if "you go on as you've begun, you may live to be a Bozzy yourself yet."' Cockburn'sJeffrey, i. 33.

[55]He was one of Boswell's executors, and as such was in part responsible for the destruction of his manuscripts.Ante, iii. 301, note i. It is to hisLife of Dr. Beattiethat Scott alludes in the Introduction to the fourth Canto ofMarmion:—

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