We dined with Mr. Myddelton, the clergyman, at Denbigh, where I saw the
harvest-men very decently dressed, after the afternoon service, standing
to be hired. On other days, they stand at about four in the morning.
They are hired from day to day.
SEPTEMBER 6.
We lay at Wrexham; a busy, extensive, and well built town. It has a very
large and magnificent Church. It has a famous fair.
SEPTEMBER 7.
We came to Chirk Castle.
SEPTEMBER 8, THURSDAY.
We came to the house of Dr. Worthington[1234], at Llanrhaiadr. Our
entertainment was poor, though his house was not bad. The situation is
very pleasant, by the side of a small river, of which the bank rises
high on the other side, shaded by gradual rows of trees. The gloom, the
stream, and the silence, generate thoughtfulness. The town is old, and
very mean, but has, I think, a market. In this house, the Welsh
translation of the Old Testament was made. The Welsh singing Psalms were
written by Archdeacon Price. They are not considered as elegant, but as
very literal, and accurate.
We came to Llanrhaiadr, through Oswestry; a town not very little, nor
very mean. The church, which I saw only at a distance, seems to be an
edifice much too good for the present state of the place.
SEPTEMBER 9.
We visited the waterfall, which is very high, and in rainy weather very
copious. There is a reservoir made to supply it. In its fall, it has
perforated a rock. There is a room built for entertainment. There was
some difficulty in climbing to a near view. Lord Lyttelton[1235] came
near it, and turned back.
When we came back, we took some cold meat, and notwithstanding the
Doctor's importunities, went that day to Shrewsbury.
SEPTEMBER 10.
I sent for Gwynn[1236], and he shewed us the town. The walls are
broken, and narrower than those of Chester. The town is large, and has
many gentlemen's houses, but the streets are narrow. I saw Taylor's
library. We walked in the Quarry; a very pleasant walk by the
river.[1237] Our inn was not bad.
SEPTEMBER 11.
Sunday. We were at St. Chads, a very large and luminous Church. We were
on the Castle Hill.
SEPTEMBER 12.
We called on Dr. Adams,[1238] and travelled towards Worcester, through
Wenlock; a very mean place, though a borough. At noon, we came to
Bridgenorth, and walked about the town, of which one part stands on a
high rock; and part very low, by the river. There is an old tower,
which, being crooked, leans so much, that it is frightful to pass by it.
In the afternoon we came through Kinver, a town in Staffordshire; neat
and closely built. I believe it has only one street.
The road was so steep and miry, that we were forced to stop at
Hartlebury, where we had a very neat inn, though it made a very poor
appearance.
SEPTEMBER 13.
We came to Lord Sandys's, at Ombersley, where we were treated with great
civility.[1239]
The house is large. The hall is a very noble room.
SEPTEMBER 15.
We went to Worcester, a very splendid city. The Cathedral is very noble,
with many remarkable monuments. The library is in the Chapter House. On
the table lay the _Nuremberg Chronicle_, I think, of the first edition.
We went to the china warehouse. The Cathedral has a cloister. The long
aisle is, in my opinion, neither so wide nor so high as that of
Lichfield.
SEPTEMBER 16.
We went to Hagley, where we were disappointed of the respect and
kindness that we expected[1240].
SEPTEMBER 17.
We saw the house and park, which equalled my expectation. The house is
one square mass. The offices are below. The rooms of elegance on the
first floor, with two stories of bedchambers, very well disposed above
it. The bedchambers have low windows, which abates the dignity of the
house. The park has one artificial ruin[1241], and wants water; there
is, however, one temporary cascade. From the farthest hill there is a
very wide prospect.
I went to church. The church is, externally, very mean, and is therefore
diligently hidden by a plantation. There are in it several modern
monuments of the Lytteltons.
There dined with us, Lord Dudley, and Sir Edward Lyttelton, of
Staffordshire, and his Lady. They were all persons of agreeable
conversation.
I found time to reflect on my birthday, and offered a prayer, which I
hope was heard.
SEPTEMBER 19.
We made haste away from a place, where all were offended[1242]. In the
way we visited the Leasowes[1243]. It was rain, yet we visited all the
waterfalls. There are, in one place, fourteen falls in a short line. It
is the next place to Ham Gardens[1244]. Poor Shenstone never tasted his
pension. It is not very well proved that any pension was obtained for
him. I am afraid that he died of misery[1245].
We came to Birmingham, and I sent for Wheeler, whom I found well.
SEPTEMBER 20.
We breakfasted with Wheeler,[1246] and visited the manufacture of Papier
Mache. The paper which they use is smooth whited brown; the varnish is
polished with rotten stone. Wheeler gave me a tea-board. We then went to
Boulton's,[1247] who, with great civility, led us through his shops. I
could not distinctly see his enginery.
Twelve dozen of buttons for three shillings.[1248] Spoons struck at
once.
SEPTEMBER 21.
Wheeler came to us again.
We came easily to Woodstock.
SEPTEMBER 22.
We saw Blenheim and Woodstock Park.[1249] The Park contains two thousand
five hundred acres; about four square miles. It has red deer. Mr.
Bryant[1250] shewed me the Library with great civility. _Durandi
Rationale_, 1459[1251]. Lascaris' _Grammar_ of the first edition, well
printed, but much less than later editions[1252]. The first
_Batrachomyomachia_[1253].
The Duke sent Mr. Thrale partridges and fruit.
At night we came to Oxford.
SEPTEMBER 23.
We visited Mr. Coulson[1254]. The Ladies wandered about the University.
SEPTEMBER 24.
We dine with Mr. Coulson. Vansittart[1255] told me his distemper.
Afterwards we were at Burke's, where we heard of the dissolution of the
Parliament. We went home[1256].
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See _ante_, ii. 434, note 1, and iii. 209.
[2] His _Account of Corsica_, published in 1768.
[3] Horace Walpole wrote on Nov.6, 1769 (_Letters_, v. 200):--'I found
Paoli last week at Court. The King and Queen both took great notice of
him. He has just made a tour to Bath, Oxford, &c., and was everywhere
received with much distinction.' See _ante_, ii. 71.
[4] Boswell, when in London, was 'his constant guest.' Ante, iii 35.
[5] Boswell's son James says that 'in 1785 Mr. Malone was shewn at Mr.
Baldwin's printing-house a sheet of the _Tour to the Hebrides_
which contained Johnson's character. He was so much struck with the
spirit and fidelity of the portrait that he requested to be introduced
to its writer. From this period a friendship took place between them,
which ripened into the strictest and most cordial intimacy. After Mr.
Boswell's death in 1795 Mr. Malone continued to shew every mark of
affectionate attention towards his family.' _Gent. Mag._ 1813, p. 518.
[6] Malone began his edition of _Shakespeare_ in 1782; he brought it out
in 1790. Prior's _Malone_, pp. 98, 166.
[7] Boswell in the 'Advertisement' to the second edition, dated Dec. 20,
1785, says that 'the whole of the first impression has been sold in a
few weeks.' Three editions were published within a year, but the fourth
was not issued till 1807. A German translation was published in Luebeck
in 1787. I believe that in no language has a translation been published
of the _Life of Johnson_. Johnson was indeed, as Boswell often calls
him, 'a trueborn Englishman'--so English that foreigners could neither
understand him nor relish his _Life_.
[8] The man thus described is James I.
[9] See _ante_, i. 450 and ii. 291.
[10] _A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_. Johnson's _Works_
ix. 1.
[11] See _ante_, i. 450. On a copy of Martin in the Advocates' Library
[Edinburgh] I found the following note in the handwriting of Mr.
Boswell:--'This very book accompanied Mr. Samuel Johnson and me in our
Tour to the Hebrides.' UPCOTT. Croker's _Boswell_, p. 267.
[12] Macbeth, act i. sc. 3.
[13] See _ante_, iii. 24, and _post_, Nov. 10.
[14] Our friend Edmund Burke, who by this time had received some pretty
severe strokes from Dr. Johnson, on account of the unhappy difference in
their politicks, upon my repeating this passage to him, exclaimed 'Oil
of vitriol !' BOSWELL.
[15] _Psalms_, cxli. 5.
[16] 'We all love Beattie,' he had said. _Ante_, ii. 148.
[17] This, I find, is a Scotticism. I should have said, 'It will not be
long before we shall be at Marischal College.' BOSWELL. In spite of this
warning Sir Walter Scott fell into the same error. 'The light foot of
Mordaunt was not long of bearing him to Jarlok [Jarlshof].' _Pirate_,
ch. viii. CROKER. Beattie was Professor of Moral Philosophy and Logic in
Marischal College.
[18] 'Nil mihi rescribas; attamen ipse veni.' Ovid, _Heroides_, i. 2.
Boswell liked to display such classical learning as he had. When he
visited Eton in 1789 he writes, 'I was asked by the Head-master to dine
at the Fellows' table, and made a creditable figure. I certainly have
the art of making the most of what I have. How should one who has had
only a Scotch education be quite at home at Eton? I had my classical
quotations very ready.' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 308.
[19] Gray, Johnson writes (_Works_, viii. 479), visited Scotland in
1765. 'He naturally contracted a friendship with Dr. Beattie, whom he
found a poet,' &c.
[20] _Post_, Sept. 12.
[21] See _ante_, i. 274.
[22] Afterwards Lord Stowell. He, his brother Lord Eldon, and Chambers
were all Newcastle men. See _ante_, i. 462, for an anecdote of the
journey and for a note on 'the Commons.'
[23] See _ante_, ii. 453.
[24] See _ante_, iv. III.
[25] Baretti, in a MS. note on _Piozzi Letters_, i. 309, says:--'The
most unaccountable part of Johnson's character was his total ignorance
of the character of his most familiar acquaintance.'
[26] Lord Pembroke said once to me at Wilton, with a happy pleasantry,
and some truth, that 'Dr. Johnson's sayings would not appear so
extraordinary, were it not for his _bow-wow way_:' but I admit the truth
of this only on some occasions. The _Messiah_, played upon the
_Canterbury organ_, is more sublime than when played upon an inferior
instrument, but very slight musick will seem grand, when conveyed to the
ear through that majestick medium. _While therefore Dr. Johnson's
sayings are read, let his manner be taken along with them_. Let it,
however, be observed, that the sayings themselves are generally great;
that, though he might be an ordinary composer at times, he was for the
most part a Handel. BOSWELL. See _ante_, ii. 326, 371, and under
Aug. 29, 1783.
[27] See _ante_, i. 42.
[28] See _ante_, i. 41.
[29] Such they appeared to me; but since the first edition, Sir Joshua
Reynolds has observed to me, 'that Dr. Johnson's extraordinary gestures
were only habits, in which he indulged himself at certain times. When in
company, where he was not free, or when engaged earnestly in
conversation, he never gave way to such habits, which proves that they
were not involuntary.' I still however think, that these gestures were
involuntary; for surely had not that been the case, he would have
restrained them in the publick streets. BOSWELL. See _ante_, i. 144.
[30] By an Act of the 7th of George I. for encouraging the consumption
of raw silk and mohair, buttons and button-holes made of cloth, serge,
and other stuffs were prohibited. In 1738 a petition was presented to
Parliament stating that 'in evasion of this Act buttons and button-holes
were made of horse-hair to the impoverishing of many thousands and
prejudice of the woollen manufactures.' An Act was brought in to
prohibit the use of horse-hair, and was only thrown out on the third
reading. _Parl. Hist._ x. 787.
[31] Boswell wrote to Erskine on Dec. 8, 1761: 'I, James Boswell Esq.,
who "am happily possessed of a facility of manners"--to use the very
words of Mr. Professor [Adam] Smith, which upon honour were addressed to
me.' _Boswell and Erskine Corres_. ed. 1879, p. 26.
[32] _Post_, Oct. 16.
[33] _Hamlet_, act iii, sc. 4.
[34] See _ante_, iv., March 21, 1783. Johnson is often reproached with
his dislike of the Scotch, though much of it was assumed; but no one
blames Hume's dislike of the English, though it was deep and real. On
Feb. 21, 1770, he wrote:--'Our Government is too perfect in point of
liberty for so rude a beast as an Englishman; who is a man, a bad animal
too, corrupted by above a century of licentiousness.' J. H. Burton's
_Hume_, ii. 434. Dr. Burton writes of the English as 'a people Hume so
heartily disliked.' _Ib_. p. 433.
[35] See _ante_, iv. 15.
[36] The term _John Bull_ came into the English language in 1712, when
Dr. Arbuthnot wrote _The History of John Bull_.
[37] Boswell in three other places so describes Johnson. See _ante_,
i.129, note 3.
[38] See _ante_, i.467.
[39] 'All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.' _Rev_. vii.9.
[40] See _ante_, ii. 376
[41] In Cockburn's _Life of Jeffrey_, i.157, there is a description of
Edinburgh, towards the close of the century, 'the last purely Scotch age
that Scotland was destined to see. Almost the whole official state, as
settled at the Union, survived; and all graced the capital, unconscious
of the economical scythe which has since mowed it down. All our nobility
had not then fled. The lawyers, instead of disturbing good company by
professional matter, were remarkably free of this vulgarity; and being
trained to take difference of opinion easily, and to conduct discussions
with forbearance, were, without undue obtrusion, the most cheerful
people that were to be met with. Philosophy had become indigenous in the
place, and all classes, even in their gayest hours, were proud of the
presence of its cultivators. And all this was still a Scotch scene. The
whole country had not begun to be absorbed in the ocean of London.
According to the modern rate of travelling [written in 1852] the
capitals of Scotland and of England were then about 2400 miles asunder.
Edinburgh was still more distant in its style and habits. It had then
its own independent tastes, and ideas, and pursuits.' Scotland at this
time was distinguished by the liberality of mind of its leading
clergymen, which was due, according to Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. p 57), to
the fact that the Professor of Theology under whom they had studied was
'dull and Dutch and prolix.' 'There was one advantage,' he says,
'attending the lectures of a dull professor--viz., that he could form no
school, and the students were left entirely to themselves, and naturally
formed opinions far more liberal than those they got from the
Professor.'
[42] Chambers (_Traditions of Edinburgh_, ed. 1825, ii.297) says that
'the very spot which Johnson's armchair occupied is pointed out by the
modern possessors.' The inn was called 'The White Horse.' 'It derives
its name from having been the resort of the Hanoverian faction, the
White Horse being the crest of Hanover.' Murray's _Guide to Scotland_,
ed. 1867, p. 111.
[43] Boswell writing of Scotland says:--'In the last age it was the
common practice in the best families for all the company to eat milk, or
pudding, or any other dish that is eat with a spoon, not by distributing
the contents of the dish into small plates round the table, but by every
person dipping his spoon into the large platter; and when the fashion of
having a small plate for each guest was brought from the continent by a
young gentleman returned from his travels, a good old inflexible
neighbour in the country said, "he did not see anything he had learnt
but to take his broth twice." Nay, in our own remembrance, the use of a
carving knife was considered as a novelty; and a gentleman of ancient
family and good literature used to rate his son, a friend of mine, for
introducing such a foppish superfluity.'--_London Mag_. 1778, p.199.
[44] See _ante_, ii. 403. Johnson, in describing Sir A. Macdonald's
house in Sky, said:--'The Lady had not the common decencies of her
tea-table; we picked up our sugar with our fingers.' _Piozzi
Letters_, i.138.
[45] Chambers says that 'James's Court, till the building of the New
Town, was inhabited by a select set of gentlemen. They kept a clerk to
record their names and their proceedings, had a scavenger of their own,
and had balls and assemblies among themselves.' Paoli was Boswell's
guest there in 1771. _Traditions of Edinburgh_, i. 219. It was burnt
down in 1857. Murray's _Guide to Scotland_, ed. 1883, p.49. Johnson
wrote:--'Boswell has very handsome and spacious rooms, level with the
ground on one side of the house, and on the other four stories high.'
_Piozzi Letters_, i. 109. Dr. J.H. Burton says that Hume occupied them
just before Boswell. He continues:--'Of the first impression made on a
stranger at that period when entering such a house, a vivid description
is given by Sir Walter Scott in _Guy Mannering_; and in Counsellor
Pleydell's library, with its collection of books, and the prospect from
the window, we have probably an accurate picture of the room in which
Hume spent his studious hours.' _Life of Hume_, ii. 137, 431. At
Johnson's visit Hume was living in his new house in the street which was
humorously named after him, St. David Street. _Ib_. p. 436.
[46] The English servant-girl in _Humphry Clinker_ (Letter of July 18),
after describing how the filth is thus thrown out, says:--'The maid
calls _gardy loo_ to the passengers, which signifies _Lord have mercy
