or
--multum ille et terris jactatus, et alto[1078].
Every body had accosted us with some studied compliment on our return.
Dr. Johnson said, 'I am really ashamed of the congratulations which we
receive. We are addressed as if we had made a voyage to Nova Zembla, and
suffered five persecutions in Japan[1079].' And he afterwards remarked,
that, 'to see a man come up with a formal air and a Latin line, when we
had no fatigue and no danger, was provoking[1080].' I told him, he was
not sensible of the danger, having lain under cover in the boat during
the storm[1081]: he was like the chicken, that hides its head under its
wing, and then thinks itself safe.
Lord Elibank came to us, as did Sir William Forbes. The rash attempt in
1745 being mentioned, I observed, that it would make a fine piece of
History. Dr. Johnson said it would.[1082] Lord Elibank doubted whether
any man of this age could give it impartially. JOHNSON. 'A man, by
talking with those of different sides, who were actors in it, and
putting down all that he hears, may in time collect the materials of a
good narrative. You are to consider, all history was at first oral. I
suppose Voltaire was fifty years[1083] in collecting his _Louis XIV_.
which he did in the way that I am proposing.' ROBERTSON. 'He did so. He
lived much with all the great people who were concerned in that reign,
and heard them talk of everything: and then either took Mr. Boswell's
way, of writing down what he heard, or, which is as good, preserved it
in his memory; for he has a wonderful memory.' With the leave, however,
of this elegant historian, no man's memory can preserve facts or sayings
with such fidelity as may be done by writing them down when they are
recent. Dr. Robertson said, 'it was now full time to make such a
collection as Dr. Johnson suggested; for many of the people who were
then in arms, were dropping off; and both Whigs and Jacobites were now
come to talk with moderation.' Lord Elibank said to him, 'Mr. Robertson,
the first thing that gave me a high opinion of you, was your saying in
the _Select Society_[1084], while parties ran high, soon after the year
1745, that you did not think worse of a man's moral character for his
having been in rebellion. This was venturing to utter a liberal
sentiment, while both sides had a detestation of each other.' Dr.
Johnson observed, that being in rebellion from a notion of another's
right, was not connected with depravity; and that we had this proof of
it, that all mankind applauded the pardoning of rebels; which they would
not do in the case of robbers and murderers. He said, with a smile, that
'he wondered that the phrase of _unnatural_ rebellion should be so much
used, for that all rebellion was natural to man.'
* * * * *
As I kept no Journal of anything that passed after this morning, I
shall, from memory, group together this and the other days, till that on
which Dr. Johnson departed for London. They were in all nine days; on
which he dined at Lady Colvill's, Lord Hailes's, Sir Adolphus Oughton's,
Sir Alexander Dick's, Principal Robertson's, Mr. M'Laurin's[1085], and
thrice at Lord Elibank's seat in the country, where we also passed two
nights[1086]. He supped at the Honourable Alexander Gordon's[1087], now
one of our judges, by the title of Lord Rockville; at Mr. Nairne's, now
also one of our judges, by the title of Lord Dunsinan; at Dr. Blair's,
and Mr. Tytler's; and at my house thrice, one evening with a numerous
company, chiefly gentlemen of the law; another with Mr. Menzies of
Culdares, and Lord Monboddo, who disengaged himself on purpose to meet
him; and the evening on which we returned from Lord Elibank's, he supped
with my wife and me by ourselves[1088].
He breakfasted at Dr. Webster's, at old Mr. Drummond's, and at Dr.
Blacklock's; and spent one forenoon at my uncle Dr. Boswell's[1089], who
shewed him his curious museum; and, as he was an elegant scholar, and a
physician bred in the school of Boerhaave[1090], Dr. Johnson was pleased
with his company. On the mornings when he breakfasted at my house, he
had, from ten o'clock till one or two, a constant levee of various
persons, of very different characters and descriptions. I could not
attend him, being obliged to be in the Court of Session; but my wife was
so good as to devote the greater part of the morning to the endless task
of pouring out tea for my friend and his visitors.
Such was the disposition of his time at Edinburgh. He said one evening
to me, in a fit of languor, 'Sir, we have been harassed by invitations.'
I acquiesced. 'Ay, Sir,' he replied; but how much worse would it have
been, if we had been neglected[1091]?'
From what has been recorded in this _Journal_, it may well be supposed
that a variety of admirable conversation has been lost, by my neglect to
preserve it. I shall endeavour to recollect some of it, as well as
I can.
At Lady Colvill's, to whom I am proud to introduce any stranger of
eminence, that he may see what dignity and grace is to be found in
Scotland, an officer observed, that he had heard Lord Mansfield was not
a great English lawyer. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, supposing Lord Mansfield not
to have the splendid talents which he possesses, he must be a great
English lawyer, from having been so long at the bar, and having passed
through so many of the great offices of the law. Sir, you may as well
maintain that a carrier, who has driven a packhorse between Edinburgh
and Berwick for thirty years, does not know the road, as that Lord
Mansfield does not know the law of England[1092].'
At Mr. Nairne's, he drew the character of Richardson, the authour of
_Clarissa_, with a strong yet delicate pencil. I lament much that I have
not preserved it; I only remember that he expressed a high opinion of
his talents and virtues; but observed, that 'his perpetual study was to
ward off petty inconveniences, and procure petty pleasures; that his
love of continual superiority was such, that he took care to be always
surrounded by women[1093], who listened to him implicitly, and did not
venture to controvert his opinions; and that his desire of distinction
was so great, that he used to give large vails to the Speaker Onslow's
servants, that they might treat him with respect.'
On the same evening, he would not allow that the private life of a
Judge, in England, was required to be so strictly decorous as I
supposed. 'Why then, Sir, (said I,) according to your account, an
English judge may just live like a gentleman.' JOHNSON. 'Yes,
Sir[1094],--if he _can_.'
At Mr. Tytler's, I happened to tell that one evening, a great many years
ago, when Dr. Hugh Blair and I were sitting together in the pit of
Drury-lane play-house, in a wild freak of youthful extravagance, I
entertained the audience _prodigiously_[1095], by imitating the lowing
of a cow. A little while after I had told this story, I differed from
Dr. Johnson, I suppose too confidently, upon some point, which I now
forget. He did not spare me. 'Nay, Sir, (said he,) if you cannot talk
better as a man, I'd have you bellow like a cow[1096].'
At Dr. Webster's, he said, that he believed hardly any man died without
affectation. This remark appears to me to be well founded, and will
account for many of the celebrated death-bed sayings which are
recorded[1097].
On one of the evenings at my house, when he told that Lord Lovat boasted
to an English nobleman, that though he had not his wealth, he had two
thousand men whom he could at any time call into the field, the
Honourable Alexander Gordon observed, that those two thousand men
brought him to the block. 'True, Sir, (said Dr. Johnson:) but you may
just as well argue, concerning a man who has fallen over a precipice to
which he has walked too near,--"His two legs brought him to that," is he
not the better for having two legs?'
At Dr. Blair's I left him, in order to attend a consultation, during
which he and his amiable host were by themselves. I returned to supper,
at which were Principal Robertson, Mr. Nairne, and some other gentlemen.
Dr. Robertson and Dr. Blair, I remember, talked well upon
subordination[1098] and government; and, as my friend and I were walking
home, he said to me, 'Sir, these two doctors are good men, and wise
men[1099].' I begged of Dr. Blair to recollect what he could of the long
conversation that passed between Dr. Johnson and him alone, this
evening, and he obligingly wrote to me as follows:--
'_March_ 3, 1785.
'DEAR SIR,
'--As so many years have intervened, since I chanced to have that
conversation with Dr. Johnson in my house, to which you refer, I have
forgotten most of what then passed, but remember that I was both
instructed and entertained by it. Among other subjects, the discourse
happening to turn on modern Latin poets, the Dr. expressed a very
favourable opinion of Buchanan, and instantly repeated, from beginning
to end, an ode of his, intituled _Calendae Maiae_, (the eleventh in his
_Miscellaneorum Liber_), beginning with these words, '_Salvete sacris
deliciis sacrae_,' with which I had formerly been unacquainted; but upon
perusing it, the praise which he bestowed upon it, as one of the
happiest of Buchanan's poetical compositions, appeared to me very just.
He also repeated to me a Latin ode he had composed in one of the western
islands, from which he had lately returned. We had much discourse
concerning his excursion to those islands, with which he expressed
himself as having been highly pleased; talked in a favourable manner of
the hospitality of the inhabitants; and particularly spoke much of his
happiness in having you for his companion; and said, that the longer he
knew you, he loved and esteemed you the more. This conversation passed
in the interval between tea and supper, when we were by ourselves. You,
and the rest of the company who were with us at supper, have often taken
notice that he was uncommonly bland and gay that evening, and gave much
pleasure to all who were present. This is all that I can recollect
distinctly of that long conversation.
'Your's sincerely,
'HUGH BLAIR.'
At Lord Hailes's, we spent a most agreeable day; but again I must lament
that I was so indolent as to let almost all that passed evaporate into
oblivion. Dr. Johnson observed there, that 'it is wonderful how ignorant
many officers of the army are, considering how much leisure they have
for study, and the acquisition of knowledge[1100].' I hope he was
mistaken; for he maintained that many of them were ignorant of things
belonging immediately to their own profession; 'for instance, many
cannot tell how far a musket will carry a bullet;' in proof of which, I
suppose, he mentioned some particular person, for Lord Hailes, from whom
I solicited what he could recollect of that day, writes to me as
follows:--
'As to Dr. Johnson's observation about the ignorance of officers, in the
length that a musket will carry, my brother, Colonel Dalrymple, was
present, and he thought that the doctor was either mistaken, by putting
the question wrong, or that he had conversed on the subject with some
person out of service.
'Was it upon that occasion that he expressed no curiosity to see the
room at Dumfermline, where Charles I. was born? "I know that he was
born, (said he;) no matter where."--Did he envy us the birth-place of
the king?'
Near the end of his _Journey_, Dr. Johnson has given liberal praise to
Mr. Braidwood's academy for the deaf and dumb[1101]. When he visited it,
a circumstance occurred which was truly characteristical of our great
Lexicographer. 'Pray, (said he,) can they pronounce any _long_ words?'
Mr. Braidwood informed him they could. Upon which Dr. Johnson wrote one
of his _sesquipedalia verba_[1102], which was pronounced by the
scholars, and he was satisfied. My readers may perhaps wish to know what
the word was; but I cannot gratify their curiosity. Mr. Braidwood told
me, it remained long in his school, but had been lost before I made my
inquiry[1103].
Dr. Johnson one day visited the Court of Session[1104]. He thought the
mode of pleading there too vehement, and too much addressed to the
passions of the judges. 'This (said he) is not the Areopagus.'
At old Mr. Drummond's, Sir John Dalrymple quaintly said, the two noblest
animals in the world were, a Scotch Highlander and an English
sailor[1105]. 'Why, Sir, (said Dr. Johnson,) I shall say nothing as to
the Scotch Highlander; but as to the English Sailor, I cannot agree with
you.' Sir John said, he was generous in giving away his money.' JOHNSON.
'Sir, he throws away his money, without thought, and without merit. I do
not call a tree generous, that sheds its fruit at every breeze.' Sir
John having affected to complain of the attacks made upon his
_Memoirs_[1106], Dr. Johnson said, 'Nay, Sir, do not complain. It is
advantageous to an authour, that his book should be attacked as well as
praised. Fame is a shuttlecock. If it be struck only at one end of the
room, it will soon fall to the ground. To keep it up, it must be struck
at both ends[1107].' Often have I reflected on this since; and, instead
of being angry at many of those who have written against me, have smiled
to think that they were unintentionally subservient to my fame, by using
a battledoor to make me _virum volitare per ora_[1108].
At Sir Alexander Dick's, from that absence of mind to which every man is
at times subject, I told, in a blundering manner, Lady Eglingtoune's
complimentary adoption of Dr. Johnson as her son; for I unfortunately
stated that her ladyship adopted him as her son, in consequence of her
having been married the year _after_ he was born. Dr. Johnson instantly
corrected me. 'Sir, don't you perceive that you are defaming the
countess? For, supposing me to be her son, and that she was not married
till the year after my birth, I must have been her _natural_ son.' A
young lady of quality, who was present, very handsomely said, 'Might not
the son have justified the fault?' My friend was much flattered by this
compliment, which he never forgot. When in more than ordinary spirits,
and talking of his journey in Scotland, he has called to me, 'Boswell,
what was it that the young lady of quality said of me at Sir Alexander
Dick's ?' Nobody will doubt that I was happy in repeating it.
My illustrious friend, being now desirous to be again in the great
theatre of life and animated exertion, took a place in the coach, which
was to set out for London on Monday the 22nd of November[1109]. Sir John
Dalrymple pressed him to come on the Saturday before, to his house at
Cranston, which being twelve miles from Edinburgh, upon the middle road
to Newcastle, (Dr. Johnson had come to Edinburgh by Berwick, and along
the naked coast[1110],) it would make his journey easier, as the coach
would take him up at a more seasonable hour than that at which it sets
out. Sir John, I perceived, was ambitious of having such a guest; but,
as I was well assured, that at this very time he had joined with some of
his prejudiced countrymen in railing at Dr. Johnson[1111], and had said,
he 'wondered how any gentleman of Scotland could keep company with him,'
I thought he did not deserve the honour: yet, as it might be a
convenience to Dr. Johnson, I contrived that he should accept the
invitation, and engaged to conduct him. I resolved that, on our way to
Sir John's, we should make a little circuit by Roslin Castle, and
Hawthornden, and wished to set out soon after breakfast; but young Mr.
Tytler came to shew Dr. Johnson some essays which he had written; and my
great friend, who was exceedingly obliging when thus consulted[1112],
was detained so long, that it was, I believe, one o'clock before we got
into our post-chaise. I found that we should be too late for dinner at
Sir John Dalrymple's, to which we were engaged: but I would by no means
lose the pleasure of seeing my friend at Hawthornden,--of seeing _Sam
Johnson_ at the very spot where _Ben Jonson_ visited the learned and
poetical Drummond[1113].
We surveyed Roslin Castle, the romantick scene around it, and the
beautiful Gothick chapel[1114], and dined and drank tea at the inn;
after which we proceeded to Hawthornden, and viewed the caves; and I
all the while had _Rare Ben_[1115] in my mind, and was pleased to think
that this place was now visited by another celebrated wit of England.
By this time 'the waning night was growing old,' and we were yet several
miles from Sir John Dalrymple's. Dr. Johnson did not seem much troubled
at our having treated the baronet with so little attention to
politeness; but when I talked of the grievous disappointment it must
have been to him that we did not come to the _feast_ that he had
prepared for us, (for he told us he had killed a seven-year old sheep on
purpose,) my friend got into a merry mood, and jocularly said, 'I dare
say, Sir, he has been very sadly distressed: Nay, we do not know but the
consequence may have been fatal. Let me try to describe his situation in
his own historical style, I have as good a right to make him think and
talk, as he has to tell us how people thought and talked a hundred years
ago, of which he has no evidence. All history, so far as it is not
supported by contemporary evidence, is romance[1116]--Stay now.--Let us
consider!' He then (heartily laughing all the while) proceeded in his
imitation, I am sure to the following effect, though now, at the
distance of almost twelve years, I cannot pretend to recollect all the
precise words:--
'Dinner being ready, he wondered that his guests were not yet come.
His wonder was soon succeeded by impatience. He walked about the
room in anxious agitation; sometimes he looked at his watch, sometimes
he looked out at the window with an eager gaze of expectation,
and revolved in his mind the various accidents of human life. His
family beheld him with mute concern. "Surely (said he, with a sigh,)
they will not fail me." The mind of man can bear a certain pressure;
but there is a point when it can bear no more. A rope was in his view,
and he died a Roman death[1117].
It was very late before we reached the seat of Sir John Dalrymple, who,
certainly with some reason, was not in very good humour. Our
conversation was not brilliant. We supped, and went to bed in ancient
rooms, which would have better suited the climate of Italy in summer,
than that of Scotland in the month of November.
I recollect no conversation of the next day, worth preserving, except
one saying of Dr. Johnson, which will be a valuable text for many decent
old dowagers, and other good company, in various circles to descant
upon. He said, 'I am sorry I have not learnt to play at cards. It is
very useful in life: it generates kindness, and consolidates
society[1118].' He certainly could not mean deep play.
My friend and I thought we should be more comfortable at the inn at
Blackshields, two miles farther on. We therefore went thither in the
evening, and he was very entertaining; but I have preserved nothing but
the pleasing remembrance, and his verses on George the Second and
Cibber[1119], and his epitaph on Parnell[1120], which he was then so
good as to dictate to me. We breakfasted together next morning, and then
the coach came, and took him up. He had, as one of his companions in it,
as far as Newcastle, the worthy and ingenious Dr. Hope, botanical
professor at Edinburgh. Both Dr. Johnson and he used to speak of their
good fortune in thus accidentally meeting; for they had much instructive
conversation, which is always a most valuable enjoyment, and, when found
where it is not expected, is peculiarly relished.
I have now completed my account of our Tour to the Hebrides. I have
brought Dr. Johnson down to Scotland, and seen him into the coach which
in a few hours carried him back into England. He said to me often, that
the time he spent in this Tour was the pleasantest part of his
life[1121], and asked me if I would lose the recollection of it for five
hundred pounds. I answered I would not; and he applauded my setting such
a value on an accession of new images in my mind[1122].
Had it not been for me, I am persuaded Dr. Johnson never would have
undertaken such a journey; and I must be allowed to assume some merit
from having been the cause that our language has been enriched with such
a book as that which he published on his return; a book which I never
read but with the utmost admiration, as I had such opportunities of
knowing from what very meagre materials it was composed.
But my praise may be supposed partial; and therefore I shall insert two
testimonies, not liable to that objection, both written by gentlemen of
Scotland, to whose opinions I am confident the highest respect will be
paid, Lord Hailes[1123], and Mr. Dempster[1124]. 'TO JAMES
BOSWELL, ESQ.
'SIR,
'I have received much pleasure and much instruction, from perusing _The
Journey to the Hebrides_.
'I admire the elegance and variety of description, and the lively
picture of men and manners. I always approve of the moral, often of the
political, reflections. I love the benevolence of the authour.
'They who search for faults, may possibly find them in this, as well as
in every other work of literature.
'For example, the friends of the old family say that _the aera of
planting_ is placed too late, at the Union of the two kingdoms[1125]. I
am known to be no friend of the old family; yet I would place the aera
of planting at the Restoration; after the murder of Charles I. had been
expiated in the anarchy which succeeded it.
'Before the Restoration, few trees were planted, unless by the
monastick drones: their successors, (and worthy patriots they were,) the
barons, first cut down the trees, and then sold the estates. The
gentleman at St. Andrews, who said that there were but two trees in
Fife[1126], ought to have added, that the elms of Balmerino[1127] were
sold within these twenty years, to make pumps for the fire-engines.
'In J. Major de _Gestis Scotorum_, L. i. C. 2. last edition, there is a
singular passage:--
'"Davidi Cranstoneo conterraneo, dum de prima theologiae licentia foret,
duo ei consocii et familiares, et mei cum eo in artibus auditores,
scilicet Jacobus Almain Senonensis, et Petrus Bruxcellensis,
Praedicatoris ordinis, in Sorbonae curia die Sorbonico commilitonibus
suis publice objecerunt, _quod pane avenaceo plebeii Scoti_, sicut a
quodam religioso intellexerant, _vescebantur, ut virum, quem cholericum
noverant, honestis salibus tentarent, qui hoc inficiari tanquam patriae
dedecus nisus est_."
'Pray introduce our countryman, Mr. Licentiate David Cranston, to
the acquaintance of Mr. Johnson.
'The syllogism seems to have been this:
'They who feed on oatmeal are barbarians;
But the Scots feed on oatmeal:
Ergo--
The licentiate denied the _minor_,
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
'DAV. DALRYMPLE.'
'Newhailes, 6th Feb. 1775.'
To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ., EDINBURGH.
Dunnichen, 16th February, 1775.
'MY DEAR BOSWELL,
'I cannot omit a moment to return you my best thanks for the
entertainment you have furnished me, my family, and guests, by the
perusal of Dr. Johnson's _Journey to the Western Islands_; and now for
my sentiments of it. I was well entertained. His descriptions are
accurate and vivid. He carried me on the Tour along with him. I am
pleased with the justice he has done to your humour and vivacity. "The
noise of the wind being all its own," is a _bon-mot_, that it would have
been a pity to have omitted, and a robbery not to have ascribed to its
author[1128].
'There is nothing in the book, from beginning to end, that a Scotchman
need to take amiss[1129]. What he says of the country is true, and his
observations on the people are what must naturally occur to a sensible,
observing, and reflecting inhabitant of a _convenient_ Metropolis, where
a man on thirty pounds a year may be better accommodated with all the
little wants of life, than _Col._ or _Sir Allan_. He reasons candidly
about the _second sight_; but I wish he had enquired more, before he
ventured to say he even doubted of the possibility of such an unusual
and useless deviation from all the known laws of nature[1130]. The
notion of the second sight I consider as a remnant of superstitious
ignorance and credulity, which a philosopher will set down as such, till
the contrary is clearly proved, and then it will be classed among the
other certain, though unaccountable parts of our nature, like
dreams[1131], and-I do not know what. 'In regard to the language, it
has the merit of being all his own. Many words of foreign extraction are
used, where, I believe, common ones would do as well, especially on
familiar occasions. Yet I believe he could not express himself so
forcibly in any other stile. I am charmed with his researches concerning
the Erse language, and the antiquity of their manuscripts. I am quite
convinced; and I shall rank _Ossian_, and his _Fingals_ and _Oscars_,
amongst the Nursery Tales, not the true history of our country, in all
time to come.
'Upon the whole, the book cannot displease, for it has no pretensions.
The author neither says he is a Geographer, nor an Antiquarian, nor very
learned in the History of Scotland, nor a Naturalist, nor a
Fossilist[1132]. The manners of the people, and the face of the country,
are all he attempts to describe, or seems to have thought of. Much were
it to be wished, that they who have travelled into more remote, and of
course, more curious, regions, had all possessed his good sense. Of the
state of learning, his observations on Glasgow University[1133] shew he
has formed a very sound judgement. He understands our climate too, and
he has accurately observed the changes, however slow and imperceptible
to us, which Scotland has undergone, in consequence of the blessings of
liberty and internal peace. I could have drawn my pen through the story
of the old woman at St. Andrews, being the only silly thing in the
book[1134]. He has taken the opportunity of ingrafting into the work
several good observations, which I dare say he had made upon men and
things, before he set foot on Scotch ground, by which it is considerably
enriched[1135]. A long journey, like a tall May-pole, though not very
beautiful itself, yet is pretty enough, when ornamented with flowers and
garlands; it furnishes a sort of cloak-pins for hanging the furniture of
your mind upon; and whoever sets out upon a journey, without furnishing
his mind previously with much study and useful knowledge, erects a
May-pole in December, and puts up very useless cloak-pins[1136].
'I hope the book will induce many of his countrymen to make the same
jaunt, and help to intermix the more liberal part of them still more
with us, and perhaps abate somewhat of that virulent antipathy which
many of them entertain against the Scotch: who certainly would never
have formed those _combinations_[1137] which he takes notice of, more
than their ancestors, had they not been necessary for their mutual
safety, at least for their success, in a country where they are treated
as foreigners. They would find us not deficient, at least in point of
hospitality, and they would be ashamed ever after to abuse us in
the mass.
'So much for the Tour. I have now, for the first time in my life, passed
a winter in the country; and never did three months roll on with more
swiftness and satisfaction. I used not only to wonder at, but pity,
those whose lot condemned them to winter any where but in either of the
capitals. But every place has its charms to a cheerful mind. I am busy
planting and taking measures for opening the summer campaign in farming;
and I find I have an excellent resource, when revolutions in politicks
perhaps, and revolutions of the sun for certain, will make it decent for
me to retreat behind the ranks of the more forward in life.
'I am glad to hear the last was a very busy week with you. I see you as
counsel in some causes which must have opened a charming field for your
humourous vein. As it is more uncommon, so I verily believe it is more
useful than the more serious exercise of reason; and, to a man who is to
appear in publick, more eclat is to be gained, sometimes more money too,
by a _bon-mot_, than a learned speech. It is the fund of natural humour
which Lord North possesses, that makes him so much the favourite of the
house, and so able, because so amiable, a leader of a party[1138].
'I have now finished _my_ Tour of _Seven Pages_. In what remains, I beg
leave to offer my compliments, and those of _ma tres chere femme_, to
you and Mrs. Boswell. Pray unbend the busy brow, and frolick a little in
a letter to,
'My dear Boswell,
'Your affectionate friend,
'GEORGE DEMPSTER[1139].'
I shall also present the publick with a correspondence with the Laird
of Rasay, concerning a passage in the _Journey to the_ Western Islands,
which shews Dr. Johnson in a very amiable light.
'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
'Rasay, April 10th, 1775.
'DEAR SIR,
'I take this occasion of returning you my most hearty thanks for the
civilities shewn to my daughter by you and Mrs. Boswell. Yet, though she
has informed me that I am under this obligation, I should very probably
have deferred troubling you with making my acknowledgments at present,
if I had not seen Dr. Johnson's _Journey to the Western Isles_, in which
he has been pleased to make a very friendly mention of my family, for
which I am surely obliged to him, as being more than an equivalent for
the reception you and he met with. Yet there is one paragraph I should
have been glad he had omitted, which I am sure was owing to
misinformation; that is, that I had acknowledged McLeod to be my chief,
though my ancestors disputed the pre-eminence for a long tract of time.
'I never had occasion to enter seriously on this argument with the
present laird or his grandfather, nor could I have any temptation to
such a renunciation from either of them. I acknowledge, the benefit of
being chief of a clan is in our days of very little significancy, and to
trace out the progress of this honour to the founder of a family, of any
standing, would perhaps be a matter of some difficulty.
'The true state of the present case is this: the McLeod family consists
of two different branches; the M'Leods of Lewis, of which I am
descended, and the M'Leods of Harris. And though the former have lost a
very extensive estate by forfeiture in king James the Sixth's time,
there are still several respectable families of it existing, who would
justly blame me for such an unmeaning cession, when they all acknowledge
me head of that family; which though in fact it be but an ideal point of
honour, is not hitherto so far disregarded in our country, but it would
determine some of my friends to look on me as a much smaller man than
either they or myself judge me at present to be. I will, therefore, ask
it as a favour of you to acquaint the Doctor with the difficulty he has
brought me to. In travelling among rival clans, such a silly tale as
this might easily be whispered into the ear of a passing stranger; but
as it has no foundation in fact, I hope the Doctor will be so good as to
take his own way in undeceiving the publick, I principally mean my
friends and connections, who will be first angry at me, and next sorry
to find such an instance of my littleness recorded in a book which has a
very fair chance of being much read. I expect you will let me know what
he will write you in return, and we here beg to make offer to you and
Mrs. Boswell of our most respectful compliments.
'I am,
'Dear Sir,
'Your most obedient humble servant,
'JOHN M'LEOD.'
* * * * *
'TO THE LAIRD OF RASAY.
'London, May 8, 1775.
'DEAR SIR,
'The day before yesterday I had the honour to receive your letter, and I
immediately communicated it to Dr. Johnson. He said he loved your
spirit, and was exceedingly sorry that he had been the cause of the
smallest uneasiness to you. There is not a more candid man in the world
than he is, when properly addressed, as you will see from his letter to
you, which I now enclose. He has allowed me to take a copy of it, and he
says you may read it to your clan, or publish it if you please. Be
assured, Sir, that I shall take care of what he has entrusted to me,
which is to have an acknowledgement of his errour inserted in the
Edinburgh newspapers. You will, I dare say, be fully satisfied with Dr.
Johnson's behaviour. He is desirous to know that you are; and therefore
when you have read his acknowledgement in the papers, I beg you may
write to me; and if you choose it, I am persuaded a letter from you to
the Doctor also will be taken kind. I shall be at Edinburgh the week
after next.
'Any civilities which my wife and I had in our power to shew to your
daughter, Miss M'Leod, were due to her own merit, and were well repaid
by her agreeable company. But I am sure I should be a very unworthy man
if I did not wish to shew a grateful sense of the hospitable and genteel
manner in which you were pleased to treat me. Be assured, my dear Sir,
that I shall never forget your goodness, and the happy hours which I
spent in Rasay.
'You and Dr. M'Leod were both so obliging as to promise me an account in
writing, of all the particulars which each of you remember, concerning
the transactions of 1745-6. Pray do not forget this, and be as minute
and full as you can; put down every thing; I have a great curiosity to
know as much as I can, authentically.
'I beg that you may present my best respects to Lady Rasay, my
compliments to your young family, and to Dr. M'Leod; and my hearty good
wishes to Malcolm, with whom I hope again to shake hands cordially. I
have the honour to be,
'Dear Sir,
'Your obliged and faithful humble servant,
'JAMES BOSWELL.' ADVERTISEMENT, written by Dr. Johnson, and inserted
by his desire in the Edinburgh newspapers:--Referred to in the foregoing
letter[1140].
_'THE authour of the_ Journey to the Western Islands, _having related
that the M'Leods of Rasay acknowledge the chieftainship or superiority
of the M'Leods of Sky, finds that he has been misinformed or mistaken.
He means in a future edition to correct his errour[1141], and wishes to
be told of more, if more have been discovered.'_