_Legitimas faciunt pura labella preces._
That line was erased, and the line as it stands in the _Works_ is
substituted in Mr. Langton's hand, as is also an alteration in the 16th
line, _velit_ into _jubet_.' _Jubet_ however is in the copy as printed
by Boswell. Mr. Langton edited some, if not all, of Johnson's Latin
poems. (_Ante_, iv. 384.)
[878] 'Boswell, who is very pious, went into the chapel at night to
perform his devotions, but came back in haste for fear of spectres.'
_Piozzi Letters_, i. 173.
[879] _Ante_ p. 169.
[880] John Gerves, or John the Giant, of whom Dr. Johnson relates a
curious story; _Works_ ix. 119.
[881] Lord Chatham in the House of Lords, on Nov. 22, 1770, speaking of
'the honest, industrious tradesman, who holds the middle rank, and has
given repeated proofs that he prefers law and liberty to gold,' had
said:--'I love that class of men. Much less would I be thought to
reflect upon the fair merchant, whose liberal commerce is the prime
source of national wealth. I esteem his occupation, and respect his
character.' _Parl. Hist._ xvi. 1107.
[882] See _ante_, iii. 382.
[883] He was born in Nordland in Sweden, in 1736. In 1768 he and Mr.
Banks accompanied Captain Cook in his first voyage round the world. He
died in 1782. Knight's _Eng. Cyclo._ v. 578. Miss Burney wrote of him in
1780:--'My father has very exactly named him, in calling him a
philosophical gossip.' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 305. Horace Walpole
the same year, just after the Gordon Riots, wrote (_Letters_, vii.
403):--'Who is secure against Jack Straw and a whirlwind? How I
abominate Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who routed the poor Otaheitans out
of the centre of the ocean, and carried our abominable passions amongst
them! not even that poor little speck could escape European
restlessness.' See _ante_ ii. 148.
[884] Boswell tells this story again, _ante_, ii. 299. Mrs. Piozzi's
account (_Anec_. p. 114) is evidently so inaccurate that it does not
deserve attention; she herself admits that Beauclerk was truthful. In a
marginal note on Wraxall's _Memoirs_, she says:--'Topham Beauclerk
(wicked and profligate as he wished to be accounted), was yet a man of
very strict veracity. Oh Lord! how I did hate that horrid Beauclerk!'
Hayward's _Piozzi_, i. 348. Johnson testified to 'the correctness of
Beauclerk's memory and the fidelity of his narrative.' _Ante_, ii. 405.
[885] 'Mr. Maclean of Col, having a very numerous family, has for some
time past resided at Aberdeen, that he may superintend their education,
and leaves the young gentleman, our friend, to govern his dominions with
the full power of a Highland chief.' _Johnson's Works_, ix. 117.
[886] This is not spoken of hare-coursing, where the game is taken or
lost before the dog gets out of wind; but in chasing deer with the great
Highland greyhound, Col's exploit is feasible enough. WALTER SCOTT.
[887] See _ante_, pp. 45, III, for Monboddo's notion.
[888] Mme. Riccoboni in 1767 wrote to Garrick of the French:--'Un
mensonge grossier les révolte. Si on voulait leur persuader que les
Anglais vivent de grenouilles, meurent de faim, que leurs femmes sont
barbouillées, et jurent par toutes les lettres de l'alphabet, ils
leveraient les épaules, et s'écriraient, _quel sot ose écrire ces
misères-là?_ mais à Londres, diantre cela prend!' _Garrick Corres_.
ii. 524.
[889] Just opposite to M'Quarrie's house the boat was swamped by the
intoxication of the sailors, who had partaken too largely of M'Quarrie's
wonted hospitality. WALTER SCOTT. Johnson wrote from Lichfield on June
13, 1775;--'There is great lamentation here for the death of Col. Lucy
[Miss Porter] is of opinion that he was wonderfully handsome.' _Piozzi
Letters_, i. 235. See ante, ii. 287.
[890] Iona.
[891] See _ante_, p. 237.
[892] See _ante_, 111. 229.
[893] Sir James Mackintosh says (_Life_, ii. 257):--'Dr. Johnson visited
Iona without looking at Staffa, which lay in sight, with that
indifference to natural objects, either of taste or scientific
curiosity, which characterised him.' This is a fair enough sample of
much of the criticism under which Johnson's reputation has suffered.
[894] Smollett in _Humphry Clinker_ (Letter of Sept. 3) describes a
Highland funeral. 'Our entertainer seemed to think it a disparagement to
his family that not above a hundred gallons of whisky had been drunk
upon such a solemn occasion.
[895] 'We then entered the boat again; the night came upon us; the wind
rose; the sea swelled; and Boswell desired to be set on dry ground: we,
however, pursued our navigation, and passed by several little islands in
the silent solemnity of faint moon-shine, seeing little, and hearing
only the wind and water.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 176.
[896] Cicero _De Finibus_, ii. 32.
[897] I have lately observed that this thought has been elegantly
expressed by Cowley:--
'Things which offend when present, and affright,
In memory, well painted, move delight.'