in England who does not know that the Marquis was hanged.' Macaulay's_Essays_, ed. 1843, i. 357[810] It is observable that men of the first rank spelt very ill in thelast century. In the first of these letters I have preserved theoriginal spelling. BOSWELL.[811] See _ante,_ i., 127.[812] Muir-fowl is grouse. _Ante_ p. 44.[813] See ante, p. 162, note 1.[814] 'In Col only two houses pay the window tax; for only two have sixwindows, which, I suppose, are the laird's and Mr. Macsweyn's.'Johnson's _Works_, ix. 125. 'The window tax, as it stands at present(January 1775)...lays a duty upon every window, which in Englandaugments gradually from twopence, the lowest rate upon houses with notmore than seven windows, to two shillings, the highest rate upon houseswith twenty-five windows and upwards.' _Wealth of Nations,_ v. 2. 2 .1.The tax was first imposed in 1695, as a substitute for hearth money.Macaulay's _England,_ ed. 1874, vii. 271. It was abolished in 1851.[815] Thomas Carlyle was not fourteen when, one 'dark frosty Novembermorning,' he set off on foot for the University at Edinburgh--a distanceof nearly one hundred miles. Froude's _Carlyle_, i. 22.[816] _Ante_, p. 290.[817] _Of the Nature and Use of Lots: a Treatise historicall andtheologicall._ By Thomas Gataker. London, 1619. _The Spirituall Watch,or Christ's Generall Watch-word._ By Thomas Gataker. London, 1619.[818] See _ante_, p. 264.[819] He visited it with the Thrales on Sept. 22, 1774, when returningfrom his tour to Wales, and with Boswell in 1776 (_ante_, ii. 451).[820] Mr. Croker says that 'this, no doubt, alludes to Jacob Bryant, thesecretary or librarian at Blenheim, with whom Johnson had had perhapssome coolness now forgotten.' The supposition of the coolness seemsneedless. With so little to go upon, guessing is very hazardous.[821] Topham Beauclerk, who had married the Duke's sister, after she hadbeen divorced for adultery with him from her first husband ViscountBolingbroke. _Ante_, ii. 246, note 1.[822] See _post_, Dempster's Letter of Feb. 16, 1775.[823] See _ante_, ii. 340, where Johnson said that 'if he were agentleman of landed property, he would turn out all his tenants who didnot vote for the candidate whom he supported.'[824] See _ante_, iii. 378.[825] 'They have opinions which cannot be ranked with superstition,because they regard only natural effects. They expect better crops ofgrain by sowing their seed in the moon's increase. The moon has greatinfluence in vulgar philosophy. In my memory it was a precept annuallygiven in one of the English almanacks, "to kill hogs when the moon wasincreasing, and the bacon would prove the better in boiling."' Johnson's_Works,_ ix. 104. Bacon, in his _Natural History_(No.892) says:--'Forthe increase of moisture, the opinion received is, that seeds will growsoonest if they be set in the increase of the moon.'[826] The question which Johnson asked with such unusual warmth mighthave been answered, 'by sowing the bent, or couch grass.' WALTER SCOTT.[827] See _ante,_ i. 484.[828] See _ante_, i. 483.[829] It is remarkable, that Dr. Johnson should have read this accountof some of his own peculiar habits, without saying any thing on thesubject, which I hoped he would have done. BOSWELL. See _ante_, p. 128,note 2, and iv. 183, where Boswell 'observed he must have been a boldlaugher who would have ventured to tell Dr. Johnson of any of hispeculiarities.'[830] In this he was very unlike Swift, who, in his youth, whentravelling in England, 'generally chose to dine with waggoners,hostlers, and persons of that rank; and he used to lie at night inhouses where he found written of the door _Lodgings for a penny_. Hedelighted in scenes of low life.' Lord Orrery's _Swift_, ed. 1752,p. 33.[831] This is from the _Jests of Hierocles._ CROKER.[832] 'The grave a gay companion shun.' FRANCIS. Horace, 1 _Epis._xviii. 89.[833] Boswell in 1776 found that 'oats were much used as food in Dr.Johnson's own town.' _Ante_, ii. 463.[834] _Ante_, i. 294.[835] See _ante_, ii. 258.[836] 'The richness of the round steep green knolls, clothed with copse,and glancing with cascades, and a pleasant peep at a small fresh-waterloch embosomed among them--the view of the bay, surrounded and guardedby the island of Colvay--the gliding of two or three vessels in the moredistant Sound--and the row of the gigantic Ardnamurchan mountainsclosing the scene to the north, almost justify the eulogium ofSacheverell, [_post,_ p. 336] who, in 1688, declared the bay ofTobermory might equal any prospect in Italy.' Lockhart's _Scott,_iv. 338.[837] 'The saying of the old philosopher who observes, that he who wantsleast is most like the gods who want nothing, was a favourite sentencewith Dr. Johnson, who, on his own part, required less attendance, sickor well, than ever I saw any human creature. Conversation was all herequired to make him happy.' Piozzi's _Anec._ p. 275.[838] _Remarks on Several Parts of Italy_ (_ante_, ii. 346). Johnson(_Works_, vii. 424) says of these _Travels_:--'Of many parts it is not avery severe censure to say that they might have been written at home.'He adds that 'the book, though awhile neglected, became in time so muchthe favourite of the publick, that before it was reprinted it rose tofive times its price.'[839] See _ante_, iii. 254, and iv. 237.[840] Johnson (_Works_, viii. 320) says of Pope that 'he had before himnot only what his own meditation suggested, but what he had found inother writers that might be _accomodated_ to his present purpose.'Boswell's use of the word is perhaps derived, as Mr. Croker suggests,from _accommoder_, in the sense of _dressing up or cooking meats_. Thisword occurs in an amusing story that Boswell tells in one of hisHypochondriacks (_London Mag_. 1779, p. 55):--'A friend of mine told methat he engaged a French cook for Sir B. Keen, when ambassador in Spain,and when he asked the fellow if he had ever dressed any magnificentdinners the answer was:--"Monsieur, j'ai accommode un diner qui faisaittrembler toute la France."' Scott, in _Guy Mannering_ (ed. 1860, iii.138), describes 'Miss Bertram's solicitude to soothe and _accommodate_her parent.' See _ante_, iv. 39, note 1, for '_accommodated_ theladies.' To sum up, we may say with Justice Shallow:--'Accommodated! itcomes of _accommodo_; very good; a good phrase.' 2 _Henry IV_, actiii. sc. 2.[841] 'Louis Moreri, ne en Provence, en 1643. On ne s'attendait pas quel'auteur du _Pays d'amour_, et le traducteur de _Rodriguez_, entrepritdans sa jeunesse le premier dictionnaire de faits qu'on eut encore vu.Ce grand travail lui couta la vie... Mort en 1680.' Voltaire's _Works_,ed. 1819, xvii. 133.[842] Johnson looked upon _Ana_ as an English word, for he gives it inhis _Dictionary_.[843] I take leave to enter my strongest protest against this judgement._Bossuet_ I hold to be one of the first luminaries of religion andliterature. If there are who do not read him, it is full time theyshould begin. BOSWELL.[844]Just in the gate, and in the jaws of hell,Revengeful cares, and sullen sorrows dwell;And pale diseases, and repining age;Want, fear, and famine's unresisted rage;Here toils and death, and death's half-brother, sleep,Forms terrible to view their sentry keep.Dryden, _Aeneid_, vi. 273. BOSWELL. Voltaire, in his Essay _Sur lesinconveniens attaches a la Litterature_ (_Works_, xliii. 173),says:--'Enfin, apres un an de refus et de negociations, votre ouvrages'imprime; c'est alors qu'il faut ou assoupir les _Cerberes_ de lalitterature ou les faire aboyer en votre faveur.' He therefore carrieson the resemblance one step further,--'Cerberus haec ingens latratu regna trifauci Personat.' _Aeneid_, vi.417.[845] It was in 1763 that Boswell made Johnson's acquaintance. _Ante_,i. 391.[846] It is no small satisfaction to me to reflect, that Dr. Johnsonread this, and, after being apprized of my intention, communicated tome, at subsequent periods, many particulars of his life, which probablycould not otherwise have been preserved. BOSWELL. See _ante_, i. 26.[847] Though Mull is, as Johnson says, the third island of the Hebridesin extent, there was no post there. _Piozzi Letters_, i. 170.[848] This observation is very just. The time for the Hebrides was toolate by a month or six weeks. I have heard those who remembered theirtour express surprise they were not drowned. WALTER SCOTT.[849] _ The Charmer, a Collection of Songs Scotch and English._Edinburgh, 1749.[850] By Thomas Willis, M.D. It was published in 1672. 'In this work hemaintains that the soul of brutes is like the vital principle in man,that it is corporeal in its nature and perishes with the body. Althoughthe book was dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury, his orthodoxy, amatter that Willis regarded much, was called in question.' Knight's_Eng. Cyclo_. vi. 741. Burnet speaks of him as 'Willis, the greatphysician.' _History of his Own Time_, ed. 1818, i. 254. See _Wood'sAthenae_, iii. 1048.[851] See _ante_, ii. 409 and iii. 242, where he said:--'Had I learnt tofiddle, I should have done nothing else.'[852] _Ante_, p. 277.[853] _Ante_, p. 181.[854] Mr. Langton thinks this must have been the hasty expression of asplenetick moment, as he has heard Dr. Johnson speak of Mr. Spence'sjudgment in criticism with so high a degree of respect, as to shew thatthis was not his settled opinion of him. Let me add that, in the prefaceto the _Preceptor_, he recommends Spence's _Essay on Papers Odyssey_,and that his admirable _Lives of the English Poets_ are much enriched bySpence's Anecdotes of Pope. BOSWELL. For the _Preceptor_ see _ante_, i.192, and Johnson's _Works_, v. 240. Johnson, in his _Life of Pope (ib_.viii. 274), speaks of Spence as 'a man whose learning was not verygreat, and whose mind was not very powerful. His criticism, however, wascommonly just; what he thought he thought rightly; and his remarks wererecommended by his coolness and candour.' See _ante_, iv. 9, 63.[855] 'She was the only interpreter of Erse poetry that I could everfind.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 134. See _ante_, p. 241.[856] 'After a journey difficult and tedious, over rocks naked andvalleys untracked, through a country of barrenness and solitude, wecame, almost in the dark, to the sea-side, weary and dejected, havingmet with nothing but waters falling from the mountains that could raiseany image of delight.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 170. 'It is natural, intraversing this gloom of desolation, to inquire, whether something maynot be done to give nature a more cheerful face.' Johnson's _Works_,ix. 136.[857] _Ante_, p. 19.[858] See _ante_, i. 521.[859] See _ante_, p. 212.[860] Sir William Blackstone says, in his _Commentaries_, that 'hecannot find that ever this custom prevailed in England;' and thereforehe is of opinion that it could not have given rise to _Borough-English_.BOSWELL. 'I cannot learn that ever this custom prevailed in England,though it certainly did in Scotland (under the name of _mercketa_ or_marcheta_), till abolished by Malcolm III.' _Commentaries_, ed. 1778,ii. 83. Sir H. Maine, in his _Early History of Institutions_, p. 222,writes:--'Other authors, as Blackstone tells us, explained it ["BoroughEnglish"] by a supposed right of the Seigneur or lord, now verygenerally regarded as apocryphal, which raised a presumption of theeldest son's illegitimacy.'[861] 'Macquarry was used to demand a sheep, for which he now takes acrown, by that inattention to the uncertain proportion between the valueand the denomination of money, which has brought much disorder intoEurope. A sheep has always the same power of supplying human wants, buta crown will bring, at one time more, at another less'. Johnson's_Works_, ix. 139.[862] 'The house and the furniture are not always nicely suited. We weredriven once, by missing a passage, to the hut of a gentleman, where,after a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my chamber, I foundan elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine sheets. Theaccommodation was flattering; I undressed myself, and felt my feet inthe mire. The bed stood upon the bare earth, which a long course of rainhad softened to a puddle.' _Works_, ix. 98.[863] Inchkenneth is a most beautiful little islet, of the most verdantgreen, while all the neighbouring shore of Greban, as well as the largeislands of Colinsay and Ulva, are as black as heath and moss can makethem. But Ulva has a good anchorage, and Inchkenneth is surrounded byshoals. It is now uninhabited. The ruins of the huts, in which Dr.Johnson was received by Sir Allan M'Lean, were still to be seen, andsome tatters of the paper hangings were to be seen on the walls. Sir G.O. Paul was at Inchkenneth with the same party of which I was a member.[See Lockhart's _Scott_, ed. 1839, iii. 285.] He seemed to suspect manyof the Highland tales which he heard, but he showed most incredulity onthe subject of Johnson's having been entertained in the wretched huts ofwhich we saw the ruins. He took me aside, and conjured me to tell himthe truth of the matter. 'This Sir Allan,' said he, 'was he a _regularbaronet_, or was his title such a traditional one as you find inIreland?' I assured my excellent acquaintance that, 'for my own part, Iwould have paid more respect to a knight of Kerry, or knight of Glynn;yet Sir Allan M'Lean was a _regular baronet_ by patent;' and, havinggiving him this information, I took the liberty of asking him, inreturn, whether he would not in conscience prefer the worst cell in thejail at Gloucester (which he had been very active in overlooking whilethe building was going on) to those exposed hovels where Johnson hadbeen entertained by rank and beauty. He looked round the little islet,and allowed Sir Allan had some advantage in exercising ground; but inother respects he thought the compulsory tenants of Gloucester hadgreatly the advantage. Such was his opinion of a place, concerning whichJohnson has recorded that 'it wanted little which palaces could afford.'WALTER SCOTT.[864] 'Sir Allan's affairs are in disorder by the fault of hisancestors, and while he forms some scheme for retrieving them he hasretreated hither.' _Piozzi Letters_ i. 172.[865] By Francis Gastrell, Bishop of Chester, published in 1707.[866] _Travels through different cities of Germany, &c.,_, by AlexanderDrummond. Horace Walpole, on April 24, 1754 (_Letters_, ii. 381),mentions 'a very foolish vulgar book of travels, lately published by oneDrummond, consul at Aleppo.'[867] _ Physico-Theology; or a Demonstration of the Being and Attributesof God from his Works of Creation._ By William Derham, D.D., 1713.Voltaire, in _Micromegas,_ ch. I, speaking of 'l'illustre vicaireDerham' says:--'Malheureusement, lui et ses imitateurs se trompentsouvent dans l'exposition de ces merveilles; ils s'extasient sur lasagesse qui se montre dans l'ordre d'un phenomene et on decouvre que cephenomene est tout different de ce qu'ils ont suppose; alors c'est cenouvel ordre qui leur parait un chef d'oeuvre de sagesse.'[868] This work was published in 1774. Johnson said on March 20, 1776(_ante_, ii. 447), 'that he believed Campbell's disappointment onaccount of the bad success of that work had killed him.'[869] Johnson said of Campbell:--'I am afraid he has not been in theinside of a church for many years; but he never passes a church withoutpulling off his hat. This shows that he has good principles.' _Ante_,i. 418.[870] _New horse-shoeing Husbandry_, by Jethro Tull, 1733.[871] 'He owned he sometimes talked for victory.' _Ante_, iv. 111, andv. 17.[872] 'They said that a great family had a _bard_ and a _senachi_, whowere the poet and historian of the house; and an old gentleman told methat he remembered one of each. Here was a dawn of intelligence....Another conversation informed me that the same man was both bard andsenachi. This variation discouraged me.... Soon after I was told by agentleman, who is generally acknowledged the greatest master ofHebridian antiquities, that there had, indeed, once been both bards andsenachies; and that _senachi_ signified _the man of talk_, or ofconversation; but that neither bard nor senachi had existed for somecenturies.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 109.[873] See _ante_, iii. 41, 327[874] 'Towards evening Sir Allan told us that Sunday never passed overhim like another day. One of the ladies read, and read very well, theevening service;--"and Paradise was opened in the wild."' _PiozziLetters_, i. 173. The quotation is from Pope's _Eloisa to Abelard_,l. 134:--'You raised these hallowed walls; the desert smil'd,And Paradise was open'd in the wild.'[875] He sent these verses to Boswell in 1775. _Ante_ ii. 293.[876] Boswell wrote to Johnson on Feb. 2, 1775, (_ante_, ii. 295):--'LordHailes bids me tell you he doubts whether--"Legitimas faciunt pectora pura preces,"be according to the rubrick, but that is your concern; for you know, heis a Presbyterian.'[877] In Johnson's _Works_, i. 167, these lines are given withamendments and additions, mostly made by Johnson, but some, Mr. Crokerbelieves, by Mr. Langton. In the following copy the variations aremarked in italics.INSULA KENNETHI, INTER HEBRIDAS.Parva quidem regio sed religione priorum_Clara_ Caledonias panditur inter aquas.Voce ubi Cennethus populos domuisse ferocesDicitur, et vanos dedocuisse deos.Huc ego delatus placido per caerula cursu,Scire _locus_ volui quid daret _iste_ novi.Illic Leniades humili regnabat in aula,Leniades, magnis nobilitatus avis.Una duas _cepit_ casa cum genitore puellas,Quas Amor undarum _crederet_ esse deas._Nec_ tamen inculti gelidis latuere sub antris,Accola Danubii qualia saevus habet.Mollia non _desunt_ vacuae solatia vitaeSive libros poscant otia, sive lyram._Fulserat_ illa dies, legis _qua_ docta supernaeSpes hominum _et_ curas _gens_ procul esse jubet._Ut precibus justas avertat numinis iras,Et summi accendat pectus amore boni._Ponti inter strepitus _non sacri_ munera cultusCessarunt, pietas hic quoque cura fuit._Nil opus est oeris sacra de turre sonantisAdmonitu, ipsa suas nunciat hora vices._Quid, quod sacrifici versavit foemina libros?_Sint pro legitimis pura labella sacris._Quo vagor ulterius? quod ubique requiritur hic est,Hic secura quies, hic et honestus amor.Mr. Croker says of the third line from the end, that in a copy of theseverses in Johnson's own hand which he had seen, 'Johnson hadfirst written_Sunt pro legitimis pectora pura sacris._He then wrote