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upon you!_'[47] Wesley, when at Edinburgh in May, 1761, writes:--'How can it besuffered that all manner of filth should still be thrown even into thisstreet [High Street] continually? How long shall the capital city ofScotland, yea, and the chief street of it, stink worse than a commonsewer?' Wesley's _Journal_, iii. 52. Baretti (_Journey from London toGenoa_, ii.255) says that this was the universal practice in Madrid in1760. He was driven out of that town earlier than he had intended toleave it by the dreadful stench. A few years after his visit the Kingmade a reform, so that it became 'one of the cleanest towns in Europe.'_Ib_. p 258. Smollett in _Humphry Clinker_ makes Matthew Bramble say(Letter of July 18):--'The inhabitants of Edinburgh are apt to imaginethe disgust that we avow is little better than affectation.'[48] 'Most of their buildings are very mean; and the whole town bearssome resemblance to the old part of Birmingham.' _PiozziLetters_, i. 109.[49] See _ante_, i. 313.[50] Miss Burney, describing her first sight of Johnson, says:--'Uponasking my father why he had not prepared us for such uncouth, untowardstrangeness, he laughed heartily, and said he had entirely forgottenthat the same impression had been at first made upon himself; but hadbeen lost even on the second interview.' _Memoirs of Dr. Burney_, ii.91.[51] See _post_, Aug. 22.[52] see _ante_, iii. 216.[53] Boswell writes, in his _Hypochondriacks_:--'Naturally somewhatsingular, independent of any additions which affectation and vanity mayperhaps have made, I resolved to have a more pleasing species ofmarriage than common, and bargained with my bride that I should not bebound to live with her longer than I really inclined; and that wheneverI tired of her domestic society I should be at liberty to give it up.Eleven years have elapsed, and I have never yet wished to take advantageof my stipulated privilege.' _London Mag_. 1781, p.136. See _ante_, ii.140, note 1.[54] Sir Walter Scott was two years old this day. He was born in a houseat the head of the College Wynd. When Johnson and Boswell returned toEdinburgh Jeffrey was a baby there seventeen days old. Some seventeen oreighteen years later 'he had the honour of assisting to carry thebiographer of Johnson, in a state of great intoxication, to bed. Forthis he was rewarded next morning by Mr. Boswell clapping his head, andtelling him that he was a very promising lad, and that if "you go on asyou've begun, you may live to be a Bozzy yourself yet."' Cockburn's_Jeffrey_, i. 33.[55] He was one of Boswell's executors, and as such was in partresponsible for the destruction of his manuscripts. _Ante_, iii. 301,note i. It is to his _Life of Dr. Beattie_ that Scott alludes in theIntroduction to the fourth Canto of _Marmion_:--'Scarce had lamented Forbes paidThe tribute to his Minstrel's shade;The tale of friendship scarce was told,Ere the narrator's heart was cold--Far may we search before we findA heart so manly and so kind.'It is only of late years that _Forbes_ has generally ceased to be adissyllable.[56] The saint's name of _Veronica_ was introduced into our familythrough my great grandmother Veronica, Countess of Kincardine, a Dutchlady of the noble house of Sommelsdyck, of which there is a full accountin Bayle's _Dictionary_. The family had once a princely right inSurinam. The governour of that settlement was appointed by the StatesGeneral, the town of Amsterdam, and Sommelsdyck. The States General haveacquired Sommelsdyck's right; but the family has still great dignity andopulence, and by intermarriages is connected with many other noblefamilies. When I was at the Hague, I was received with all the affectionof kindred. The present Sommelsdyck has an important charge in theRepublick, and is as worthy a man as lives. He has honoured me with hiscorrespondence for these twenty years. My great grandfather, the husbandof Countess Veronica, was Alexander, Earl of Kincardine, that eminent_Royalist_ whose character is given by Burnet in his _History of his ownTimes_. From him the blood of _Bruce_ flows in my veins. Of suchancestry who would not be proud? And, as _Nihil est, nisi hoc sciatalter_, is peculiarly true of genealogy, who would not be glad to seizea fair opportunity to let it be known. BOSWELL. Boswell visited Hollandin 1763. _Ante_, i. 473. Burnet says that 'the Earl was both the wisestand the worthiest man that belonged to his country, and fit forgoverning any affairs but his own; which he by a wrong turn, and by hislove for the public, neglected to his ruin. His thoughts went slow andhis words came much slower; but a deep judgment appeared in everythinghe said or did. I may be, perhaps, inclined to carry his character toofar; for he was the first man that entered into friendship with me.'Burnet's _History_, ed. 1818, i. III. 'The ninth Earl succeeded as fifthEarl of Elgin and thus united the two dignities.' Burke's _Peerage_.Boswell's quotation is from Persius, _Satires_, i. 27: 'Scire tuum nihilest, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter.' It is the motto to _TheSpectator_, No. 379.[57] She died four months after her father. I cannot find that shereceived this additional fortune.[58] See _ante_, ii. 47.[59] See _ante_, iv. 5, note 2.[60] See _ante_, iii. 231. Johnson (_Works_, ix. 33) speaks of 'thegeneral dissatisfaction which is now driving the Highlanders into theother hemisphere.' This dissatisfaction chiefly arose from the fact thatthe chiefs were 'gradually degenerating from patriarchal rulers torapacious landlords.' _Ib._ p. 86. 'That the people may not fly from theincrease of rent I know not whether the general good does not requirethat the landlords be, for a time, restrained in their demands, and keptquiet by pensions proportionate to their loss.... It affords alegislator little self-applause to consider, that where there wasformerly an insurrection there is now a wilderness.' _Ib._ p. 94. 'Asthe world has been let in upon the people, they have heard of happierclimates and less arbitrary government.' _Ib._ p. 128.[61] 'To a man that ranges the streets of London, where he is tempted tocontrive wants for the pleasure of supplying them, a shop affords noimage worthy of attention; but in an island it turns the balance ofexistence between good and evil. To live in perpetual want of littlethings is a state, not indeed of torture, but of constant vexation. Ihave in Sky had some difficulty to find ink for a letter; and if a womanbreaks her needle, the work is at a stop.' _Ib._ p. 127.[62] 'It was demolished in 1822.' Chambers's _Traditions of Edinburgh_,i. 215.[63] 'The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude ofisles be glad thereof.' _Psalms_, xcvii.1.[64] A brief memoir of Mr. Carre is given in Forbes's _Life of Beattie_,Appendix Z.[65] It was his daughter who gave the name to the new street in whichHume had taken a house by chalking on his wall ST. DAVID STREET. 'Hume's"lass," judging that it was not meant in honour or reverence, ran intothe house much excited, to tell her master how he was made game of."Never mind, lassie," he said; "many a better man has been made a saintof before."' J.H. Burton's _Hume_, ii. 436.[66] The House of Lords reversed the decision of the Court of Session inthis cause. See _ante_, ii.50, 230.[67] Ogden was Woodwardian Professor at Cambridge. The sermons werepublished in 1770. Boswell mentions them so often that in Rowlandson'scaricatures of the tour he is commonly represented as having them in hishand or pocket. See _ante_, iii. 248.[68] 'Talking of the eminent writers in Queen Anne's reign, Johnsonobserved, "I think Dr. Arbuthnot the first man among them.'" _Ante_,i. 425.[69] 'We found that by the interposition of some invisible friendlodgings had been provided for us at the house of one of the professors,whose easy civility quickly made us forget that we were strangers.'_Works_, ix. 3.[70] He is referring to Beattie's _Essay on Truth_. See _post_, Oct. 1,and _ante_, ii. 201.[71] See _ante_, ii. 443, where Johnson, again speaking of Hume, andperhaps of Gibbon, says:--'When a man voluntarily engages in animportant controversy, he is to do all he can to lessen his antagonist,because authority from personal respect has much weight with mostpeople, and often more than reasoning.'[72] Johnson, in his Dictionary, calls _bubble_ 'a cant [slang] word.'[73] Boswell wrote to Temple in 1768:--'David [Hume] is really amiable:I always regret to him his unlucky principles, and he smiles at myfaith; but I have a hope which he has not, or pretends not to have. Sowho has the best of it, my reverend friend?' _Letters of Boswell_,p.151. Dr. A. Carlyle (_Auto_. pp. 274-5) says:--'Mr. Hume gave bothelegant dinners and suppers, and the best claret, and, which was best ofall, he furnished the entertainment with the most instructive andpleasing conversation, for he assembled whosoever were most knowing andagreeable among either the laity or clergy. For innocent mirth andagreeable raillery I never knew his match....He took much to the companyof the younger clergy, not from a wish to bring them over to hisopinions, for he never attempted to overturn any man's principles, butthey best understood his notions, and could furnish him with literaryconversation.'[74] No doubt they were destroyed with Boswell's other papers. _Ante_,iii.301, note 1.[75] This letter, though shattered by the sharp shot of Dr. _Horne_ of_Oxford's_ wit, in the character of _One of the People calledChristians_, is still prefixed to Mr. Hume's excellent _History ofEngland_, like a poor invalid on the piquet guard, or like a list ofquack medicines sold by the same bookseller, by whom a work of whatevernature is published; for it has no connection with his _History_, let ithave what it may with what are called his _Philosophical_ Works. Aworthy friend of mine in London was lately consulted by a lady ofquality, of most distinguished merit, what was the best History ofEngland for her son to read. My friend recommended Hume's. But, uponrecollecting that its usher was a superlative panegyrick on one, whoendeavoured to sap the credit of our holy religion, he revoked hisrecommendation. I am really sorry for this ostentatious _alliance_;because I admire _The Theory of Moral Sentiments_, and value thegreatest part of _An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth ofNations_. Why should such a writer be so forgetful of human comfort, asto give any countenance to that dreary infidelity which would make uspoor indeed?' ['makes me poor indeed.' _Othello_, act iii. sc.3].BOSWELL. Dr. Horne's book is entitled, _A Letter to Adam Smith, LL.D.,On the Life, Death, and Philosophy of his Friend David Hume, Esq. By oneof the People called Christians_. Its chief wit is in the Preface. Thebookseller mentioned in this note was perhaps Francis Newbery, whosucceeded his father, Goldsmith's publisher, as a dealer in quackmedicines and books. They dealt in 'over thirty different nostrums,' andpublished books of every nature. Of the father Johnson said:--'Newberyis an extraordinary man, for I know not whether he has read or writtenmost books.' He is the original of 'Jack Whirler' in _The Idler_, No.19. _A Bookseller of the Last Century_, pp. 22, 73.[76] Hume says that his first work, his _Treatise of Human Nature_,'fell _dead-born from the press.' Auto._ p.3. His _Enquiry concerningHuman Understanding_ 'was entirely overlooked and neglected.' _Ib_. p.4.His _Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals_ 'came unnoticed andunobserved into the world.' _Ib_. p.5. The first volume of his _Historyof England_ certainly met with numerous assailants; but 'after the firstebullitions of their fury were over, what was still more mortifying, thebook seemed to sink into oblivion. Mr. Millar told me,' he continues,'that in a twelvemonth he sold only forty-five copies of it...I was Iconfess, discouraged, and had not the war at that time been breaking outbetween France and England, I had certainly retired to some provincialtown of the former kingdom, have changed my name, and never more havereturned to my native country.' _Ib_. p.6. Only one of his works, his_Political Discourses_, was 'successful on the first publication.' _Ib_.p.5. By the time he was turned fifty, however, his books were sellingvery well, and he had become 'not only independent but opulent.' Ib. p.8. A few weeks before he died he wrote: 'I see many symptoms of myliterary reputation's breaking out at last with additional lustre.'_Ib_. p.10.[77] _Psalms_, cxix. 99.[78] We learn, _post_, Oct. 29, that Robertson was cautious in his talk,though we see here that he had much more courage than the professors ofAberdeen or Glasgow.[79] This was one of the points upon which Dr. Johnson was strangelyheterodox. For, surely, Mr. Burke, with his other remarkable qualities,is also distinguished for his wit, and for wit of all kinds too: notmerely that power of language which Pope chooses to denominate wit:--(True wit is Nature to advantage drest;What oft was thought, but ne'er so well exprest.)[Pope's Essay on Criticism, ii. 297.] but surprising allusions,brilliant sallies of vivacity, and pleasant conceits. His speeches inparliament are strewed with them. Take, for instance, the variety whichhe has given in his wide range, yet exact detail, when exhibiting hisReform Bill. And his conversation abounds in wit. Let me put down aspecimen. I told him, I had seen, at a _Blue stocking_ assembly, anumber of ladies sitting round a worthy and tall friend of ours,listening to his literature. 'Ay, (said he) like maids round aMay-pole.' I told him, I had found out a perfect definition of humannature, as distinguished from the animal. An ancient philosopher said,Man was 'a two-legged animal without feathers,' upon which his rivalSage had a Cock plucked bare, and set him down in the school before allthe disciples, as a 'Philosophick Man.' Dr. Franklin said, Man was 'atool-making animal,' which is very well; for no animal but man makes athing, by means of which he can make another thing. But this applies tovery few of the species. My definition of _Man_ is, 'a Cooking animal.'The beasts have memory, judgment, and all the faculties and passions ofour mind in a certain degree; but no beast is a cook. The trick of themonkey using the cat's paw to roast a chestnut, is only a piece ofshrewd malice in that _turpissima bestia_, which humbles us so sadly byits similarity to us. Man alone can dress a good dish; and every manwhatever is more or less a cook, in seasoning what he himself eats. Yourdefinition is good, said Mr. Burke, and I now see the full force of thecommon proverb, 'There is _reason_ in roasting of eggs.' When Mr.Wilkes, in his days of tumultuous opposition, was borne upon theshoulders of the mob, Mr. Burke (as Mr. Wilkes told me himself, withclassical admiration,) applied to him what _Horace_ says of _Pindar_,..._numeris_que ferturLEGE _solutis_. [_Odes_, iv. 2. 11.]Sir Joshua Reynolds, who agrees with me entirely as to Mr. Burke's.fertility of wit, said, that this was 'dignifying a pun.' He alsoobserved, that he has often heard Burke say, in the course of anevening, ten good things, each of which would have served a noted wit(whom he named) to live upon for a twelvemonth. I find, since the formeredition, that some persons have objected to the instances which I havegiven of Mr. Burke's wit, as not doing justice to my very ingeniousfriend; the specimens produced having, it is alleged, more of conceitthan real wit, and being merely sportive sallies of the moment, notjustifying the encomium which, they think with me, he undoubtedlymerits. I was well aware, how hazardous it was to exhibit particularinstances of wit, which is of so airy and spiritual a nature as often toelude the hand that attempts to grasp it. The excellence and efficacy ofa _bon mot_ depend frequently so much on the occasion on which it isspoken, on the particular manner of the speaker, on the person to whomit is applied, the previous introduction, and a thousand minuteparticulars which cannot be easily enumerated, that it is alwaysdangerous to detach a witty saying from the group to which it belongs,and to set it before the eye of the spectator, divested of thoseconcomitant circumstances, which gave it animation, mellowness, andrelief. I ventured, however, at all hazards, to put down the firstinstances that occurred to me, as proofs of Mr. Burke's lively andbrilliant fancy; but am very sensible that his numerous friends couldhave suggested many of a superior quality. Indeed, the being in companywith him, for a single day, is sufficient to shew that what I haveasserted is well founded; and it was only necessary to have appealed toall who know him intimately, for a complete refutation of the heterodoxopinion entertained by Dr. Johnson on this subject. _He_ allowed Mr.Burke, as the reader will find hereafter [_post_. Sept.15 and 30], to bea man of consummate and unrivalled abilities in every light except thatnow under consideration; and the variety of his allusions, and splendourof his imagery, have made such an impression on _all the rest_ of theworld, that superficial observers are apt to overlook his other merits,and to suppose that _wit_ is his chief and most prominent excellence;when in fact it is only one of the many talents that he possesses, whichare so various and extraordinary, that it is very difficult to ascertainprecisely the rank and value of each. BOSWELL. For Malone's share inthis note, see _ante_, iii. 323, note 2. For Burke's Economical ReformBill, which was brought in on Feb. 11, 1780, see Prior's _Burke_, p.184.For _Blue Stocking_, see _ante_, iv. 108. The 'tall friend of ours' wasMr. Langton (_ante_, i. 336). For Franklin's definition, see _ante_,iii. 245, and for Burke's classical pun, _ib_. p. 323. For Burke's'talent of wit,' see _ante_, i. 453, iii. 323, iv. May 15, 1784, and_post_, Sept. 15.[80] See _ante_, iv. 27, where Burke said:--'It is enough for me to haverung the bell to him [Johnson].'[81] See _ante_, vol. iv, May 15, 1784.[82] Prior (_Life of Burke_, pp.31, 36) says that 'from the first hisdestination was the Bar.' His name was entered at the Middle Temple in1747, but he was never called. Why he gave up the profession hisbiographer cannot tell.[83] See _ante_, ii. 437, note 2.[84] See _ante_, i. 78, note 2.[85] That cannot be said now, after the flagrant part which Mr. _JohnWesley_ took against our American brethren, when, in his own name, hethrew amongst his enthusiastick flock, the very individual combustiblesof Dr. _Johnson's Taxation no Tyranny_; and after the intolerant spiritwhich he manifested against our fellow-christians of the Roman CatholickCommunion, for which that able champion, Father _O'Leary_, has given himso hearty a drubbing. But I should think myself very unworthy, if I didnot at the same time acknowledge Mr. John Wesley's merit, as a veteran'Soldier of Jesus Christ' [2 _Timothy_, ii. 3], who has, I do believe,'turned many from darkness into light, and from the power of _Satan_ tothe living GOD' [_Acts_, xxvi. 18]. BOSWELL. Wesley wrote on Nov. 11,1775 (_Journal_, iv. 56), 'I made some additions to the _Calm Address toour American Colonies_. Need any one ask from what motive this waswrote? Let him look round; England is in a flame! a flame of malice andrage against the King, and almost all that are in authority under him. Ilabour to put out this flame.' He wrote a few days later:--'As toreviewers, news-writers, _London Magazines_, and all that kind ofgentlemen, they behave just as I expected they would. And let them lickup Mr. Toplady's spittle still; a champion worthy of their cause.'_Journal_, p. 58. In a letter published in Jan. 1780, he said:--'Iinsist upon it, that no government, not Roman Catholic, ought totolerate men of the Roman Catholic persuasion. They ought not to betolerated by any government, Protestant, Mahometan, or Pagan.' To thisthe Rev. Arthur O'Leary replied with great wit and force, in a pamphletentitled, _Remarks on the Rev. Mr. Wesley's Letters_. Dublin, 1780.Wesley (_Journal_, iv. 365) mentions meeting O'Leary, and says:--'Heseems not to be wanting either in sense or learning.' Johnson wrote toWesley on Feb. 6, 1776 (Croker's _Boswell_, p. 475), 'I have thanks toreturn you for the addition of your important suffrage to my argument onthe American question. To have gained such a mind as yours may justlyconfirm me in my own opinion. What effect my paper has upon the public,I know not; but I have no reason to be discouraged. The lecturer wassurely in the right, who, though he saw his audience slinking away,refused to quit the chair while Plato staid.'[86] 'Powerful preacher as he was,' writes Southey, 'he had neitherstrength nor acuteness of intellect, and his written compositions arenearly worthless.' Southey's _Wesley,_ i. 323. See _ante_, ii. 79.[87] Mr. Burke. See _ante_, ii. 222, 285, note 3, and iii. 45.[88] If due attention were paid to this observation, there would be morevirtue, even in politicks. What Dr. Johnson justly condemned, has, I amsorry to say, greatly increased in the present reign. At the distance offour years from this conversation, 21st February, 1777, My LordArchbishop of York, in his 'sermon before the Society for thePropagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,' thus indignantly describesthe then state of parties:--'Parties once had a _principle_ belongingto them, absurd perhaps, and indefensible, but still carrying a notionof _duty_, by which honest minds might easily be caught. 'But there arenow _combinations_ of _individuals_, who, instead of being the sons andservants of the community, make a league for advancing their _privateinterests_. It is their business to hold high the notion of _politicalhonour_. I believe and trust, it is not injurious to say, that such abond is no better than that by which the lowest and wickedestcombinations are held together; and that it denotes the last stage ofpolitical depravity.' To find a thought, which just shewed itself to usfrom the mind of _Johnson_, thus appearing again at such a distance oftime, and without any communication between them, enlarged to fullgrowth in the mind of _Markham_, is a curious object of philosophical