We dined at Elgin, and saw the noble ruins of the cathedral. Though it
rained much, Dr. Johnson examined them with a most patient attention.
He could not here feel any abhorrence at the Scottish reformers[352],
for he had been told by Lord Hailes, that it was destroyed before the
Reformation, by the Lord of Badenoch[353], who had a quarrel with the
bishop. The bishop's house, and those of the other clergy, which are
still pretty entire, do not seem to have been proportioned to the
magnificence of the cathedral, which has been of great extent, and had
very fine carved work. The ground within the walls of the cathedral is
employed as a burying-place. The family of Gordon have their vault here;
but it has nothing grand.
We passed Gordon Castle[354] this forenoon, which has a princely
appearance. Fochabers, the neighbouring village, is a poor place, many
of the houses being ruinous; but it is remarkable, they have in general
orchards well stored with apple-trees[355]. Elgin has what in England
are called piazzas, that run in many places on each side of the street.
It must have been a much better place formerly. Probably it had piazzas
all along the town, as I have seen at Bologna. I approved much of such
structures in a town, on account of their conveniency in wet weather.
Dr. Johnson disapproved of them, 'because (said he) it makes the under
story of a house very dark, which greatly over-balances the conveniency,
when it is considered how small a part of the year it rains; how few are
usually in the street at such times; that many who are might as well be
at home; and the little that people suffer, supposing them to be as much
wet as they commonly are in walking a street.'
We fared but ill at our inn here; and Dr. Johnson said, this was the
first time he had seen a dinner in Scotland that he could not eat[356].
In the afternoon, we drove over the very heath where Macbeth met the
witches, according to tradition[357]. Dr. Johnson again[358] solemnly
repeated--
'How far is't called to Fores? What are these,
So wither'd, and so wild in their attire?
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't?'
He repeated a good deal more of Macbeth. His recitation[359] was grand
and affecting, and as Sir Joshua Reynolds has observed to me, had no
more tone than it should have: it was the better for it. He then
parodied the _All-hail_ of the witches to Macbeth, addressing himself to
me. I had purchased some land called _Dalblair_; and, as in Scotland it
is customary to distinguish landed men by the name of their estates, I
had thus two titles, _Dalblair_ and Young _Auchinleck_. So my friend, in
imitation of
'All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!'
condescended to amuse himself with uttering
'All hail, Dalblair! hail to thee, Laird of Auchinleck[360]!'
We got to Fores[361] at night, and found an admirable inn, in which Dr.
Johnson was pleased to meet with a landlord who styled himself
'Wine-Cooper, from LONDON.'
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27.
It was dark when we came to Fores last night; so we did not see what is
called King Duncan's monument[362]. I shall now mark some gleanings of
Dr. Johnson's conversation. I spoke of _Leonidas_[363], and said there
were some good passages in it. JOHNSON. 'Why, you must _seek_ for them.'
He said, Paul Whitehead's _Manners_[364] was a poor performance.
Speaking of Derrick, he told me 'he had a kindness for him, and had
often said, that if his letters had been written by one of a more
established name, they would have been thought very pretty
letters[365].'
This morning I introduced the subject of the origin of evil[366].
JOHNSON. 'Moral evil is occasioned by free will, which implies choice
between good and evil. With all the evil that there is, there is no man
but would rather be a free agent, than a mere machine without the evil;
and what is best for each individual, must be best for the whole. If a
man would rather be the machine, I cannot argue with him. He is a
different being from me.' BOSWELL. 'A man, as a machine, may have
agreeable sensations; for instance, he may have pleasure in musick.'
JOHNSON. 'No, Sir, he cannot have pleasure in musick; at least no power
of producing musick; for he who can produce musick may let it alone: he
who can play upon a fiddle may break it: such a man is not a machine.'
This reasoning satisfied me. It is certain, there cannot be a free
agent, unless there is the power of being evil as well as good. We must
take the inherent possibilities of things into consideration, in our
reasonings or conjectures concerning the works of GOD.
We came to Nairn to breakfast. Though a county town and a royal burgh,
it is a miserable place. Over the room where we sat, a girl was spinning
wool with a great wheel, and singing an Erse song[367]: 'I'll warrant
you, (said Dr. Johnson.) one of the songs of Ossian.' He then repeated
these lines:---
'Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound.
All at her work the village maiden sings;
Nor while she turns the giddy wheel around,
Revolves the sad vicissitude of things[368].'
I thought I had heard these lines before. JOHNSON. 'I fancy not, Sir;
for they are in a detached poem, the name of which I do not remember,
written by one Giffard, a parson.'
I expected Mr. Kenneth M'Aulay[369], the minister of Calder, who
published the history of St. Kilda[370], a book which Dr. Johnson liked,
would have met us here, as I had written to him from Aberdeen. But I
received a letter from him, telling me that he could not leave home, as
he was to administer the sacrament the following Sunday, and earnestly
requesting to see us at his manse. 'We'll go,' said Dr. Johnson; which
we accordingly did. Mrs. M'Aulay received us, and told us her husband
was in the church distributing tokens[371]. We arrived between twelve
and one o'clock, and it was near three before he came to us.
Dr. Johnson thanked him for his book, and said 'it was a very pretty
piece of topography.' M'Aulay did not seem much to mind the compliment.
From his conversation, Dr. Johnson was persuaded that he had not written
the book which goes under his name. I myself always suspected so; and I
have been told it was written by the learned Dr. John M'Pherson of
Sky[372], from the materials collected by M'Aulay. Dr. Johnson said
privately to me, 'There is a combination in it of which M'Aulay is not
capable[373].' However, he was exceedingly hospitable; and, as he
obligingly promised us a route for our Tour through the Western Isles,
we agreed to stay with him all night.
After dinner, we walked to the old castle of Calder (pronounced Cawder),
the Thane of Cawdor's seat. I was sorry that my friend, this 'prosperous
gentleman[374],' was not there. The old tower must be of great
antiquity[375]. There is a draw-bridge--what has been a moat,--and an
ancient court. There is a hawthorn-tree, which rises like a wooden
pillar through the rooms of the castle; for, by a strange conceit, the
walls have been built round it. The thickness of the walls, the small
slaunting windows, and a great iron door at the entrance on the second
story as you ascend the stairs, all indicate the rude times in which
this castle was erected. There were here some large venerable trees.
I was afraid of a quarrel between Dr. Johnson and Mr. M'Aulay, who
talked slightingly of the lower English clergy. The Doctor gave him a
frowning look, and said, 'This is a day of novelties; I have seen old
trees in Scotland, and I have heard the English clergy treated with
disrespect[376].'
I dreaded that a whole evening at Calder manse would be heavy; however,
Mr. Grant, an intelligent and well-bred minister in the neighbourhood,
was there, and assisted us by his conversation. Dr. Johnson, talking of
hereditary occupations in the Highlands, said, 'There is no harm in such
a custom as this; but it is wrong to enforce it, and oblige a man to be
a taylor or a smith, because his father has been one.' This custom,
however, is not peculiar to our Highlands; it is well known that in
India a similar practice prevails.
Mr. M'Aulay began a rhapsody against creeds and confessions. Dr. Johnson
shewed, that 'what he called _imposition_, was only a voluntary
declaration of agreement in certain articles of faith, which a church
has a right to require, just as any other society can insist on certain
rules being observed by its members. Nobody is compelled to be of the
church, as nobody is compelled to enter into a society.' This was a very
clear and just view of the subject: but, M'Aulay could not be driven out
of his track. Dr. Johnson said, 'Sir, you are a _bigot to laxness_.'
Mr. M'Aulay and I laid the map of Scotland before us; and he pointed out
a route for us from Inverness, by Fort Augustus, to Glenelg, Sky, Mull,
Icolmkill, Lorn, and Inverary, which I wrote down. As my father was to
begin the northern circuit about the 18th of September, it was necessary
for us either to make our tour with great expedition, so as to get to
Auchinleck before he set out, or to protract it, so as not to be there
till his return, which would be about the 10th of October. By M'Aulay's
calculation, we were not to land in Lorn till the 2Oth of September. I
thought that the interruptions by bad days, or by occasional
excursions, might make it ten days later; and I thought too, that we
might perhaps go to Benbecula, and visit Clanranald, which would take a
week of itself.
Dr. Johnson went up with Mr. Grant to the library, which consisted of a
tolerable collection; but the Doctor thought it rather a lady's library,
with some Latin books in it by chance, than the library of a clergyman.
It had only two of the Latin fathers, and one of the Greek fathers in
Latin. I doubted whether Dr. Johnson would be present at a Presbyterian
prayer. I told Mr. M'Aulay so, and said that the Doctor might sit in the
library while we were at family worship. Mr. M'Aulay said, he would omit
it, rather than give Dr. Johnson offence: but I would by no means agree
that an excess of politeness, even to so great a man, should prevent
what I esteem as one of the best pious regulations. I know nothing more
beneficial, more comfortable, more agreeable, than that the little
societies of each family should regularly assemble, and unite in praise
and prayer to our heavenly Father, from whom we daily receive so much
good, and may hope for more in a higher state of existence. I mentioned
to Dr. Johnson the over-delicate scrupulosity of our host. He said, he
had no objection to hear the prayer. This was a pleasing surprise to me;
for he refused to go and hear Principal Robertson[377] preach. 'I will
hear him, (said he,) if he will get up into a tree and preach; but I
will not give a sanction, by my presence, to a Presbyterian
assembly[378].'
Mr. Grant having prayed, Dr. Johnson said, his prayer was a very good
one; but objected to his not having introduced the Lord's Prayer[379].
He told us, that an Italian of some note in London said once to him, 'We
have in our service a prayer called the _Pater Noster_, which is a very
fine composition. I wonder who is the author of it.' A singular instance
of ignorance in a man of some literature and general inquiry[380]!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 28.
Dr. Johnson had brought a _Sallust_ with him in his pocket from
Edinburgh. He gave it last night to Mr. M'Aulay's son, a smart young lad
about eleven years old. Dr. Johnson had given an account of the
education at Oxford, in all its gradations. The advantage of being a
servitor to a youth of little fortune struck Mrs. M'Aulay much[381]. I
observed it aloud. Dr. Johnson very handsomely and kindly said, that, if
they would send their boy to him, when he was ready for the university,
he would get him made a servitor, and perhaps would do more for him. He
could not promise to do more; but would undertake for the
servitorship[382].
I should have mentioned that Mr. White, a Welshman, who has been many
years factor (i.e. steward) on the estate of Calder, drank tea with us
last night, and upon getting a note from Mr. M'Aulay, asked us to his
house. We had not time to accept of his invitation. He gave us a letter
of introduction to Mr. Ferne, master of stores at Fort George. He shewed
it to me. It recommended 'two celebrated gentlemen; no less than Dr.
Johnson, _author of his Dictionary_,--and Mr. Boswell, known at
Edinburgh by the name of Paoli.' He said he hoped I had no objection to
what he had written; if I had, he would alter it. I thought it was a
pity to check his effusions, and acquiesced; taking care, however, to
seal the letter, that it might not appear that I had read it.
A conversation took place about saying grace at breakfast (as we do in
Scotland) as well as at dinner and supper; in which Dr. Johnson said,
'It is enough if we have stated seasons of prayer; no matter when[383].
A man may as well pray when he mounts his horse, or a woman when she
milks her cow, (which Mr. Grant told us is done in the Highlands,) as at
meals; and custom is to be followed[384].'
We proceeded to Fort George. When we came into the square, I sent a
soldier with the letter to Mr. Ferne. He came to us immediately, and
along with him came Major _Brewse_ of the Engineers, pronounced _Bruce_.
He said he believed it was originally the same Norman name with Bruce.
That he had dined at a house in London, where were three Bruces, one of
the Irish line, one of the Scottish line, and himself of the English
line. He said he was shewn it in the Herald's office spelt fourteen
different ways[385]. I told him the different spellings of my name[386].
Dr Johnson observed, that there had been great disputes about the
spelling of Shakspear's name; at last it was thought it would be settled
by looking at the original copy of his will; but, upon examining it, he
was found to have written it himself no less than three different ways.
Mr. Ferne and Major Brewse first carried us to wait on Sir Eyre
Coote[387], whose regiment, the 37th, was lying here, and who then
commanded the fort. He asked us to dine with him, which we agreed to do.
Before dinner we examined the fort. The Major explained the
fortification to us, and Mr. Ferne gave us an account of the stores. Dr.
Johnson talked of the proportions of charcoal and salt-petre in making
gunpowder, of granulating it, and of giving it a gloss[388]. He made a
very good figure upon these topicks. He said to me afterwards, that 'he
had talked _ostentatiously_[389].' We reposed ourselves a little in Mr.
Ferne's house. He had every thing in neat order as in England; and a
tolerable collection of books. I looked into Pennant's _Tour in
Scotland_. He says little of this fort; but that 'the barracks, &c. form
several streets[390].' This is aggrandising. Mr. Ferne observed, if he
had said they form a square, with a row of buildings before it, he would
have given a juster description. Dr. Johnson remarked, 'how seldom
descriptions correspond with realities; and the reason is, that people
do not write them till some time after, and then their imagination has
added circumstances.'
We talked of Sir Adolphus Oughton[391]. The Major said, he knew a great
deal for a military man. JOHNSON. 'Sir, you will find few men, of any
profession, who know more. Sir Adolphus is a very extraordinary man; a
man of boundless curiosity and unwearied diligence.'
I know not how the Major contrived to introduce the contest between
Warburton and Lowth. JOHNSON. 'Warburton kept his temper all along,
while Lowth was in a passion. Lowth published some of Warburton's
letters. Warburton drew _him_ on to write some very abusive letters, and
then asked his leave to publish them; which he knew Lowth could not
refuse, after what _he_ had done. So that Warburton contrived that he
should publish, apparently with Lowth's consent, what could not but shew
Lowth in a disadvantageous light[392].'
At three the drum beat for dinner. I, for a little while, fancied myself
a military man, and it pleased me. We went to Sir Eyre Coote's, at the
governour's house, and found him a most gentleman-like man. His lady is
a very agreeable woman, with an uncommonly mild and sweet tone of voice.
There was a pretty large company: Mr. Ferne, Major Brewse, and several
officers. Sir Eyre had come from the East-Indies by land, through the
Desarts of Arabia. He told us, the Arabs could live five days without
victuals, and subsist for three weeks on nothing else but the blood of
their camels, who could lose so much of it as would suffice for that
time, without being exhausted. He highly praised the virtue of the
Arabs; their fidelity, if they undertook to conduct any person; and
said, they would sacrifice their lives rather than let him be robbed.
Dr. Johnson, who is always for maintaining the superiority of civilized
over uncivilized men[393], said, 'Why, Sir, I can see no superiour
virtue in this. A serjeant and twelve men, who are my guard, will die,
rather than that I shall be robbed.' Colonel Pennington, of the 37th
regiment, took up the argument with a good deal of spirit and
ingenuity. PENNINGTON. 'But the soldiers are compelled to this by fear
of punishment. 'JOHNSON. 'Well, Sir, the Arabs are compelled by the fear
of infamy.' PENNINGTON. 'The soldiers have the same fear of infamy, and
the fear of punishment besides; so have less virtue; because they act
less voluntarily.' Lady Coote observed very well, that it ought to be
known if there was not, among the Arabs, some punishment for not being
faithful on such occasions.
We talked of the stage. I observed, that we had not now such a company
of actors as in the last age; Wilks[394], Booth[395], &c. &c. JOHNSON.
'You think so, because there is one who excels all the rest so much: you
compare them with Garrick, and see the deficiency. Garrick's great
distinction is his universality[396]. He can represent all modes of
life, but that of an easy fine bred gentleman[397].' PENNINGTON. 'He
should give over playing young parts.' JOHNSON. 'He does not take them
now; but he does not leave off those which he has been used to play,
because he does them better than any one else can do them. If you had
generations of actors, if they swarmed like bees, the young ones might
drive off the old. Mrs. Cibber[398], I think, got more reputation than
she deserved, as she had a great sameness; though her expression was
undoubtedly very fine. Mrs. Clive[399] was the best player I ever saw.
Mrs. Prichard[400] was a very good one; but she had something affected
in her manner: I imagine she had some player of the former age in her
eye, which occasioned it.' Colonel Pennington said, Garrick sometimes
failed in emphasis[401]; as for instance, in _Hamlet_,
'I will speak _daggers_ to her; but use _none_[402].'
instead of
'I will _speak_ daggers to her; but _use_ none.'
We had a dinner of two complete courses, variety of wines, and the
regimental band of musick playing in the square, before the windows,
after it. I enjoyed this day much. We were quite easy and cheerful. Dr.
Johnson said, 'I shall always remember this fort with gratitude.' I
could not help being struck with some admiration, at finding upon this
barren sandy point, such buildings,--such a dinner,--such company: it
was like enchantment. Dr. Johnson, on the other hand, said to me more
rationally, that 'it did not strike _him_ as any thing extraordinary;
because he knew, here was a large sum of money expended in building a
fort; here was a regiment. If there had been less than what we found, it
would have surprised him.' _He_ looked coolly and deliberately through
all the gradations: my warm imagination jumped from the barren sands to
the splendid dinner and brilliant company, to borrow the expression of
an absurd poet,
'Without ands or ifs,
I leapt from off the sands upon the cliffs.'
The whole scene gave me a strong impression of the power and excellence
of human art.
We left the fort between six and seven o'clock: Sir Eyre Coote, Colonel
Pennington, and several more accompanied us down stairs, and saw us into
our chaise. There could not be greater attention paid to any visitors.
Sir Eyre spoke of the hardships which Dr. Johnson had before him.
BOSWELL. 'Considering what he has said of us, we must make him feel
something rough in Scotland.' Sir Eyre said to him, 'You must change
your name, Sir.' BOSWELL. 'Ay, to Dr. M'Gregor[403].' We got safely to
Inverness, and put up at Mackenzie's inn. Mr. Keith, the collector of
Excise here, my old acquaintance at Ayr, who had seen us at the Fort,
visited us in the evening, and engaged us to dine with him next day,
promising to breakfast with us, and take us to the English chapel; so
that we were at once commodiously arranged.
Not finding a letter here that I expected, I felt a momentary impatience
to be at home. Transient clouds darkened my imagination, and in those
clouds I saw events from which I shrunk; but a sentence or two of the
_Rambler's_ conversation gave me firmness, and I considered that I was
upon an expedition for which I had wished for years, and the
recollection of which would be a treasure to me for life.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 29.
Mr. Keith breakfasted with us. Dr. Johnson expatiated rather too
strongly upon the benefits derived to Scotland from the Union[404], and
the bad state of our people before it. I am entertained with his copious
exaggeration upon that subject; but I am uneasy when people are by, who
do not know him as well as I do, and may be apt to think him
narrow-minded[405]. I therefore diverted the subject.
The English chapel, to which we went this morning, was but mean. The
altar was a bare fir table, with a coarse stool for kneeling on, covered
with a piece of thick sail-cloth doubled, by way of cushion. The
congregation was small. Mr. Tait, the clergyman, read prayers very well,
though with much of the Scotch accent. He preached on '_Love your
Enemies_[406].' It was remarkable that, when talking of the connections
amongst men, he said, that some connected themselves with men of
distinguished talents, and since they could not equal them, tried to
deck themselves with their merit, by being their companions. The
sentence was to this purpose. It had an odd coincidence with what might
be said of my connecting myself with Dr. Johnson[407].
After church we walked down to the Quay. We then went to Macbeth's
castle[408]. I had a romantick satisfaction in seeing Dr. Johnson
actually in it. It perfectly corresponds with Shakspear's description,
