The gentlemen of the clan went away early in the morning to the harbour
of Lochbradale, to take leave of some of their friends who were going to
America. It was a very wet day. We looked at Rorie More's horn, which is
a large cow's horn, with the mouth of it ornamented with silver
curiously carved. It holds rather more than a bottle and a half. Every
Laird of M'Leod, it is said, must, as a proof of his manhood, drink it
off full of claret, without laying it down. From Rorie More many of the
branches of the family are descended; in particular, the Talisker
branch; so that his name is much talked of. We also saw his bow, which
hardly any man now can bend, and his _Glaymore>_, which was wielded with
both hands, and is of a prodigious size. We saw here some old pieces of
iron armour, immensely heavy. The broadsword now used, though called the
_Glaymore, (i.e._ the _great sword_) is much smaller than that used in
Rorie More's time. There is hardly a target now to be found in the
Highlands. After the disarming act[591], they made them serve as covers
to their butter-milk barrels; a kind of change, like beating spears into
pruning-hooks[592].
Sir George Mackenzie's Works (the folio edition) happened to lie in a
window in the dining room. I asked Dr. Johnson to look at the
_Characteres Advocatorum_. He allowed him power of mind, and that he
understood very well what he tells[593]; but said, that there was too
much declamation, and that the Latin was not correct. He found fault
with _appropinquabant_[594], in the character of Gilmour. I tried him
with the opposition between _gloria_ and _palma_, in the comparison
between Gilmour and Nisbet, which Lord Hailes, in his _Catalogue of the
Lords of Session_, thinks difficult to be understood. The words are,
_'penes illum gloria, penes hunc palma_[595].' In a short _Account of
the Kirk of Scotland_, which I published some years ago, I applied these
words to the two contending parties, and explained them thus: 'The
popular party has most eloquence; Dr. Robertson's party most influence.'
I was very desirous to hear Dr. Johnson's explication. JOHNSON. 'I see
no difficulty. Gilmour was admired for his parts; Nisbet carried his
cause by his skill in law. _Palma_ is victory.' I observed, that the
character of Nicholson, in this book resembled that of Burke: for it is
said, in one place, _'in omnes lusos & jocos se saepe resolvebat_[596];'
and, in another, _'sed accipitris more e conspectu aliquando astantium
sublimi se protrahens volatu, in praedam miro impetu descendebat[597]'._
JOHNSON. 'No, Sir; I never heard Burke make a good joke in my
life[598].' BOSWELL. 'But, Sir, you will allow he is a hawk.' Dr.
Johnson, thinking that I meant this of his joking, said, 'No, Sir, he is
not the hawk there. He is the beetle in the mire[599].' I still adhered
to my metaphor,--'But he _soars_ as the hawk.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; but
he catches nothing.' M'Leod asked, what is the particular excellence of
Burke's eloquence? JOHNSON. 'Copiousness and fertility of allusion; a
power of diversifying his matter, by placing it in various relations.
Burke has great information, and great command of language; though, in
my opinion, it has not in every respect the highest elegance.' BOSWELL.
'Do you think, Sir, that Burke has read Cicero much?' JOHNSON. 'I don't
believe it, Sir. Burke has great knowledge, great fluency of words, and
great promptness of ideas, so that he can speak with great illustration
on any subject that comes before him. He is neither like Cicero, nor
like Demosthenes[600], nor like any one else, but speaks as well as
he can.'
In the 65th page of the first volume of Sir George Mackenzie, Dr.
Johnson pointed out a paragraph beginning with _Aristotle_, and told me
there was an error in the text, which he bade me try to discover. I was
lucky enough to hit it at once. As the passage is printed, it is said
that the devil answers _even_ in _engines_. I corrected it to--_ever_ in
_oenigmas_. 'Sir, (said he,) you are a good critick. This would have
been a great thing to do in the text of an ancient authour.'