contemplation.--That two such great and luminous minds should have been
so dark in one corner,--that _they_ should have held it to be 'Wicked
rebellion in the British subjects established in America, to resist the
abject condition of holding all their property at the mercy of British
subjects remaining at home, while their allegiance to our common Lord
the King was to be preserved inviolate,--is a striking proof to me,
either that 'He who sitteth in Heaven' [_Psalms_, ii.4] scorns the
loftiness of human pride,--or that the evil spirit, whose personal
existence I strongly believe, and even in this age am confirmed in that
belief by a _Fell_, nay, by a _Hurd_, has more power than some choose to
allow. BOSWELL. Horace Walpole writing on June 10, 1778, after censuring
Robertson for sneering at Las Casas, continues:--'Could Archbishop
Markham in a Sermon before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
by fire and sword paint charity in more contemptuous terms? It is a
Christian age.' _Letters_, vii.81. It was Archbishop Markham to whom
Johnson made the famous bow; _ante_, vol. iv, just before April 10,
1783. John Fell published in 1779 _Demoniacs; an Enquiry into the
Heathen and Scripture Doctrine of Daemons_. For Hurd see _ante_, under
June 9,1784.
[89] See Forster's _Essays_, ii 304-9. Mr. Forster often quotes Cooke in
his _Life of Goldsmith_. He describes him (i. 58) as 'a _young_ Irish
law student who had chambers near Goldsmith in the temple.' Goldsmith
did not reside in the temple till 1763 (_ib_. p.336), and Cooke was old
enough to have published his _Hesiod_ in 1728, and to have found a place
in _The Dunciad_ (ii. 138). See Elwin and Courthope's _Pope_, x. 212,
for his correspondence with Pope.
[90] It may be observed, that I sometimes call my great friend, _Mr_.
Johnson, sometimes _Dr_. Johnson: though he had at this time a doctor's
degree from Trinity College, Dublin. The University of Oxford afterwards
conferred it upon him by a diploma, in very honourable terms. It was
some time before I could bring myself to call him Doctor; but, as he has
been long known by that title, I shall give it to him in the rest of
this Journal. BOSWELL. See _ante_, i. 488, note 3, and ii. 332, note I.
[91] In _The Idler_, No. viii, Johnson has the following fling at
tragedians. He had mentioned the terror struck into our soldiers by the
Indian war-cry, and he continues:--'I am of opinion that by a proper
mixture of asses, bulls, turkeys, geese, and tragedians a noise might be
procured equally horrid with the war-cry.' See _ante_, ii.92.
[92] _Tom Jones_, Bk. xvi. chap. 5. Mme. Necker in a letter to Garrick
said:--'Nos acteurs se metamorphosent assez bien, mais Monsieur Garrick
fait autre chose; il nous metamorphose tous dans le caractere qu'il a
revetu; _nous sommes remplis de terreur avec Hamlet_,' &c. _Garrick
Corres_. ii. 627.
[93] See _ante_, i. 432, and ii. 278.
[94] See _ante_, ii. 11.
[95] Euphan M'Cullan (not Eupham Macallan) is mentioned in Dalrymple's
[Lord Hailes] _Remarks on the History of Scotland_, p. 254. She
maintained that 'she seldom ever prayed but she got a positive answer.'
The minister of her parish was ill. 'She prayed, and got an answer that
for a year's time he should be spared; and after the year's end he fell
sick again.' 'I went,' said she, 'to pray yet again for his life; but
the Lord left me not an mouse's likeness (a proverbial expression,
meaning _to reprove with such severity that the person reproved shrinks
and becomes abashed_), and said, 'Beast that thou art! shall I keep my
servant in pain for thy sake?' And when I said, 'Lord, what then shall I
do?' He answered me, 'He was but a reed that I spoke through, and I will
provide another reed to speak through.' Dalrymple points out that it was
a belief in these 'answers from the Lord' that led John Balfour and his
comrades to murder Archbishop Sharp.
[96] R. Chambers, in his _Traditions_, speaking of the time of Johnson's
visit, says (i. 21) on the authority of 'an ancient native of Edinburgh
that people all knew each other by sight. The appearance of a new face
upon the streets was at once remarked, and numbers busied themselves in
finding out who and what the stranger was.'
[97] It was on this visit to the parliament-house, that Mr. Henry
Erskine (brother of Lord Erskine), after being presented to Dr. Johnson
by Mr. Boswell, and having made his bow, slipped a shilling into
Boswell's hand, whispering that it was for the sight of his _bear_.
WALTER SCOTT.
[98] This is one of the Libraries entitled to a copy of every new work
published in the United Kingdom. Hume held the office of librarian at a
salary of L40 a year from 1752 to 1757. J.H. Burton's _Hume_, i.
367, 373.
[99] The Edinburgh oyster-cellars were called _laigh shops_. Chambers's
_Traditions_, ii. 268.
[100] This word is commonly used to signify _sullenly, gloomily_; and in
that sense alone it appears in Dr. Johnson's _Dictionary_. I suppose he
meant by it, 'with an _obstinate resolution_, similar to that of a
sullen man.' BOSWELL. Southey wrote to Scott:--'Give me more lays, and
correct them at leisure for after editions--not laboriously, but when
the amendment comes naturally and unsought for. It never does to sit
down doggedly to _correct_.' Southey's _Life_, iii. 126. See _ante_, i.
332, for the influence of seasons on composition.
[101] Boswell, _post_, Nov. 1, writes of '_old Scottish_ enthusiasm,'
again italicising these two words.
[102] See _ante_, iii. 410.
[103] See _ante_, i. 354.
[104] Cockburn (_Life of Jeffrey_, i. 182) writing of the beginning of
this century, describes how the General Assembly 'met in those days, as
it had done for about 200 years, in one of the aisles of the then grey
and venerable cathedral of St. Giles. That plain, square, galleried
apartment was admirably suited for the purpose; and it was more
interesting from the men who had acted in it, and the scenes it had
witnessed, than any other existing room in Scotland. It had beheld the
best exertions of the best men in the kingdom ever since the year 1640.
Yet was it obliterated in the year 1830 with as much indifference as if
it had been of yesterday; and for no reason except a childish desire for
new walls and change.'
[105] I have hitherto called him Dr. William Robertson, to distinguish
him from Dr. James Robertson, who is soon to make his appearance. But
_Principal_, from his being the head of our college, is his usual
designation, and is shorter: so I shall use it hereafter. BOSWELL.
[106] The dirtiness of the Scotch churches is taken off in _The Tale of
a Tub_, sect. xi:--'Neither was it possible for the united rhetoric of
mankind to prevail with Jack to make himself clean again.' In _Humphry
Clinker_ (Letter of Aug. 8) we are told that 'the good people of
Edinburgh no longer think dirt and cobwebs essential to the house of
God.' Bishop Horne (_Essays and Thoughts_, p. 45) mentioning 'the maxim
laid down in a neighbouring kingdom that _cleanliness is not essential
to devotion_,' continues, 'A Church of England lady once offered to
attend the Kirk there, if she might be permitted to have the pew swept
and lined. "The pew swept and lined!" said Mess John's wife, "my husband
would think it downright popery."' In 1787 he wrote that there are
country churches in England 'where, perhaps, three or four noble
families attend divine service, which are suffered year after year to be
in a condition in which not one of those families would suffer the worst
room in their house to continue for a week.' _Essays and Thoughts_,
p. 271.
[107] 'Hume recommended Fergusson's friends to prevail on him to
suppress the work as likely to be injurious to his reputation.' When it
had great success he said that his opinion remained the same. He had
heard Helvetius and Saurin say that they had told Montesquieu that he
ought to suppress his _Esprit des Lois_. They were still convinced that
their advice was right. J. H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 385-7. It was at
Fergusson's house thirteen years later that Walter Scott, a lad of
fifteen, saw Burns shed tears over a print by Bunbury of a soldier lying
dead on the snow. Lockhart's _Scott_, i. 185. See _ib_. vii. 61, for an
anecdote of Fergusson.
[108] They were pulled down in 1789. Murray's _Handbook for Scotland_,
ed. 1883, p. 60.
[109] See _ante_, ii. 128.
[110] See _ante_, iii. 357, and _post_, Johnson's _Tour into Wales_,
Aug. 1, 1774.
[111]
'There where no statesman buys,
no bishop sells;
A virtuous palace where no
monarch dwells.'
_An Epitaph_. Hamilton's Poems, ed. 1760, p. 260. See _ante_, iii. 150.
[112] The stanza from which he took this line is,
'But then rose up all Edinburgh,
They rose up by thousands three;
A cowardly Scot came John behind,
And ran him through the fair body!'
[113] Johnson described her as 'an old lady, who talks broad Scotch with
a paralytick voice, and is scarce understood by her own countrymen.'
_Piozzi Letters_, i.109. Lord Shelburne says that 'her husband, the last
Duke, could neither read nor write without great difficulty.'
Fitzmaurice's _Shelburne_, i. 11. Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. p. 107) says
that in 1745 he heard her say:--'I have sworn to be Duchess of Douglas
or never to mount a marriage bed.' She married the Duke in 1758. R.
Chambers wrote in 1825:--'It is a curious fact that sixty years ago
there was scarcely a close in the High Street but what had as many noble
inhabitants as are at this day to be found in the whole town.'
_Traditions of Edinburgh_, ed. 1825, i. 72.
[114] See ante, ii. 154, note 1.
[115] Lord Chesterfield wrote from London on Dec. 16, 1760 (_Misc.
Works_, iv. 291):--'I question whether you will ever see my friend
George Faulkner in Ireland again, he is become so great and considerable
a man here in the republic of letters; he has a constant table open to
all men of wit and learning, and to those sometimes who have neither. I
have been able to get him to dine with me but twice.'
[116] Dr. Johnson one evening roundly asserted in his rough way that
"Swift was a shallow fellow; a very shallow fellow." Mr. Sheridan
replied warmly but modestly, "Pardon me, Sir, for differing from you,
but I always thought the Dean a very clear writer." Johnson vociferated
"All shallows are clear."' _Town and Country Mag_. Sept. 1769. _Notes
and Queries_, Jan. 1855, p. 62. See _ante_, iv. 61.
[117] '_The Memoirs of Scriblerus_,' says Johnson (_Works_, viii. 298),
'seem to be the production of Arbuthnot, with a few touches, perhaps, by
Pope.' Swift also was concerned in it. Johnson goes on to shew why 'this
joint production of three great writers has never obtained any notice
from mankind.' Arbuthnot was the author of _John Bull_. Swift wrote to
Stella on May 10, 1712:--'I hope you read _John Bull_. It was a Scotch
gentleman, a friend of mine, that wrote it; but they put it upon me.'
See _ante_, i. 425.
[118] See _ante_, i. 452, and ii. 318.
[119] Horace, _Satires_. I. iii. 19.
[120] See _ante_, i. 396, and ii. 298.
[121] See _ante_, ii. 74.
[122] 'At supper there was such conflux of company that I could scarcely
support the tumult. I have never been well in the whole journey, and am
very easily disordered.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 109.
[123] See _ante_, iv. 17, and under June 9, 1784.
[124] Johnson was thinking of Sir Matthew Hale for one.
[125] 'It is supposed that there were no executions for witchcraft in
England subsequently to the year 1682; but the Statute of I James I, c.
12, so minute in its enactments against witches, was not repealed till
the 9 Geo. II, c. 5. In Scotland, so late as the year 1722, when the
local jurisdictions were still hereditary [see _post_, Sept. 11], the
sheriff of Sutherlandshire condemned a witch to death.' _Penny Cyclo_.
xxvii. 490. In the Bishopric of Wurtzburg, so late as 1750, a nun was
burnt for witchcraft: 'Cette malheureuse fille soutint opiniatrement
qu'elle etait sorciere.... Elle etait folle, ses juges furent imbecilles
et barbares.' Voltaire's _Works_, ed. 1819, xxvi. 285.
[126] A Dane wrote to Garrick from Copenhagen on Dec. 23, 1769:--'There
is some of our retinue who, not understanding a word of your language,
mimic your gesture and your action: so great an impression did it make
upon their minds, the scene of daggers has been repeated in dumb show a
hundred times, and those most ignorant of the English idiom can cry out
with rapture, "A horse, a horse; my kingdom for a horse!"' _Garrick
Corres._ i. 375. See _ante_, vol. iv. under Sept. 30, 1783
[127] See _ante_, i. 466.
[128] Johnson, in the preface to his _Dictionary_ (_Works_, v. 43),
after stating what he had at first planned, continues:--'But these were
the dreams of a poet doomed at last to wake a lexicographer.' See
_ante_, i. 189, note 2, and May I, 1783.
[129] See his letter on this subject in the APPENDIX. BOSWELL. He had
been tutor to Hume's nephew and was one of Hume's friends. J.H Burton's
_Hume_, ii. 399.
[130] By the Baron d'Holbach. Voltaire (_Works_, xii. 212) describes
this book as 'Une _Philippique_ contre Dieu.' He wrote to M.
Saurin:--'Ce maudit livre du Systeme de la Nature est un peche contre
nature. Je vous sais bien bon gre de reprouver l'atheisme et d'aimer ce
vers: "Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer." Je suis rarement
content de mes vers, mais j'avoue que j'ai une tendresse de pere pour
celui-la.' _Ib_. v. 418.
[131] One of Garrick's correspondents speaks of 'the sneer of one of
Johnson's ghastly smiles.' _Garrick Corres_. i. 334. 'Ghastly smile' is
borrowed from _Paradise Lost_, ii. 846.
[132] See _ante_, iii. 212. In Chambers's _Traditions of Edinburgh_, ii.
158, is given a comic poem entitled _The Court of Session Garland_,
written by Boswell, with the help, it was said, of Maclaurin.
[133] Dr. John Gregory, Professor of Medicine in the University of
Edinburgh, died on Feb. 10 of this year. It was his eldest son James who
met Johnson. 'This learned family has given sixteen professors to
British Universities.' Chalmers's _Biog. Dict._ xvi. 289.
[134] See _ante_, i. 257, note 3.
[135] See _ante_, i. 228.
[136] See _ante_, ii. 196.
[137] In the original, _cursed the form that_, &c. Johnson's _Works_, i.
21.
[138] Mistress of Edward IV. BOSWELL.
[139] Mistress of Louis XIV. BOSWELL. Voltaire, speaking of the King and
Mlle. de La Valliere (not Valiere, as Lord Hailes wrote her name),
says:--'Il gouta avec elle le bonheur rare d'etre aime uniquement pour
lui-meme.' _Siecle de Louis XIV_, ch. 25. He describes her penitence in
a fine passage. _Ib._ ch. 26.
[140] Malone, in a note on the _Life of Boswell_ under 1749, says that
'this lady was not the celebrated Lady Vane, whose memoirs were given to
the public by Dr. Smollett [in _Peregrine Pickle_], but Anne Vane, who
was mistress to Frederick Prince of Wales, and died in 1736, not long
before Johnson settled in London.' She is mentioned in a note to Horace
Walpole's _Letters_, 1. cxxxvi.
[141] Catharine Sedley, the mistress of James II, is described by
Macaulay, _Hist of Eng._ ed. 1874, ii. 323.
[142] Dr. A Carlyle (_Auto._ p. 114) tells how in 1745 he found
'Professor Maclaurin busy on the walls on the south side of Edinburgh,
endeavoring to make them more defensible [against the Pretender]. He had
even erected some small cannon.' See _ante_, iii, 15, for a ridiculous
story told of him by Goldsmith.
[143]
'Crudelis ubique
Luctus, ubique pavor, et plurima
mortis imago:'
'grim grief on every side,
And fear on every side there is,
and many-faced is death.'
Morris, Virgil _Aeneids_, ii. 368.
[144] Mr. Maclaurin's epitaph, as engraved on a marble tomb-stone, in the
Grey-Friars church-yard, Edinburgh:--
Infra situs est
COLIN MACLAURIN,
Mathes. olim in Acad. Edin. Prof.
Electus ipso Newtono suadente.
H.L.P.F.
Non ut nomini paterno consulat,
Nam tali auxilio nil eget;
Sed ut in hoc infelici campo,
Ubi luctus regnant et pavor,
Mortalibus prorsus non absit solatium;
Hujus enim scripta evolve,
Mentemque tantarum rerum capacem
Corpori caduco superstitem crede.
BOSWELL.
[145] See _ante_, i. 437, and _post_, p. 72.
[146]
'What is't to us, if taxes rise or fall,
Thanks to our fortune we pay none at all.
No statesman e'er will find it worth his pains
To tax our labours and excise our brains.
Burthens like these vile earthly buildings bear,
No tribute's laid on _Castles_ in the _Air_'
Churchill's _Poems, Night,_ ed. 1766, i. 89.
[147] Pitt, in 1784, laid a tax of ten shillings a year on every horse
'kept for the saddle, or to be put in carriages used solely for
pleasure.'_Parl. Hist._ xxiv. 1028.
[148] In 1763 he published the following description of himself in his
_Correspondence with Erskine_, ed. 1879, p.36. 'The author of the _Ode
to Tragedy_ is a most excellent man; he is of an ancient family in the
west of Scotland, upon which he values himself not a little. At his
nativity there appeared omens of his future greatness. His parts are
bright; and his education has been good. He has travelled in
post-chaises miles without number. He is fond of seeing much of the
world. He eats of every good dish, especially apple-pie. He drinks old
hock. He has a very fine temper. He is somewhat of an humorist, and a
little tinctured with pride. He has a good manly countenance, and he
owns himself to be amorous. He has infinite vivacity, yet is observed at
times to have a melancholy cast. He is rather fat than lean, rather
short than tall, rather young than old.' He is oddly enough described in
Arighi's _Histoire de Pascal Paoli_, i. 231, 'En traversant la
Mediterranee sur de freles navires pour venir s'asseoir au foyer de la
nationalite Corse, des hommes _graves_ tels que Boswel et Volney
obeissaient sans doute a un sentiment bien plus eleve qu'au besoin
vulgaire d'une puerile curiosite'
[149] See _ante_, i. 400.
[150] For _respectable_, see _ante_, iii. 241, note 2.
[151] Boswell, in the last of his _Hypochondriacks_, says:--'I perceive
that my essays are not so lively as I expected they would be, but they
are more learned. And I beg I may not be charged with excessive
arrogance when I venture to say that they contain a considerable portion
of original thinking.'_London Mag_. 1783, p. 124.
[152] Burns, in _The Author's Earnest Cry and Prayer_, says:--
'But could I like Montgomeries fight,
Or gab like Boswell.'
Boswell and Burns were born within a few miles of each other, Boswell
being the elder by eighteen years.
[153]
'For pointed satire I would Buckhurst choose,
The best good man, with the worst-natured muse.'
Rochester's _Imitations of Horace, Sat_. i. 10.
