We dined at Elgin, and saw the noble ruins of the cathedral. Though itrained 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 theReformation, by the Lord of Badenoch[353], who had a quarrel with thebishop. The bishop's house, and those of the other clergy, which arestill pretty entire, do not seem to have been proportioned to themagnificence of the cathedral, which has been of great extent, and hadvery fine carved work. The ground within the walls of the cathedral isemployed 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 princelyappearance. Fochabers, the neighbouring village, is a poor place, manyof the houses being ruinous; but it is remarkable, they have in generalorchards well stored with apple-trees[355]. Elgin has what in Englandare 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 piazzasall along the town, as I have seen at Bologna. I approved much of suchstructures in a town, on account of their conveniency in wet weather.Dr. Johnson disapproved of them, 'because (said he) it makes the understory 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 areusually in the street at such times; that many who are might as well beat home; and the little that people suffer, supposing them to be as muchwet as they commonly are in walking a street.'We fared but ill at our inn here; and Dr. Johnson said, this was thefirst 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 thewitches, according to tradition[357]. Dr. Johnson again[358] solemnlyrepeated--'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 grandand affecting, and as Sir Joshua Reynolds has observed to me, had nomore tone than it should have: it was the better for it. He thenparodied the _All-hail_ of the witches to Macbeth, addressing himself tome. I had purchased some land called _Dalblair_; and, as in Scotland itis customary to distinguish landed men by the name of their estates, Ihad thus two titles, _Dalblair_ and Young _Auchinleck_. So my friend, inimitation 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 iscalled King Duncan's monument[362]. I shall now mark some gleanings ofDr. Johnson's conversation. I spoke of _Leonidas_[363], and said therewere 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 hadoften said, that if his letters had been written by one of a moreestablished name, they would have been thought very prettyletters[365].'This morning I introduced the subject of the origin of evil[366].JOHNSON. 'Moral evil is occasioned by free will, which implies choicebetween good and evil. With all the evil that there is, there is no manbut 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 aman would rather be the machine, I cannot argue with him. He is adifferent being from me.' BOSWELL. 'A man, as a machine, may haveagreeable sensations; for instance, he may have pleasure in musick.'JOHNSON. 'No, Sir, he cannot have pleasure in musick; at least no powerof producing musick; for he who can produce musick may let it alone: hewho 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 freeagent, unless there is the power of being evil as well as good. We musttake the inherent possibilities of things into consideration, in ourreasonings 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 spinningwool with a great wheel, and singing an Erse song[367]: 'I'll warrantyou, (said Dr. Johnson.) one of the songs of Ossian.' He then repeatedthese 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, whopublished 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 Ireceived a letter from him, telling me that he could not leave home, ashe was to administer the sacrament the following Sunday, and earnestlyrequesting to see us at his manse. 'We'll go,' said Dr. Johnson; whichwe accordingly did. Mrs. M'Aulay received us, and told us her husbandwas in the church distributing tokens[371]. We arrived between twelveand 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 prettypiece of topography.' M'Aulay did not seem much to mind the compliment.From his conversation, Dr. Johnson was persuaded that he had not writtenthe book which goes under his name. I myself always suspected so; and Ihave been told it was written by the learned Dr. John M'Pherson ofSky[372], from the materials collected by M'Aulay. Dr. Johnson saidprivately to me, 'There is a combination in it of which M'Aulay is notcapable[373].' However, he was exceedingly hospitable; and, as heobligingly 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 'prosperousgentleman[374],' was not there. The old tower must be of greatantiquity[375]. There is a draw-bridge--what has been a moat,--and anancient court. There is a hawthorn-tree, which rises like a woodenpillar through the rooms of the castle; for, by a strange conceit, thewalls have been built round it. The thickness of the walls, the smallslaunting windows, and a great iron door at the entrance on the secondstory as you ascend the stairs, all indicate the rude times in whichthis castle was erected. There were here some large venerable trees.I was afraid of a quarrel between Dr. Johnson and Mr. M'Aulay, whotalked slightingly of the lower English clergy. The Doctor gave him afrowning look, and said, 'This is a day of novelties; I have seen oldtrees in Scotland, and I have heard the English clergy treated withdisrespect[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 ofhereditary occupations in the Highlands, said, 'There is no harm in sucha custom as this; but it is wrong to enforce it, and oblige a man to bea taylor or a smith, because his father has been one.' This custom,however, is not peculiar to our Highlands; it is well known that inIndia a similar practice prevails.Mr. M'Aulay began a rhapsody against creeds and confessions. Dr. Johnsonshewed, that 'what he called _imposition_, was only a voluntarydeclaration of agreement in certain articles of faith, which a churchhas a right to require, just as any other society can insist on certainrules being observed by its members. Nobody is compelled to be of thechurch, as nobody is compelled to enter into a society.' This was a veryclear and just view of the subject: but, M'Aulay could not be driven outof 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 outa route for us from Inverness, by Fort Augustus, to Glenelg, Sky, Mull,Icolmkill, Lorn, and Inverary, which I wrote down. As my father was tobegin the northern circuit about the 18th of September, it was necessaryfor us either to make our tour with great expedition, so as to get toAuchinleck before he set out, or to protract it, so as not to be theretill his return, which would be about the 10th of October. By M'Aulay'scalculation, we were not to land in Lorn till the 2Oth of September. Ithought that the interruptions by bad days, or by occasionalexcursions, might make it ten days later; and I thought too, that wemight perhaps go to Benbecula, and visit Clanranald, which would take aweek of itself.Dr. Johnson went up with Mr. Grant to the library, which consisted of atolerable 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 inLatin. I doubted whether Dr. Johnson would be present at a Presbyterianprayer. I told Mr. M'Aulay so, and said that the Doctor might sit in thelibrary while we were at family worship. Mr. M'Aulay said, he would omitit, rather than give Dr. Johnson offence: but I would by no means agreethat an excess of politeness, even to so great a man, should preventwhat I esteem as one of the best pious regulations. I know nothing morebeneficial, more comfortable, more agreeable, than that the littlesocieties of each family should regularly assemble, and unite in praiseand prayer to our heavenly Father, from whom we daily receive so muchgood, and may hope for more in a higher state of existence. I mentionedto Dr. Johnson the over-delicate scrupulosity of our host. He said, hehad 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 willhear him, (said he,) if he will get up into a tree and preach; but Iwill not give a sanction, by my presence, to a Presbyterianassembly[378].'Mr. Grant having prayed, Dr. Johnson said, his prayer was a very goodone; 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, 'Wehave in our service a prayer called the _Pater Noster_, which is a veryfine composition. I wonder who is the author of it.' A singular instanceof 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 fromEdinburgh. He gave it last night to Mr. M'Aulay's son, a smart young ladabout eleven years old. Dr. Johnson had given an account of theeducation at Oxford, in all its gradations. The advantage of being aservitor to a youth of little fortune struck Mrs. M'Aulay much[381]. Iobserved it aloud. Dr. Johnson very handsomely and kindly said, that, ifthey 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. Hecould not promise to do more; but would undertake for theservitorship[382].I should have mentioned that Mr. White, a Welshman, who has been manyyears factor (i.e. steward) on the estate of Calder, drank tea with uslast night, and upon getting a note from Mr. M'Aulay, asked us to hishouse. We had not time to accept of his invitation. He gave us a letterof introduction to Mr. Ferne, master of stores at Fort George. He shewedit to me. It recommended 'two celebrated gentlemen; no less than Dr.Johnson, _author of his Dictionary_,--and Mr. Boswell, known atEdinburgh by the name of Paoli.' He said he hoped I had no objection towhat he had written; if I had, he would alter it. I thought it was apity to check his effusions, and acquiesced; taking care, however, toseal the letter, that it might not appear that I had read it.A conversation took place about saying grace at breakfast (as we do inScotland) 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 shemilks her cow, (which Mr. Grant told us is done in the Highlands,) as atmeals; and custom is to be followed[384].'We proceeded to Fort George. When we came into the square, I sent asoldier with the letter to Mr. Ferne. He came to us immediately, andalong 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 ofthe Irish line, one of the Scottish line, and himself of the Englishline. He said he was shewn it in the Herald's office spelt fourteendifferent ways[385]. I told him the different spellings of my name[386].Dr Johnson observed, that there had been great disputes about thespelling of Shakspear's name; at last it was thought it would be settledby looking at the original copy of his will; but, upon examining it, hewas found to have written it himself no less than three different ways.Mr. Ferne and Major Brewse first carried us to wait on Sir EyreCoote[387], whose regiment, the 37th, was lying here, and who thencommanded the fort. He asked us to dine with him, which we agreed to do.Before dinner we examined the fort. The Major explained thefortification to us, and Mr. Ferne gave us an account of the stores. Dr.Johnson talked of the proportions of charcoal and salt-petre in makinggunpowder, of granulating it, and of giving it a gloss[388]. He made avery good figure upon these topicks. He said to me afterwards, that 'hehad talked _ostentatiously_[389].' We reposed ourselves a little in Mr.Ferne's house. He had every thing in neat order as in England; and atolerable collection of books. I looked into Pennant's _Tour inScotland_. He says little of this fort; but that 'the barracks, &c. formseveral streets[390].' This is aggrandising. Mr. Ferne observed, if hehad said they form a square, with a row of buildings before it, he wouldhave given a juster description. Dr. Johnson remarked, 'how seldomdescriptions correspond with realities; and the reason is, that peopledo not write them till some time after, and then their imagination hasadded circumstances.'We talked of Sir Adolphus Oughton[391]. The Major said, he knew a greatdeal for a military man. JOHNSON. 'Sir, you will find few men, of anyprofession, who know more. Sir Adolphus is a very extraordinary man; aman of boundless curiosity and unwearied diligence.'I know not how the Major contrived to introduce the contest betweenWarburton and Lowth. JOHNSON. 'Warburton kept his temper all along,while Lowth was in a passion. Lowth published some of Warburton'sletters. Warburton drew _him_ on to write some very abusive letters, andthen asked his leave to publish them; which he knew Lowth could notrefuse, after what _he_ had done. So that Warburton contrived that heshould publish, apparently with Lowth's consent, what could not but shewLowth in a disadvantageous light[392].'At three the drum beat for dinner. I, for a little while, fancied myselfa military man, and it pleased me. We went to Sir Eyre Coote's, at thegovernour's house, and found him a most gentleman-like man. His lady isa very agreeable woman, with an uncommonly mild and sweet tone of voice.There was a pretty large company: Mr. Ferne, Major Brewse, and severalofficers. Sir Eyre had come from the East-Indies by land, through theDesarts of Arabia. He told us, the Arabs could live five days withoutvictuals, and subsist for three weeks on nothing else but the blood oftheir camels, who could lose so much of it as would suffice for thattime, without being exhausted. He highly praised the virtue of theArabs; their fidelity, if they undertook to conduct any person; andsaid, they would sacrifice their lives rather than let him be robbed.Dr. Johnson, who is always for maintaining the superiority of civilizedover uncivilized men[393], said, 'Why, Sir, I can see no superiourvirtue in this. A serjeant and twelve men, who are my guard, will die,rather than that I shall be robbed.' Colonel Pennington, of the 37thregiment, took up the argument with a good deal of spirit andingenuity. PENNINGTON. 'But the soldiers are compelled to this by fearof punishment. 'JOHNSON. 'Well, Sir, the Arabs are compelled by the fearof infamy.' PENNINGTON. 'The soldiers have the same fear of infamy, andthe fear of punishment besides; so have less virtue; because they actless voluntarily.' Lady Coote observed very well, that it ought to beknown if there was not, among the Arabs, some punishment for not beingfaithful on such occasions.We talked of the stage. I observed, that we had not now such a companyof 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: youcompare them with Garrick, and see the deficiency. Garrick's greatdistinction is his universality[396]. He can represent all modes oflife, but that of an easy fine bred gentleman[397].' PENNINGTON. 'Heshould give over playing young parts.' JOHNSON. 'He does not take themnow; 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 hadgenerations of actors, if they swarmed like bees, the young ones mightdrive off the old. Mrs. Cibber[398], I think, got more reputation thanshe deserved, as she had a great sameness; though her expression wasundoubtedly very fine. Mrs. Clive[399] was the best player I ever saw.Mrs. Prichard[400] was a very good one; but she had something affectedin her manner: I imagine she had some player of the former age in hereye, which occasioned it.' Colonel Pennington said, Garrick sometimesfailed 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 theregimental 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.' Icould not help being struck with some admiration, at finding upon thisbarren sandy point, such buildings,--such a dinner,--such company: itwas like enchantment. Dr. Johnson, on the other hand, said to me morerationally, that 'it did not strike _him_ as any thing extraordinary;because he knew, here was a large sum of money expended in building afort; here was a regiment. If there had been less than what we found, itwould have surprised him.' _He_ looked coolly and deliberately throughall the gradations: my warm imagination jumped from the barren sands tothe splendid dinner and brilliant company, to borrow the expression ofan 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 excellenceof human art.We left the fort between six and seven o'clock: Sir Eyre Coote, ColonelPennington, and several more accompanied us down stairs, and saw us intoour 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 feelsomething rough in Scotland.' Sir Eyre said to him, 'You must changeyour name, Sir.' BOSWELL. 'Ay, to Dr. M'Gregor[403].' We got safely toInverness, and put up at Mackenzie's inn. Mr. Keith, the collector ofExcise 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; sothat we were at once commodiously arranged.Not finding a letter here that I expected, I felt a momentary impatienceto be at home. Transient clouds darkened my imagination, and in thoseclouds 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 wasupon an expedition for which I had wished for years, and therecollection of which would be a treasure to me for life.SUNDAY, AUGUST 29.Mr. Keith breakfasted with us. Dr. Johnson expatiated rather toostrongly upon the benefits derived to Scotland from the Union[404], andthe bad state of our people before it. I am entertained with his copiousexaggeration upon that subject; but I am uneasy when people are by, whodo not know him as well as I do, and may be apt to think himnarrow-minded[405]. I therefore diverted the subject.The English chapel, to which we went this morning, was but mean. Thealtar was a bare fir table, with a coarse stool for kneeling on, coveredwith a piece of thick sail-cloth doubled, by way of cushion. Thecongregation was small. Mr. Tait, the clergyman, read prayers very well,though with much of the Scotch accent. He preached on '_Love yourEnemies_[406].' It was remarkable that, when talking of the connectionsamongst men, he said, that some connected themselves with men ofdistinguished talents, and since they could not equal them, tried todeck themselves with their merit, by being their companions. Thesentence was to this purpose. It had an odd coincidence with what mightbe said of my connecting myself with Dr. Johnson[407].After church we walked down to the Quay. We then went to Macbeth'scastle[408]. I had a romantick satisfaction in seeing Dr. Johnsonactually in it. It perfectly corresponds with Shakspear's description,