Dalrymple, Lord Hailes; Mr. Maclaurin[132], advocate; Dr. Gregory, who
now worthily fills his father's medical chair[133]; and my uncle, Dr.
Boswell. This was one of Dr. Johnson's best days. He was quite in his
element. All was literature and taste, without any interruption. Lord
Hailes, who is one of the best philologists in Great Britain, who has
written papers in _The World_[134], and a variety of other works in
prose and in verse, both Latin and English, pleased him highly. He told
him, he had discovered the life of _Cheynel_, in _The Student_[135], to
be his. JOHNSON. 'No one else knows it.' Dr. Johnson had, before this,
dictated to me a law-paper, upon a question purely in the law of
Scotland, concerning _vicious intromission_[136], that is to say,
intermeddling with the effects of a deceased person, without a regular
title; which formerly was understood to subject the intermeddler to
payment of all the defunct's debts. The principle has of late been
relaxed. Dr. Johnson's argument was, for a renewal of its strictness.
The paper was printed, with additions by me, and given into the Court of
Session. Lord Hailes knew Dr. Johnson's part not to be mine, and pointed
out exactly where it began, and where it ended. Dr. Johnson said, 'It is
much, now, that his lordship can distinguish so.' In Dr. Johnson's
_Vanity of Human Wishes_, there is the following passage:--
'The teeming mother, anxious for her race,
Begs, for each birth, the fortune of a face:
Yet _Vane_ could tell, what ills from beauty spring,
And _Sedley_ curs'd the charms which pleas'd a king[137].'
Lord Hailes told him, he was mistaken in the instances he had given of
unfortunate fair ones; for neither _Vane_ nor _Sedley_ had a title to
that description. His Lordship has since been so obliging as to send me
a note of this, for the communication of which I am sure my readers
will thank me.
'The lines in the tenth Satire of Juvenal, according to my alteration,
should have run thus:--
'Yet _Shore_[138] could tell-----;
And _Valiere_[139] curs'd------.'
'The first was a penitent by compulsion, the second by sentiment; though
the truth is, Mademoiselle de la Valiere threw herself (but still from
sentiment) in the King's way.
'Our friend chose _Vane_[140], who was far from being well-looked; and
_Sedley_, who was so ugly, that Charles II. said, his brother had her by
way of penance[141].'
Mr. Maclaurin's learning and talents enabled him to do his part very
well in Dr. Johnson's company. He produced two epitaphs upon his
father, the celebrated mathematician[142]. One was in English, of which
Dr. Johnson did not change one word. In the other, which was in Latin,
he made several alterations. In place of the very words of _Virgil_,
'_Ubi luctus et pavor et plurima mortis imago_[143],' he wrote '_Ubi
luctus regnant et pavor_.' He introduced the word _prorsus_ into the
line '_Mortalibus prorsus non absit solatium_,' and after '_Hujus enim
scripta evolve_,' he added '_Mentemque tantarum rerum capacem corpori
caduco superstitem crede_;' which is quite applicable to Dr. Johnson
himself[144].
Mr. Murray, advocate, who married a niece of Lord Mansfield's, and is
now one of the judges of Scotland, by the title of Lord _Henderland_,
sat with us a part of the evening; but did not venture to say any thing,
that I remember, though he is certainly possessed of talents which would
have enabled him to have shewn himself to advantage, if too great
anxiety had not prevented him.
At supper we had Dr. Alexander Webster, who, though not, learned, had
such a knowledge of mankind, such a fund of information and
entertainment, so clear a head and such accommodating manners, that Dr.
Johnson found him a very agreeable companion.
When Dr. Johnson and I were left by ourselves, I read to him my notes of
the Opinions of our Judges upon the questions of Literary Property[145].
He did not like them; and said, 'they make me think of your Judges not
with that respect which I should wish to do.' To the argument of one of
them, that there can be no property in blasphemy or nonsense, he
answered, 'then your rotten sheep are mine! By that rule, when a man's
house falls into decay, he must lose it.' I mentioned an argument of
mine, that literary performances are not taxed. As _Churchill_ says,
'No statesman yet has thought it worth his pains
To tax our labours, or excise our brains[146];'
and therefore they are not property. 'Yet, (said he,) we hang a man for
stealing a horse, and horses are not taxed.' Mr. Pitt has since put an
end to that argument[147].
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18.
On this day we set out from Edinburgh. We should gladly have had Mr.
Scott to go with us; but he was obliged to return to England.--I have
given a sketch of Dr. Johnson: my readers may wish to know a little of
his fellow traveller[148]. Think then, of a gentleman of ancient blood,
the pride of which was his predominant passion. He was then in his
thirty-third year, and had been about four years happily married. His
inclination was to be a soldier[149]; but his father, a respectable[150]
Judge, had pressed him into the profession of the law. He had travelled
a good deal, and seen many varieties of human life. He had thought more
than any body supposed, and had a pretty good stock of general learning
and knowledge[151]. He had all Dr. Johnson's principles, with some
degree of relaxation. He had rather too little, than too much prudence;
and, his imagination being lively, he often said things of which the
effect was very different from the intention[152]. He resembled sometimes
'The best good man, with the worst natur'd muse[153].'
He cannot deny himself the vanity of finishing with the encomium of Dr.
Johnson, whose friendly partiality to the companion of his Tour
represents him as one 'whose acuteness would help my enquiry, and whose
gaiety of conversation, and civility of manners, are sufficient to
counteract the inconveniences of travel, in countries less hospitable
than we have passed[154].' Dr. Johnson thought it unnecessary to put
himself to the additional expence of bringing with him Francis Barber,
his faithful black servant; so we were attended only by my man, Joseph
Ritter, a Bohemian; a fine stately fellow above six feet high, who had
been over a great part of Europe, and spoke many languages. He was the
best servant I ever saw. Let not my readers disdain his introduction!
For Dr. Johnson gave him this character: 'Sir, he is a civil man, and a
wise man[155].'
From an erroneous apprehension of violence, Dr. Johnson had provided a
pair of pistols, some gunpowder, and a quantity of bullets: but upon
being assured we should run no risk of meeting any robbers, he left his
arms and ammunition in an open drawer, of which he gave my wife the
charge. He also left in that drawer one volume of a pretty full and
curious Diary of his Life, of which I have a few fragments; but the book
has been destroyed. I wish female curiosity had been strong enough to
have had it all transcribed; which might easily have been done; and I
should think the theft, being _pro bono publico_, might have been
forgiven. But I may be wrong. My wife told me she never once looked into
it[156].--She did not seem quite easy when we left her: but away
we went!
Mr. Nairne, advocate, was to go with us as far as St. Andrews. It gives
me pleasure that, by mentioning his _name_, I connect his title to the
just and handsome compliment paid him by Dr. Johnson, in his book: 'A
gentleman who could stay with us only long enough to make us know how
much we lost by his leaving us[157]. 'When we came to Leith, I talked
with perhaps too boasting an air, how pretty the Frith of Forth looked;
as indeed, after the prospect from Constantinople, of which I have been
told, and that from Naples, which I have seen, I believe the view of
that Frith and its environs, from the Castle-hill of Edinburgh, is the
finest prospect in Europe. 'Ay, (said Dr. Johnson,) that is the state of
the world. Water is the same every where.
"Una est injusti caerula forma maris[158]."'
I told him the port here was the mouth of the river or water of _Leith_.
'Not _Lethe_; said Mr. Nairne. 'Why, Sir, (said Dr. Johnson,) when a
Scotchman sets out from this port for England, he forgets his native
country.' NAIRNE. 'I hope, Sir, you will forget England here.' JOHNSON.
'Then 'twill still be more _Lethe_' He observed of the Pier or Quay,
'you have no occasion for so large a one: your trade does not require
it: but you are like a shopkeeper who takes a shop, not only for what he
has to put in it, but that it may be believed he has a great deal to put
into it.' It is very true, that there is now, comparatively, little
trade upon the eastern coast of Scotland. The riches of Glasgow shew how
much there is in the west; and perhaps we shall find trade travel
westward on a great scale, as well as a small.
We talked of a man's drowning himself. JOHNSON. 'I should never think it
time to make away with myself.' I put the case of Eustace Budgell[159],
who was accused of forging a will, and sunk himself in the Thames,
before the trial of its authenticity came on. 'Suppose, Sir, (said I,)
that a man is absolutely sure, that, if he lives a few days longer, he
shall be detected in a fraud, the consequence of which will be utter
disgrace and expulsion from society.' JOHNSON. 'Then, Sir, let him go
abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place where he is _not_
known. Don't let him go to the devil where he _is_ known!'
He then said, 'I see a number of people bare-footed here: I suppose you
all went so before the Union. Boswell, your ancestors went so, when they
had as much land as your family has now. Yet _Auchinleck_ is the _Field
of Stones_: there would be bad going bare-footed there. The _Lairds_,
however, did it.' I bought some _speldings_, fish (generally whitings)
salted and dried in a particular manner, being dipped in the sea and
dried in the sun, and eaten by the Scots by way of a relish. He had
never seen them, though they are sold in London. I insisted on
_scottifying_[160] his palate; but he was very reluctant. With
difficulty I prevailed with him to let a bit of one of them lie in his
mouth. He did not like it.
In crossing the Frith, Dr. Johnson determined that we should land upon
Inch Keith[161]. On approaching it, we first observed a high rocky
shore. We coasted about, and put into a little bay on the North-west. We
clambered up a very steep ascent, on which was very good grass, but
rather a profusion of thistles. There were sixteen head of black cattle
grazing upon the island. Lord Hailes observed to me, that Brantome calls
it _L'isle des Chevaux_, and that it was probably 'a _safer_ stable'
than many others in his time. The fort[162], with an inscription on
it, _Maria Re_ 1564, is strongly built. Dr. Johnson examined it with much
attention. He stalked like a giant among the luxuriant thistles and
nettles. There are three wells in the island; but we could not find one
in the fort. There must probably have been one, though now filled up, as
a garrison could not subsist without it. But I have dwelt too long on
this little spot. Dr. Johnson afterwards bade me try to write a
description of our discovering Inch Keith, in the usual style of
travellers, describing fully every particular; stating the grounds on
which we concluded that it must have once been inhabited, and
introducing many sage reflections; and we should see how a thing might
be covered in words, so as to induce people to come and survey it. All
that was told might be true, and yet in reality there might be nothing
to see. He said, 'I'd have this island. I'd build a house, make a good
landing-place, have a garden, and vines, and all sorts of trees. A rich
man, of a hospitable turn, here, would have many visitors from
Edinburgh.' When we got into our boat again, he called to me, 'Come,
now, pay a classical compliment to the island on quitting it.' I
happened luckily, in allusion to the beautiful Queen Mary, whose name is
upon the fort, to think of what Virgil makes Aeneas say, on having left
the country of his charming Dido.
'Invitus, regina, tuo de littore cessi[163].'
'Very well hit off!' said he.
We dined at Kinghorn, and then got into a post-chaise[164]. Mr. Nairne
and his servant, and Joseph, rode by us. We stopped at Cupar, and drank
tea. We talked of parliament; and I said, I supposed very few of the
members knew much of what was going on, as indeed very few gentlemen
know much of their own private affairs. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, if a man is
not of a sluggish mind, he may be his own steward. If he will look into
his affairs, he will soon learn[165]. So it is as to publick affairs.
There must always be a certain number of men of business in parliament.'
BOSWELL. 'But consider, Sir; what is the House of Commons? Is not a
great part of it chosen by peers? Do you think, Sir, they ought to have
such an influence?' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir. Influence must ever be in
proportion to property; and it is right it should[166].' BOSWELL. 'But
is there not reason to fear that the common people may be oppressed?'
JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. Our great fear is from want of power in government.
Such a storm of vulgar force has broke in.' BOSWELL. 'It has only
roared.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it has roared, till the Judges in
Westminster-Hall have been afraid to pronounce sentence in opposition to
the popular cry[167]. You are frightened by what is no longer dangerous,
like Presbyterians by Popery.' He then repeated a passage, I think, in
_Butler's Remains_, which ends, 'and would cry, Fire! Fire! in Noah's
flood[168].'
We had a dreary drive, in a dusky night, to St. Andrews, where we
arrived late. We found a good supper at Glass's inn, and Dr. Johnson
revived agreeably. He said, 'the collection called _The Muses' Welcome
to King James_, (first of England, and sixth of Scotland,) on his return
to his native kingdom, shewed that there was then abundance of learning
in Scotland; and that the conceits in that collection, with which people
find fault, were mere mode.' He added, 'we could not now entertain a
sovereign so; that Buchanan had spread the spirit of learning amongst
us, but we had lost it during the civil wars[169].' He did not allow the
Latin Poetry of Pitcairne so much merit as has been usually attributed
to it; though he owned that one of his pieces, which he mentioned, but
which I am sorry is not specified in my notes, was, 'very well.' It is
not improbable that it was the poem which Prior has so elegantly
translated[170].
After supper, we made a _procession_ to _Saint Leonard's College_, the
landlord walking before us with a candle, and the waiter with a lantern.
That college had some time before been dissolved; and Dr. Watson, a
professor here, (the historian of Philip II.) had purchased the ground,
and what buildings remained. When we entered this court, it seemed quite
academical; and we found in his house very comfortable and genteel
accommodation[171].
THURSDAY, AUGUST 19.
We rose much refreshed. I had with me a map of Scotland, a bible which
was given me by Lord Mountstuart when we were together in Italy[172],
and Ogden's _Sermons on Prayer_; Mr. Nairne introduced us to Dr. Watson,
whom we found a well-informed man, of very amiable manners. Dr. Johnson,
after they were acquainted, said, 'I take great delight in him.' His
daughter, a very pleasing young lady, made breakfast. Dr. Watson
observed, that Glasgow University had fewer home-students, since trade
increased, as learning was rather incompatible with it. JOHNSON. 'Why,
Sir, as trade is now carried on by subordinate hands, men in trade have
as much leisure as others; and now learning itself is a trade. A man
goes to a bookseller, and gets what he can. We have done with
patronage[173]. In the infancy of learning, we find some great man
praised for it. This diffused it among others. When it becomes general,
an authour leaves the great, and applies to the multitude.' BOSWELL. 'It
is a shame that authours are not now better patronized.' JOHNSON. 'No,
Sir. If learning cannot support a man, if he must sit with his hands
across till somebody feeds him, it is as to him a bad thing, and it is
better as it is. With patronage, what flattery! what falsehood! While a
man is in equilibrio, he throws truth among the multitude, and lets them
take it as they please: in patronage, he must say what pleases his
patron, and it is an equal chance whether that be truth or falsehood.'
WATSON. 'But is not the case now, that, instead of flattering one
person, we flatter the age?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. The world always lets a
man tell what he thinks, his own way. I wonder, however, that so many
people have written, who might have let it alone. That people should
endeavour to excel in conversation, I do not wonder; because in
conversation praise is instantly reverberated[174].'
We talked of change of manners. Dr. Johnson observed, that our drinking
less than our ancestors was owing to the change from ale to wine.' I
remember, (said he,) when all the _decent_ people in Lichfield got drunk
every night, and were not the worse thought of[175]. Ale was cheap, so
you pressed strongly. When a man must bring a bottle of wine, he is not
in such haste. Smoking has gone out. To be sure, it is a shocking thing,
blowing smoke out of our mouths into other people's mouths, eyes, and
noses, and having the same thing done to us. Yet I cannot account, why a
thing which requires so little exertion, and yet preserves the mind from
total vacuity, should have gone out[176]. Every man has something by
which he calms himself: beating with his feet, or so[177]. I remember
when people in England changed a shirt only once a week[178]: a Pandour,
when he gets a shirt, greases it to make it last. Formerly, good
tradesmen had no fire but in the kitchen; never in the parlour, except
on Sunday. My father, who was a magistrate of Lichfield, lived thus.
They never began to have a fire in the parlour, but on leaving off
business, or some great revolution of their life.' Dr. Watson said, the
hall was as a kitchen, in old squires' houses. JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. The
hall was for great occasions, and never was used for domestick
refection[179].' We talked of the Union, and what money it had brought
into Scotland. Dr. Watson observed, that a little money formerly went as
far as a great deal now. JOHNSON. 'In speculation, it seems that a
smaller quantity of money, equal in value to a larger quantity, if
equally divided, should produce the same effect. But it is not so in
reality. Many more conveniences and elegancies are enjoyed where money
is plentiful, than where it is scarce. Perhaps a great familiarity with
it, which arises from plenty, makes us more easily part with it.'
After what Dr. Johnson had said of St. Andrews, which he had long wished
to see, as our oldest university, and the seat of our Primate in the
days of episcopacy, I can say little. Since the publication of Dr.
Johnson's book, I find that he has been censured for not seeing here
the ancient chapel of _St. Rule_, a curious piece of sacred
architecture.[180] But this was neither his fault nor mine. We were both
of us abundantly desirous of surveying such sort of antiquities: but
neither of us knew of this. I am afraid the censure must fall on those
who did not tell us of it. In every place, where there is any thing
worthy of observation, there should be a short printed directory for
strangers, such as we find in all the towns of Italy, and in some of the
towns in England. I was told that there is a manuscript account of St.
Andrews, by Martin, secretary to Archbishop Sharp;[181] and that one
Douglas has published a small account of it. I inquired at a
bookseller's, but could not get it. Dr. Johnson's veneration for the
Hierarchy is well known.[182] There is no wonder then, that he was
affected with a strong indignation, while he beheld the ruins of
religious magnificence. I happened to ask where John Knox was buried.
Dr. Johnson burst out, 'I hope in the high-way.[183] I have been looking
at his reformations.'[184] It was a very fine day. Dr. Johnson seemed
quite wrapt up in the contemplation of the scenes which were now
presented to him. He kept his hat off while he was upon any part of the
ground where the cathedral had stood. He said well, that 'Knox had set
on a mob, without knowing where it would end; and that differing from a
man in doctrine was no reason why you should pull his house about his
ears.' As we walked in the cloisters, there was a solemn echo, while he
talked loudly of a proper retirement from the world. Mr. Nairne said, he
had an inclination to retire. I called Dr. Johnson's attention to this,
that I might hear his opinion if it was right. JOHNSON. 'Yes, when he
has done his duty to society[185]. In general, as every man is obliged
not only to "love GOD, but his neighbour as himself," he must bear his
part in active life; yet there are exceptions. Those who are exceedingly
scrupulous, (which I do not approve, for I am no friend to
scruples[186],) and find their scrupulosity[187] invincible, so that
they are quite in the dark, and know not what they shall do,--or those
who cannot resist temptations, and find they make themselves worse by
being in the world, without making it better, may retire[188]. I never
read of a hermit, but in imagination I kiss his feet; never of a
monastery, but I could fall on my knees, and kiss the pavement. But I
think putting young people there, who know nothing of life, nothing of
retirement, is dangerous and wicked[189]. It is a saying as old
as Hesiod,
Erga neon, boulaite meson, enchaite geronton[190].
That is a very noble line: not that young men should not pray, or old
men not give counsel, but that every season of life has its proper
duties. I have thought of retiring, and have talked of it to a friend;
but I find my vocation is rather to active life.' I said, some young
monks might be allowed, to shew that it is not age alone that can retire
to pious solitude; but he thought this would only shew that they could
not resist temptation.
He wanted to mount the steeples, but it could not be done. There are no
good inscriptions here. Bad Roman characters he naturally mistook for
half Gothick, half Roman. One of the steeples, which he was told was in
danger, he wished not to be taken down; 'for, said he, it may fall on
some of the posterity of John Knox; and no great matter!'--Dinner was
mentioned. JOHNSON. 'Ay, ay; amidst all these sorrowful scenes, I have
no objection to dinner[191].'
We went and looked at the castle, where Cardinal Beaton was
murdered[192], and then visited Principal Murison at his college, where
is a good library-room; but the Principal was abundantly vain of it, for
he seriously said to Dr. Johnson, 'you have not such a one in
England.'[193]
The professors entertained us with a very good dinner. Present: Murison,
Shaw, Cook, Hill, Haddo, Watson, Flint, Brown. I observed, that I
wondered to see him eat so well, after viewing so many sorrowful scenes
of ruined religious magnificence. 'Why, said he, I am not sorry, after
seeing these gentlemen; for they are not sorry.' Murison said, all
sorrow was bad, as it was murmuring against the dispensations of
Providence. JOHNSON. 'Sir, sorrow is inherent in humanity. As you cannot
judge two and two to be either five, or three, but certainly four, so,
when comparing a worse present state with a better which is past, you
cannot but feel sorrow.[194] It is not cured by reason, but by the
