the House of Commons his celebrated East India Bill. By this measure
he proposed to vest the Government of India for five years, in a
commission of seven, who were to be appointed by Parliament, and to
be irremovable by the Crown. The Bill was accepted by the Commons,
but was, on the 17th December, rejected in the Upper House, through
the influence of the King. The rejection of this measure compelled
the coalition ministry to resign, and Mr. Pitt became Prime Minister
on the understanding that he would appeal to the country without loss
of time. Having become a landowner, Boswell conceived himself a fit
candidate for parliamentary honours, and in prospect of a dissolution
resolved to offer his services to a constituency. He published a
pamphlet entitled “A Letter to the People of Scotland on the Present
State of the Nation” (43 pp. 12mo.). In this composition he denounces
Mr. Fox’s India Bill as “an attempt to deprive the sovereign of his
lawful authority;” and urges “his fellow-countrymen in their several
counties” to express their satisfaction that the Bill had been rejected
by the Lords. He celebrates the memory of Sir John Lowther, ancestor of
Lord Lowther,[72] who had lately promised him support. Then, passing to
his favourite theme, he announces himself as “a firm loyalist, holding
an estate transmitted to him by charters from a series of kings.” He
concludes by the offer of parliamentary service. His composition he
transmitted to Dr. Johnson, begging his opinion. The lexicographer was
in declining health, and was proportionally amiable. He complimented
the writer on his knowledge of constitutional history, adding that his
pamphlet would “raise his character, though it might not make him a
Minister of State.” Mr. Pitt sent a polite acknowledgment, commending
“the author’s zeal in the cause of the public.”
His “Letter to the People of Scotland” Boswell followed up by the
following address to the Ayrshire constituency:—
“_To the Real Freeholders of the County of Ayr._
“GENTLEMEN,—If my friend Colonel Montgomerie shall not be a
candidate at the next election, I intend to offer my services as your
representative in Parliament. If Colonel Montgomerie stands, he shall
have my warmest support; for I have never ceased to think that great
injustice was done both to you and him when he was deprived of the
seat given him by your voice; and I am very desirous to have ample
reparation made for that injustice. Indeed, gentlemen, you have at the
two last general elections been disappointed of your representation
by the unconstitutional means of those votes, which, upon a notice
that I glory in having made, were, at a meeting of this county, 29th
October, 1782, declared to be _nominal_ and _fictitious_.
“Colonel Montgomerie and I will probably at no time be on different
sides. We are both connected with the respectable old interest of
the county; and I trust we should both be exceedingly sorry to hurt
it by a division, of which its enemies are eagerly watchful to take
advantage.
“I pledge my word and honour that if there is not a greater number of
the _real freeholders_ for me than for any other candidate, I shall
retire from the contest. I disdain to avail myself of what I condemn;
and I am not callous enough to bear the indignant and reproachful
looks of my worthy neighbours, who would consider that, by an artful
use of the letter of that law which so loudly calls for reformation, I
had triumphed over their wishes, and annihilated their most valuable
privileges.
“My political principles I have avowed, in the most direct and public
manner, to be those of a steady Royalist, who reveres monarchy, but is
at the same time animated with genuine feelings of liberty; principles
which, when well understood, are not in any degree inconsistent, but
are happily united in the true British Constitution.
“The confidences with which I have been honoured by many of you in
my profession as a lawyer, and other marks of attention which you
have been pleased to show me, emboldens me to believe that you think
well of my integrity and abilities. On the other hand, I declare
that I should pay the utmost deference to your instructions as my
constituents; and as I am now the representative of a family which has
held an estate in the county, and maintained a respectable character
for almost three centuries, I flatter myself that I shall not be
reckoned too presumptuous when I aspire to the high distinction
of being your representative in Parliament, and that you will not
disapprove of my indulging an ambition that this family shall rather
advance than fall off in my time.
“Though I should not be successful at the next, or at any future
election, I am so fortunate as to have resources enough to prevent me
from being discontented or fretful on that account; and I shall ever
be, with cordial regard,
“Gentlemen,
“Your very faithful, and most obedient, humble servant,
“JAMES BOSWELL.
“_Auchinleck, March 17, 1784._”
Boswell was at York on the 28th March, 1784, _en route_ for London,
when he was informed that Parliament was dissolved. Having in a brief
note intimated to Dr. Johnson his political aspirations, he posted to
Ayrshire, to contest the county. From Johnson he received a letter
entreating him to be “scrupulous in the use of strong liquors,” as
“one night’s drunkenness might defeat the labour of forty days well
employed.”
On reaching Auchinleck, Boswell learned what he might have ascertained
sooner, that Colonel Montgomerie was re-soliciting the suffrages of
the constituency. He was the successful candidate. Boswell again
proceeded southward, and on the 5th May reached London. He dined out
almost daily, frequently meeting Dr. Johnson, who though an invalid,
rejoiced in the intercourse of his friends. By his physicians Johnson
had been advised to proceed to Italy, and as the journey was delayed,
Boswell apprehended that his friend was suffering from lack of funds.
He applied to Lord Chancellor Thurlow, entreating an augmentation of
Johnson’s pension, or a special grant for the Italian journey. To the
Treasury the Chancellor presented the application, but it was not
entertained. Dr. Johnson expressed his grateful sense of Boswell’s
consideration and enterprise.
After a period of severe suffering, Dr. Johnson expired on the 13th
December, 1784. He had prepared an autobiography, but destroyed it,
with a portion of his correspondence, some weeks before his decease.
He appointed no literary executor, nor left instructions respecting a
memoir. Boswell contemplated a different result, but did not publicly
complain. From respect to Johnson’s wishes he had abstained from
publishing his Hebridean tour. He now seriously employed himself in
preparing it for the printer. As the first proof-sheet was being sent
him from Mr. Baldwin’s printing office, it happened to attract the
attention of Mr. Edmund Malone, who proceeded to read the account
of Dr. Johnson’s character. He was struck with the fidelity of the
representation, and begged Mr. Baldwin to introduce him to the
writer.[73] Boswell rejoiced to cultivate the acquaintance of one who
not only belonged to Dr. Johnson’s circle, but was himself a celebrity,
as editor of Goldsmith’s works, and as a writer on Shakespeare’s
plays.[74] He visited Mr. Malone almost daily, submitting to his
revision the MS. of his work. Accompanied by a flattering dedication to
Mr. Malone, the work appeared in 1786 as a bulky octavo, bearing on the
title-page the following copious inscription:—
“The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, with Samuel Johnson, LL.D., by
James Boswell, Esq., containing some poetical pieces by Dr. Johnson,
relative to the Tour, and never before published: a series of his
conversation, Literary Anecdotes, and Opinions of Men and Books, with
an authentick account of the Distresses and Escape of the Grandson of
King James II. in the year 1746.
‘O! while along the stream of time, thy name
Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame,
Say, shall my little book attendant sail,
Pursue the triumph, and partake the gale?’
“POPE.”
Above the imprint was placed a small woodcut representing a
falcon—the author’s crest, with his family motto, _vraye foy_. The
work was published by Mr. Charles Dilly, and the edition was rapidly
distributed. The author was thus commended by Mr. Courtenay in his
“Poetical Review:”[75]—
“With Reynolds’ pencil, vivid, bold and true
So fervent Boswell gives him to our view:
In every trait we see his mind expand;
The master rises by the pupil’s hand:
We love the writer, praise his happy vein,
Graced with the _naiveté_ of the sage Montaigne;
Hence not alone are brighter parts display’d,
But e’en the specks of character portray’d:
We see the ‘Rambler’ with fastidious smile
Mark the lone tree, and note the heath-clad isle;
But when the heroic tale of ‘Flora’[76] charms,
Deck’d in a kilt, he wields a chieftain’s arms;
The tuneful piper sounds a martial strain,
And Samuel sings ‘The King shall have his _ain_.’
* * * * *
“Can Boswell be forgot,
Scarce by North Britons now esteem’d a Scot?
Who to the sage devoted from his youth
Imbib’d from him the sacred love of truth;
The keen research, the exercise of mind,
And that best art, the art to know mankind.”
Much as his performance was appreciated by friendly persons, it was
impossible that Boswell’s morbid egotism should escape ridicule.
Thomas Rowlandson, the noted caricaturist, issued twenty cartoons,
presenting the unguarded tourist in absurd and grotesque scenes and
attitudes, founded on descriptions in his book. They were placed in the
shop windows and hawked about the streets, while the laughter-rousing
Peter Pindar[77] addressed Boswell in a “Poetical and Congratulatory
Epistle,” mercilessly castigating him in sarcastic and crushing rhymes.
Here is a specimen:—
“At length, ambitious Thane, thy rage
To give one spark to Fame’s bespangled page
Is amply gratified. A thousand eyes
Survey thy book with rapture and surprize!
Loud of thy tour, a thousand tongues have spoken,
And wonder’d that thy bones were never broken.
* * * * *
Nay, though thy Johnson ne’er had bless’d thine eyes,
Paoli’s deeds had rais’d thee to the skies;
Yes! his broad wing had rais’d thee (no bad luck)
A tomtit twitt’ring on an eagle’s back.”
Equally pungent was the savage Pindar in a subsequent poem, entitled
“Bozzy and Piozzi.” He wrote:—
“For thee, James Boswell, may the hand of Fate
Arrest thy goose-quill and confine thy prate!
Thine egotism the world disgusted hears—
Then load with vanities no more our ears.
Like some lone puppy, yelping all night long,
That tires the very echoes with his tongue.
Yet, should it lie beyond the pow’rs of Fate
To stop thy pen, and still thy darling prate;
To live in solitude, oh! be thy luck
A chattering magpie on the Isle of Muck.”
Than the shafts of ridicule, Boswell experienced even more substantial
discomfort. Respecting Sir Alexander Macdonald, Bart., chief of the
Macdonalds, he had written thus unguardedly:—
“Instead of finding the head of the Macdonalds surrounded with his
clan, and a festive entertainment, we had a small company, and cannot
boast of our cheer. The particulars are minuted in my Journal, but
I shall not trouble the publick with them. I shall mention but one
characteristick circumstance. My shrewd and hearty friend Sir Thomas
(Wentworth) Blacket, Lady Macdonald’s uncle, who had preceded us on a
visit to this chief, upon being asked by him if the punch-bowl then
upon the table was not a very handsome one, replied, ‘Yes,—if it
were full.’ Sir Alexander Macdonald having been an Eton scholar, Dr.
Johnson had formed an opinion of him which was much diminished when
he beheld him in the Isle of Skye, where we heard heavy complaints
of rents racked, and the people driven to emigration. Dr. Johnson
said, ‘It grieves me to see the chief of a great clan appear to such
disadvantage. This gentleman has talents, nay, some learning; but he
is totally unfit for this situation. Sir, the Highland chiefs should
not be allowed to go farther south than Aberdeen. A strong-minded man,
like his brother Sir James, may be improved by an English education,
but in general they will be turned into insignificance.’ I meditated
an escape from this house the very next day; but Dr. Johnson resolved
that we should weather it out till Monday.”
In charging the chief of the Macdonalds with an unwarrantable
parsimony, Boswell is justified in a letter written by Dr. Johnson
to Mrs. Thrale.[78] But he evinced his wonted imprudence in making
public what had better have been concealed, and in dragging into the
controversy Sir Thomas Blacket, a near relative of Sir Alexander’s
wife.[79] Both baronets made loud complaint, and the chief of the
Macdonalds spoke of vengeance by personal chastisement. To this threat
Peter Pindar thus pungently alludes:—
“Let Lord Macdonald[80] threat thy breech to kick,
And o’er thy shrinking shoulders shake his stick
Treat with contempt the menace of this Lord,
’Tis Hist’ry’s province, Bozzy, to record.”
The displeasure which Boswell had excited was appeased by a compromise.
He agreed in his next edition to exclude Blacket’s anecdote, and to
substitute allusion to Macdonald’s shabbiness by quoting his Latin
verses, welcoming the lexicographer to Skye.
In 1786 Boswell executed his Will, and it seems probable that “the
apprehension of danger to his life”[81] to which in that document he
refers was due to the menace of the Highland chief. If this conjecture
is well founded, it is interesting to remark that Boswell especially
provides that his own tenantry should in the matter of rent be treated
with leniency.
In the preface to his third edition, issued in 1786, Boswell vigorously
denounces his critics on both sides the Tweed. His Scottish compeers,
he alleges, have displayed “a petty national spirit unworthy of his
countrymen.” The English critics are styled “shallow and envious
cavillers.” In opposition to their assertions that he has _lessened_
Dr. Johnson’s character, he maintains that he was assured by persons of
taste that he had _greatly heightened_ it. He appeals to the judgment
of posterity.
Elated by his popularity as a tourist, he determined to reassert his
political pretensions. An opportunity for displaying patriotic ardour
seasonably occurred. A Bill was introduced into the House of Commons by
Mr. Islay Campbell, the Lord Advocate, and Mr. Dundas, Dean of Faculty,
for reconstructing the Court of Session. By this Bill it was proposed
to reduce the judges from fifteen to ten, and with the funds secured
by the reduction to augment the salaries of those who remained. In
opposition to this measure Boswell issued a pamphlet, sensationally
entitled “A Letter to the People of Scotland on the alarming attempt
to infringe the Articles of Union, and introduce a most pernicious
innovation, by diminishing the number of the Lords of Session.” This
composition, extending to 107 octavo pages, was published by Dilly, and
sold for half a crown. There were few sales, but copies of the pamphlet
were presented to the author’s friends.[82]
In his characteristic manner Boswell sets forth that the number of
judges was fixed unalterably by the Act of Union, “an Act which,
entering into the constitution of Parliament itself, Parliament dare
not alter.” The number of fifteen was declared by George Buchanan to
be small enough to avoid the character of a tyrannical junto.—“Is a
court of ten,” he proceeds, “the same with a court of fifteen? Is a
two-legged animal the same with a four-legged animal? I know nobody who
will gravely defend that proposition, except one grotesque philosopher,
whom ludicrous fable represents as going about avowing his hunger,
and wagging his tail, fain to become cannibal and eat his deceased
brethren.”[83] Lords of Session, he argues, do the work of English
juries in civil cases, and exercise the functions of English Grand
Juries. Mr. Dundas he denounces as “Harry the Ninth,” and Mr. Islay
Campbell is censured, though less abusively. Boswell next introduces
himself, and proceeds to expatiate on his personal merits. He had
in his previous letter “kindled the fire of loyalty and saved the
constitution.” He is “a true patriot,” and begs that he may not be
misunderstood by associating with Mr. Wilkes, “he being so pleasant,”
and an “old classical companion.” He declares himself a scholar and a
gentleman—“a scholar,” as he is familiar with Latin authors; and a
gentleman, “since his friends were persons of title and influence.” His
wife, whom “he loved as dearly as when she gave him her hand,” is “a
relation of Lord Eglinton, a true Montgomery.” The M.P. for Plymouth,
Captain Macbride, is “the cousin of his wife, and the friend of his
heart.” His intimate friend, Colonel Stuart, has “sterling good sense,
information, discernment, honour, honesty, and spirit.” Lord Lowther is
apostrophised thus:—
“Let not the Scottish spirit be bowed. Let Lowther come forth and
support us. We are his neighbours. _Paries proximus ardet._ We all
know what HE can do. He upon whom the thousands of Whitehaven depend
for _three_ of the elements. _He_ whose soul is all great; whose
resentment is terrible, but whose liberality is boundless. I know
that he is dignified by having hosts of enemies; but I have fixed
his character in my mind upon no slight inquiry. I have traversed
Cumberland and Westmoreland; I have sojourned at Carlisle and at
Kendal; I know of the Lonsdale Club at Lancaster. Lowther! be kindly
interested. Come over to Macedonia, and help us. With such personal
qualities and such friends Boswell holds himself admirably qualified
for a seat in the Legislature. He will present himself at next
election as a candidate for Ayrshire. I have reason to hope,” he
proceeds, “that many of the real freeholders of Ayrshire will support
me at the election for next Parliament, against which I have declared
myself a candidate. I shall certainly stand upon the substantial
interest of the gentlemen of landed property; and if upon a fair trial
I should not succeed in that object of ambition, which I have most
ardently at heart, I have resources enough to prevent me from being
discontented and fretful.”
The project of settling in London and forming a connection with the
English Bar, which Boswell had long cherished, was now to be carried
out. After keeping his terms, according to the usual practice, he was
called to the English Bar, at Hilary term, 1786. His professional
_debût_ prognosticated failure. Some of the junior barristers, to whom
he was known as _Johnson’s Bozzy_, prepared an imaginary case full of
absurdity, which was submitted for his opinion. Unsuspecting a trap, he
prepared an elaborate note of judgment. The laughter was prodigious,
and the merriment penetrated into private circles. A ridiculous
appearance in court, made soon afterwards, put a final check on his
career as a practising barrister.[84] About three years after joining
the English Bar he represented his condition to Mr. Temple in these
terms:—
“_London, January 10th, 1789._
“I am sadly discouraged by having no practice nor probable prospect of
it; and to confess fairly to you, my friend, I am afraid that were I
to be tried, I should be found so deficient in the forms, the quirks,
and the quiddities, which early habit acquires, that I should expose
myself. Yet the delusion of Westminster Hall, of brilliant reputation
and splendid fortune as a barrister, still weighs upon my imagination.
I must be seen in the courts, and must hope for some happy openings
in causes of importance. The Chancellor, as you observe, has not done
as I expected; but why did I expect it? I am going to put him to the
test. Could I be satisfied with being Baron of Auchinleck, with a good
income for a gentleman in Scotland, I might, no doubt, be independent.
But what can be done to deaden the ambition which has ever raged in my
veins like a fever? In the country I should sink into wretched gloom,
or at best into listless dulness and sordid abstraction. Perhaps a
time may come when I may by lapse of time be grown fit for it. As yet
I, really from a philosophical spirit, allow myself to be driven along
the tide of life with a good deal of caution not to be much hurt; and
still flattering myself that an unexpected lucky chance may at last
place me so that the prediction of a fortunate cap appearing on my
head at my birth will be fulfilled.”
Not long after writing this letter Boswell obtained his only
professional appointment; he was, through the influence of Lord
Lowther, appointed Recorder of Carlisle. The emoluments of the office
were small, and as an attendance of several weeks was required
annually, the acquisition was inconsiderable. But the wits did not
permit the new Recorder to enter on his post without ridicule. The
following _jeu d’esprit_ obtained circulation:—
“Boswell once flamed with patriot zeal,
His bow was ever bent;
How he no public wrongs can feel
Till Lowther nods assent.
To seize the throne which faction tries,
And would the Prince command,
The Tory Boswell coolly cries,
My King’s in Westmoreland.”
At the close of the first edition of Boswell’s Tour to the Hebrides,
appeared the following advertisement:—
“Preparing for the Press, in one volume quarto,
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
By James Boswell, Esq.
“Mr. Boswell has been collecting materials for this work for more
than twenty years, during which he was honoured with the intimate
friendship of Dr. Johnson; to whose memory he is ambitious to erect
a literary monument, worthy of so great an authour, and so excellent
a man. Dr. Johnson was well informed of his design, and obligingly
communicated to him several curious particulars. With these will be
interwoven the most authentick accounts that can be obtained from
those who knew him best; many sketches of his conversation on a
multiplicity of subjects, with various persons, some of them the most
eminent of the age; a great number of letters from him at different
periods, and several original pieces dictated by him to Mr. Boswell,
distinguished by that peculiar energy which marked every emanation of
his mind.”
This advertisement, more befitting the announcement of a play than
the memoir of a moralist, did not escape the witty criticism of the
sarcastic Pindar. In a postscript to his “Poetical Epistle” he has thus
written:—
“As Mr. Boswell’s ‘Journal’ hath afforded such universal pleasure, by
the relation of minute incidents and the great moralist’s opinion of
men and things during his northern tour, it will be adding greatly
to the anecdotical treasury, as well as making Mr. B. happy, to
communicate part of a dialogue that took place between Dr. Johnson and
the author of this congratulatory epistle, a few months before the
Doctor paid the great debt of nature. The Doctor was very cheerful
that day, had on a black coat and waistcoat, a black plush pair of
breeches, and black worsted stockings, a handsome grey wig, a shirt,
a muslin neckcloth, a black pair of buttons in his shirt-sleeves, a
pair of shoes ornamented with the very identical little buckles that
accompanied the philosopher to the Hebrides; his nails were very
neatly pared, and his beard fresh shaved with a razor fabricated by
the ingenious Mr. Savigny.
“_P. P._: ‘Pray, Doctor, what is your opinion of Mr. Boswell’s
literary powers?’
“_Johnson_: ‘Sir, my opinion is, that whenever Bozzy expires, he
will create no vacuum in the region of literature—he seems strongly
affected by the _cacoëches scribendi_; wishes to be thought a _rara
avis_, and in truth so he is—your knowledge in ornithology, sir, will
easily discover to what species of bird I allude.’ Here the Doctor
shook his head and laughed.
“_P. P._: ‘What think you, sir, of his account of Corsica?—of his
character of Paoli?’
“_Johnson_: ‘Sir, he hath made a mountain of a wart. But Paoli hath
virtues. The account is a farrago of disgusting egotism and pompous
inanity.’
“_P. P._: ‘I have heard it whispered, Doctor, that should you die
before him, Mr. B. means to write your life.’