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literature.' Baretti complained to Malone that 'the story as told gavean unfair representation of him.' He had, he said, 'observed to Johnsonthat the petition _lead us not into temptation_ ought rather to beaddressed to the tempter of mankind than a benevolent Creator. "Pray,Sir," said Johnson, "do you know who was the author of the Lord'sPrayer?" Baretti, who did not wish to get into any serious dispute andwho appears to be an Infidel, by way of putting an end to theconversation, only replied:--"Oh, Sir, you know by _our_ religion (RomanCatholic) we are not permitted to read the Scriptures. You can'ttherefore expect an answer."' Prior's _Malone_, p. 399. Sir JoshuaReynolds, on hearing this from Malone, said:--'This turn which Barettinow gives to the matter was an after-thought; for he once said to memyself:--"There are various opinions about the writer of that prayer;some give it to St. Augustine, some to St. Chrysostom, &c. What is youropinion? "' _Ib_. p. 394. Mrs. Piozzi says that she heard 'Baretti tella clergyman the story of Dives and Lazarus as the subject of a poem heonce had composed in the Milanese district, expecting great credit forhis powers of invention.' Hayward's _Piozzi_, ii. 348.[381] Goldsmith (_Present Slate of Polite Learning_, chap. 13) thuswrote of servitorships: 'Surely pride itself has dictated to the fellowsof our colleges the absurd passion of being attended at meals, and onother public occasions, by those poor men who, willing to be scholars,come in upon some charitable foundation. It implies a contradiction formen to be at once learning the _liberal_ arts, and at the same timetreated as _slaves_; at once studying freedom and practising servitude.'Yet a young man like Whitefield was willing enough to be a servitor. Hehad been a waiter in his mother's inn; he was now a waiter in a college,but a student also. See my _Dr. Johnson: His Friends and hisCritics_, p. 27.[382] Dr. Johnson did not neglect what he had undertaken. By hisinterest with the Rev. Dr. Adams, master of Pembroke College, Oxford,where he was educated for some time, he obtained a servitorship foryoung M'Aulay. But it seems he had other views; and I believe wentabroad. BOSWELL. See _ante_, ii. 380.[383] 'I once drank tea,' writes Lamb, 'in company with two Methodistdivines of different persuasions. Before the first cup was handed round,one of these reverend gentlemen put it to the other, with all duesolemnity, whether he chose to _say anything_. It seems it is the customwith some sectaries to put up a short prayer before this meal also. Hisreverend brother did not at first quite apprehend him, but upon anexplanation, with little less importance he made answer that it was nota custom known in his church.' _Essay on Grace before Meat_.[384] He could not bear to have it thought that, in any instancewhatever, the Scots are more pious than the English. I think grace asproper at breakfast as at any other meal. It is the pleasantest meal wehave. Dr. Johnson has allowed the peculiar merit of breakfast inScotland. BOSWELL. 'If an epicure could remove by a wish in quest ofsensual gratification, wherever he had supped he would breakfast inScotland.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 52.[385] Bruce, the Abyssinian Traveller, found in the annals of thatregion a king named _Brus_, which he chooses to consider the genuineorthography of the name. This circumstance occasioned some mirth at thecourt of Gondar. WALTER SCOTT.[386] See _ante_, ii. 169, note 2, and _post_, Sept. 2. Johnson, so faras I have observed, spelt the name _Boswel_.[387] Sir Eyre Coote was born in 1726. He took part in the battle ofPlassey in 1757, and commanded at the reduction of Pondicherry in 1761.In 1770-71 he went by land to Europe. In 1780 he took command of theEnglish army against Hyder Ali, whom he repeatedly defeated. He died in1783. Chalmers's _Biog. Dict_. x. 236. There is a fine description ofhim in Macaulay's _Essays_, ed. 1843, iii. 385.[388] See _ante_, iii. 361.[389] Reynolds wrote of Johnson:--'He sometimes, it must be confessed,covered his ignorance by generals rather than appear ignorant' Taylor's_Reynolds_, ii. 457.[390] 'The barracks are very handsome, and form several regular and goodstreets.' Pennant's _Tour_, p. 144.[391] See _ante_, p. 45.[392] Here Dr. Johnson gave us part of a conversation held between aGreat Personage and him, in the library at the Queen's Palace, in thecourse of which this contest was considered. I have been at great painsto get that conversation as perfectly preserved as possible. It mayperhaps at some future time be given to the publick. BOSWELL. For 'aGreat Personage' see _ante_, i. 219; and for the conversation, ii. 33.[393] See _ante_, ii. 73, 228, 248; iii. 4 and June 15, 1784.[394] See _ante_, i. 167, note 1.[395] Booth acted _Cato_, and Wilks Juba when Addison's _Cato_ wasbrought out. Pope told Spence that 'Lord Bolingbroke's carrying hisfriends to the house, and presenting Booth with a purse of guineas forso well representing the character of a person "who rather chose to diethan see a general for life," carried the success of the play muchbeyond what they ever expected.' Spence's _Anec_. p. 46. Bolingbrokealluded to the Duke of Marlborough. Pope in his _Imitations of Horace_,2 Epist. i. 123 introduces 'well-mouth'd Booth.'[396] See _ante_, iii. 35, and under Sept. 30, 1783.[397] 'Garrick used to tell, that Johnson said of an actor who playedSir Harry Wildair at Lichfield, "There is a courtly vivacity about thefellow;" when, in fact, according to Garrick's account, "he was the mostvulgar ruffian that ever went upon _boards_."' _Ante_, ii. 465.[398] Mrs. Cibber was the sister of Dr. Arne the musical composer, andthe wife of Theophilus Cibber, Colley Cibber's son. She died in 1766,and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. Baker's _Biog.Dram._ i. 123.[399] See _ante_, under Sept. 30, 1783.[400] See _ante_, i. 197, and ii. 348.[401] Johnson had set him to repeat the ninth commandment, and had withgreat glee put him right in the emphasis. _Ante_, i. 168.[402] Act iii. sc. 2.[403] Boswell's suggestion is explained by the following passage inJohnson's _Works_, viii. 463:--'Mallet was by his original one of theMacgregors, a clan that became about sixty years ago, under the conductof Robin Roy, so formidable and so infamous for violence and robbery,that the name was annulled by a legal abolition.'[404] See _ante_, iii. 410, where he said to an Irish gentleman:--'Donot make an union with us, Sir. We should unite with you, only to robyou. We should have robbed the Scotch, if they had had anything of whichwe could have robbed them.'[405] It is remarkable that Dr. Johnson read this gentle remonstrance,and took no notice of it to me. BOSWELL. See _post_, Oct. 12, note.[406] _St. Matthew_, v. 44.[407] It is odd that Boswell did not suspect the parson, who, no doubt,had learnt the evening before from Mr. Keith that the two travellerswould be present at his sermon. Northcote (_Life of Reynolds_, ii. 283)says that one day at Sir Joshua's dinner-table, when his host praisedMalone very highly for his laborious edition of _Shakespeare_, he(Northcote) 'rather hastily replied, "What a very despicable creaturemust that man be who thus devotes himself, and makes another man hisgod;" when Boswell, who sat at my elbow, and was not in my thoughts atthe time, cried out "Oh! Sir Joshua, then that is me!"'[408] Johnson (_Works_, ix. 23) more cautiously says:--'Here is acastle, called the castle of Macbeth.'[409] 'This short dialogue between Duncan and Banquo, whilst they areapproaching the gates of Macbeth's castle, has always appeared to me astriking instance of what in painting is termed _repose_. Theirconversation very naturally turns upon the beauty of its situation, andthe pleasantness of the air; and Banquo, observing the martlet's nestsin every recess of the cornice, remarks that where those birds mostbreed and haunt the air is delicate. The subject of this quiet and easyconversation gives that repose so necessary to the mind after thetumultuous bustle of the preceding scenes, and perfectly contrasts thescene of horror that immediately succeeds. It seems as if Shakespeareasked himself, what is a prince likely to say to his attendants on suchan occasion? whereas the modern writers seem, on the contrary, to bealways searching for new thoughts, such as would never occur to men inthe situation which is represented. This also is frequently the practiceof Homer, who from the midst of battles and horrors relieves andrefreshes the mind of the reader by introducing some quiet rural image,or picture of familiar domestick life.' Johnson's _Shakespeare_.Northcote (_Life of Reynolds_, i. 144-151) quotes other notesby Reynolds.[410] In the original _senses_. Act i, sc. 6.[411] Act i. sc. 5.[412] Boswell forgets _scoundrelism_, _ante_, p. 106, which, I suppose,Johnson coined.[413] See _ante_, ii. 154, note 3. Peter Paragraph is one of thecharacters in Foote's Comedy of _The Orators_.[414] When upon the subject of this _peregrinity_, he told me someparticulars concerning the compilation of his _Dictionary_, andconcerning his throwing off Lord Chesterfield's patronage, of which veryerroneous accounts have been circulated. These particulars, with otherswhich he afterwards gave me,--as also his celebrated letter to LordChesterfield, which he dictated to me,--I reserve for his _Life._BOSWELL. See _ante,_ i. 221, 261.[415] See _ante,_ ii. 326, 371, and v. 18.[416] It is the third edition, published in 1778, that first bears thistitle. The first edition was published in 1761, and the second in 1762.[417] 'One of them was a man of great liveliness and activity, of whomhis companion said that he would tire any horse in Inverness. Both ofthem were civil and ready-handed Civility seems part of the nationalcharacter of Highlanders.' _Works,_ ix. 25.[418] 'The way was very pleasant; the rock out of which the road was cutwas covered with birch trees, fern, and heath. The lake below wasbeating its bank by a gentle wind.... In one part of the way we hadtrees on both sides for perhaps half a mile. Such a length of shade,perhaps, Scotland cannot shew in any other place.' _Piozzi Letters_, i.123. The travellers must have passed close by the cottage where JamesMackintosh was living, a child of seven.[419] Boswell refers, I think, to a passage in act iv. sc. I ofFarquhar's Comedy, where Archer says to Mrs. Sullen:--'I can't at thisdistance, Madam, distinguish the figures of the embroidery.' Thispassage is copied by Goldsmith in _She Stoops to Conquer_, act iii.,where Marlow says to Miss Hardcastle: 'Odso! then you must shew me yourembroidery.'[420] Johnson (_Works_, ix. 28) gives a long account of this woman.'Meal she considered as expensive food, and told us that in spring, whenthe goats gave milk, the children could live without it.'[421] It is very odd, that when these roads were made, there was no caretaken for _Inns_. The _King's House_, and the _General's Hut_, aremiserable places; but the project and plans were purely military. WALTERSCOTT. Johnson found good entertainment here, 'We had eggs and bacon andmutton, with wine, rum, and whisky. I had water.' _Piozzi Letters_,i. 124.[422] 'Mr. Boswell, who between his father's merit and his own is sureof reception wherever he comes, sent a servant before,' &c. Johnson's_Works_, ix. 30.[423] On April 6, 1777, Johnson noted down: 'I passed the night in suchsweet uninterrupted sleep as I have not known since I slept at FortAugustus.' _Pr. and Med._ p.159. On Nov. 21, 1778, he wrote to Boswell:'The best night that I have had these twenty years was at FortAugustus.' _Ante_, iii. 369.[424] See _ante_, iii. 246.[425] A McQueen is a Highland mode of expression. An Englishman wouldsay _one_ McQueen. But where there are _clans_ or _tribes_ of men,distinguished by _patronymick_ surnames, the individuals of each areconsidered as if they were of different species, at least as much asnations are distinguished; so that a _McQueen_, a _McDonald_, a_McLean_, is said, as we say a Frenchman, an Italian, a Spaniard.BOSWELL.[426] 'I praised the propriety of his language, and was answered that Ineed not wonder, for he had learnt it by grammar. By subsequentopportunities of observation I found that my host's diction had nothingpeculiar. Those Highlanders that can speak English commonly speak itwell, with few of the words and little of the tone by which a Scotchmanis distinguished ... By their Lowland neighbours they would notwillingly be taught; for they have long considered them as a mean anddegenerate race.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 31. He wrote to Mrs. Thrale:'This man's conversation we were glad of while we staid. He had beenout, as they call it, in forty-five, and still retained his oldopinions.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 130.[427] By the Chevalier Ramsay.[428] 'From him we first heard of the general dissatisfaction which isnow driving the Highlanders into the other hemisphere; and when I askedhim whether they would stay at home if they were well treated, heanswered with indignation that no man willingly left his native country.Johnson's _Works_, ix. 33. See _ante_, p. 27.[429] 'The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.' _Ib._v. 49.[430] Four years later, three years after Goldsmith's death, Johnson'observed in Lord Scarsdale's dressing-room Goldsmith's _AnimatedNature_; and said, "Here's our friend. The poor doctor would have beenhappy to hear of this."' _Ante_, iii.162.[431] See _ante_, i. 348 and ii. 438 and _post_, Sept. 23. Mackintoshsays: 'Johnson's idea that a ship was a prison with the danger ofdrowning is taken from Endymion Porter's _Consolation to Howell_ on hisimprisonment in the _Fleet_, and was originally suggested by the pun.'_Life of Mackintosh_, ii. 83. The passage to which he refers is found inHowell's letter of Jan. 2, 1646 (book ii. letter 39), in which he writesto Porter:--'You go on to prefer my captivity in this _Fleet_ to that ofa voyager at sea, in regard that he is subject to storms and springingof leaks, to pirates and picaroons, with other casualties.'[432] See _ante_, iii. 242.[433] This book has given rise to much enquiry, which has ended inludicrous surprise. Several ladies, wishing to learn the kind of readingwhich the great and good Dr. Johnson esteemed most fit for a youngwoman, desired to know what book he had selected for this Highlandnymph. 'They never adverted (said he) that I had no _choice_ in thematter. I have said that I presented her with a book which I _happened_to have about me.' And what was this book? My readers, prepare yourfeatures for merriment. It was _Cocker's Arithmetick_!--Wherever thiswas mentioned, there was a loud laugh, at which Johnson, when present,used sometimes to be a little angry. One day, when we were dining atGeneral Oglethorpe's, where we had many a valuable day, I ventured tointerrogate him. 'But, Sir, is it not somewhat singular that you should_happen_ to have _Cocker's Arithmetick_ about you on your journey? Whatmade you buy such a book at Inverness?' He gave me a very sufficientanswer. 'Why, Sir, if you are to have but one book with you upon ajourney, let it be a book of science. When you have read through a bookof entertainment, you know it, and it can do no more for you; but a bookof science is inexhaustible.' BOSWELL.Johnson thus mentions his gift: 'I presented her with a book which Ihappened to have about me, and should not be pleased to think that sheforgets me.' _Works_, ix. 32. The first edition of _Cocker's Arithmetic_was published about 1660. _Brit. Mus. Cata._ Though Johnson says that 'abook of science is inexhaustible,' yet in _The Rambler_, No. 154, heasserts that 'the principles of arithmetick and geometry may becomprehended by a close attention in a few days.' Mrs. Piozzi says(_Anec_. p. 77) that 'when Mr. Johnson felt his fancy disordered, hisconstant recurrence was to arithmetic; and one day that he was confinedto his chamber, and I enquired what he had been doing to divert himself,he shewed me a calculation which I could scarce be made to understand,so vast was the plan of it; no other indeed than that the national debt,computing it at L180,000,000, would, if converted into silver, serve tomake a meridian of that metal, I forget how broad, for the globe of thewhole earth.' See _ante_, iii. 207, and iv. 171, note 3.[434] Swift's _Works_ (1803), xxiv. 63.[435] 'We told the soldiers how kindly we had been treated at thegarrison, and, as we were enjoying the benefit of their labours, beggedleave to shew our gratitude by a small present.... They had the truemilitary impatience of coin in their pockets, and had marched at leastsix miles to find the first place where liquor could be bought. Havingnever been before in a place so wild and unfrequented I was glad oftheir arrival, because I knew that we had made them friends; and to gainstill more of their goodwill we went to them, where they were carousingin the barn, and added something to our former gift.' _Works_, ix. 31-2.[436]'Why rather sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee.' &c.2 _Henry IV._ act iii. sc. 1.[437] Spain, in 1719, sent a strong force under the Duke of Ormond toScotland in behalf of the Chevalier. Owing to storms only a few hundredmen landed. These were joined by a large body of Highlanders, but beingattacked by General Wightman, the clansmen dispersed and the Spaniardssurrendered. Smollett's _England_, ed. 1800, ii. 382.[438] Boswell mentions this _ante_, i. 41, as a proof of Johnson's'perceptive quickness.'[439] Dr. Johnson, in his _Journey_, thus beautifully describes hissituation here:--'I sat down on a bank, such as a writer of romancemight have delighted to feign. I had, indeed, no trees to whisper overmy head; but a clear rivulet streamed at my feet. The day was calm, theair soft, and all was rudeness, silence, and solitude. Before me, and oneither side, were high hills, which, by hindering the eye from ranging,forced the mind to find entertainment for itself. Whether I spent thehour well, I know not; for here I first conceived the thought of thisnarration.' The _Critical Reviewers_, with a spirit and expressionworthy of the subject, say,--'We congratulate the publick on the eventwith which this quotation concludes, and are fully persuaded that thehour in which the entertaining traveller conceived this narrative willbe considered, by every reader of taste, as a fortunate event in theannals of literature. Were it suitable to the task in which we are atpresent engaged, to indulge ourselves in a poetical flight, we wouldinvoke the winds of the Caledonian Mountains to blow for ever, withtheir softest breezes, on the bank where our author reclined, andrequest of Flora, that it might be perpetually adorned with the gayestand most fragrant productions of the year.' BOSWELL. Johnson thusdescribed the scene to Mrs. Thrale:--'I sat down to take notes on agreen bank, with a small stream running at my feet, in the midst ofsavage solitude, with mountains before me and on either hand coveredwith heath. I looked around me, and wondered that I was not moreaffected, but the mind is not at all times equally ready to be put inmotion.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 131.[440] 'The villagers gathered about us in considerable numbers, Ibelieve without any evil intention, but with a very savage wildness ofaspect and manner.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 38.[441] The M'Craas, or Macraes, were since that time brought into theking's army, by the late Lord Seaforth. When they lay in EdinburghCastle in 1778, and were ordered to embark for Jersey, they with anumber of other men in the regiment, for different reasons, butespecially an apprehension that they were to be sold to the East-IndiaCompany, though enlisted not to be sent out of Great-Britain withouttheir own consent, made a determined mutiny, and encamped upon the loftymountain, _Arthur's seat_, where they remained three days and threenights; bidding defiance to all the force in Scotland. At last they camedown, and embarked peaceably, having obtained formal articles ofcapitulation, signed by Sir Adolphus Oughton, commander in chief,General Skene, deputy commander, the Duke of Buccleugh, and the Earl ofDunmore, which quieted them. Since the secession of the Commons of Rometo the _Mons Sacer_, a more spirited exertion has not been made. I gavegreat attention to it from first to last, and have drawn up a particularaccount of it. Those brave fellows have since served their countryeffectually at Jersey, and also in the East-Indies, to which, afterbeing better informed, they voluntarily agreed to go. BOSWELL. The linewhich Boswell quotes is from _The Chevalier's Muster Roll_:--'The laird of M'Intosh is coming,