'DEAR MADAM,
'Some weeks ago I wrote to you, to tell you that I was just come home
from a ramble, and hoped that I should have heard from you. I am afraid
winter has laid hold on your fingers, and hinders you from writing.
However, let somebody write, if you cannot, and tell me how you do, and
a little of what has happened at Lichfield among our friends. I hope you
are all well.
'When I was in France, I thought myself growing young, but am afraid
that cold weather will take part of my new vigour from me. Let us,
however, take care of ourselves, and lose no part of our health by
negligence.
'I never knew whether you received the _Commentary on the New Testament_
and the _Travels_, and the glasses.
'Do, my dear love, write to me; and do not let us forget each other.
This is the season of good wishes, and I wish you all good. I have not
lately seen Mr. Porter[1154], nor heard of him. Is he with you?
'Be pleased to make my compliments to Mrs. Adey, and Mrs. Cobb, and all
my friends; and when I can do any good, let me know.
'I am, dear Madam,
'Yours most affectionately,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'December, 1775.'
It is to be regretted that he did not write an account of his travels in
France; for as he is reported to have once said, that 'he could write
the Life of a Broomstick[1155],' so, notwithstanding so many former
travellers have exhausted almost every subject for remark in that great
kingdom, his very accurate observation, and peculiar vigour of thought
and illustration, would have produced a valuable work. During his visit
to it, which lasted but about two months, he wrote notes or minutes of
what he saw. He promised to show me them, but I neglected to put him in
mind of it; and the greatest part of them has been lost, or perhaps,
destroyed in a precipitate burning of his papers a few days before his
death, which must ever be lamented. One small paper-book, however,
entitled 'FRANCE II,' has been preserved, and is in my possession. It is
a diurnal register of his life and observations, from the 10th of
October to the 4th of November, inclusive, being twenty-six days, and
shows an extraordinary attention to various minute particulars. Being
the only memorial of this tour that remains, my readers, I am confident,
will peruse it with pleasure, though his notes are very short, and
evidently written only to assist his own recollection.
'Oct. 10. Tuesday. We saw the _Ecole Militaire_, in which one hundred
and fifty young boys are educated for the army. They have arms of
different sizes, according to the age;--flints of wood. The building is
very large, but nothing fine, except the council-room. The French have
large squares in the windows;--they make good iron palisades. Their
meals are gross.
'We visited the Observatory, a large building of a great height. The
upper stones of the parapet very large, but not cramped with iron. The
flat on the top is very extensive; but on the insulated part there is no
parapet. Though it was broad enough, I did not care to go upon it. Maps
were printing in one of the rooms.
'We walked to a small convent of the Fathers of the Oratory. In the
reading-desk of the refectory lay the lives of the Saints.
'Oct. 11. Wednesday. We went to see _Hotel de Chatlois_[1156], a house not
very large, but very elegant. One of the rooms was gilt to a degree that
I never saw before. The upper part for servants and their masters was
pretty.
'Thence we went to Mr. Monville's, a house divided into small
apartments, furnished with effeminate and minute elegance.--Porphyry.
'Thence we went to St. Roque's church, which is very large;--the lower
part of the pillars incrusted with marble.--Three chapels behind the
high altar;--the last a mass of low arches.--Altars, I believe, all
round.
'We passed through _Place de VendA'me_, a fine square, about as big as
Hanover-square.--Inhabited by the high families.--Lewis XIV. on
horse-back in the middle.
'Monville is the son of a farmer-general. In the house of Chatlois is a
room furnished with japan, fitted up in Europe.
'We dined with Boccage[1157], the Marquis Blanchetti, and his lady.--The
sweetmeats taken by the Marchioness Blanchetti, after observing that
they were dear.--Mr. Le Roy, Count Manucci, the AbbA(C), the Prior[1158], and
Father Wilson, who staid with me, till I took him home in the coach.
'Bathiani is gone.
'The French have no laws for the maintenance of their poor.--Monk not
necessarily a priest.--Benedictines rise at four; are at church an hour
and half; at church again half an hour before, half an hour after,
dinner; and again from half an hour after seven to eight. They may sleep
eight hours.--Bodily labour wanted in monasteries.
'The poor taken to hospitals, and miserably kept.--Monks in the convent
fifteen:--accounted poor.
'Oct. 12. Thursday. We went to the Gobelins.--Tapestry makes a good
picture;--imitates flesh exactly.--One piece with a gold ground;--the
birds not exactly coloured.--Thence we went to the King's cabinet;--very
neat, not, perhaps, perfect.--Gold ore.--Candles of the candle-tree.--
Seeds.--Woods. Thence to Gagnier's house, where I saw rooms nine,
furnished with a profusion of wealth and elegance which I never had seen
before.--Vases.--Pictures.--The Dragon china.--The lustre said to be of
crystal, and to have cost 3,500AL.--The whole furniture said to have cost
125,000AL.--Damask hangings covered with pictures.--Porphyry.--This house
struck me.--Then we waited on the ladies to Monville's.--Captain Irwin
with us[1159].--Spain. County towns all beggars.--At Dijon he could not
find the way to Orleans.--Cross roads of France very bad.--Five
soldiers.--Woman.--Soldiers escaped.--The Colonel would not lose five
men for the death of one woman.--The magistrate cannot seize a soldier
but by the Colonel's permission.--Good inn at Nismes.--Moors of Barbary
fond of Englishmen.--Gibraltar eminently healthy;--It has beef from
Barbary;--There is a large garden.--Soldiers sometimes fall from the
rock.
'Oct. 13. Friday. I staid at home all day, only went to find the Prior,
who was not at home.--I read something in Canus[1160].--_Nec admiror, nec
multum laudo_.
Oct. 14. Saturday. We went to the house of Mr. Argenson, which was
almost wainscotted with looking-glasses, and covered with gold.--The
ladies' closet wainscotted with large squares of glass over painted
paper. They always place mirrours to reflect their rooms.
'Then we went to Julien's, the Treasurer of the Clergy:--30,000AL a
year.--The house has no very large room, but is set with mirrours, and
covered with gold.--Books of wood here, and in another library.
'At D----'s[1161] I looked into the books in the lady's closet, and, in
contempt, shewed them to Mr. T.--_Prince Titi_[1162]; _Bibl. des FA(C)es_, and
other books.--She was offended, and shut up, as we heard afterwards, her
apartment.
'Then we went to Julien Le Roy, the King's watch-maker, a man of
character in his business, who shewed a small clock made to find the
longitude[1163].--A decent man.
'Afterwards we saw the _Palais Marchand_[1164], and the Courts of Justice,
civil and criminal.--Queries on the _Sellette_[1165].--This building has
the old Gothick passages, and a great appearance of antiquity.--Three
hundred prisoners sometimes in the gaol[1166].
'Much disturbed; hope no ill will be[1167].
'In the afternoon I visited Mr. Freron the journalist[1168]. He spoke Latin
very scantily, but seemed to understand me.--His house not splendid, but
of commodious size.--His family, wife, son, and daughter, not elevated
but decent.--I was pleased with my reception.--He is to translate my
books, which I am to send him with notes.
'Oct. 15. Sunday. At Choisi, a royal palace on the banks of the Seine,
about 7m. from Paris.--The terrace noble along the river.--The rooms
numerous and grand, but not discriminated from other palaces.--The
chapel beautiful, but small.--China globes.--Inlaid tables.--Labyrinth.
--Sinking table[1169].--Toilet tables.
'Oct. 16. Monday. The Palais Royal very grand, large, and lofty.--A very
great collection of pictures.--Three of Raphael.--Two Holy Family.--One
small piece of M. Angelo.--One room of Rubens--I thought the pictures of
Raphael fine[1170].
'The Thuilleries.--Statues.--Venus.--Aen. and Anchises in his
arms.--Nilus.--Many more. The walks not open to mean persons.--Chairs at
night hired for two sous apiece.--Pont tournant[1171].
'Austin Nuns.--Grate.--Mrs. Fermor, Abbess[1172].--She knew Pope, and
thought him disagreeable.--Mrs. ------- has many books[1173];--has seen
life.--Their frontlet disagreeable.--Their hood.--Their life easy.--Rise
about five; hour and half in chapel.--Dine at ten.--Another hour and
half at chapel; half an hour about three, and half an hour more at
seven:--four hours in chapel.--A large garden.--Thirteen
pensioners[1174].--Teacher complained.
'At the Boulevards saw nothing, yet was glad to be there.--Rope-dancing
and farce.--Egg dance.
'N. [Note.] Near Paris, whether on week-days or Sundays, the roads
empty.
'Oct. 17, Tuesday. At the Palais Marchand I bought
A snuff-box[1175], 24 L.
------------- 6
Table book 15
Scissars 3 p [pair] 18
----
63--2 12 6[1176]
'We heard the lawyers plead.--N. As many killed at Paris as there are
days in the year. _Chambre de question_[1177].--Tournelle[1178] at the
Palais Marchand.--An old venerable building.
'The Palais Bourbon, belonging to the Prince of CondA(C). Only one small
wing shown;--lofty;--splendid;--gold and glass.--The battles of the
great CondA(C) are painted in one of the rooms. The present Prince a
grandsire at thirty-nine[1179].
'The sight of palaces, and other great buildings, leaves no very
distinct images, unless to those who talk of them. As I entered, my wife
was in my mind[1180]: she would have been pleased. Having now nobody to
please, I am little pleased.
'N. In France there is no middle rank[1181].
'So many shops open, that Sunday is little distinguished at Paris.--The
palaces of Louvre and Thuilleries granted out in lodgings.
'In the _Palais de Bourbon_, gilt globes of metal at the fire-place.
'The French beds commended.--Much of the marble, only paste.
'The Colosseum a mere wooden building, at least much of it.
'Oct. 18. Wednesday. We went to Fontainebleau, which we found a large
mean town, crowded with people.--The forest thick with woods, very
extensive.--Manucci[1182] secured us lodgings.--The appearance of the
country pleasant. No hills, few streams, only one hedge.--I remember no
chapels nor crosses on the road.--Pavement still, and rows of trees.
'N. Nobody but mean people walk in Paris[1183].
'Oct. 19. Thursday. At Court, we saw the apartments;--the King's
bed-chamber and council-chamber extremely splendid--Persons of all ranks
in the external rooms through which the family passes:--servants and
masters.--Brunet with us the second time.
'The introductor came to us;--civil to me.--Presenting.--I had
scruples.--Not necessary.--We went and saw the King[1184] and Queen at
dinner.--We saw the other ladies at dinner--Madame Elizabeth[1185], with
the Princess of GuimenA(C).--At night we went to a comedy. I neither saw
nor heard.--Drunken women.--Mrs. Th. preferred one to the other.
'Oct. 20. Friday. We saw the Queen mount in the forest--Brown habit;
rode aside: one lady rode aside.--The Queen's horse light grey;
martingale.--She galloped.--We then went to the apartments, and admired
them.--Then wandered through the palace.--In the passages, stalls and
shops.--Painting in Fresco by a great master, worn out.--We saw the
King's horses and dogs.--The dogs almost all English.--Degenerate.
'The horses not much commended.--The stables cool; the kennel filthy.
'At night the ladies went to the opera. I refused, but should have been
welcome.
'The King fed himself with his left hand as we.
'Saturday, 21. In the night I got ground.--We came home to Paris.--I
think we did not see the chapel.--Tree broken by the wind.--The French
chairs made all of boards painted.
N. Soldiers at the court of justice.--Soldiers not amenable to the
magistrates.--Dijon woman[1186].
'Faggots in the palace.--Every thing slovenly, except in the chief
rooms.--Trees in the roads, some tall, none old, many very young and
small.
'Women's saddles seem ill made.--Queen's bridle woven with silver.--Tags
to strike the horse.
'Sunday, Oct. 22. To Versailles[1187], a mean town. Carriages of business
passing.--Mean shops against the wall.--Our way lay through SA¬ve, where
the China manufacture.--Wooden bridge at SA¬ve, in the way to
Versailles.--The palace of great extent.--The front long; I saw it not
perfectly.--The Menagerie. Cygnets dark; their black feet; on the
ground; tame.--Halcyons, or gulls.--Stag and hind, young.--Aviary, very
large; the net, wire.--Black stag of China, small.--Rhinoceros, the horn
broken and pared away, which, I suppose, will grow; the basis, I think,
four inches 'cross; the skin folds like loose cloth doubled over his
body, and cross his hips; a vast animal, though young; as big, perhaps,
as four oxen.--The young elephant, with his tusks just appearing.--The
brown bear put out his paws;--all very tame.--The lion.--The tigers I
did not well view.--The camel, or dromedary with two bunches called the
Huguin[1188], taller than any horse.--Two camels with one bunch.--Among the
birds was a pelican, who being let out, went to a fountain, and swam
about to catch fish. His feet well webbed: he dipped his head, and
turned his long bill sidewise. He caught two or three fish, but did not
eat them.
'Trianon is a kind of retreat appendant to Versailles. It has an open
portico; the pavement, and, I think, the pillars, of marble.--There are
many rooms, which I do not distinctly remember--A table of porphyry,
about five feet long, and between two and three broad, given to Louis
XIV. by the Venetian State.--In the council-room almost all that was not
door or window, was, I think, looking-glass.--Little Trianon is a small
palace like a gentleman's house.--The upper floor paved with
brick.--Little Vienne.--The court is ill paved.--The rooms at the top
are small, fit to sooth the imagination with privacy. In the front of
Versailles are small basons of water on the terrace, and other basons, I
think, below them. There are little courts.--The great gallery is
wainscotted with mirrors, not very large, but joined by frames. I
suppose the large plates were not yet made.--The play-house was very
large.--The chapel I do not remember if we saw--We saw one chapel, but I
am not certain whether there or at Trianon.--The foreign office paved
with bricks.--The dinner half a Louis each, and, I think, a Louis
over.--Money given at Menagerie, three livres; at palace, six livres.
'Oct. 23. Monday. Last night I wrote to Levet.--We went to see the
looking-glasses wrought. They come from Normandy in cast plates, perhaps
the third of an inch thick. At Paris they are ground upon a marble
table, by rubbing one plate upon another with grit between them. The
various sands, of which there are said to be five, I could not learn.
The handle, by which the upper glass is moved, has the form of a wheel,
which may be moved in all directions. The plates are sent up with their
surfaces ground, but not polished, and so continue till they are
bespoken, lest time should spoil the surface, as we were told. Those
that are to be polished, are laid on a table, covered with several thick
cloths, hard strained, that the resistance may be equal; they are then
rubbed with a hand rubber, held down hard by a contrivance which I did
not well understand. The powder which is used last seemed to me to be
iron dissolved in aqua fortis: they called it, as Baretti said, _marc de
beau forte_, which he thought was dregs. They mentioned vitriol and
salt-petre. The cannon ball swam in the quicksilver. To silver them, a
leaf of beaten tin is laid, and rubbed with quicksilver, to which it
unites. Then more quicksilver is poured upon it, which, by its mutual
[attraction] rises very high. Then a paper is laid at the nearest end of
the plate, over which the glass is slided till it lies upon the plate,
having driven much of the quicksilver before it. It is then, I think,
pressed upon cloths, and then set sloping to drop the superfluous
mercury; the slope is daily heightened towards a perpendicular.
'In the way I saw the Greve, the Mayor's house, and the Bastile.[1189]
'We then went to Sans-terre, a brewer. He brews with about as much malt
as Mr. Thrale, and sells his beer at the same price, though he pays no
duty for malt, and little more than half as much for beer. Beer is sold
retail at 6d. a bottle. He brews 4,000 barrels a year. There are
seventeen brewers in Paris, of whom none is supposed to brew more than
he:--reckoning them at 3,000 each, they make 51,000 a year.--They make
their malt, for malting is here no trade. The moat of the Bastile is
dry.
'Oct. 24, Tuesday. We visited the King's library--I saw the _Speculum
humanae Salvationis_, rudely printed, with ink, sometimes pale,
sometimes black; part supposed to be with wooden types, and part with
pages cut on boards.--The Bible, supposed to be older than that of
Mentz, in 62[1190]: it has no date; it is supposed to have been printed
with wooden types.--I am in doubt; the print is large and fair, in two
folios.--Another book was shown me, supposed to have been printed with
wooden types;--I think, _Durandi Sanctuarium_[1191] in 58. This is inferred
from the difference of form sometimes seen in the same letter, which
might be struck with different puncheons.--The regular similitude of
most letters proves better that they are metal.--I saw nothing but the
_Speculum_ which I had not seen, I think, before.
'Thence to the Sorbonne.--The library very large, not in lattices like
the King's. _Marbone_ and _Durandi_, q. collection 14 vol. _Scriptores
de rebus Gallicis_, many folios.--_Histoire GA(C)nA(C)alogique of France_, 9
vol.--_Gallia Christiana_, the first edition, 4to. the last, f. 12
vol.--The Prior and Librarian dined [with us]:--I waited on them
home.--Their garden pretty, with covered walks, but small; yet may hold
many students.--The Doctors of the Sorbonne are all equal:--choose those
who succeed to vacancies.--Profit little.
'Oct. 25. Wednesday. I went with the Prior to St. Cloud, to see Dr.
Hooke.--We walked round the palace, and had some talk.--I dined with our
whole company at the Monastery.--In the library,_Beroald_,--_Cymon_,--
_Titus_, from Boccace.--_Oratio Proverbialis_ to the Virgin, from
Petrarch; Falkland to Sandys; Dryden's Preface to the third vol. of
Miscellanies[1192].
'Oct. 26. Thursday. We saw the china at SA¬ve, cut, glazed, painted.
Bellevue, a pleasing house, not great: fine prospect.--Meudon, an old
palace.--Alexander, in Porphyry: hollow between eyes and nose, thin
cheeks.--Plato and Aristotle--Noble terrace overlooks the town.--St.
Cloud.--Gallery not very high, nor grand, but pleasing.--In the rooms,
Michael Angelo, drawn by himself, Sir Thomas More, Des Cartes, Bochart,
Naudacus, Mazarine.--Gilded wainscot, so common that it is not
minded.--Gough and Keene.--Hooke came to us at the inn.--A message from
Drumgold.
'Oct. 27. Friday. I staid at home.--Gough and Keene, and Mrs. S----'s
friend dined with us.--This day we began to have a fire.--The weather is
grown very cold, and I fear, has a bad effect upon my breath, which has
grown much more free and easy in this country.
'Sat. Oct. 28. I visited the Grand Chartreux built by St. Louis.--It is
built for forty, but contains only twenty-four, and will not maintain
more. The friar that spoke to us had a pretty apartment[1193].--Mr. Baretti
says four rooms; I remember but three.--His books seemed to be
French.--His garden was neat; he gave me grapes.--We saw the Place de
Victoire, with the statues of the King, and the captive nations.
We saw the palace and gardens of Luxembourg, but the gallery was
shut.--We climbed to the top stairs.--I dined with Colbrooke, who had
much company:--Foote, Sir George Rodney, Motteux, Udson, Taaf.--Called
on the Prior, and found him in bed.
'Hotel--a guinea a day.--Coach, three guineas a week.--Valet de
place[1194], three l.[1195] a day.--_Avantcoureur_, a guinea a week.--
Ordinary dinner, six l. a head.--Our ordinary seems to be about five
guineas a day.--Our extraordinary expences, as diversions, gratuities,
clothes, I cannot reckon.--Our travelling is ten guineas a day.
'White stockings, 18 l.--Wig.--Hat.
'Sunday, Oct. 29. We saw the boarding-school.--The _Enfans trouvA(C)s_
[1196].--A room with about eighty-six children in cradles, as sweet as
a parlour.--They lose a third[1197]; take in to perhaps more than seven
[years old]; put them to trades; pin to them the papers sent with them.
--Want nurses.--Saw their chapel.
'Went to St. Eustatia; saw an innumerable company of girls catechised,
in many bodies, perhaps 100 to a catechist.--Boys taught at one time,
girls at another.--The sermon; the preacher wears a cap, which he takes
off at the name:--his action uniform, not very violent.
'Oct. 30. Monday. We saw the library of St. Germain[1198].--A very noble
collection.--_Codex Divinorum Officiorum_, 1459:--a letter, square like
that of the _Offices_, perhaps the same.--The _Codex_, by Fust and
Gernsheym.--_Meursius_, 12 v. fol.--_Amadis_, in French, 3 v. fol.--
CATHOLICON _sine colophone_, but of 1460.--Two other editions[1199],
one by ... _Augustin. de Civitate Dei_, without name, date, or place,
but of Fust's square letter as it seems.
'I dined with Col. Drumgold;--had a pleasing afternoon.
'Some of the books of St. Germain's stand in presses from the wall, like
those at Oxford.
'Oct. 31. Tuesday. I lived at the Benedictines; meagre day; soup meagre,
herrings, eels, both with sauce; fryed fish; lentils, tasteless in
themselves. In the library; where I found _Maffeus's de HistoriAc IndicAc:
Promontorium flectere, to double the Cape_. I parted very tenderly from
the Prior and Friar Wilkes[1200].
_Maitre des Arts_, 2 y.--_Bacc. Theol_. 3 y.--_Licentiate_, 2
y.--_Doctor Th_. 2 y. in all 9 years.--For the Doctorate three
disputations, _Major, Minor, Sorbonica_.--Several colleges suppressed,
and transferred to that which was the Jesuits' College.
'Nov. 1. Wednesday. We left Paris.--St. Denis, a large town; the church
not very large, but the middle isle is very lofty and aweful.--On the
left are chapels built beyond the line of the wall, which destroy the
symmetry of the sides. The organ is higher above the pavement than any I
have ever seen.--The gates are of brass.--On the middle gate is the
history of our Lord.--The painted windows are historical, and said to be
eminently beautiful.--We were at another church belonging to a convent,
of which the portal is a dome; we could not enter further, and it was
almost dark.
'Nov. 2. Thursday. We came this day to Chantilly, a seat belonging to
the Prince of CondA(C).--This place is eminently beautified by all
varieties of waters starting up in fountains, falling in cascades,
running in streams, and spread in lakes.--The water seems to be too near
the house.--All this water is brought from a source or river three
leagues off, by an artificial canal, which for one league is carried
under ground.--The house is magnificent.--The cabinet seems well
stocked: what I remember was, the jaws of a hippopotamus, and a young
hippopotamus preserved, which, however, is so small, that I doubt its
reality.--It seems too hairy for an abortion, and too small for a mature
birth.--Nothing was in spirits; all was dry.--The dog, the deer; the
ant-bear with long snout.--The toucan, long broad beak.--The stables
were of very great length.--The kennel had no scents.--There was a
mockery of a village.--The Menagerie had few animals[1201]. For Dr. Blagden
see _post_, 1780 in Mr. Langton's _Collection_.--Two faussans[1202], or
Brasilian weasels, spotted, very wild.--There is a forest, and, I think,
a park.--I walked till I was very weary, and next morning felt my feet
battered, and with pains in the toes.
'Nov. 3. Friday. We came to Compiegne, a very large town, with a royal
palace built round a pentagonal court.--The court is raised upon vaults,
and has, I suppose, an entry on one side by a gentle rise.--Talk of
painting[1203],--The church is not very large, but very elegant and
splendid.--I had at first great difficulty to walk, but motion grew
continually easier.--At night we came to Noyon, an episcopal city.--The
cathedral is very beautiful, the pillars alternately gothick and
Corinthian.--We entered a very noble parochial church.--Noyon is walled,
and is said to be three miles round.
'Nov. 4. Saturday. We rose very early, and came through St. Quintin to
Cambray, not long after three.--We went to an English nunnery, to give a
letter to Father Welch, the confessor, who came to visit us in the
evening.
'Nov. 5. Sunday. We saw the cathedral.--It is very beautiful, with
chapels on each side. The choir splendid. The balustrade in one part
brass.--The Neff[1204] very high and grand.--The altar silver as far as it
is seen.--The vestments very splendid.--At the Benedictines church----'
Here his Journal[1205] ends abruptly. Whether he wrote any more after this
time, I know not; but probably not much, as he arrived in England about
the 12th of November. These short notes of his tour, though they may
seem minute taken singly, make together a considerable mass of
information, and exhibit such an ardour of enquiry and acuteness of
examination, as, I believe, are found in but few travellers, especially
at an advanced age. They completely refute the idle notion which has
been propagated, _that he could not see_[1206]; and, if he had taken the
trouble to revise and digest them, he undoubtedly could have expanded
them into a very entertaining narrative.
When I met him in London the following year, the account which he gave
me of his French tour, was, 'Sir, I have seen all the visibilities of
Paris, and around it; but to have formed an acquaintance with the people
there, would have required more time than I could stay. I was just
beginning to creep into acquaintance[1207] by means of Colonel Drumgold, a
very high man, Sir, head of _L'Ecole Militaire_, a most complete
character, for he had first been a professor of rhetorick, and then
became a soldier. And, Sir, I was very kindly treated by the English
Benedictines, and have a cell appropriated to me in their convent.'
He observed, 'The great in France live very magnificently, but the rest
very miserably. There is no happy middle state as in England[1208]. The
shops of Paris are mean; the meat in the markets is such as would be
sent to a gaol in England[1209]: and Mr. Thrale justly observed, that the
cookery of the French was forced upon them by necessity; for they could
not eat their meat, unless they added some taste to it. The French are
an indelicate people; they will spit upon any place[1210]. At Madame
----'s[1211], a literary lady of rank, the footman took the sugar in his
fingers[1212], and threw it into my coffee. I was going to put it aside;
but hearing it was made on purpose for me, I e'en tasted Tom's fingers.
The same lady would needs make tea _A l'Angloise_. The spout of the
tea-pot did not pour freely; she bad the footman blow into it[1213]. France
is worse than Scotland in every thing but climate. Nature has done more
for the French; but they have done less for themselves than the Scotch
have done.'
It happened that Foote was at Paris at the same time with Dr. Johnson,
and his description of my friend while there, was abundantly ludicrous.
He told me, that the French were quite astonished at his figure and
manner, and at his dress, which he obstinately continued exactly as in
London[1214];--his brown clothes, black stockings, and plain shirt. He
mentioned, that an Irish gentleman said to Johnson, 'Sir, you have not
seen the best French players.' JOHNSON. 'Players, Sir! I look on them as
no better than creatures set upon tables and joint-stools to make faces
and produce laughter, like dancing dogs.'--'But, Sir, you will allow
that some players are better than others?' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, as some
dogs dance better than others.'
While Johnson was in France, he was generally very resolute in speaking
Latin. It was a maxim with him that a man should not let himself down,
by speaking a language which he speaks imperfectly. Indeed, we must have
often observed how inferiour, how much like a child a man appears, who
speaks a broken tongue. When Sir Joshua Reynolds, at one of the dinners
of the Royal Academy, presented him to a Frenchman of great distinction,
he would not deign to speak French, but talked Latin, though his
Excellency did not understand it, owing, perhaps, to Johnson's English
pronunciation[1215]: yet upon another occasion he was observed to speak
French to a Frenchman of high rank, who spoke English; and being asked
the reason, with some expression of surprise,--he answered, 'because I
think my French is as good as his English.' Though Johnson understood
French perfectly, he could not speak it readily, as I have observed at
his first interview with General Paoli, in 1769[1216]; yet he wrote it, I
imagine, pretty well, as appears from some of his letters in Mrs.
Piozzi's collection, of which I shall transcribe one:--
_A Madame La Comtesse de----_[1217].
'July 16, 1775[1218].
'Oui, _Madame, le moment est arrivA(C), et il faut que je parte. Mais
pourquoi faut il partir? Est ce que je m'ennuye? Je m'ennuyerai
ailleurs. Est ce que je cherche ou quelque plaisir, ou quelque
soulagement? Je ne cherche rien, je n'espere rien. Aller voir ce que jai
vA", etre un peu rejouA(C), un peu degoutA(C), me resouvenir que la vie se
passe en vain, me plaindre de moi, m'endurcir aux dehors; void le tout
de ce qu'on compte pour les delices de l'anneA(C). Que Dieu vous donne,
Madame, tous les agrA(C)mens de la vie, avec un esprit qui peut en jouir
sans s'y livrer trop_.'
Here let me not forget a curious anecdote, as related to me by Mr.
Beauclerk, which I shall endeavour to exhibit as well as I can in that
gentleman's lively manner; and in justice to him it is proper to add,
that Dr. Johnson told me I might rely both on the correctness of his
memory, and the fidelity of his narrative. 'When Madame de Boufflers was
first in England[1219], (said Beauclerk,) she was desirous to see Johnson.
I accordingly went with her to his chambers in the Temple, where she was
entertained with his conversation for some time. When our visit was
over, she and I left him, and were got into Inner Temple-lane, when all
at once I heard a noise like thunder. This was occasioned by Johnson,
who it seems, upon a little recollection, had taken it into his head
that he ought to have done the honours of his literary residence to a
foreign lady of quality, and eager to shew himself a man of gallantry,
was hurrying down the stair-case in violent agitation. He overtook us
before we reached the Temple-gate, and brushing in between me and Madame
de Boufflers, seized her hand, and conducted her to her coach. His dress
was a rusty brown morning suit, a pair of old shoes by way of slippers,
a little shrivelled wig sticking on the top of his head, and the sleeves
of his shirt and the knees of his breeches hanging loose. A considerable
crowd of people gathered round, and were not a little struck by this
singular appearance.'
He spoke Latin with wonderful fluency and elegance. When Pere
Boscovich[1220] was in England, Johnson dined in company with him at Sir
Joshua Reynolds's, and at Dr. Douglas's, now Bishop of Salisbury. Upon
both occasions that celebrated foreigner expressed his astonishment at
Johnson's Latin conversation. When at Paris, Johnson thus characterised
Voltaire to Freron the Journalist: '_Vir est acerrimi ingenii et
paucarum literarum!_'
'TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.
'Edinburgh, Dec. 5, 1775.
'MY DEAR SIR,
'Mr. Alexander Maclean, the young Laird of Col, being to set out
to-morrow for London, I give him this letter to introduce him to your
acquaintance. The kindness which you and I experienced from his brother,
whose unfortunate death we sincerely lament[1221], will make us always
desirous to shew attention to any branch of the family. Indeed, you have
so much of the true Highland cordiality, that I am sure you would have
thought me to blame if I had neglected to recommend to you this
Hebridean prince, in whose island we were hospitably entertained.
'I ever am with respectful attachment, my dear Sir,
'Your most obliged
'And most humble servant,
'JAMES BOSWELL.'
Mr. Maclean returned with the most agreeable accounts of the polite
attention with which he was received by Dr. Johnson.
In the course of this year Dr. Burney informs me that 'he very
frequently met Dr. Johnson at Mr. Thrale's, at Streatham, where they had
many long conversations, often sitting up as long as the fire and
candles lasted, and much longer than the patience of the servants
subsisted[1222].'
A few of Johnson's sayings, which that gentleman recollects, shall here
be inserted.
'I never take a nap after dinner but when I have had a bad night, and
then the nap takes me.'
'The writer of an epitaph should not be considered as saying nothing but
what is strictly true. Allowance must be made for some degree of
exaggerated praise. In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath[1223].'
'There is now less flogging in our great schools than formerly, but then
less is learned there; so that what the boys get at one end they lose at
the other[1224].'
'More is learned in publick than in private schools[1225], from emulation;
there is the collision of mind with mind, or the radiation of many minds
pointing to one centre. Though few boys make their own exercises, yet if
a good exercise is given up, out of a great number of boys, it is made
by somebody.'
'I hate by-roads in education. Education is as well known, and has long
been as well known, as ever it can be[1226]. Endeavouring to make children
prematurely wise is useless labour. Suppose they have more knowledge at
five or six years old than other children, what use can be made of it?
It will be lost before it is wanted, and the waste of so much time and
labour of the teacher can never be repaid. Too much is expected from
precocity, and too little performed. Miss----[1227] was an instance of
early cultivation, but in what did it terminate? In marrying a little
Presbyterian parson, who keeps an infant boarding-school, so that all
her employment now is,
"To suckle fools, and chronicle small-beer[1228]."
'She tells the children, "This is a cat, and that is a dog, with four
legs and a tail; see there! you are much better than a cat or a dog, for
you can speak[1229]." If I had bestowed such an education on a daughter,
and had discovered that she thought of marrying such a fellow, I would
have sent her to the _Congress_.'
'After having talked slightingly of musick, he was observed to listen
very attentively while Miss Thrale played on the harpsichord, and with
eagerness he called to her, "Why don't you dash away like Burney?" Dr.
Burney upon this said to him, "I believe, Sir, we shall make a musician
of you at last." Johnson with candid complacency replied, "Sir, I shall
be glad to have a new sense given to me[1230]."'
'He had come down one morning to the breakfast-room, and been a
considerable time by himself before any body appeared. When, on a
subsequent day, he was twitted by Mrs. Thrale for being very late, which
he generally was, he defended himself by alluding to the extraordinary
morning, when he had been too early. "Madam, I do not like to come down
to _vacuity_."'
'Dr. Burney having remarked that Mr. Garrick was beginning to look old,
he said, "Why, Sir, you are not to wonder at that; no man's face has had
more wear and tear[1231]."'
Not having heard from him for a longer time than I supposed he would be
silent, I wrote to him December 18, not in good spirits:--
'Sometimes I have been afraid that the cold which has gone over Europe
this year like a sort of pestilence[1232] has seized you severely:
sometimes my imagination, which is upon occasions prolifick of evil,
hath figured that you may have somehow taken offence at some part of my
conduct.'
'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
'DEAR SIR,
'Never dream of any offence. How should you offend me? I consider your
friendship as a possession, which I intend to hold till you take it from
me, and to lament if ever by my fault I should lose it. However, when
such suspicions find their way into your mind, always give them vent; I
shall make haste to disperse them; but hinder their first ingress if you
can. Consider such thoughts as morbid.
'Such illness as may excuse my omission to Lord Hailes, I cannot
honestly plead. I have been hindered, I know not how, by a succession of
petty obstructions. I hope to mend immediately, and to send next post to
his Lordship. Mr. Thrale would have written to you if I had omitted; he
sends his compliments and wishes to see you.
'You and your lady will now have no more wrangling about feudal
inheritance[1233]. How does the young Laird of Auchinleck? I suppose Miss
Veronica is grown a reader and discourser.
'I have just now got a cough, but it has never yet hindered me from
sleeping: I have had quieter nights than are common with me.
'I cannot but rejoice that Joseph[1234] has had the wit to find the way
back. He is a fine fellow, and one of the best travellers in the world.
'Young Col brought me your letter. He is a very pleasing youth. I took
him two days ago to the Mitre, and we dined together. I was as civil as
I had the means of being.
'I have had a letter from Rasay, acknowledging, with great appearance of
satisfaction, the insertion in the Edinburgh paper[1235]. I am very glad
that it was done.
'My compliments to Mrs. Boswell, who does not love me; and of all the
rest, I need only send them to those that do: and I am afraid it will
give you very little trouble to distribute them.
'I am, my dear, dear Sir,
'Your affectionate humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'December, 23, 1775.'
1776: AćTAT. 67--In 1776, Johnson wrote, so far as I can discover,
nothing for the publick: but that his mind was still ardent, and fraught
with generous wishes to attain to still higher degrees of literary
excellence, is proved by his private notes of this year, which I shall
insert in their proper place.
'To JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
'DEAR SIR,
'I have at last sent you all Lord Hailes's papers. While I was in
France, I looked very often into Henault[1236]; but Lord Hailes, in my
opinion, leaves him far and far behind. Why I did not dispatch so short
a perusal sooner, when I look back, I am utterly unable to discover: but
human moments are stolen away by a thousand petty impediments which
leave no trace behind them. I have been afflicted, through the whole
Christmas, with the general disorder, of which the worst effect was a
cough, which is now much mitigated, though the country, on which I look
from a window at Streatham, is now covered with a deep snow. Mrs.
Williams is very ill: every body else is as usual.
'Among the papers, I found a letter to you, which I think you had not
opened; and a paper for _The Chronicle_, which I suppose it not
necessary now to insert. I return them both.
'I have, within these few days, had the honour of receiving Lord
Hailes's first volume, for which I return my most respectful thanks.
'I wish you, my dearest friend, and your haughty lady, (for I know she
does not love me,) and the young ladies, and the young Laird, all
happiness. Teach the young gentleman, in spite of his mamma, to think
and speak well of,
'Sir,
'Your affectionate humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'Jan. 10, 1776.'
At this time was in agitation a matter of great consequence to me and my
family, which I should not obtrude upon the world, were it not that the
part which Dr. Johnson's friendship for me made him take in it, was the
occasion of an exertion of his abilities, which it would be injustice to
conceal. That what he wrote upon the subject may be understood, it is
necessary to give a state of the question, which I shall do as briefly
as I can.
In the year 1504, the barony or manour of Auchinleck, (pronounced
_Affleck_[1237],) in Ayrshire, which belonged to a family of the same name
with the lands, having fallen to the Crown by forfeiture, James the
Fourth, King of Scotland, granted it to Thomas Boswell, a branch of an
ancient family in the county of Fife, stiling him in the charter,
_dilecto familiari nostro_; and assigning, as the cause of the grant,
_pro bono et fideli servitio nobis praestito_. Thomas Boswell was slain
in battle, fighting along with his Sovereign, at the fatal field of
Flodden, in 1513[1238].
From this very honourable founder of our family, the estate was
transmitted, in a direct series of heirs male, to David Boswell, my
father's great grand uncle, who had no sons, but four daughters, who
were all respectably married, the eldest to Lord Cathcart.
David Boswell, being resolute in the military feudal principle of
continuing the male succession, passed by his daughters, and settled the
estate on his nephew by his next brother, who approved of the deed, and
renounced any pretensions which he might possibly have, in preference to
his son. But the estate having been burthened with large portions to the
daughters, and other debts, it was necessary for the nephew to sell a
considerable part of it, and what remained was still much encumbered.
The frugality of the nephew preserved, and, in some degree, relieved the
estate. His son, my grandfather, an eminent lawyer, not only
re-purchased a great part of what had been sold, but acquired other
lands; and my father, who was one of the Judges of Scotland, and had
added considerably to the estate, now signified his inclination to take
the privilege allowed by our law[1239], to secure it to his family in
perpetuity by an entail, which, on account of his marriage articles,
could not be done without my consent.
In the plan of entailing the estate, I heartily concurred with him,
though I was the first to be restrained by it; but we unhappily differed
as to the series of heirs which should be established, or in the
language of our law, called to the succession. My father had declared a
predilection for heirs general, that is, males and females
indiscriminately. He was willing, however, that all males descending
from his grandfather should be preferred to females; but would not
extend that privilege to males deriving their descent from a higher
source. I, on the other hand, had a zealous partiality for heirs male,
however remote, which I maintained by arguments which appeared to me to
have considerable weight[1240]. And in the particular case of our family, I
apprehended that we were under an implied obligation, in honour and good
faith, to transmit the estate by the same tenure which we held it, which
was as heirs male, excluding nearer females. I therefore, as I thought
conscientiously, objected to my father's scheme.
My opposition was very displeasing to my father, who was entitled to
great respect and deference; and I had reason to apprehend disagreeable
consequences from my non-compliance with his wishes[1241]. After much
perplexity and uneasiness, I wrote to Dr. Johnson, stating the case,
with all its difficulties, at full length, and earnestly requesting that
he would consider it at leisure, and favour me with his friendly opinion
and advice.
'To James Boswell, Esq.
'Dear Sir,
'I was much impressed by your letter, and if I can form upon your case
any resolution satisfactory to myself, will very gladly impart it: but
whether I am quite equal to it, I do not know. It is a case compounded
of law and justice, and requires a mind versed in juridical
disquisitions. Could not you tell your whole mind to Lord Hailes? He is,
you know, both a Christian and a Lawyer. I suppose he is above
partiality, and above loquacity: and, I believe, he will not think the
time lost in which he may quiet a disturbed, or settle a wavering mind.
Write to me, as any thing occurs to you; and if I find myself stopped by
want of facts necessary to be known, I will make inquiries of you as my
doubts arise.
'If your former resolutions should be found only fanciful, you decide
rightly in judging that your father's fancies may claim the preference;
but whether they are fanciful or rational, is the question. I really
think Lord Hailes could help us.
'Make my compliments to dear Mrs. Boswell; and tell her, that I hope to
be wanting in nothing that I can contribute to bring you all out of your
troubles.
'I am, dear Sir, most affectionately,
'Your humble servant,
'SAM. JOHNSON.'
'London, Jan. 15, 1776.'