[1] See _ante_, ii. 434, note 1, and iii. 209.
[2] His _Account 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.' See _ante_, 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 the _Tour to the Hebrides_
which 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 of _Shakespeare_ in 1782; he brought it out
in 1790. Prior's _Malone_, 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 the _Life of Johnson_. Johnson was indeed, as Boswell often calls
him, 'a trueborn Englishman'--so English that foreigners could neither
understand him nor relish his _Life_.
[8] The man thus described is James I.
[9] See _ante_, i. 450 and ii. 291.
[10] _A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_. Johnson's _Works_
ix. 1.
[11] See _ante_, 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's _Boswell_, p. 267.
[12] Macbeth, act i. sc. 3.
[13] See _ante_, iii. 24, and _post_, 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] See _ante_, i. 274.
[22] Afterwards Lord Stowell. He, his brother Lord Eldon, and Chambers
were all Newcastle men. See _ante_, i. 462, for an anecdote of the
journey and for a note on 'the Commons.'
[23] See _ante_, ii. 453.
[24] See _ante_, iv. III.
[25] Baretti, in a MS. note on _Piozzi 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 his _bow-wow way_:' but I admit the truth
of this only on some occasions. The _Messiah_, played upon the
_Canterbury 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. See _ante_, ii. 326, 371, and under
Aug. 29, 1783.
[27] See _ante_, i. 42.
[28] See _ante_, 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. See _ante_, 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] See _ante_, 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's
_Hume_, ii. 434. Dr. Burton writes of the English as 'a people Hume so
heartily disliked.' _Ib_. p. 433.
[35] See _ante_, iv. 15.
[36] The term _John Bull_ came into the English language in 1712, when
Dr. Arbuthnot wrote _The History of John Bull_.
[37] Boswell in three other places so describes Johnson. See _ante_,
i.129, note 3.
[38] See _ante_, i.467.
[39] 'All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.' _Rev_. vii.9.
[40] See _ante_, ii. 376
[41] In Cockburn's _Life 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's _Guide 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] See _ante_, 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's _Guide 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 in _Guy 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 in _Humphry Clinker_ (Letter of July 18),
after describing how the filth is thus thrown out, says:--'The maid
calls _gardy loo_ to the passengers, which signifies _Lord 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's _Journal_, 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 in _Humphry Clinker_ makes 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] See _ante_, 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] See _post_, Aug. 22.
[52] see _ante_, iii. 216.
[53] Boswell writes, in his _Hypochondriacks_:--'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. See _ante_, 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's
_Jeffrey_, 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 his _Life of Dr. Beattie_ that Scott alludes in the
Introduction to the fourth Canto of _Marmion_:--
'Scarce had lamented Forbes paid
The tribute to his Minstrel's shade;
The tale of friendship scarce was told,
Ere the narrator's heart was cold--
Far may we search before we find
A heart so manly and so kind.'
It is only of late years that _Forbes_ has generally ceased to be a
dissyllable.
[56] The saint's name of _Veronica_ was introduced into our family
through my great grandmother Veronica, Countess of Kincardine, a Dutch
lady of the noble house of Sommelsdyck, of which there is a full account
in Bayle's _Dictionary_. The family had once a princely right in
Surinam. The governour of that settlement was appointed by the States
General, the town of Amsterdam, and Sommelsdyck. The States General have
acquired Sommelsdyck's right; but the family has still great dignity and
opulence, and by intermarriages is connected with many other noble
families. When I was at the Hague, I was received with all the affection
of kindred. The present Sommelsdyck has an important charge in the
Republick, and is as worthy a man as lives. He has honoured me with his
correspondence for these twenty years. My great grandfather, the husband
of Countess Veronica, was Alexander, Earl of Kincardine, that eminent
_Royalist_ whose character is given by Burnet in his _History of his own
Times_. From him the blood of _Bruce_ flows in my veins. Of such
ancestry who would not be proud? And, as _Nihil est, nisi hoc sciat
alter_, is peculiarly true of genealogy, who would not be glad to seize
a fair opportunity to let it be known. BOSWELL. Boswell visited Holland
in 1763. _Ante_, i. 473. Burnet says that 'the Earl was both the wisest
and the worthiest man that belonged to his country, and fit for
governing any affairs but his own; which he by a wrong turn, and by his
love for the public, neglected to his ruin. His thoughts went slow and
his words came much slower; but a deep judgment appeared in everything
he said or did. I may be, perhaps, inclined to carry his character too
far; for he was the first man that entered into friendship with me.'
Burnet's _History_, ed. 1818, i. III. 'The ninth Earl succeeded as fifth
Earl of Elgin and thus united the two dignities.' Burke's _Peerage_.
Boswell's quotation is from Persius, _Satires_, i. 27: 'Scire tuum nihil
est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter.' It is the motto to _The
Spectator_, No. 379.
[57] She died four months after her father. I cannot find that she
received this additional fortune.
[58] See _ante_, ii. 47.
[59] See _ante_, iv. 5, note 2.
[60] See _ante_, iii. 231. Johnson (_Works_, ix. 33) speaks of 'the
general dissatisfaction which is now driving the Highlanders into the
other hemisphere.' This dissatisfaction chiefly arose from the fact that
the chiefs were 'gradually degenerating from patriarchal rulers to
rapacious landlords.' _Ib._ p. 86. 'That the people may not fly from the
increase of rent I know not whether the general good does not require
that the landlords be, for a time, restrained in their demands, and kept
quiet by pensions proportionate to their loss.... It affords a
legislator little self-applause to consider, that where there was
formerly an insurrection there is now a wilderness.' _Ib._ p. 94. 'As
the world has been let in upon the people, they have heard of happier
climates and less arbitrary government.' _Ib._ p. 128.
[61] 'To a man that ranges the streets of London, where he is tempted to
contrive wants for the pleasure of supplying them, a shop affords no
image worthy of attention; but in an island it turns the balance of
existence between good and evil. To live in perpetual want of little
things is a state, not indeed of torture, but of constant vexation. I
have in Sky had some difficulty to find ink for a letter; and if a woman
breaks her needle, the work is at a stop.' _Ib._ p. 127.
[62] 'It was demolished in 1822.' Chambers's _Traditions of Edinburgh_,
i. 215.
[63] 'The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of
isles be glad thereof.' _Psalms_, xcvii.1.
[64] A brief memoir of Mr. Carre is given in Forbes's _Life of Beattie_,
Appendix Z.
[65] It was his daughter who gave the name to the new street in which
Hume had taken a house by chalking on his wall ST. DAVID STREET. 'Hume's
"lass," judging that it was not meant in honour or reverence, ran into
the house much excited, to tell her master how he was made game of.
"Never mind, lassie," he said; "many a better man has been made a saint
of before."' J.H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 436.
[66] The House of Lords reversed the decision of the Court of Session in
this cause. See _ante_, ii.50, 230.
[67] Ogden was Woodwardian Professor at Cambridge. The sermons were
published in 1770. Boswell mentions them so often that in Rowlandson's
caricatures of the tour he is commonly represented as having them in his
hand or pocket. See _ante_, iii. 248.
[68] 'Talking of the eminent writers in Queen Anne's reign, Johnson
observed, "I think Dr. Arbuthnot the first man among them.'" _Ante_,
i. 425.
[69] 'We found that by the interposition of some invisible friend
lodgings had been provided for us at the house of one of the professors,
whose easy civility quickly made us forget that we were strangers.'
_Works_, ix. 3.
[70] He is referring to Beattie's _Essay on Truth_. See _post_, Oct. 1,
and _ante_, ii. 201.
[71] See _ante_, ii. 443, where Johnson, again speaking of Hume, and
perhaps of Gibbon, says:--'When a man voluntarily engages in an
important controversy, he is to do all he can to lessen his antagonist,
because authority from personal respect has much weight with most
people, and often more than reasoning.'
[72] Johnson, in his Dictionary, calls _bubble_ 'a cant [slang] word.'
[73] Boswell wrote to Temple in 1768:--'David [Hume] is really amiable:
I always regret to him his unlucky principles, and he smiles at my
faith; but I have a hope which he has not, or pretends not to have. So
who has the best of it, my reverend friend?' _Letters of Boswell_,
p.151. Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. pp. 274-5) says:--'Mr. Hume gave both
elegant dinners and suppers, and the best claret, and, which was best of
all, he furnished the entertainment with the most instructive and
pleasing conversation, for he assembled whosoever were most knowing and
agreeable among either the laity or clergy. For innocent mirth and
agreeable raillery I never knew his match....He took much to the company
of the younger clergy, not from a wish to bring them over to his
opinions, for he never attempted to overturn any man's principles, but
they best understood his notions, and could furnish him with literary
conversation.'
[74] No doubt they were destroyed with Boswell's other papers. _Ante_,
iii.301, note 1.
[75] This letter, though shattered by the sharp shot of Dr. _Horne_ of
_Oxford's_ wit, in the character of _One of the People called
Christians_, is still prefixed to Mr. Hume's excellent _History of
England_, like a poor invalid on the piquet guard, or like a list of
quack medicines sold by the same bookseller, by whom a work of whatever
nature is published; for it has no connection with his _History_, let it
have what it may with what are called his _Philosophical_ Works. A
worthy friend of mine in London was lately consulted by a lady of
quality, of most distinguished merit, what was the best History of
England for her son to read. My friend recommended Hume's. But, upon
recollecting that its usher was a superlative panegyrick on one, who
endeavoured to sap the credit of our holy religion, he revoked his
recommendation. I am really sorry for this ostentatious _alliance_;
because I admire _The Theory of Moral Sentiments_, and value the
greatest part of _An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of
Nations_. Why should such a writer be so forgetful of human comfort, as
to give any countenance to that dreary infidelity which would make us
poor indeed?' ['makes me poor indeed.' _Othello_, act iii. sc.3].
BOSWELL. Dr. Horne's book is entitled, _A Letter to Adam Smith, LL.D.,
On the Life, Death, and Philosophy of his Friend David Hume, Esq. By one
of the People called Christians_. Its chief wit is in the Preface. The
bookseller mentioned in this note was perhaps Francis Newbery, who
succeeded his father, Goldsmith's publisher, as a dealer in quack
medicines and books. They dealt in 'over thirty different nostrums,' and
published books of every nature. Of the father Johnson said:--'Newbery
is an extraordinary man, for I know not whether he has read or written
most books.' He is the original of 'Jack Whirler' in _The Idler_, No.
19. _A Bookseller of the Last Century_, pp. 22, 73.
[76] Hume says that his first work, his _Treatise of Human Nature_,
'fell _dead-born from the press.' Auto._ p.3. His _Enquiry concerning
Human Understanding_ 'was entirely overlooked and neglected.' _Ib_. p.4.
His _Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals_ 'came unnoticed and
unobserved into the world.' _Ib_. p.5. The first volume of his _History
of England_ certainly met with numerous assailants; but 'after the first
ebullitions of their fury were over, what was still more mortifying, the
book seemed to sink into oblivion. Mr. Millar told me,' he continues,
'that in a twelvemonth he sold only forty-five copies of it...I was I
confess, discouraged, and had not the war at that time been breaking out
between France and England, I had certainly retired to some provincial
town of the former kingdom, have changed my name, and never more have
returned to my native country.' _Ib_. p.6. Only one of his works, his
_Political Discourses_, was 'successful on the first publication.' _Ib_.
p.5. By the time he was turned fifty, however, his books were selling
very well, and he had become 'not only independent but opulent.' Ib. p.
8. A few weeks before he died he wrote: 'I see many symptoms of my
literary reputation's breaking out at last with additional lustre.'
_Ib_. p.10.
[77] _Psalms_, cxix. 99.
[78] We learn, _post_, Oct. 29, that Robertson was cautious in his talk,
though we see here that he had much more courage than the professors of
Aberdeen or Glasgow.
[79] This was one of the points upon which Dr. Johnson was strangely
heterodox. For, surely, Mr. Burke, with his other remarkable qualities,
is also distinguished for his wit, and for wit of all kinds too: not
merely that power of language which Pope chooses to denominate wit:--
(True wit is Nature to advantage drest;
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well exprest.)
[Pope's Essay on Criticism, ii. 297.] but surprising allusions,
brilliant sallies of vivacity, and pleasant conceits. His speeches in
parliament are strewed with them. Take, for instance, the variety which
he has given in his wide range, yet exact detail, when exhibiting his
Reform Bill. And his conversation abounds in wit. Let me put down a
specimen. I told him, I had seen, at a _Blue stocking_ assembly, a
number of ladies sitting round a worthy and tall friend of ours,
listening to his literature. 'Ay, (said he) like maids round a
May-pole.' I told him, I had found out a perfect definition of human
nature, as distinguished from the animal. An ancient philosopher said,
Man was 'a two-legged animal without feathers,' upon which his rival
Sage had a Cock plucked bare, and set him down in the school before all
the disciples, as a 'Philosophick Man.' Dr. Franklin said, Man was 'a
tool-making animal,' which is very well; for no animal but man makes a
thing, by means of which he can make another thing. But this applies to
very few of the species. My definition of _Man_ is, 'a Cooking animal.'
The beasts have memory, judgment, and all the faculties and passions of
our mind in a certain degree; but no beast is a cook. The trick of the
monkey using the cat's paw to roast a chestnut, is only a piece of
shrewd malice in that _turpissima bestia_, which humbles us so sadly by
its similarity to us. Man alone can dress a good dish; and every man
whatever is more or less a cook, in seasoning what he himself eats. Your
definition is good, said Mr. Burke, and I now see the full force of the
common proverb, 'There is _reason_ in roasting of eggs.' When Mr.
Wilkes, in his days of tumultuous opposition, was borne upon the
shoulders of the mob, Mr. Burke (as Mr. Wilkes told me himself, with
classical admiration,) applied to him what _Horace_ says of _Pindar_,
..._numeris_que fertur
LEGE _solutis_. [_Odes_, iv. 2. 11.]
Sir Joshua Reynolds, who agrees with me entirely as to Mr. Burke's.
fertility of wit, said, that this was 'dignifying a pun.' He also
observed, that he has often heard Burke say, in the course of an
evening, ten good things, each of which would have served a noted wit
(whom he named) to live upon for a twelvemonth. I find, since the former
edition, that some persons have objected to the instances which I have
given of Mr. Burke's wit, as not doing justice to my very ingenious
friend; the specimens produced having, it is alleged, more of conceit
than real wit, and being merely sportive sallies of the moment, not
justifying the encomium which, they think with me, he undoubtedly
merits. I was well aware, how hazardous it was to exhibit particular
instances of wit, which is of so airy and spiritual a nature as often to
elude the hand that attempts to grasp it. The excellence and efficacy of
a _bon mot_ depend frequently so much on the occasion on which it is
spoken, on the particular manner of the speaker, on the person to whom
it is applied, the previous introduction, and a thousand minute
particulars which cannot be easily enumerated, that it is always
dangerous to detach a witty saying from the group to which it belongs,
and to set it before the eye of the spectator, divested of those
concomitant circumstances, which gave it animation, mellowness, and
relief. I ventured, however, at all hazards, to put down the first
instances that occurred to me, as proofs of Mr. Burke's lively and
brilliant fancy; but am very sensible that his numerous friends could
have suggested many of a superior quality. Indeed, the being in company
with him, for a single day, is sufficient to shew that what I have
asserted is well founded; and it was only necessary to have appealed to
all who know him intimately, for a complete refutation of the heterodox
opinion entertained by Dr. Johnson on this subject. _He_ allowed Mr.
Burke, as the reader will find hereafter [_post_. Sept.15 and 30], to be
a man of consummate and unrivalled abilities in every light except that
now under consideration; and the variety of his allusions, and splendour
of his imagery, have made such an impression on _all the rest_ of the
world, that superficial observers are apt to overlook his other merits,
and to suppose that _wit_ is his chief and most prominent excellence;
when in fact it is only one of the many talents that he possesses, which
are so various and extraordinary, that it is very difficult to ascertain
precisely the rank and value of each. BOSWELL. For Malone's share in
this note, see _ante_, iii. 323, note 2. For Burke's Economical Reform
Bill, which was brought in on Feb. 11, 1780, see Prior's _Burke_, p.184.
For _Blue Stocking_, see _ante_, iv. 108. The 'tall friend of ours' was
Mr. Langton (_ante_, i. 336). For Franklin's definition, see _ante_,
iii. 245, and for Burke's classical pun, _ib_. p. 323. For Burke's
'talent of wit,' see _ante_, i. 453, iii. 323, iv. May 15, 1784, and
_post_, Sept. 15.
[80] See _ante_, iv. 27, where Burke said:--'It is enough for me to have
rung the bell to him [Johnson].'
[81] See _ante_, vol. iv, May 15, 1784.
[82] Prior (_Life of Burke_, pp.31, 36) says that 'from the first his
destination was the Bar.' His name was entered at the Middle Temple in
1747, but he was never called. Why he gave up the profession his
biographer cannot tell.
[83] See _ante_, ii. 437, note 2.
[84] See _ante_, i. 78, note 2.
[85] That cannot be said now, after the flagrant part which Mr. _John
Wesley_ took against our American brethren, when, in his own name, he
threw amongst his enthusiastick flock, the very individual combustibles
of Dr. _Johnson's Taxation no Tyranny_; and after the intolerant spirit
which he manifested against our fellow-christians of the Roman Catholick
Communion, for which that able champion, Father _O'Leary_, has given him
so hearty a drubbing. But I should think myself very unworthy, if I did
not at the same time acknowledge Mr. John Wesley's merit, as a veteran
'Soldier of Jesus Christ' [2 _Timothy_, ii. 3], who has, I do believe,
'turned many from darkness into light, and from the power of _Satan_ to
the living GOD' [_Acts_, xxvi. 18]. BOSWELL. Wesley wrote on Nov. 11,
1775 (_Journal_, iv. 56), 'I made some additions to the _Calm Address to
our American Colonies_. Need any one ask from what motive this was
wrote? Let him look round; England is in a flame! a flame of malice and
rage against the King, and almost all that are in authority under him. I
labour to put out this flame.' He wrote a few days later:--'As to
reviewers, news-writers, _London Magazines_, and all that kind of
gentlemen, they behave just as I expected they would. And let them lick
up Mr. Toplady's spittle still; a champion worthy of their cause.'
_Journal_, p. 58. In a letter published in Jan. 1780, he said:--'I
insist upon it, that no government, not Roman Catholic, ought to
tolerate men of the Roman Catholic persuasion. They ought not to be
tolerated by any government, Protestant, Mahometan, or Pagan.' To this
the Rev. Arthur O'Leary replied with great wit and force, in a pamphlet
entitled, _Remarks on the Rev. Mr. Wesley's Letters_. Dublin, 1780.
Wesley (_Journal_, iv. 365) mentions meeting O'Leary, and says:--'He
seems not to be wanting either in sense or learning.' Johnson wrote to
Wesley on Feb. 6, 1776 (Croker's _Boswell_, p. 475), 'I have thanks to
return you for the addition of your important suffrage to my argument on
the American question. To have gained such a mind as yours may justly
confirm me in my own opinion. What effect my paper has upon the public,
I know not; but I have no reason to be discouraged. The lecturer was
surely in the right, who, though he saw his audience slinking away,
refused to quit the chair while Plato staid.'
[86] 'Powerful preacher as he was,' writes Southey, 'he had neither
strength nor acuteness of intellect, and his written compositions are
nearly worthless.' Southey's _Wesley,_ i. 323. See _ante_, ii. 79.
[87] Mr. Burke. See _ante_, ii. 222, 285, note 3, and iii. 45.
[88] If due attention were paid to this observation, there would be more
virtue, even in politicks. What Dr. Johnson justly condemned, has, I am
sorry to say, greatly increased in the present reign. At the distance of
four years from this conversation, 21st February, 1777, My Lord
Archbishop of York, in his 'sermon before the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,' thus indignantly describes
the then state of parties:--'Parties once had a _principle_ belonging
to them, absurd perhaps, and indefensible, but still carrying a notion
of _duty_, by which honest minds might easily be caught. 'But there are
now _combinations_ of _individuals_, who, instead of being the sons and
servants of the community, make a league for advancing their _private
interests_. It is their business to hold high the notion of _political
honour_. I believe and trust, it is not injurious to say, that such a
bond is no better than that by which the lowest and wickedest
combinations are held together; and that it denotes the last stage of
political depravity.' To find a thought, which just shewed itself to us
from the mind of _Johnson_, thus appearing again at such a distance of
time, and without any communication between them, enlarged to full
growth in the mind of _Markham_, is a curious object of philosophical
contemplation.--That two such great and luminous minds should have been
so dark in one corner,--that _they_ should have held it to be 'Wicked
rebellion in the British subjects established in America, to resist the
abject condition of holding all their property at the mercy of British
subjects remaining at home, while their allegiance to our common Lord
the King was to be preserved inviolate,--is a striking proof to me,
either that 'He who sitteth in Heaven' [_Psalms_, ii.4] scorns the
loftiness of human pride,--or that the evil spirit, whose personal
existence I strongly believe, and even in this age am confirmed in that
belief by a _Fell_, nay, by a _Hurd_, has more power than some choose to
allow. BOSWELL. Horace Walpole writing on June 10, 1778, after censuring
Robertson for sneering at Las Casas, continues:--'Could Archbishop
Markham in a Sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
by fire and sword paint charity in more contemptuous terms? It is a
Christian age.' _Letters_, vii.81. It was Archbishop Markham to whom
Johnson made the famous bow; _ante_, vol. iv, just before April 10,
1783. John Fell published in 1779 _Demoniacs; an Enquiry into the
Heathen and Scripture Doctrine of Daemons_. For Hurd see _ante_, under
June 9,1784.
[89] See Forster's _Essays_, ii 304-9. Mr. Forster often quotes Cooke in
his _Life of Goldsmith_. He describes him (i. 58) as 'a _young_ Irish
law student who had chambers near Goldsmith in the temple.' Goldsmith
did not reside in the temple till 1763 (_ib_. p.336), and Cooke was old
enough to have published his _Hesiod_ in 1728, and to have found a place
in _The Dunciad_ (ii. 138). See Elwin and Courthope's _Pope_, x. 212,
for his correspondence with Pope.
[90] It may be observed, that I sometimes call my great friend, _Mr_.
Johnson, sometimes _Dr_. Johnson: though he had at this time a doctor's
degree from Trinity College, Dublin. The University of Oxford afterwards
conferred it upon him by a diploma, in very honourable terms. It was
some time before I could bring myself to call him Doctor; but, as he has
been long known by that title, I shall give it to him in the rest of
this Journal. BOSWELL. See _ante_, i. 488, note 3, and ii. 332, note I.
[91] In _The Idler_, No. viii, Johnson has the following fling at
tragedians. He had mentioned the terror struck into our soldiers by the
Indian war-cry, and he continues:--'I am of opinion that by a proper
mixture of asses, bulls, turkeys, geese, and tragedians a noise might be
procured equally horrid with the war-cry.' See _ante_, ii.92.
[92] _Tom Jones_, Bk. xvi. chap. 5. Mme. Necker in a letter to Garrick
said:--'Nos acteurs se métamorphosent assez bien, mais Monsieur Garrick
fait autre chose; il nous métamorphose tous dans le caractère qu'il a
revêtu; _nous sommes remplis de terreur avec Hamlet_,' &c. _Garrick
Corres_. ii. 627.
[93] See _ante_, i. 432, and ii. 278.
[94] See _ante_, ii. 11.
[95] Euphan M'Cullan (not Eupham Macallan) is mentioned in Dalrymple's
[Lord Hailes] _Remarks on the History of Scotland_, p. 254. She
maintained that 'she seldom ever prayed but she got a positive answer.'
The minister of her parish was ill. 'She prayed, and got an answer that
for a year's time he should be spared; and after the year's end he fell
sick again.' 'I went,' said she, 'to pray yet again for his life; but
the Lord left me not an mouse's likeness (a proverbial expression,
meaning _to reprove with such severity that the person reproved shrinks
and becomes abashed_), and said, 'Beast that thou art! shall I keep my
servant in pain for thy sake?' And when I said, 'Lord, what then shall I
do?' He answered me, 'He was but a reed that I spoke through, and I will
provide another reed to speak through.' Dalrymple points out that it was
a belief in these 'answers from the Lord' that led John Balfour and his
comrades to murder Archbishop Sharp.
[96] R. Chambers, in his _Traditions_, speaking of the time of Johnson's
visit, says (i. 21) on the authority of 'an ancient native of Edinburgh
that people all knew each other by sight. The appearance of a new face
upon the streets was at once remarked, and numbers busied themselves in
finding out who and what the stranger was.'
[97] It was on this visit to the parliament-house, that Mr. Henry
Erskine (brother of Lord Erskine), after being presented to Dr. Johnson
by Mr. Boswell, and having made his bow, slipped a shilling into
Boswell's hand, whispering that it was for the sight of his _bear_.
WALTER SCOTT.
[98] This is one of the Libraries entitled to a copy of every new work
published in the United Kingdom. Hume held the office of librarian at a
salary of £40 a year from 1752 to 1757. J.H. Burton's _Hume_, i.
367, 373.
[99] The Edinburgh oyster-cellars were called _laigh shops_. Chambers's
_Traditions_, ii. 268.
[100] This word is commonly used to signify _sullenly, gloomily_; and in
that sense alone it appears in Dr. Johnson's _Dictionary_. I suppose he
meant by it, 'with an _obstinate resolution_, similar to that of a
sullen man.' BOSWELL. Southey wrote to Scott:--'Give me more lays, and
correct them at leisure for after editions--not laboriously, but when
the amendment comes naturally and unsought for. It never does to sit
down doggedly to _correct_.' Southey's _Life_, iii. 126. See _ante_, i.
332, for the influence of seasons on composition.
[101] Boswell, _post_, Nov. 1, writes of '_old Scottish_ enthusiasm,'
again italicising these two words.
[102] See _ante_, iii. 410.
[103] See _ante_, i. 354.
[104] Cockburn (_Life of Jeffrey_, i. 182) writing of the beginning of
this century, describes how the General Assembly 'met in those days, as
it had done for about 200 years, in one of the aisles of the then grey
and venerable cathedral of St. Giles. That plain, square, galleried
apartment was admirably suited for the purpose; and it was more
interesting from the men who had acted in it, and the scenes it had
witnessed, than any other existing room in Scotland. It had beheld the
best exertions of the best men in the kingdom ever since the year 1640.
Yet was it obliterated in the year 1830 with as much indifference as if
it had been of yesterday; and for no reason except a childish desire for
new walls and change.'
[105] I have hitherto called him Dr. William Robertson, to distinguish
him from Dr. James Robertson, who is soon to make his appearance. But
_Principal_, from his being the head of our college, is his usual
designation, and is shorter: so I shall use it hereafter. BOSWELL.
[106] The dirtiness of the Scotch churches is taken off in _The Tale of
a Tub_, sect. xi:--'Neither was it possible for the united rhetoric of
mankind to prevail with Jack to make himself clean again.' In _Humphry
Clinker_ (Letter of Aug. 8) we are told that 'the good people of
Edinburgh no longer think dirt and cobwebs essential to the house of
God.' Bishop Horne (_Essays and Thoughts_, p. 45) mentioning 'the maxim
laid down in a neighbouring kingdom that _cleanliness is not essential
to devotion_,' continues, 'A Church of England lady once offered to
attend the Kirk there, if she might be permitted to have the pew swept
and lined. "The pew swept and lined!" said Mess John's wife, "my husband
would think it downright popery."' In 1787 he wrote that there are
country churches in England 'where, perhaps, three or four noble
families attend divine service, which are suffered year after year to be
in a condition in which not one of those families would suffer the worst
room in their house to continue for a week.' _Essays and Thoughts_,
p. 271.
[107] 'Hume recommended Fergusson's friends to prevail on him to
suppress the work as likely to be injurious to his reputation.' When it
had great success he said that his opinion remained the same. He had
heard Helvetius and Saurin say that they had told Montesquieu that he
ought to suppress his _Esprit des Lois_. They were still convinced that
their advice was right. J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 385-7. It was at
Fergusson's house thirteen years later that Walter Scott, a lad of
fifteen, saw Burns shed tears over a print by Bunbury of a soldier lying
dead on the snow. Lockhart's _Scott_, i. 185. See _ib_. vii. 61, for an
anecdote of Fergusson.
[108] They were pulled down in 1789. Murray's _Handbook for Scotland_,
ed. 1883, p. 60.
[109] See _ante_, ii. 128.
[110] See _ante_, iii. 357, and _post_, Johnson's _Tour into Wales_,
Aug. 1, 1774.
[111]
'There where no statesman buys,
no bishop sells;
A virtuous palace where no
monarch dwells.'
_An Epitaph_. Hamilton's Poems, ed. 1760, p. 260. See _ante_, iii. 150.
[112] The stanza from which he took this line is,
'But then rose up all Edinburgh,
They rose up by thousands three;
A cowardly Scot came John behind,
And ran him through the fair body!'
[113] Johnson described her as 'an old lady, who talks broad Scotch with
a paralytick voice, and is scarce understood by her own countrymen.'
_Piozzi Letters_, i.109. Lord Shelburne says that 'her husband, the last
Duke, could neither read nor write without great difficulty.'
Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, i. 11. Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. p. 107) says
that in 1745 he heard her say:--'I have sworn to be Duchess of Douglas
or never to mount a marriage bed.' She married the Duke in 1758. R.
Chambers wrote in 1825:--'It is a curious fact that sixty years ago
there was scarcely a close in the High Street but what had as many noble
inhabitants as are at this day to be found in the whole town.'
_Traditions of Edinburgh_, ed. 1825, i. 72.
[114] See ante, ii. 154, note 1.
[115] Lord Chesterfield wrote from London on Dec. 16, 1760 (_Misc.
Works_, iv. 291):--'I question whether you will ever see my friend
George Faulkner in Ireland again, he is become so great and considerable
a man here in the republic of letters; he has a constant table open to
all men of wit and learning, and to those sometimes who have neither. I
have been able to get him to dine with me but twice.'
[116] Dr. Johnson one evening roundly asserted in his rough way that
"Swift was a shallow fellow; a very shallow fellow." Mr. Sheridan
replied warmly but modestly, "Pardon me, Sir, for differing from you,
but I always thought the Dean a very clear writer." Johnson vociferated
"All shallows are clear."' _Town and Country Mag_. Sept. 1769. _Notes
and Queries_, Jan. 1855, p. 62. See _ante_, iv. 61.
[117] '_The Memoirs of Scriblerus_,' says Johnson (_Works_, viii. 298),
'seem to be the production of Arbuthnot, with a few touches, perhaps, by
Pope.' Swift also was concerned in it. Johnson goes on to shew why 'this
joint production of three great writers has never obtained any notice
from mankind.' Arbuthnot was the author of _John Bull_. Swift wrote to
Stella on May 10, 1712:--'I hope you read _John Bull_. It was a Scotch
gentleman, a friend of mine, that wrote it; but they put it upon me.'
See _ante_, i. 425.
[118] See _ante_, i. 452, and ii. 318.
[119] Horace, _Satires_. I. iii. 19.
[120] See _ante_, i. 396, and ii. 298.
[121] See _ante_, ii. 74.
[122] 'At supper there was such conflux of company that I could scarcely
support the tumult. I have never been well in the whole journey, and am
very easily disordered.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 109.
[123] See _ante_, iv. 17, and under June 9, 1784.
[124] Johnson was thinking of Sir Matthew Hale for one.
[125] 'It is supposed that there were no executions for witchcraft in
England subsequently to the year 1682; but the Statute of I James I, c.
12, so minute in its enactments against witches, was not repealed till
the 9 Geo. II, c. 5. In Scotland, so late as the year 1722, when the
local jurisdictions were still hereditary [see _post_, Sept. 11], the
sheriff of Sutherlandshire condemned a witch to death.' _Penny Cyclo_.
xxvii. 490. In the Bishopric of Wurtzburg, so late as 1750, a nun was
burnt for witchcraft: 'Cette malheureuse fille soutint opiniâtrément
qu'elle était sorcière.... Elle était folle, ses juges furent imbécilles
et barbares.' Voltaire's _Works_, ed. 1819, xxvi. 285.
[126] A Dane wrote to Garrick from Copenhagen on Dec. 23, 1769:--'There
is some of our retinue who, not understanding a word of your language,
mimic your gesture and your action: so great an impression did it make
upon their minds, the scene of daggers has been repeated in dumb show a
hundred times, and those most ignorant of the English idiom can cry out
with rapture, "A horse, a horse; my kingdom for a horse!"' _Garrick
Corres._ i. 375. See _ante_, vol. iv. under Sept. 30, 1783
[127] See _ante_, i. 466.
[128] Johnson, in the preface to his _Dictionary_ (_Works_, v. 43),
after stating what he had at first planned, continues:--'But these were
the dreams of a poet doomed at last to wake a lexicographer.' See
_ante_, i. 189, note 2, and May I, 1783.
[129] See his letter on this subject in the APPENDIX. BOSWELL. He had
been tutor to Hume's nephew and was one of Hume's friends. J.H Burton's
_Hume_, ii. 399.
[130] By the Baron d'Holbach. Voltaire (_Works_, xii. 212) describes
this book as 'Une _Philippique_ contre Dieu.' He wrote to M.
Saurin:--'Ce maudit livre du Système de la Nature est un péché contre
nature. Je vous sais bien bon gré de réprouver l'athéisme et d'aimer ce
vers: "Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer." Je suis rarement
content de mes vers, mais j'avoue que j'ai une tendresse de père pour
celui-là.' _Ib_. v. 418.
[131] One of Garrick's correspondents speaks of 'the sneer of one of
Johnson's ghastly smiles.' _Garrick Corres_. i. 334. 'Ghastly smile' is
borrowed from _Paradise Lost_, ii. 846.
[132] See _ante_, iii. 212. In Chambers's _Traditions of Edinburgh_, ii.
158, is given a comic poem entitled _The Court of Session Garland_,
written by Boswell, with the help, it was said, of Maclaurin.
[133] Dr. John Gregory, Professor of Medicine in the University of
Edinburgh, died on Feb. 10 of this year. It was his eldest son James who
met Johnson. 'This learned family has given sixteen professors to
British Universities.' Chalmers's _Biog. Dict._ xvi. 289.
[134] See _ante_, i. 257, note 3.
[135] See _ante_, i. 228.
[136] See _ante_, ii. 196.
[137] In the original, _cursed the form that_, &c. Johnson's _Works_, i.
21.
[138] Mistress of Edward IV. BOSWELL.
[139] Mistress of Louis XIV. BOSWELL. Voltaire, speaking of the King and
Mlle. de La Vallière (not Valiere, as Lord Hailes wrote her name),
says:--'Il goûta avec elle le bonheur rare d'être aimé uniquement pour
lui-même.' _Siècle de Louis XIV_, ch. 25. He describes her penitence in
a fine passage. _Ib._ ch. 26.
[140] Malone, in a note on the _Life of Boswell_ under 1749, says that
'this lady was not the celebrated Lady Vane, whose memoirs were given to
the public by Dr. Smollett [in _Peregrine Pickle_], but Anne Vane, who
was mistress to Frederick Prince of Wales, and died in 1736, not long
before Johnson settled in London.' She is mentioned in a note to Horace
Walpole's _Letters_, 1. cxxxvi.
[141] Catharine Sedley, the mistress of James II, is described by
Macaulay, _Hist of Eng._ ed. 1874, ii. 323.
[142] Dr. A Carlyle (_Auto._ p. 114) tells how in 1745 he found
'Professor Maclaurin busy on the walls on the south side of Edinburgh,
endeavoring to make them more defensible [against the Pretender]. He had
even erected some small cannon.' See _ante_, iii, 15, for a ridiculous
story told of him by Goldsmith.
[143]
'Crudelis ubique
Luctus, ubique pavor, et plurima
mortis imago:'
'grim grief on every side,
And fear on every side there is,
and many-faced is death.'
Morris, Virgil _Aeneids_, ii. 368.
[144] Mr. Maclaurin's epitaph, as engraved on a marble tomb-stone, in the
Grey-Friars church-yard, Edinburgh:--
Infra situs est
COLIN MACLAURIN,
Mathes. olim in Acad. Edin. Prof.
Electus ipso Newtono suadente.
H.L.P.F.
Non ut nomini paterno consulat,
Nam tali auxilio nil eget;
Sed ut in hoc infelici campo,
Ubi luctus regnant et pavor,
Mortalibus prorsus non absit solatium;
Hujus enim scripta evolve,
Mentemque tantarum rerum capacem
Corpori caduco superstitem crede.