He told me a good story of Dr. Goldsmith. Graham, who wrote _Telemachus,a Masque_[301], was sitting one night with him and Dr. Johnson, and washalf drunk. He rattled away to Dr. Johnson: 'You are a clever fellow, tobe sure; but you cannot write an essay like Addison, or verses like theRAPE OF THE LOCK.' At last he said[302], '_Doctor_, I should be happy tosee you at Eaton[303].' 'I shall be glad to wait on you,' answeredGoldsmith. 'No, (said Graham,) 'tis not you I mean, Dr. _Minor_; 'tisDoctor _Major_, there.' Goldsmith was excessively hurt by this. Heafterwards spoke of it himself. 'Graham, (said he,) is a fellow to makeone commit suicide.'We had received a polite invitation to Slains castle. We arrived therejust at three o'clock, as the bell for dinner was ringing. Though, fromits being just on the North-east Ocean, no trees will grow here, LordErrol has done all that can be done. He has cultivated his fields so asto bear rich crops of every kind, and he has made an excellentkitchen-garden, with a hot-house. I had never seen any of the family:but there had been a card of invitation written by the honourableCharles Boyd, the earl's brother[304]. We were conducted into thehouse, and at the dining-room door were met by that gentleman, whom bothof us at first took to be Lord Errol; but he soon corrected our mistake.My Lord was gone to dine in the neighbourhood, at an entertainment givenby Mr. Irvine of Drum. Lady Errol received us politely, and was veryattentive to us during the time of dinner. There was nobody at table buther ladyship, Mr. Boyd, and some of the children, their governour andgoverness. Mr. Boyd put Dr. Johnson in mind of having dined with him atCumming the Quaker's[305], along with a Mr. Hall and Miss Williams[306]:this was a bond of connection between them. For me, Mr. Boyd'sacquaintance with my father was enough. After dinner, Lady Errolfavoured us with a sight of her young family, whom she made stand up ina row. There were six daughters and two sons. It was a verypleasing sight.Dr. Johnson proposed our setting out. Mr. Boyd said, he hoped we wouldstay all night; his brother would be at home in the evening, and wouldbe very sorry if he missed us. Mr. Boyd was called out of the room. Iwas very desirous to stay in so comfortable a house, and I wished tosee Lord Errol. Dr Johnson, however, was right in resolving to go, if wewere not asked again, as it is best to err on the safe side in suchcases, and to be sure that one is quite welcome. To my great joy, whenMr. Boyd returned, he told Dr. Johnson that it was Lady Errol who hadcalled him out, and said that she would never let Dr. Johnson into thehouse again, if he went away that night; and that she had ordered thecoach, to carry us to view a great curiosity on the coast, after whichwe should see the house. We cheerfully agreed.Mr. Boyd was engaged, in 1745-6, on the same side with many unfortunatemistaken noblemen and gentlemen. He escaped, and lay concealed for ayear in the island of Arran, the ancient territory of the Boyds. He thenwent to France, and was about twenty years on the continent. He marrieda French Lady, and now lived very comfortably at Aberdeen, and was muchat Slains castle. He entertained us with great civility. He had apompousness or formal plenitude in his conversation, which I did notdislike. Dr. Johnson said, 'there was too much elaboration in his talk.'It gave me pleasure to see him, a steady branch of the family, settingforth all its advantages with much zeal. He told us that Lady Errol wasone of the most pious and sensible women in the island; had a good head,and as good a heart. He said, she did not use force or fear in educatingher children. JOHNSON. 'Sir, she is wrong[307]; I would rather have therod to be the general terror to all, to make them learn, than tell achild if you do thus or thus, you will be more esteemed than yourbrothers or sisters. The rod produces an effect which terminates initself. A child is afraid of being whipped, and gets his task, andthere's an end on't; whereas, by exciting emulation, and comparisons ofsuperiority, you lay the foundation of lasting mischief; you makebrothers and sisters hate each other.'During Mr. Boyd's stay in Arran, he had found a chest of medical books,left by a surgeon there, and had read them till he acquired some skillin physick, in consequence of which he is often consulted by the poor.There were several here waiting for him as patients. We walked round thehouse till stopped by a cut made by the influx of the sea. The house isbuilt quite upon the shore; the windows look upon the main ocean, andthe King of Denmark is Lord Errol's nearest neighbour on thenorth-east[308].We got immediately into the coach, and drove to _Dunbui_, a rock nearthe shore, quite covered with sea-fowls; then to a circular bason oflarge extent, surrounded with tremendous rocks. On the quarter next thesea, there is a high arch in the rock, which the force of the tempesthas driven out. This place is called _Buchan's Buller_, or the _Bullerof Buchan_, and the country people call it the _Pot_. Mr. Boyd said itwas so called from the French _Bouloir_. It may be more simply tracedfrom _Boiler_ in our own language. We walked round this monstrouscauldron. In some places, the rock is very narrow; and on each sidethere is a sea deep enough for a man of war to ride in; so that it issomewhat horrid to move along. However, there is earth and grass uponthe rock, and a kind of road marked out by the print of feet; so thatone makes it out pretty safely: yet it alarmed me to see Dr. Johnsonstriding irregularly along. He insisted on taking a boat, and sailinginto the Pot. We did so. He was stout, and wonderfully alert. TheBuchan-men all shewing their teeth, and speaking with that strange sharpaccent which distinguishes them, was to me a matter of curiosity. He wasnot sensible of the difference of pronunciation in the South and Northof Scotland, which I wondered at.As the entry into the _Buller_ is so narrow that oars cannot be used asyou go in, the method taken is, to row very hard when you come near it,and give the boat such a rapidity of motion that it glides in. Dr.Johnson observed what an effect this scene would have had, were weentering into an unknown place. There are caves of considerable depth; Ithink, one on each side. The boatmen had never entered either of themfar enough to know the size. Mr. Boyd told us that it is customary forthe company at Peterhead well, to make parties, and come and dine in oneof the caves here.He told us, that, as Slains is at a considerable distance from Aberdeen,Lord Errol, who has a very large family, resolved to have a surgeon ofhis own. With this view he educated one of his tenant's sons, who is nowsettled in a very neat house and farm just by, which we saw from theroad. By the salary which the earl allows him, and the practice which hehas had, he is in very easy circumstances. He had kept an exact accountof all that had been laid out on his education, and he came to hislordship one day, and told him that he had arrived at a much highersituation than ever he expected; that he was now able to repay what hislordship had advanced, and begged he would accept of it. The earl waspleased with the generous gratitude and genteel offer of the man; butrefused it. Mr. Boyd also told us, Cumming the Quaker first began todistinguish himself by writing against Dr. Leechman on Prayer[309], toprove it unnecessary, as GOD knows best what should be, and will orderit without our asking:--the old hackneyed objection.When we returned to the house we found coffee and tea in thedrawing-room. Lady Errol was not there, being, as I supposed, engagedwith her young family. There is a bow-window fronting the sea. Dr.Johnson repeated the ode, _Jam satis terris_[310], while Mr. Boyd waswith his patients. He spoke well in favour of entails[311], to preservelines of men whom mankind are accustomed to reverence. His opinion wasthat so much land should be entailed as that families should never fallinto contempt, and as much left free as to give them all the advantagesof property in case of any emergency. 'If (said he,) the nobility aresuffered to sink into indigence[312], they of course become corrupt;they are ready to do whatever the king chooses; therefore it is fit theyshould be kept from becoming poor, unless it is fixed that when theyfall below a certain standard of wealth they shall lose theirpeerages[313]. We know the House of Peers have made noble stands, whenthe House of Commons durst not. The two last years of parliament theydare not contradict the populace[314].'This room is ornamented with a number of fine prints, and with a wholelength picture of Lord Errol, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. This led Dr.Johnson and me to talk of our amiable and elegant friend, whosepanegyrick he concluded by saying, 'Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir, is themost invulnerable man I know; the man with whom if you should quarrel,you would find the most difficulty how to abuse[315].'Dr. Johnson observed, the situation here was the noblest he had everseen,--better than Mount Edgecumbe, reckoned the first in England;because, at Mount Edgecumbe[316], the sea is bounded by land on theother side, and though there is there the grandeur of a fleet, there isalso the impression of there being a dock-yard, the circumstances ofwhich are not agreeable. At Slains is an excellent old house. The nobleowner has built of brick, along the square in the inside, a gallery,both on the first and second story, the house being no higher; so thathe has always a dry walk, and the rooms, to which formerly there was noapproach but through each other, have now all separate entries from thegallery, which is hung with Hogarth's works, and other prints. We wentand sat a while in the library. There is a valuable numerouscollection. It was chiefly made by Mr. Falconer, husband to the lateCountess of Errol in her own right. This earl has added a good manymodern books.About nine the Earl came home. Captain Gordon of Park was with him. HisLordship put Dr. Johnson in mind of their having dined together inLondon, along with Mr. Beauclerk. I was exceedingly pleased with LordErrol. His dignified person and agreeable countenance, with the mostunaffected affability, give me high satisfaction. From perhaps aweakness, or, as I rather hope, more fancy and warmth of feeling than isquite reasonable, my mind is ever impressed with admiration for personsof high birth, and I could, with the most perfect honesty, expatiate onLord Errol's good qualities; but he stands in no need of my praise. Hisagreeable manners and softness of address prevented that constraintwhich the idea of his being Lord High Constable of Scotland[317] mightotherwise have occasioned. He talked very easily and sensibly with hislearned guest. I observed that Dr. Johnson, though he shewed thatrespect to his lordship, which, from principle, he always does to highrank, yet, when they came to argument, maintained that manliness whichbecomes the force and vigour of his understanding. To shew externaldeference to our superiors, is proper: to seem to yield to them inopinion, is meanness[318]. The earl said grace, both before and aftersupper, with much decency. He told us a story of a man who was executedat Perth, some years ago, for murdering a woman who was with child byhim, and a former child he had by her. His hand was cut off: he was thenpulled up; but the rope broke, and he was forced to lie an hour on theground, till another rope was brought from Perth, the execution being ina wood at some distance,--at the place where the murders were committed._'There_,(said my lord,) _I see the hand of Providence_.' I was reallyhappy here. I saw in this nobleman the best dispositions and bestprinciples; and I saw him, _in my mind's eye_[319], to be therepresentative of the ancient Boyds of Kilmarnock. I was afraid he mighthave urged drinking, as, I believe, he used formerly to do; but he drankport and water out of a large glass himself, and let us do as wepleased[320]. He went with us to our rooms at night; said, he took thevisit very kindly; and told me, my father and he were very oldacquaintance;--that I now knew the way to Slains, and he hoped to see methere again.I had a most elegant room; but there was a fire in it which blazed; andthe sea, to which my windows looked, roared; and the pillows were madeof the feathers of some sea-fowl, which had to me a disagreeable smell;so that, by all these causes, I was kept awake a good while. I saw, inimagination, Lord Errol's father, Lord Kilmarnock[321] (who was beheadedon Tower-hill in 1746), and I was somewhat dreary. But the thought didnot last long, and I fell asleep.WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25.We got up between seven and eight, and found Mr. Boyd in thedining-room, with tea and coffee before him, to give us breakfast. Wewere in an admirable humour. Lady Errol had given each of us a copy ofan ode by Beattie, on the birth of her son, Lord Hay. Mr. Boyd asked Dr.Johnson how he liked it. Dr. Johnson, who did not admire it, got offvery well, by taking it out, and reading the second and third stanzas ofit with much melody. This, without his saying a word, pleased Mr. Boyd.He observed, however, to Dr. Johnson, that the expression as to thefamily of Errol,'A thousand years have seen it shine,'compared with what went before, was an anticlimax, and that it wouldhave been better'Ages have seen,' &c.Dr. Johnson said, 'So great a number as a thousand is better. _Doluslatet in universalibus_. Ages might be only two ages.' He talked of theadvantage of keeping up the connections of relationship, which producemuch kindness. 'Every man (said he,) who comes into the world, has needof friends. If he has to get them for himself, half his life is spentbefore his merit is known. Relations are a man's ready friends whosupport him. When a man is in real distress, he flies into the arms ofhis relations. An old lawyer, who had much experience in making wills,told me, that after people had deliberated long, and thought of many fortheir executors, they settled at last by fixing on their relations. Thisshews the universality of the principle.'I regretted the decay of respect for men of family, and that a Nabob nowwould carry an election from them. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, the Nabob willcarry it by means of his wealth, in a country where money is highlyvalued, as it must be where nothing can be had without money; but, if itcomes to personal preference, the man of family will always carryit[322]. There is generally a _scoundrelism_ about a low man[323].' Mr.Boyd said, that was a good _ism_.I said, I believed mankind were happier in the ancient feudal state[324]of subordination, than they are in the modern state of independency.JOHNSON. 'To be sure, the _Chief_ was: but we must think of the numberof individuals. That _they_ were less happy, seems plain; for that statefrom which all escape as soon as they can, and to which none returnafter they have left it, must be less happy; and this is the case withthe state of dependance on a chief or great man.'I mentioned the happiness of the French in their subordination, by thereciprocal benevolence and attachment between the great and those inlower rank[325]. Mr. Boyd gave us an instance of their gentlemanlyspirit. An old Chevalier de Malthe, of ancient _noblesse_, but in lowcircumstances, was in a coffee-house at Paris, where was Julien, thegreat manufacturer at the Gobelins, of the fine tapestry, so muchdistinguished both for the figures and the _colours_. The chevalier'scarriage was very old. Says Julien, with a plebeian insolence, 'I think,Sir, you had better have your carriage new painted.' The chevalierlooked at him with indignant contempt, and answered, 'Well, Sir, you maytake it home and _dye_ it!' All the coffee-house rejoiced at Julien'sconfusion.We set out about nine. Dr. Johnson was curious to see one of thosestructures which northern antiquarians call a Druid's temple. I had arecollection of one at Strichen; which I had seen fifteen years ago; sowe went four miles out of our road, after passing Old Deer, and wentthither. Mr. Fraser, the proprietor, was at home, and shewed it to us.But I had augmented it in my mind; for all that remains is two stonesset up on end, with a long one laid upon them, as was usual, and onestone at a little distance from them. That stone was the capital one ofthe circle which surrounded what now remains. Mr. Fraser was veryhospitable[326]. There was a fair at Strichen; and he had several of hisneighbours from it at dinner. One of them, Dr. Fraser, who had been inthe army, remembered to have seen Dr. Johnson at a lecture onexperimental philosophy, at Lichfield. The doctor recollected being atthe lecture; and he was surprised to find here somebody who knew him.Mr. Fraser sent a servant to conduct us by a short passage into thehigh-road. I observed to Dr. Johnson, that I had a most disagreeablenotion of the life of country gentlemen; that I left Mr. Fraser justnow, as one leaves a prisoner in a jail. Dr. Johnson said, that I wasright in thinking them unhappy; for that they had not enough to keeptheir minds in motion[327].I started a thought this afternoon which amused us a great part of theway. 'If, (said I,) our club should come and set up in St. Andrews, as acollege, to teach all that each of us can, in the several departments oflearning and taste, we should rebuild the city: we should draw awonderful concourse of students.' Dr. Johnson entered fully into thespirit of this project. We immediately fell to distributing the offices.I was to teach Civil and Scotch law[328]; Burke, politicks andeloquence; Garrick, the art of publick speaking; Langton was to be ourGrecian[329], Colman our Latin professor[330]; Nugent to teachphysick[331]; Lord Charlemont, modern history[332]; Beauclerk, naturalphilosophy[333]; Vesey, Irish antiquities, or Celtick learning[334];Jones, Oriental learning[335]; Goldsmith, poetry and ancient history;Chamier, commercial politicks[336]; Reynolds, painting, and the artswhich have beauty for their object; Chambers, the law of England[337].Dr. Johnson at first said, 'I'll trust theology to nobody but myself.'But, upon due consideration, that Percy is a clergyman, it was agreedthat Percy should teach practical divinity and British antiquities; Dr.Johnson himself, logick, metaphysicks[338], and scholastick divinity. Inthis manner did we amuse ourselves;--each suggesting, and each varyingor adding, till the whole was adjusted. Dr. Johnson said, we only wanteda mathematician since Dyer[339] died, who was a very good one; but as toevery thing else, we should have a very capital university[340].We got at night to Banff. I sent Joseph on to Duff-house; but Earl Fifewas not at home, which I regretted much, as we should have had a veryelegant reception from his lordship. We found here but an indifferentinn[341]. Dr. Johnson wrote a long letter to Mrs. Thrale. I wondered tosee him write so much so easily. He verified his own doctrine that 'aman may always write when he will set himself _doggedly_ to it[342].'THURSDAY, AUGUST 26.We got a fresh chaise here, a very good one, and very good horses. Webreakfasted at Cullen. They set down dried haddocks broiled, along withour tea. I ate one; but Dr. Johnson was disgusted by the sight of them,so they were removed[343]. Cullen has a comfortable appearance, thoughbut a very small town, and the houses mostly poor buildings.I called on Mr. Robertson, who has the charge of Lord Findlater'saffairs, and was formerly Lord Monboddo's clerk, was three times inFrance with him, and translated Condamine's _Account of the SavageGirl_, to which his lordship wrote a preface, containing several remarksof his own. Robertson said, he did not believe so much as his lordshipdid; that it was plain to him, the girl confounded what she imaginedwith what she remembered: that, besides, she perceived Condamine andLord Monboddo forming theories, and she adapted her story to them.Dr. Johnson said, 'It is a pity to see Lord Monboddo publish suchnotions as he has done; a man of sense, and of so much elegant learning.There would be little in a fool doing it; we should only laugh; but whena wise man does it, we are sorry. Other people have strange notions; butthey conceal them. If they have tails, they hide them; but Monboddo isas jealous of his tail as a squirrel.' I shall here put down some moreremarks of Dr. Johnson's on Lord Monboddo, which were not made exactlyat this time, but come in well from connection. He said, he did notapprove of a judge's calling himself _Farmer_ Burnett[344], and goingabout with a little round hat[345]. He laughed heartily at hislordship's saying he was an _enthusiastical_ farmer; 'for, (said he,)what can he do in farming by his _enthusiasm_?' Here, however, I thinkDr. Johnson mistaken. He who wishes to be successful, or happy, ought tobe enthusiastical, that is to say, very keen in all the occupations ordiversions of life. An ordinary gentleman-farmer will be satisfied withlooking at his fields once or twice a day: an enthusiastical farmer willbe constantly employed on them; will have his mind earnestly engaged;will talk perpetually, of them. But Dr. Johnson has much of the _niladmirari_[346] in smaller concerns. That survey of life which gave birthto his _Vanity of Human Wishes_ early sobered his mind. Besides, sogreat a mind as his cannot be moved by inferior objects: an elephantdoes not run and skip like lesser animals. Mr. Robertson sent aservant with us, to shew us through Lord Findlater's wood, by which ourway was shortened, and we saw some part of his domain, which is indeedadmirably laid out. Dr. Johnson did not choose to walk through it. Healways said, that he was not come to Scotland to see fine places, ofwhich there were enough in England; but wild objects,--mountains,--waterfalls,--peculiar manners; in short, things which he had not seenbefore. I have a notion that he at no time has had much taste for ruralbeauties. I have myself very little[347].Dr. Johnson said, there was nothing more contemptible than a countrygentleman living beyond his income, and every year growing poorer andpoorer[348]. He spoke strongly of the influence which a man has by beingrich. 'A man, (said he,) who keeps his money, has in reality more usefrom it, than he can have by spending it.' I observed that this lookedvery like a paradox; but he explained it thus: 'If it were certain thata man would keep his money locked up for ever, to be sure he would haveno influence; but, as so many want money, and he has the power of givingit, and they know not but by gaining his favour they may obtain it, therich man will always have the greatest influence. He again who lavisheshis money, is laughed at as foolish, and in a great degree with justice,considering how much is spent from vanity. Even those who partake of aman's hospitality, have but a transient kindness for him. If he has notthe command of money, people know he cannot help them, if he would;whereas the rich man always can, if he will, and for the chance of that,will have much weight.' BOSWELL. 'But philosophers and satirists haveall treated a miser as contemptible.' JOHNSON. 'He is sophilosophically; but not in the practice of life[349].' BOSWELL. 'Let mesee now:--I do not know the instances of misers in England, so as toexamine into their influence.' JOHNSON. 'We have had few misers inEngland.' BOSWELL. 'There was Lowther[350].' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir,Lowther, by keeping his money, had the command of the county, which thefamily has now lost, by spending it[351]; I take it he lent a greatdeal; and that is the way to have influence, and yet preserve one'swealth. A man may lend his money upon very good security, and yet havehis debtor much under his power.' BOSWELL. 'No doubt, Sir. He can alwaysdistress him for the money; as no man borrows, who is able to pay ondemand quite conveniently.'