约翰逊4-6-63

now made for their learning. To be a bishop, a man must be learned in alearned age,--factious in a factious age; but always of eminence[251].Warburton is an exception; though his learning alone did not raise him.He was first an antagonist to Pope, and helped Theobald to publish his_Shakspeare_; but, seeing Pope the rising man, when Crousaz attacked his_Essay on Man_, for some faults which it has, and some which it has not,Warburton defended it in the Review of that time[252]. This brought himacquainted with Pope, and he gained his friendship. Pope introduced himto Allen, Allen married him to his niece: so, by Allen's interest andhis own, he was made a bishop[253]. But then his learning was the _sinequa non_: he knew how to make the most of it; but I do not find by anydishonest means.' MONBODDO. 'He is a great man.' JOHNSON. 'Yes; he hasgreat knowledge,--great power of mind. Hardly any man brings greatervariety of learning to bear upon his point[254].' MONBODDO. 'He is oneof the greatest lights of your church.' JOHNSON. 'Why, we are not sosure of his being very friendly to us[255]. He blazes, if you will, butthat is not always the steadiest light. Lowth is another bishop who hasrisen by his learning.'Dr. Johnson examined young Arthur, Lord Monboddo's son, in Latin. Heanswered very well; upon which he said, with complacency, 'Get you gone!When King James comes back[256], you shall be in the _Muses Welcome_!'My lord and Dr. Johnson disputed a little, whether the Savage or theLondon Shopkeeper had the best existence; his lordship, as usual,preferring the Savage. My lord was extremely hospitable, and I saw bothDr. Johnson and him liking each other better every hour.Dr. Johnson having retired for a short time, his lordship spoke of hisconversation as I could have wished. Dr. Johnson had said, 'I have donegreater feats with my knife than this;' though he had eaten a veryhearty dinner. My lord, who affects or believes he follows anabstemious system, seemed struck with Dr. Johnson's manner of living. Ihad a particular satisfaction in being under the roof of Monboddo, mylord being my father's old friend, and having been always very good tome. We were cordial together. He asked Dr. Johnson and me to stay allnight. When I said we _must_ be at Aberdeen, he replied, 'Well, I amlike the Romans: I shall say to you, "Happy to come;--happy to depart!"'He thanked Dr. Johnson for his visit.JOHNSON. 'I little thought, when I had the honour to meet your Lordshipin London, that I should see you at Monboddo.'After dinner, as the ladies[257] were going away, Dr. Johnson wouldstand up. He insisted that politeness was of great consequence insociety. 'It is, (said he,) fictitious benevolence[258]. It supplies theplace of it amongst those who see each other only in publick, or butlittle. Depend upon it, the want of it never fails to produce somethingdisagreeable to one or other. I have always applied to good breeding,what Addison in his _Cato_[259] says of honour:--"Honour's a sacred tie; the law of Kings;The noble mind's distinguishing perfection,That aids and strengthens Virtue where it meets her;And imitates her actions where she is not."'When he took up his large oak stick, he said, 'My lord, that's_Homerick_[260];' thus pleasantly alluding to his lordship'sfavourite writer.Gory, my lord's black servant, was sent as our guide, to conduct us tothe high road. The circumstance of each of them having a black servantwas another point of similarity between Johnson and Monboddo. Iobserved how curious it was to see an African in the North of Scotland,with little or no difference of manners from those of the natives. Dr.Johnson laughed to see Gory and Joseph riding together most cordially.'Those two fellows, (said he,) one from Africa, the other from Bohemia,seem quite at home.' He was much pleased with Lord Monboddo to-day. Hesaid, he would have pardoned him for a few paradoxes, when he found hehad so much that was good: but that, from his appearance in London, hethought him all paradox; which would not do. He observed that hislordship had talked no paradoxes to-day. 'And as to the savage and theLondon shopkeeper, (said he,) I don't know but I might have taken theside of the savage equally, had any body else taken the side of theshopkeeper.[261]' He had said to my lord, in opposition to the value ofthe savage's courage, that it was owing to his limited power ofthinking, and repeated Pope's verses, in which 'Macedonia's madman' isintroduced, and the conclusion is,'Yet ne'er looks forward farther than his nose[262].'I objected to the last phrase, as being low. JOHNSON. 'Sir, it isintended to be low: it is satire. The expression is debased, to debasethe character.'When Gory was about to part from us, Dr. Johnson called to him, 'Mr.Gory, give me leave to ask you a question! are you baptised?' Gory toldhim he was, and confirmed by the Bishop of Durham. He then gave hima shilling.We had tedious driving this afternoon, and were somewhat drowsy. Lastnight I was afraid Dr. Johnson was beginning to faint in his resolution;for he said, 'If we must ride much, we shall not go; and there's an endon't.' To-day, when he talked of _Sky_ with spirit, I said, 'Why, Sir,you seemed to me to despond yesterday. You are a delicate Londoner;--youare a maccaroni[263]; you can't ride.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I shall ridebetter than you. I was only afraid I should not find a horse able tocarry me.' I hoped then there would be no fear of getting through ourwild Tour.We came to Aberdeen at half an hour past eleven. The New Inn, we weretold, was full. This was comfortless. The waiter, however, asked, if oneof our names was Boswell, and brought me a letter left at the inn: itwas from Mr. Thrale, enclosing one to Dr. Johnson[264]. Finding who Iwas, we were told they would contrive to lodge us by putting us for anight into a room with two beds. The waiter said to me in the broadstrong Aberdeenshire dialect, 'I thought I knew you by your likeness toyour father.' My father puts up at the New Inn, when on his circuit.Little was said to-night. I was to sleep in a little press-bed in Dr.Johnson's room. I had it wheeled out into the dining-room, and there Ilay very well.SUNDAY, AUGUST 22.I sent a message to Professor Thomas Gordon, who came and breakfastedwith us. He had secured seats for us at the English chapel. We found arespectable congregation, and an admirable organ, well played byMr. Tait.We walked down to the shore: Dr. Johnson laughed to hear that Cromwell'ssoldiers taught the Aberdeen people to make shoes and stockings, and toplant cabbages[265]. He asked, if weaving the plaids[266] was ever adomestick art in the Highlands, like spinning or knitting. They couldnot inform him here. But he conjectured probably, that where peoplelived so remote from each other, it was likely to be a domestick art; aswe see it was among the ancients, from Penelope. I was sensible to-day,to an extraordinary degree, of Dr. Johnson's excellent Englishpronunciation. I cannot account for its striking me more now than anyother day: but it was as if new to me; and I listened to every sentencewhich he spoke, as to a musical composition. Professor Gordon gave himan account of the plan of education in his college. Dr. Johnson said, itwas similar to that at Oxford. Waller the poet's great-grandson wasstudying here. Dr. Johnson wondered that a man should send his son sofar off, when there were so many good schools in England[267]. He said,'At a great school there is all the splendour and illumination of manyminds; the radiance of all is concentrated in each, or at leastreflected upon each. But we must own that neither a dull boy, nor anidle boy, will do so well at a great school as at a private one. For ata great school there are always boys enough to do well easily, who aresufficient to keep up the credit of the school; and after whipping beingtried to no purpose, the dull or idle boys are left at the end of aclass, having the appearance of going through the course, but learningnothing at all[268]. Such boys may do good at a private school, whereconstant attention is paid to them, and they are watched. So that thequestion of publick or private education is not properly a general one;but whether one or the other is best for _my son_.' We were told thepresent Mr. Waller was a plain country gentleman; and his son would besuch another. I observed, a family could not expect a poet but in ahundred generations. 'Nay, (said Dr. Johnson,) not one family in ahundred can expect a poet in a hundred generations.' He then repeatedDryden's celebrated lines,'Three poets in three distant ages born,' &c.and a part of a Latin translation of it done at Oxford[269]: he did notthen say by whom.He received a card from Sir Alexander Gordon, who had been hisacquaintance twenty years ago in London, and who, 'if forgiven for notanswering a line from him,' would come in the afternoon. Dr. Johnsonrejoiced to hear of him, and begged he would come and dine with us. Iwas much pleased to see the kindness with which Dr. Johnson received hisold friend Sir Alexander[270]; a gentleman of good family, _Lismore_,but who had not the estate. The King's College here made him Professorof Medicine, which affords him a decent subsistence. He told us that thevalue of the stockings exported from Aberdeen was, in peace, a hundredthousand pounds; and amounted, in time of war, to one hundred andseventy thousand pounds. Dr. Johnson asked, What made the difference?Here we had a proof of the comparative sagacity of the two professors.Sir Alexander answered, 'Because there is more occasion for them inwar.' Professor Thomas Gordon answered, 'Because the Germans, who areour great rivals in the manufacture of stockings, are otherwise employedin time of war.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, you have given a very good solution.'At dinner, Dr. Johnson ate several plate-fulls of Scotch broth, withbarley and peas in it, and seemed very fond of the dish. I said, 'Younever ate it before.' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir; but I don't care how soon I eatit again[271].' My cousin, Miss Dallas, formerly of Inverness, wasmarried to Mr. Riddoch, one of the ministers of the English chapel here.He was ill, and confined to his room; but she sent us a kind invitationto tea, which we all accepted. She was the same lively, sensible,cheerful woman as ever. Dr. Johnson here threw out some jokes againstScotland. He said, 'You go first to Aberdeen; then to _Enbru_ (theScottish pronunciation of Edinburgh); then to Newcastle, to be polishedby the colliers; then to York; then to London.' And he laid hold of alittle girl, Stuart Dallas, niece to Mrs. Riddoch, and, representinghimself as a giant, said, he would take her with him! telling her, in ahollow voice, that he lived in a cave, and had a bed in the rock, andshe should have a little bed cut opposite to it!He thus treated the point, as to prescription of murder inScotland[272]. 'A jury in England would make allowance for deficienciesof evidence, on account of lapse of time; but a general rule that acrime should not be punished, or tried for the purpose of punishment,after twenty years, is bad. It is cant to talk of the King's advocatedelaying a prosecution from malice. How unlikely is it the King'sadvocate should have malice against persons who commit murder, or shouldeven know them at all. If the son of the murdered man should kill themurderer who got off merely by prescription, I would help him to makehis escape; though, were I upon his jury, I would not acquit him. Iwould not advise him to commit such an act. On the contrary, I would bidhim submit to the determination of society, because a man is bound tosubmit to the inconveniences of it, as he enjoys the good: but theyoung man, though politically wrong, would not be morally wrong. Hewould have to say, 'here I am amongst barbarians, who not only refuse todo justice, but encourage the greatest of all crimes. I am therefore ina state of nature: for, so far as there is no law, it is a state ofnature: and consequently, upon the eternal and immutable law of justice,which requires that he who sheds man's blood should have his bloodshed[273], I will stab the murderer of my father.'We went to our inn, and sat quietly. Dr. Johnson borrowed, at Mr.Riddoch's, a volume of _Massillon's Discourses on the Psalms_: but Ifound he read little in it. Ogden too he sometimes took up, and glancedat; but threw it down again. I then entered upon religious conversation.Never did I see him in a better frame: calm, gentle, wise, holy. I said,'Would not the same objection hold against the Trinity as againstTransubstantiation?' 'Yes, (said he,) if you take three and one in thesame sense. If you do so, to be sure you cannot believe it: but thethree persons in the Godhead are Three in one sense, and One in another.We cannot tell how; and that is the mystery!'I spoke of the satisfaction of Christ. He said his notion was, that itdid not atone for the sins of the world; but, by satisfying divinejustice, by shewing that no less than the Son of God suffered for sin,it shewed to men and innumerable created beings, the heinousness of it,and therefore rendered it unnecessary for divine vengeance to beexercised against sinners, as it otherwise must have been; that in thisway it might operate even in favour of those who had never heard of it:as to those who did hear of it, the effect it should produce would berepentance and piety, by impressing upon the mind a just notion of sin:that original sin was the propensity to evil, which no doubt wasoccasioned by the fall. He presented this solemn subject in a new lightto me[274], and rendered much more rational and clear the doctrine ofwhat our Saviour has done for us;--as it removed the notion of imputedrighteousness in co-operating; whereas by this view, Christ has done allalready that he had to do, or is ever to do for mankind, by making hisgreat satisfaction; the consequences of which will affect eachindividual according to the particular conduct of each. I wouldillustrate this by saying, that Christ's satisfaction resembles a sunplaced to shew light to men, so that it depends upon themselves whetherthey will walk the right way or not, which they could not have donewithout that sun, '_the sun of righteousness_[275]' There is, however,more in it than merely giving light--_a light to lighten theGentiles_[276]: for we are told, there _is healing under hiswings_[277]. Dr. Johnson said to me, 'Richard Baxter commends atreatise by Grotius, _De Satisfactione Christi_. I have never read it:but I intend to read it; and you may read it.' I remarked, upon theprinciple now laid down, we might explain the difficult and seeminglyhard text, 'They that believe shall be saved; and they that believe notshall be damned[278]:' They that believe shall have such an impressionmade upon their minds, as will make them act so that they may beaccepted by GOD.We talked of one of our friends[279] taking ill, for a length of time, ahasty expression of Dr. Johnson's to him, on his attempting to prosecutea subject that had a reference to religion, beyond the bounds withinwhich the Doctor thought such topicks should be confined in a mixedcompany. JOHNSON. 'What is to become of society, if a friendship oftwenty years is to be broken off for such a cause?' As Bacon says,'Who then to frail mortality shall trust,But limns the water, or but writes in dust[280].'I said, he should write expressly in support of Christianity; for that,although a reverence for it shines through his works in several places,that is not enough. 'You know, (said I,) what Grotius has done, and whatAddison has done[281].--You should do also.' He replied, 'I hopeI shall.'MONDAY, AUGUST 23.Principal Campbell, Sir Alexander Gordon, Professor Gordon, andProfessor Ross, visited us in the morning, as did Dr. Gerard, who hadcome six miles from the country on purpose. We went and saw theMarischal College[282], and at one o'clock we waited on the magistratesin the town hall, as they had invited us in order to present Dr. Johnsonwith the freedom of the town, which Provost Jopp did with a very goodgrace. Dr. Johnson was much pleased with this mark of attention, andreceived it very politely. There was a pretty numerous companyassembled. It was striking to hear all of them drinking 'Dr. Johnson!Dr. Johnson!' in the town-hall of Aberdeen, and then to see him withhis burgess-ticket, or diploma[283], in his hat, which he wore as hewalked along the street, according to the usual custom. It gave me greatsatisfaction to observe the regard, and indeed fondness too, which everybody here had for my father.While Sir Alexander Gordon conducted Dr. Johnson to old Aberdeen,Professor Gordon and I called on Mr. Riddoch, whom I found to be a graveworthy clergyman. He observed, that, whatever might be said of Dr.Johnson while he was alive, he would, after he was dead, be looked uponby the world with regard and astonishment, on account of his_Dictionary_.Professor Gordon and I walked over to the Old College, which Dr. Johnsonhad seen by this time. I stepped into the chapel, and looked at the tombof the founder, Archbishop Elphinston[284], of whom I shall haveoccasion to write in my _History of James IV. of Scotland_, the patronof my family[285]. We dined at Sir Alexander Gordon's. The Provost,Professor Ross, Professor Dunbar, Professor Thomas Gordon, were there.After dinner came in Dr. Gerard, Professor Leslie[286], ProfessorMacleod. We had little or no conversation in the morning; now we werebut barren. The professors seemed afraid to speak[287].Dr. Gerard told us that an eminent printer[288] was very intimate withWarburton. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, he has printed some of his works, andperhaps bought the property of some of them. The intimacy is such as oneof the professors here may have with one of the carpenters who isrepairing the college.' 'But, (said Gerard,) I saw a letter from him tothis printer, in which he says, that the one half of the clergy of thechurch of Scotland are fanaticks, and the other half infidels.' JOHNSON.'Warburton has accustomed himself to write letters just as he speaks,without thinking any more of what he throws out[289]. When I readWarburton first, and observed his force, and his contempt of mankind, Ithought he had driven the world before him; but I soon found that wasnot the case; for Warburton, by extending his abuse, rendered itineffectual[290].'He told me, when we were by ourselves, that he thought it very wrong inthe printer to shew Warburton's letter, as it was raising a body ofenemies against him. He thought it foolish in Warburton to write so tothe printer; and added, 'Sir, the worst way of being intimate, is byscribbling.' He called Warburton's _Doctrine of Grace_[291] a poorperformance, and so he said was Wesley's Answer[292]. 'Warburton, heobserved, had laid himself very open. In particular, he was weak enoughto say, that, in some disorders of the imagination, people had spokenwith tongues, had spoken languages which they never knew before; a thingas absurd as to say, that, in some disorders of the imagination, peoplehad been known to fly.'I talked of the difference of genius, to try if I could engage Gerard ina disquisition with Dr. Johnson; but I did not succeed. I mentioned, asa curious fact, that Locke had written verses. JOHNSON. 'I know of none,Sir, but a kind of exercise prefixed to Dr. Sydenham's Works[293], inwhich he has some conceits about the dropsy, in which water and burningare united; and how Dr. Sydenham removed fire by drawing off water,contrary to the usual practice, which is to extinguish fire by bringingwater upon it. I am not sure that there is a word of all this; but it issuch kind of talk[294].' We spoke of _Fingal_[295]. Dr. Johnson saidcalmly, 'If the poems were really translated, they were certainly firstwritten down. Let Mr. Macpherson deposite the manuscript in one of thecolleges at Aberdeen, where there are people who can judge; and, if theprofessors certify the authenticity, then there will be an end of thecontroversy. If he does not take this obvious and easy method, he givesthe best reason to doubt; considering too, how much is against it_a priori'_.We sauntered after dinner in Sir Alexander's garden, and saw his littlegrotto, which is hung with pieces of poetry written in a fair hand. Itwas agreeable to observe the contentment and kindness of this quiet,benevolent man. Professor Macleod was brother to Macleod of Talisker,and brother-in-law to the Laird of Col. He gave me a letter to youngCol. I was weary of this day, and began to think wishfully of beingagain in motion. I was uneasy to think myself too fastidious, whilst Ifancied Dr. Johnson quite satisfied. But he owned to me that he wasfatigued and teased by Sir Alexander's doing too much to entertain him.I said, it was all kindness. JOHNSON. 'True, Sir; but sensation issensation.' BOSWELL. 'It is so: we feel pain equally from the surgeon'sprobe, as from the sword of the foe.'We visited two booksellers' shops, and could not find Arthur Johnston'sPoems'[296]. We went and sat near an hour at Mr. Riddoch's. He couldnot tell distinctly how much education at the college here costs[297],which disgusted Dr. Johnson. I had pledged myself that we should go tothe inn, and not stay supper. They pressed us, but he was resolute. Isaw Mr. Riddoch did not please him. He said to me, afterwards, 'Sir, hehas no vigour in his talk.' But my friend should have considered that hehimself was not in good humour; so that it was not easy to talk to hissatisfaction. We sat contentedly at our inn. He then became merry, andobserved how little we had either heard or said at Aberdeen: that theAberdonians had not started a single _mawkin_ (the Scottish word forhare) for us to pursue[298].TUESDAY, AUGUST 24.We set out about eight in the morning, and breakfasted at Ellon. Thelandlady said to me, 'Is not this the great Doctor that is going aboutthrough the country?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Ay, (said she) we heard of him. Imade an errand into the room on purpose to see him. There's somethinggreat in his appearance: it is a pleasure to have such a man in one'shouse; a man who does so much good. If I had thought of it, I would haveshewn him a child of mine, who has had a lump on his throat for sometime.' 'But, (said I,) he is not a doctor of physick.' 'Is he anoculist?' said the landlord. 'No, (said I,) he is only a very learnedman.' LANDLORD. 'They say he is the greatest man in England, except LordMansfield[299].' Dr. Johnson was highly entertained with this, and I dothink he was pleased too. He said, 'I like the exception: to have calledme the greatest man in England, would have been an unmeaning compliment:but the exception marked that the praise was in earnest: and, in_Scotland_, the exception must be _Lord Mansfield_, or--_Sir JohnPringle_[300].'