was father of the Rev. Robert Bruce Boswell, chaplain to the Honourable
East India Company and minister of St. James’s church, Calcutta.[107]
The son of that reverend gentleman, John Alexander Corrie Boswell, held
an appointment in the Honourable East India Company’s Madras Civil
Service; he died some years ago. His son, Henry St. George Boswell,
now resident in London, is male representative of the house of Boswell
of Auchinleck. John James, third son of Robert Boswell, was admitted
advocate, but afterwards became a physician, and entered the medical
service of the Honourable East India Company; he latterly sought
practice in Edinburgh, where he died in August, 1839. Major John James
Boswell, his only surviving son, commands the 2nd Regiment of Punjaub
Infantry, at Dera Ghazee Khan, in India. John Campbell, fourth son of
Robert Boswell, was a physician in India; he died at Penang, _s. p._
in October, 1841. Miss Charlotte Maria Tucker, granddaughter of Robert
Boswell, is under her _nom de plume_, A. L. O. E., well known for her
valuable contributions to religious literature.
Concerning James Boswell’s maternal ancestors, a few particulars
may be acceptable. Charles Erskine, of Alva, son of the Hon. Charles
Erskine, fifth son of John, seventh Earl of Mar, was created a baronet
of Nova Scotia on the 30th April, 1666. Charles, his third son, was
a lord of session, with the judicial designation of Lord Tinwald,
and was father of James Erskine, a lord of session, by the title of
Lord Alva. Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Erskine, Bart., grandson of
the first baronet, was many years M.P. for the Anstruther burghs; he
composed the popular song, “The Garb of Old Gaul.” He died in 1765, and
was succeeded in the baronetcy by James, his eldest son, who assumed
the surname of St. Clair, and on the death of his uncle, Alexander
Wedderburn, first Earl of Rosslyn in 1805, became the second Earl.
Colonel John Erskine, a younger son of the Hon. Sir Charles Erskine,
first baronet of Alva, and brother of Lord Tinwald, married
Euphemia, daughter of William Cochrane, of Ochiltree, of the noble
house of Dundonald, and his wife Lady Mary Bruce, eldest daughter
of the second Earl of Kincardine. Two daughters of this marriage
became memorable. Euphemia, the younger, was the first wife of Lord
Auchinleck, and mother of James Boswell, who by maternal descent was
great-great-grandson of John, seventh Earl of Mar.
Mary, eldest daughter of Colonel John Erskine, married in 1739 the
Rev. Alexander Webster, D.D., minister of the Tolbooth Church,
Edinburgh. Connected with this marriage is a romantic incident. Prior
to his settlement at Edinburgh Dr. Webster was minister of Culross,
Perthshire. Mary Erskine resided in that parish with her aunt Lady
Preston, wife of Sir George Preston, Bart., of Valleyfield. A young
gentleman of the neighbourhood was attracted by her charms, but being
unsuccessful in his addresses, begged Dr. Webster to intercede on his
behalf. The Doctor consented, and waiting on Miss Erskine, pled his
friend’s cause with energy. The lady listened patiently but expressed
a decided negative. “Had you spoken as well for yourself,” she added,
“I might have answered differently.” To his friend Dr. Webster reported
the particulars of the interview, and soon afterwards presented himself
at Valleyfield to plead his own suit. The lady complied, but her
relations consented with reluctance. The marriage took place on the
13th June, 1737; Miss Erskine possessing a dowry of £4,000. Elated by
his good fortune Dr. Webster celebrated his helpmate in a song, which,
published in the _Scots Magazine_ for November, 1747, became popular.
It commenced thus,—
“O how could I venture to love one like thee,
And you not despise a poor conquest like me?
On lords, thy admirers, could look wi’ disdain,
And knew I was naething, yet pitied my pain?
You said while they teased you with nonsense and dress,
‘When real the passion, the vanity’s less,’
You saw through that silence which others despise,
And while beaux we’re a-talking read love in my eyes.”
Through his successful wooing Dr. Webster was led to devise the
Ministers’ Widows Fund, so as to raise the social _status_ of his
clerical brethren. In 1755 the first enumeration of the people of
Scotland was conducted under his superintendence. He proposed the
enlargement of the city of Edinburgh by the erection of the new town.
In the Highlands and islands he promoted agricultural improvement. By
his wife he was energetically aided in works of active benevolence. He
died in 1784, having survived his helpmate eighteen years.
BOSWELLIANA.
BOSWELLIANA.
“MY father had all along so firm, so dry a mind, that religious
principles, however carefully inculcated by his father and mother, and
however constantly they remained on the surface, never incorporated
with his thoughts, never penetrated into the seat of his affections.
They were a dead range, not a quickset hedge. The fence had a good
appearance enough, and was sufficiently strong; but it never flourished
in green luxuriance, never blossomed, never bore fruit. The ground
within, however, produced plentiful crops of useful exertions as a
judge, and improvements as a landed ^{laird} gentleman. And let it be
considered that there may be a fine fence round barren, unprofitable
land.”
24th Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“Maclaurin[108] maintained that bashfulness was the compound effect
of vanity and sensibility.[109] Nichols contended that it was quite
corporeal, for the same man will be at one time bashful, and at another
time quite easy. ‘That is,’ said Maclaurin, ‘he has at one time a
higher notion of himself than at another.’ ‘No,’ said Nichols, ‘it is a
trick which the nerves play to the imagination.’”
23rd Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“My friend Johnston[110] advised me to have our family crest, a hawk,
cut upon a pebble which I found on the channel of the Lugar, which runs
by Auchinleck. Said he, ‘Let him perch on his native stone.’”
22nd Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“It is not unusual for men who have no real freindship(_sic_) nor
principle to have at the same time so sanguine an opinion of their own
abilities, that they imagine they can impose on others as if they were
children. They will do them an essential injury, and at the same time
try to persuade them that they have done only what was fair and right.
They are like determined rogues, who first rob, and then blindfold you
that you may not pursue them.”
24th Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“Nichols said one should never dispute with a woman, for she has not
understanding enough to be convinced; at least, never will own herself
in the wrong, and always will be angry with you.”
22nd Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“Nichols said he liked better to converse with women than with men of
the greatest sense and knowledge. He owned he could gain no acquisition
to his intellectual stock from them, but they diverted and cheered him.
I said he had them like housemaids to sweep the cobwebs from his mind
and give it a polish.”
22nd Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“A man who wishes just to be easy will always avoid those subjects
which he has discovered are hard and puzzling. Nay, he will not even
take the trouble to make the selection, but like a luxurious indolent
eater, wherever he finds any piece in the least degree tough he will
let it alone.”
23rd Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“Nichols said that a man of the _ton_, as the phrase is,—of high
breeding, and fashionable air, has at first an irresistible superiority
over plain men, others who have not such superficial advantages. He has
a shake of the head which frightens you, but when you are once used to
him you laugh at the shake.”
23rd Sept., 1780.
* * * * *
“In winter 1779, after Scotland had been exhausted by raising new
levies, Sir William Augustus Cunningham[111] boasted in the House of
Commons that 20,000 men might yet be raised in that country and never
be missed, either from manufactures or agriculture. The Hon. Henry
Ershire[112] said he believed it was true. But they must be raised from
the churchyards.”
From himself.
* * * * *
“A ludicrous recruiting advertisement was given about in Edinburgh in
1778, inviting, amongst many other denominations, all man midwives to
join the King’s standard (repair to the drumhead and acquire glory).
Mrs. Dundas, of Melville,[113] pleasantly asked if Dr. Young, the most
eminent practitioner in midwifery, would enlist. ‘No, madam,’ said the
Hon. Henry Erskine, ‘he has already right to as great a title as he
could acquire in the army.’ ‘Ay,’ said she, ‘what is that?’ ‘Madam,’
said he, ‘the deliverer of his country.’”
From himself.
* * * * *
“In 1780 there was published at Edinburgh an account of Lord George
Gordon,[114] with his head. He was then in the Tower for high treason.
Harry Erskine said, ‘The next thing we shall have will he an account of
Lord George Gordon without his head.’”
I was present.
* * * * *
“When Boswell was introduced to Mr. Samuel Johnson, who had a very
great antipathy at the Scotch, ‘Mr. Johnson,’ said he, ‘I come from
Scotland, but I can’t help it.’ ‘Sir,’ said Johnson, ‘that I find is
what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help.’”[115]
* * * * *
“Lord Eglintoune[116] said that the hearts of the ladies were like
a looking-glass, which will reflect an image of the object that is
present, but retains no trace of what is absent.”
I was present.
* * * * *
“Doctor Blair[117] asked Macpherson[118] why he lived in England, as
he certainly could not be fond of John Bull. ‘Sir’, said he, ‘I hate
John Bull, but I love his daughters.’”
DOCTOR BLAIR.
* * * * *
“Boswell was walking with some ladies at Ranelagh, when a large young
woman passed by. ‘That lady,’ said Boswell, ‘has a great deal of
beauty; it cannot, indeed, well be exprest, but it may be _felt_.’”
* * * * *
“Lady Fanny Montgomerie[119] met with a very handsome woman in the
highlands of Scotland, who had so much simplicity of manner that she
had never seen herself but in the water. Lady Fanny showed her a little
pocket mirror, which gave her a clear view of her own face, and asked
her if she ever had seen anything so handsome. ‘Madam,’ said she, ‘by
your asking that question I should imagine that your ladyship had never
seen such a glass as this.’”
LORD EGLINTOUNE.
* * * * *
“Boswell was talking away one evening in St. James’s Park with much
vanity. Said his friend Temple, ‘We have heard of many kinds of
hobby-horses, but, Boswell, you ride upon yourself.’”
* * * * *
“A stupid fellow was declaiming against that kind of raillery called
_roasting_, and was saying, I am sure I have a great deal of good
nature; I never roast any. ‘Why, sir,’ said Boswell, ‘you are an
exceedingly good-natured man, to be sure; but I can give you a better
reason for your never roasting any. Sir, you never roast any, because
you have got no fire.’”
* * * * *
“A keen Scott (_sic_) [Dr. Ogilvie][120] was standing up for his
country, and boasting that it had a great many noble wild prospects.
‘Sir,’ said Mr. Samuel Johnson, ‘I believe you have a great many noble
wild prospects. Norway, too, has got some prospects; and Lapland is
remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, sir, I believe the
noblest prospect that a Scotchman ever sees is the road which leads him
to England.’”
I was present.
* * * * *
“When the Duke de Nivernais was sent ambassador from France to England,
at the first inn in Britain he was charged a most extravagant bill.
The people of the house being asked how they could use him so ill when
he was a stranger, they replied that was the very reason; for as they
chose to observe Scripture rules, ‘He was a stranger,’ said they, ‘and
we took him in.’”
CAPTAIN TEMPLE.[121]
* * * * *
“Boswell asked Mr. Samuel Johnson what was best to teach a gentleman’s
children first. ‘Why, sir,’ said he, ‘there is no matter what you teach
them first. It matters no more than which leg you put first into your
bretches (_sic_). Sir, you may stand disputing which you shall put in
first, but in the meantime your legs are bare. No matter which you put
in first so that you put ’em both in, and then you have your bretches
on. Sir, while you think which of two things to teach a child first,
another boy, in the common course, has learnt both.’”
I was present.
* * * * *
“Mr. Samuel Johnson doubted much of the authenticity of the poems of
Ossian. Doctor Blair asked him if he thought any man could describe
these barbarous manners so well if he had not lived at the time and
seen them. ‘Any man, sir,’ replied Mr. Johnson,—‘any man, woman, or
child might have done it.’”
DOCTOR BLAIR.
* * * * *
“Boswell was praising the English highly, and saying they were a fine
open people. ‘Oh,——,’ said Macpherson, ‘an open people! their mouths,
indeed, are open to gluttony to fill their belly, but I know of no
other openness they have.’”
I was present.
* * * * *
“Boswell was telling Mr. Samuel Johnson how Macpherson railed at all
established systems. ‘So would he tumble in a hog-stye,’ said Mr.
Johnson, ‘as long as you look at him and cry to him to come out; but
let him alone, never mind him, and he’ll soon give it over.’”
* * * * *
“Hall,[122] the author of ‘Crazy Tales,’ said he could not bear
David Hume for being such a monarchical dog. ‘Is it not shocking,’
said he, ‘that a fellow who does not believe^{fear} in God, should
believe^{fear} in a king?’”
MR. DEMPSTER.[123]
* * * * *
“Mr. Samuel Johnson, after being acquainted with Lord Chesterfield,
said, ‘I see now what this man is. I thought he had been a lord among
wits, but I find he is only a wit among lords.’”
DOCTOR ROBERTSON.[124]
* * * * *
“Mr. Samuel Johnson was once at Windsor, and dined with the mayor. But
the fellow (said he) not content with feeding my body, thought he must
feed my mind too, and so he told me a long story how he had sent three
criminals to the plantations. Tired to death with his nonsense, ‘I wish
(to God),’ said Johnson, ‘that I was the fourth.’”
MR. SHERIDAN.[125]
* * * * *
“A bishop was flattering Sir Robert Walpole[126] egregiously. A
gentleman asked him how he could bear such fulsome stuff. ‘Sir,’ said
he, ‘if you were as severely scourged in the House of Commons as I am,
you would be glad of any dog to lick your sores.’”
MR. DEMPSTER.
* * * * *
“An officer on the recruiting service made his regular returns to the
regiment, in which he said that he had as yet got none, but that he had
a man of six foot two in his eye. ‘All nonsense!’ said the colonel;
‘recall him immediately. He has had that fellow in his eye these six
years.’”
CAPTAIN WEBSTER.[127]
* * * * *
“Lord Chesterfield told a half-pay lieutenant that he would bring him
back to full pay in the same rank. ‘My lord,’ said he, ‘I detest the
name of lieutenant so much that I would not be made Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland.’”
A Stranger.
* * * * *
“Boswell said that a man is reckoned a wise man rather for what he does
not say than for what he says. Perhaps upon the whole _Limbertongue_
speaks a greater quantity of good sense than Manly does. But
_Limbertongue_ gives you such floods of frivolous nonsense that his
sense is quite drowned. _Manly_ gives you unmixed good sense only.
_Manly_ will always be thought the wisest man of the two.”
* * * * *
“Dempster, who was a great republican, was presenting an address one
day at court. He was hurt to see subordination prevail so much, and was
shocked to see the keen and able Lord Marchmont[128] bowing just like
the rest. He said he looked like a chained eagle at a gentleman’s gate.”
From himself.
* * * * *
“Mr. Samuel Johnson said that all sceptical innovators were vain men;
and finding mankind allready (_sic_) in possession of Truth, they found
they could not gratify their vanity in supporting her, and so they have
taken to error. Truth (said he) is a cow which will yield such people
no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bull.”
I was present.
* * * * *
“Captain Erskine[129] complained that Boswell’s hand was so large, that
his letters contained very little. My lines (said Boswell) are, like
my ideas, very irregular, and at a great distance from each other.”
* * * * *
“Sir W. Maxwell[130] said he was allways affraid (_sic_) of a clever
man till he knew if he had good nature. ‘Yes,’ said Boswell; ‘when you
see a clever man you see a man brandishing a drawn sword, and you are
uneasy till you know if he intends only to make it glitter in the sun,
or to run you through the body with it.’”
* * * * *
“A robust Caledonian was telling (in the Scots pronunciation) that he
was born in _Embro_. ‘Indeed!’ said an English physician: ‘upon my
word, the prettiest abortion I ever saw.’”
MR. CRAWFURD,[131] ROTTERDAM.
* * * * *
“Boswell said that men of lively fancies seldom tell a story so
distinctly as those of slower capacity, as they confound the intellect
with an excess of brilliancy. It is a common expression, I cannot see
for the light. It may also be said, I cannot understand you; you shine
so much.”
* * * * *
“Boswell told Mr. Samuel Johnson that a gentleman of their acquaintance
maintained in public company that he could see no distinction between
virtue and vice. ‘Sir,’ said Mr. Johnson, ‘does he intend that we
should believe that he is lying, or that he is in earnest? If we think
him a lyar, that is not honouring him very much. But if we think him in
earnest, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.’”
* * * * *
“Mr. Sheridan, though a man of knowledge and parts, was a little
fancifull (_sic_) in his projects for establishing oratory and altering
the mode of British education. ‘Mr. Samuel Johnson,’ said Sherry,
‘cannot abide me, for I allways ask him, Pray sir, what do you propose
to do?’”
From MR. JOHNSON.
* * * * *
“Boswell was talking to Mr. Samuel Johnson of Mr. Sheridan’s enthusiasm
for the advancement of eloquence. ‘Sir,’ said Mr. Johnson, ‘it won’t
do. He cannot carry through his scheme. He is like a man attempting
to stride the English Channel. Sir, the cause bears no proportion to
the effect. It is setting up a candle at Whitechapel to give light at
Westminster.’”
* * * * *
“When Mr. Trotz,[132] Professor of Civil Law at Utrecht, was at
Copenhagen, he had a mind to hear the Danish pulpit oratory, and went
into one of their churches. At that time the barbarous custom of making
spoil of shipwrecked goods still prevailed in Denmark. The minister
prayed with great fervency: ‘O Lord, if it please Thee to chastise the
wicked for their sins, and to send forth Thy stormy winds to destroy
their ships, we beg that Thou mayest throw them upon our coasts rather
upon any other, that Thy chosen people may receive benefit therefrom,
and with thankful hearts may glorify Thy holy name.’”
MR. TROTZ.
* * * * *
“‘_Tres faciunt collegium_’ is the common adage. A professor of law
at Utrecht came to his college one day, and found but one student.
He would not have it said that he was obliged to dismiss for want of
auditors. So he gravely pronounced, ‘Deus unus, ergo duo in tres. Tres
faciunt collegium. Incipemus.’”
An UTRECHT Student.
* * * * *
“An English gentleman who was studying at Geneva was introduced to Mr.
Voltaire, and at one of the comedies which were given at the Delice
he had the part of a stupid absurd Englishman assigned to him. The
gentleman was modest and anxious, and was saying he did not know well
how to do. Mr. Voltaire encouraged him: ‘Sir,’ said he, ‘don’t be
affraid. Just act in your own natural way, and you’ll do very well.’”
MR. TEMPLE.
* * * * *
“The King of Prussia asked an English gentleman why the civil law
did not universally prevail in Great Britain. The gentleman replied,
Because we are not Romans. ‘That is true,’ said the King, ‘but your
nation has produced many Romans.’”
M. GIFFARDIER.
* * * * *
“When Lord Hope[133] was presented to the King of Prussia, he told him
that he made in one summer the tour of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
‘Ay,’ said the king, ‘and pray, my lord, why have you not been in
Siberia?’”
M. GIFFARDIER.
* * * * *
“Mr. Samuel Johnson said of Sheridan, ‘Sherry is dull, naturally
dull, but it must have cost him a great deal of pains to become so
exceedingly stupid; such an excess of stupidity is not in nature.’”
MR. DEMPSTER, from FOOTE.[134]
* * * * *
“The Earl of Marchmont and Lord Littleton[135] differed warmly about
the authenticity of Fingal. Macpherson said he should like to see them
fighting a duel in Hyde Park. ‘See them!’ said Dempster: ‘no one man
could possibly see _them_, they would stand at such a distance from one
another.’”
I was present.
* * * * *
“When Derrick was made King of Bath, Mr. Samuel Johnson said, ‘Derry
may do very well while he can outrun his character, but the moment that
his character gets up with him he is gone.’”
I was present.
* * * * *
“When Dempster was at Brussels, a young gentleman of Scotland was very
bad. Dempster said that the surgeons poured mercury into him as if he
had been the tube of a weather-glass.”
* * * * *
“Boswell told Mr. Samuel Johnson that Sir James Macdonald[136] said he
had never seen him, but he had a great respect for him, though at the
same time a great terror. ‘Were he to see me,’ said Mr. Johnson, ‘it
would probably lessen both.’”
* * * * *
“Mr. Samuel Johnson told Boswell that Dr. Goldsmith when abroad used to
dispute in the universities, and so get prize money, which carried him
on in his travels. ‘Well,’ said Boswell, ‘that was indeed _disputing_
his _passage_ through Europe.’”
* * * * *
“Boswell was saying that Derrick was a miserable writer. ‘True,’ said
Mr. Samuel Johnson,[137] ‘but it is to his being a writer that he owes
anything he has. Sir, had not Derrick been a writer, he would have
been sweeping the crosses in the streets, and asking halfpence from
everybody that passed.’”
* * * * *
“A good-natured, stupid man, at Bath, wanted to appear a man of some
consequence by talking often with Mr. Quin,[138] although he had
nothing earthly to say more than ‘Your servant, Mr. Quin! I hope you
are well.’ Quin bore with him for some time, but at last he lost
patience, and one day when the gentleman came up to him with a ‘Mr.
Quin, I hope you are well!’ Quin replied, ‘Yes, sir, I am very well,
and intend to be so for six months to come; so, sir, till that time I
desire you may not again ask me that question.’”
MR. ROSE, at Utrecht.
* * * * *
“Mr. Samuel Johnson and Boswell slept in one room at Chichester. A moth
flew round the candle for some time, and burnt itself to death. ‘That
creature,’ said Mr. Johnson, ‘was its own tormentor, and I believe its
name was Boswell.’”[139]
* * * * *
“Mr. Fordyce[140] said that a man of public character who falls into
disgrace in England receives immediate punishment from the mob; and
is a greater man than Orpheus, who only made live animals follow him,
whereas the rogue makes dead cats come after him.”
I was present.
* * * * *
“Baldie Robertson, a Scotch advocate, asked Boswell to accompany him
to cheapen a couple of rooms of Lucky Rannie’s. She told him, ‘Sir,
you shall just have them for a guinea a week, you furnishing coal and
candle.’ Baldie, with much emotion, cried out, ‘But I tell you, woman,
I have no coal and candle.’”
* * * * *
“Boswell said of Miss Stewart, of Blackhall,[141] ‘that more brilliant
beauties came armed with darts and attacked men as foes, but Miss
Stewart carried no weapons of destruction, and treated with them as
with allies.’”
* * * * *
“Lord Eglintoune said to Boswell, whose lively imagination formed many
schemes, but whose indolence hindered him from executing them, ‘Jamie,
you have a light head, but a heavy a——.’”
* * * * *
“Lord Eglintoune said to Boswell, who was maintaining that by habit he
would acquire the power of application to business, ‘Application must
be an original vigour of mind. The arm of any blacksmith may become so
strong by habit that he may gain his bread; but if he has not natural
strength he will never make excellent work.’”
* * * * *
“The Spaniards are a noble people; at least, their gentlemen have great
souls. At a famous battle there was a brave Spanish officer who had
been wounded in many actions, and had but one eye left. A bullet came
and struck it out as he was charging at the head of his troops, and
wounded him mortally. With calm and solemn dignity he called to his
men, ‘Bonas noctias, cavilieros’ (‘Good night, my fellow-soldiers’).”
MR. ROSE.
* * * * *