Robertson, Barbara, of Orbiston, 267
Robertson, Dr. William, 17, 32, 85, 86, 93, 100, 210, 250, 271
Robinson, Mr., bookseller, 170
Rockville, Lord, 254
Roger, Rev. James, 33
Rogers, Sir William, 3
Rolland, Rev. James, 323
Rose, Mr., at Utrecht, 217
Ross, David, tragedian, 17, 18, 59, 269
Rosslyn, Earl of, 199
Rousseau, 48, 49, 50, 51, 58, 64, 68, 234
Rowlandson, Thomas, 137
Rudd, Margaret Caroline, 110
Rumbold, Sir Thomas, Bart., 320
Sackville, Lord George, 263
Samson, William, 185
Sanderson, the Quaker, 310
Scott, Colonel, 236
Scott, General, of Balcomie, 279, 280
Scott, Sir Walter, 92
Scott, Sir William, 86, 163, 167, 171
Selwyn, George, M. P., 314
Seward, William, F.R.S., 288
Seymour, Algernon, 297
Seymour, Lady Elizabeth, 297
Shakespeare, 80, 81
Sharp, Archbishop, 245
Shelburne, Earl of, 301
Sheldon, Captain, 81
Sheldon, Mrs., 81
Sheridan Thomas, 24, 64, 211, 213, 215, 221
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 211
Short, James, optician, 324
Shuter, Edward, comedian, 316
Sibthorpe, Mr., 78
Sidmouth, Lord, 195
Silverton, Miss, 99
Sinclair, Lady Margaret, 3
Sinclair, Pate, 3
Sinclair of Briggend, 251
Shebbeare, Dr., 282
Skye, Isle of, 90
Smith, Dean, 123
Smith, Dr. Adam, 11, 111, 112
Smollett, Dr. Tobias, 92
Smollett, Mr. Commissary, 92
Soaping Club, The, 21
Solander, Dr., 270, 273
Somerville, John, Thirteenth Lord, 16
Somerville, Mrs. Mary, 4
Somnelsdyck, 85
Spencer, Edmund, of Rendlesham, 245
Spencer, Lady Diana, 296
Spottiswoode of Spottiswoode, 290
St. Andrews, 87
Stair, Earl of, 243, 256
Steevens, Mr., 169
Stevenson, John, 123
Stevenson, John Hall, 210
Stewart, Houstoun, 302
Stewart, Miss, of Blackhall, 218
Stewart, Sir John, Bart., 66
Stewart, Sir Michael, Bart., 218, 302
Stobie, Mr., 322
Stormont, Lord, 312
Stratford-on-Avon, 80
Stuart, Andrew, M.P., 236, 279, 288
Stuart, Captain Keith, 241
Stuart, Hon. Col. James A., 97, 122, 123, 143, 185
Stuart, Hon. Mrs., 97, 99, 298
Stuart, James, of Dunearn, 193
Suard, Jean Baptiste Antoine, 298, 299
Sunderland, Lord, 248
Swinton, Lord, 284
Sydenham, Thomas, 118
Syme, Mrs., 211
Tait, Archbishop, 275
Tait, Rev. Mr., 88
Talbot de Malahide, Lord, 195
Talbot, Hon. Richard Talbot, 195
Taylor, Dr., oculist, 248
Taylor, Dr., of Ashbourne, 115
Taylor, Michael Angelo, 165
Temple, Captain Robert, 36, 47, 209
Temple, Mr., jun., 180
Temple, Mrs., 8, 82, 99
Temple, Rev. William Johnson, 7, 8, 9, 14, 16, 29, 30, 35-38, 40,
51-57, 65, 67-78, 82-84, 96-106, 111, 120-126, 144-161, 163-167,
172, 176-183, 185, 190
Templeton, John, 185
Theodore, King, 64
Thomson, George, 24
Thrale, Mr., 82, 112, 321
Thrale, Mrs., 85, 105, 129, 139, 155
Thurlow, Lord Chancellor, 135
Tinwald, Lord, 199, 246
Tobermory, 91
Tronchin, Theodore, 221, 222
Trotz, C. H., 35, 42, 214
Trumbull, Watte, 3
Tucker, Miss Charlotte Maria, 198
Twamley, Mr., 132
Ulva, Isle of, 91
Utrecht, 35, 37, 42, 43, 214
Vansittart, Councillor, 270
Vassall, Major-General, 194
Vasseur, Therese La, 50
Vaux, Marshal De, 80
Voltaire, 48, 51, 68, 214, 219, 227, 230, 235
Wake, Captain, 230
Walker’s Tavern, 326
Wallace, George, advocate, 278
Wallace, Isabel, 3
Wallace, Lady, 286
Wallace, Rev. Robert, D.D., 278
Wallace, Sir John, of Cairnhill, 4
Wallace, Sir Thomas, 253
Walmesley, Gilbert, 323
Walpole, Horace, 52, 63
Walpole, Sir Robert, 211
Walshe, Lt.-Colonel, 79
Warburton, Bishop, 268
Ware, Charles Edward, 197
Ware, Edith Caroline, 197
Ware, Mr. Cumberlye, 197
Warton, Joseph, 170
Warton, Thomas, 109
Warwick, Earl of, 304
Waters, Mr., banker in Paris, 50
Webster, Captain, 211
Webster, Dr. Alexander, 5, 86, 199, 211, 248, 249, 276, 277, 278, 325
Webster, Mrs. Alexander, 199, 320
Wedderburn, Alexander, 199
Wellesley, Marquis of, 118
Wemyss, Sir John, Bart., 320
Wesley, Rev. John, 121
Westhall, Lord, 325
Wetherell, Dr., 109
Wharton, Marquess of, 274
White, Thomas, 221
Whitefoord, Allan, 311
Whitefoord, Caleb, 224
Whitefoord, John, 149, 152
Wilberforce, William, M.P., 176
Wilkes, John, 27, 51, 112, 113, 141, 165, 274, 291, 299, 301, 322
William the Conqueror, 1
William the Lion, 2
Williams, Miss, 26
Williams, Mrs., of Crawley Grange, 197
Windham, Mr., 163
Wolcott, Dr. John, 138, 175
Wright, Mr., 271
York, Duke of, 14, 15
Yorke, Sir Joseph, 79, 237
Young, Dr., physician, 206, 233
Zelide, 75, 77
Zoilen, Mademoiselle, 220
Zuyl, Mademoiselle de, 225, 235
J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS, LONDON.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] I happened however to be present on an occasion when a quotation
from Dr. Johnson served as a special illustration of the infallible
memory and rapid intuition of a man of letters in whose distinction
Scotland has a considerable share. It was in the house of a lady of
literary and social importance in her day, who was fond of displaying
her disregard of religious decencies. At one end of the table the
party were talking of a remarkable fall of some fronts of houses in
Tottenham-court-road, leaving the rooms open to the street in all their
usual conditions. At the other the hostess was tracing resemblances
between Mormonism and Christianity, with peculiar application to their
founders. Mr. Macaulay, seated in the middle, leant over to Dean Milman
opposite, and said in a low tone, “You remember Johnson’s London,—
‘Here falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female Atheist talks you dead.’”
[2] This opinion receives an accidental confirmation of its events
by the publication of the Life of Sir Gilbert Eliot—a work highly
honourable to a Scottish house by the dignity of its records and the
talent of their reproduction. This cannot be better expressed than in
the words of Lady Minto, writing from Edinburgh, February 21, 1802:—
“This country has arrived at the true pitch of comfort and happiness.
The people are full of information, are natural, unassuming, and
social, but with a great mixture of occupation. People meet together
to be pleased, cheerful, and easy; even the Scotch pride has its uses
by putting the poor often on an equal footing with the rich. A Douglas
or a Scott would consider himself on a par with persons of the highest
title and rank; their education is equally good, their society the
same, their spirit and love of their country possibly much greater.
Almost every family can boast of heroes in some generation, which
excites emulation; and nothing is so uncommon as to see idle men and
listless manners. All is energy, and every one has some object in view
to exercise his faculties and talents. I must say, at the present time
I think the race very superior to the English, who are too far gone
in luxury and dissipation to be agreeable or happy. _Morals_ here
are certainly very good, and yet the manners are much more free, and
one scarcely ever meets with affectation and airs. People meet like
friends, and not with a cold bow and a distant curtsey.”
[3] In reference to Thomas Boswell the following entries appear in
the Treasurer’s books:—May 15th, 1504. “Item, to Thomas Boswell he
laid downe in Leith to the wife of the kingis innis and to the boye
ran the kingis hors 18s.” Aug. 2, 1504. “Item, for twa hidis to be
jakkis to Thomas Boswell and Watte Trumbull, agane the Raid of Eskdale
[an expedition against the Border thieves], 56s.” January 1, 1504-5.
“Item, to Thomas Boswell and Pate Sinclair to by thaim daunsing geir,
28s.” December 31, 1505. “Item, to 30 dosane of bellis for dansarris,
delyverit to Thomas Boswell, £4 10s.” In his “Collection of Criminal
Trials,” Mr. Pitcairn, who quotes these entries, supposes that Thomas
Boswell held the position of royal minstrel. In this office he was
probably the successor of Sir William Rogers, chief musician to James
III. Rogers, like Boswell, obtained from his sovereign a grant of lands
in guerdon of service. He suffered a violent death in 1482. (“Traquair
Papers,” quoted in Chambers’ “History of Peeblesshire,” Edinb., 1861,
8vo., pp. 81-86.)
[4] Lord Balmuto was a large coarse-looking man, with black hair and
beetling eyebrows. Though not vulgar he was passionate, and had a
boisterous manner. My mother and her sisters gave him the nickname of
the “black bull of Norr’away,” in allusion to the northern position of
Balmuto.—“Personal Recollections of Mary Somerville,” Lond., 8vo.,
1873, p. 55.
[5] In a MS. commonplace-book of Lord Hailes, preserved at New
Hailes, near Edinburgh, occurs the following entry in his lordship’s
handwriting:—“1754, Feb. 14. My friend Mr. Alex. Boswell, of
Auchinleck, admitted a Lord of Session. He has told me that it was by
the interest of the Duke of Newcastle. For once at least his Grace
judged right.” The Duke of Newcastle was Prime Minister.
[6] This lady’s eldest sister was wife of the celebrated Dr. Alexander
Webster, of Edinburgh (see _postea_).
[7] Dr. Stevens’ “History of the High School of Edinburgh,” pp. 100,
135.
[8] In Lord Hailes’ Commonplace-book, preserved at New Hailes, is the
following entry:—“1755, April 1.—I began my office of Advocate Depute
at Stirling—a ridiculous day of the year. At that time I was very
ignorant of criminal law, but good intentions have, I hope, atoned for
my defects.”
[9] Letter of Dr. Jortin, preserved at New Hailes.
[10] Letter to Mr. Temple, dated 1st May, 1761.
[11] “Letter to the People of Scotland,” Lond., 8vo., 1785.
[12] This person is entitled to more than a passing notice. Long before
the modern publication of cheap literature by W. and R. Chambers and
Charles Knight, Alexander Donaldson opened a shop in London for the
sale of what were termed “spurious editions” of popular books. The
London booksellers endeavoured to check his enterprise, but were
defeated in the courts of law. Latterly he was unfortunate. His nephew,
James Donaldson, also a printer at Edinburgh, founded and endowed
the hospital in that city which bears his name. For that purpose he
bequeathed the sum of £200,000.
[13] Boswell has appended this note. “Who has not heard of ‘_Every man
soap his own beard_’—the reigning phrase for ‘Every man in his humor’?
Upon this foundation B—— instituted a jovial society, called the
SOAPING CLUB.”
[14] An Edinburgh tavern.
[15] The name of this Soaper has not been discovered.
[16] Throughout his whole career Boswell entertained the idea that his
mind was imperfectly balanced.
[17] Letters between the Honourable Andrew Erskine and James Boswell,
Esq. London, 1763, 8vo.
[18] “Archibald Constable and his Correspondents.” Edinburgh, 1873,
8vo, vol. I., p. 32.
[19] Mrs. Davies was originally an actress, and was celebrated as a
beauty.
[20] Boswell’s letter at New Hailes.
[21] Boswell’s “Life of Johnson.”
[22] Original letter at New Hailes.
[23] Original letter preserved at New Hailes.
[24] “Autobiography of the Rev. Dr. Alexander Carlyle.” Edinburgh,
1860, 8vo., p. 322.
[25] Of this society, styled the Lunan and Viney Water Farming Club,
the Rev. James Roger, of Dunino, father of the writer, was on Mr.
Dempster’s nomination elected perpetual secretary. The minute-book is
in the writer’s possession.
[26] In 1765 Mr. Dempster obtained the patent office of Secretary to
the Order of the Thistle, with a salary of £500 per annum.
[27] Cards.
[28] Letter of Boswell preserved at New Hailes.
[29] “Institutes of the Law of Scotland,” by John Erskine, of Carnock.
A standard book of reference in the law courts of Scotland.
[30] This account of the quotation from Johnson’s poem of “London” is
contained in a letter addressed by Boswell to Sir David Dalrymple. In
the “Life of Johnson” Boswell states that the quotation was made by
himself.
[31] “I could give you pages of strong sense and humour which I have
heard from that great man, and which are treasured up in my journal.
And here I must inform you that he desired me to keep just the journal
that I do; and when I told him that it was already my practice, he said
he was glad I was upon so good a plan.”—_MS. letter from Boswell of
13th July, 1763, preserved at New Hailes._
[32] Dutch for “our envoy.”
[33] The meaning here is defective.
[34] “Memoirs and Papers of Sir Andrew Mitchell, K.B., Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Court of Great
Britain to the Court of Prussia, from 1756 to 1771,” edited by Andrew
Bisset, Esq., vol. ii., p. 381.
[35] Boswell’s “Account of and Tour to Corsica,” London, 1769, 8vo., p.
288.
[36] Boswell’s “Corsica,” 3rd edition, p. 349.
[37] “Life of Johnson.”
[38] “Private Correspondence of David Hume.” Lond. 1820, 4to., p. 131.
[39] “Chatham Correspondence,” vol. ii., p. 388.
[40] Richard Owen Cambridge, author of “The Scribleraid” and other
works. A gentleman of opulence, he entertained in his villa at
Twickenham the literary celebrities of his time. He died in 1802, aged
eighty-five.
[41] In his letters to Mr. Temple of 9th September, 1767, and 14th May,
1768, Boswell evinces a particular desire to possess Mr. Gray’s opinion
of his work, and to obtain his personal acquaintance. It is hoped that
he remained uninformed of the poet’s sentiments concerning him.
[42] “The Works of Thomas Gray. Edited by the Rev. John Mitford.”
London: 1816, 2 vols., 4to, vol. ii., p. 498.
[43] Boswell’s servant.
[44] Sir Alexander Gilmour, Bart., of Craigmiller, M.P., Boswell’s
supposed rival in the affections of Miss Blair, died _unmarried_ in
France, on the 27th December, 1792.
[45] Miss Dick was eldest of the three daughters of Sir Alexander Dick,
Bart., of Prestonfield. Mr. Temple met her during his visit to Scotland
on the Adamtown expedition.
[46] Letter to Mr. Temple, written from Auchinleck, 24th August, 1768.
[47] Letter from Boswell to Mr. Temple, dated Edinburgh, 9th December,
1768.
[48] “The Carron Company has furnished me them very cheap; there are
two 32-pounders, four 24’s, four 18’s, and twenty 9-pounders, with
one hundred and fifty ball to each. It is really a tolerable train of
artillery.” (Letter from Boswell to Mr. Temple, dated 24th August,
1768.)
[49] See Correspondence between the Rev. N. Nicholls and the poet Gray,
_passim_.
[50] Boswell’s “Tour to the Hebrides.”
[51] John, fifth Duke of Argyll, married Elizabeth, relict of James,
sixth Duke of Hamilton, and daughter of John Gunning, Esq., of Castle
Coote, co. Roscommon. The Duchess was a celebrated beauty.
[52] Life of Johnson.
[53] John, Lord Mountstuart, eldest son of John, third Earl of Bute,
and afterwards first Marquess of Bute. He was born 30th June, 1744, and
died 16th November, 1814.
[54] This lady was Margaret, daughter of Sir David Cunninghame, of
Milnecraig, and his wife, Lady Mary Montgomery, daughter of Alexander,
ninth Earl of Eglinton. She married, in 1767, the Hon. James Archibald
Stuart, second son of John, third Earl of Bute. This gentleman was one
of Boswell’s most attached friends.
[55] Afterwards Viscount Melville.
[56] A forcible rendering of what he meant by styling Dr. Johnson “Ursa
major.”
[57] Letter dated 6th June, 1775.
[58] Boswell’s “Life of Johnson,” London, 1818, 10 vols., 12mo., vol.
vi., p. 34.
[59] From the Register of Tailzies, preserved in the General Register
House, Edinburgh, vol. xix., folio 233.
[60] The Rev. Thomas Barnard, D.D., Dean of Derry, was elected a member
of the Literary Club in December, 1755. Son of William Barnard, D.D.,
successively Bishop of Raphoe and Derry, he was educated at Westminster
School. Obtaining orders, he was appointed Dean of Derry in 1769. He
was consecrated Bishop of Killaloe in 1780, and translated to the see
of Limerick in 1794. He died at Wimbledon, Surrey, on the 7th June,
1806. He was a cherished friend of Dr. Goldsmith, and an associate of
Johnson, Burke, and Sir Joshua Reynolds.
[61] “Life of Johnson.”
[62] The negro gained his plea.
[63] Correspondence of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, edited by Charles
Earl Fitzwilliam. Lond., 4 vols., 1844, vol. ii, p. 207.
[64] “Life of Johnson.”
[65] Mr. Croker relates the anecdote on the authority of the Marquess
of Wellesley, who received it from Mr. Thomas Sydenham. That gentleman
got the story from Mr. Knight, to whom it was communicated by Sir
Joshua Reynolds.
[66] “Life of Johnson.”
[67] Throughout these papers Boswell adopts his peculiar system of
orthography, presenting _judgement_ for judgment, _authour_ for author,
_empannael_ for empannel.
[68] The Honourable Mary Monckton was youngest daughter of John, first
Viscount Galway. She married, on the 17th January, 1786, Edmund,
seventh Earl of Cork; she died in 1840.
[69] “Life of Johnson.”
[70] This gentleman was, we believe, father of Mr. John Murdoch, the
first and most efficient instructor of the poet Burns.
[71] A Mr. Twamley invented a kind of box-iron for smoothing linen.
[72] Lord Lowther was son-in-law of the Earl of Bute, and
brother-in-law of Boswell’s friend, Colonel Stuart. Boswell’s relations
with this influential nobleman will form a prominent feature in the
subsequent narrative.
[73] Life of Edmund Malone, by James Boswell, jun., contributed to the
_Gentleman’s Magazine_, and reprinted for private circulation.
[74] Mr. Malone published in 1778 his “Attempt to ascertain the order
in which Shakespeare’s Plays were written.”
[75] A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the late
Samuel Johnson, LL.D., with Notes by John Courtenay, Esq. Lond.: C.
Dilly, 1786.
[76] The celebrated Flora Macdonald.
[77] The pseudonym of Dr. John Wolcott, the eminent satirist.
[78] From the Hebrides Dr. Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale in these
terms:—“We had a passage of about twelve miles to the point where
Sir Alexander Macdonald resided, having come from his seat, in the
middle of the island, to a small house on the shore, as we believe,
that he might with less reproach entertain us meanly. If he aspired to
meanness, his retrograde ambition was completely gratified; but he did
not succeed equally in escaping reproach. He had no cook, nor I suppose
much provision; nor had the lady the common decencies of her tea-table;
we picked up our sugar with our fingers. Boswell was very angry, and
reproached him with his improper parsimony.... I have done thinking of
Sir Alexander Macdonald, whom we now call Sir Sawney; he has disgusted
all mankind by injudicious parsimony, and given occasion to so many
stories, that Boswell has some thoughts of collecting them, and making
a novel of his life.” (Letters to Mrs. Thrale, vol. i., p. 137.)
[79] Lady Macdonald, _née_ Elizabeth Diana Bosville, was a member
of the eldest branch of the Boswell family, and was one of those
gentlewomen to whom early in life Boswell thought of offering his hand
(see page 67). Daughter of Godfrey Bosville, Esq., of Gunthwaite,
Yorkshire, she married Sir Alexander Macdonald in 1768.
[80] Sir Alexander Macdonald, Bart., was raised to the peerage, as
Baron Macdonald of Slate, on the 17th July, 1776.
[81] See _postea_.
[82] In the Library of the British Museum is contained a copy of the
pamphlet which belonged to Mr. Wilkes. In Boswell’s handwriting it is
thus inscribed:—
“Comes jucundus in via pro vehiculo est.
“To John Wilkes, Esq., as pleasant a companion as ever lived.
“From the Author.
“...Will my Wilkes retreat,
And see, once seen before, that ancient seat,” &c.
[83] This satirical allusion to Lord Monboddo is conceived in the very
worst taste. His lordship had shown marked attention to Boswell in his
youth, and had entertained him and Dr. Johnson at Monboddo, during
the progress of their tour. Latterly his lordship and Dr. Johnson had
differed, and probably on this account Boswell considered himself
entitled to make this offensive allusion to his philosophical opinions.
[84] Boswell’s motion in Court, _quare adhæsit pavimento_, is preserved
as a jest in the courts of Westminster.
[85] Letter from Boswell to Mr. Temple.
[86] Letter to Mr. Temple of 22nd May.
[87] Letter to Mr. Temple.
[88] Henry Seymour Conway, a General in the army, was brother of the
first Marquess of Hertford. He was under the Rockingham administration
Secretary of State for Ireland, and leader of the House of Commons. He
died in 1795.
[89] Pitt was brought into Parliament for the close borough of Appleby
by Sir James Lowther, afterwards Lord Lonsdale.
[90] Letter to Mr. Temple.
[91] Mrs. Piozzi’s Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson. London: 1785.
[92] Boswell called on Sir John Hawkins, and complained of being
slighted in his book. “I know what you mean,” said Sir John; “you
would have had me to say that Johnson undertook this tour with _the_
Boswell.” _Miss Hawkins’ Johnsoniana._
[93] Malone’s Edition of Shakspere, in ten volumes, was published in
1790.
[94] Lord Chancellor Thurlow.
[95] Boswell’s Life of Johnson, edited by the Right Hon. John Wilson
Croker and others, London, 1848, 12mo., vol. x., pp. 209-220.
[96] “Sermons, in two volumes, by John Dun, V.D.M. Kilmarnock, 1790,”
8vo.
[97] John Courtenay, Esq., was born in Ireland in 1741, and died in
1816. He composed the “Poetical Review of Dr. Johnson” and other works.
He was, when Boswell knew him, Surveyor of the Ordnance and M.P. for
Tamworth. He was a warm friend and pleasant companion.
[98] See “Life of William Wilberforce,” Lond., 1838. Vol. iii., pp. 63,
70.
[99] From the Commissariat Register of Glasgow, preserved in the
General Register House, Edinburgh, vol. 74, p. 194.
[100] “Life of James Beattie, LL.D.,” by Sir William Forbes, of
Pitsligo, Bart., Edinb. 1807, 3 vols., vol. iii., p. 378.
[101] Statement of Mr. William Macfarlane, of Edinburgh, to Robert
Chambers. “Traditions of Edinburgh,” 1869, 12mo., p. 74.
[102] See the Poetical Works of Sir Alexander Boswell, Bart., with
memoir, by Robert Howie Smith, Glasgow, 1871, 12mo.
[103] Decisions of the Court of Session, 20th March, 1851.
[104] The celebrated Nell Gwynne, who is believed to have transmitted
a benefaction to the starving poet, which did not reach till after his
decease.
[105] The only son of Thomas Alexander Boswell, of Crawley Grange, died
in India in his 18th year.
[106] Births Register of Auchinleck.
[107] The Rev. Robert Bruce Boswell published in 1842 a volume of
“Psalms and Hymns, chiefly selected,” dedicated to Daniel, Lord Bishop
of Calcutta.
[108] John Maclaurin, eldest son of Colin Maclaurin, Professor of
Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh, was admitted advocate in
August, 1756. After a period of successful practice at the bar, he was
raised to the bench by the title of Lord Dreghorn in January, 1789. He
died at Edinburgh 24th December, 1796. Maclaurin was one of Boswell’s
early associates; he contributed several poems to the first volume of
Donaldson’s “Collection,” Edinburgh, 1760. Three dramas from his pen,
entitled, “Hampden,” “The Public,” and “The Philosopher’s Opera,” are
of very ordinary merit. His collected works were published in 1798 in
two octavo volumes.
[109] John Nichols, printer, the celebrated author of the “Literary
Anecdotes,” was born in 1744 and died in 1826. A person of ripe and
varied scholarship, he enjoyed the esteem of Dr. Johnson.