MS.1.15. 222 ♦ * THE LIFE SAMUEL JOHNSON, LED. VOL. III. * SAMUEL JOHNSON, L.L.D SWlEJjL’S ILIIFIE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, L.L.D. VOL.HI. THE LIFE SAMUEL JOHNSON, LE D. INCLUDING HIS TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES, CORRESPONDENCE WITH MRS. THRALE, &c. &c. By JAMES BOSWELL. WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONS, By JOHN WILSON CROKER. REVISED AND ENLARGED UNDER HIS DIRECTION, ' BY JOHN WRIGHT. VOL. III. LONDON: BELL & DALDY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1868. •J' '.26 4’JYS o, 1974 0^ CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. 1765—1767. Boswell’s Thesis. — Study of the Law. — Rash Vows. — Streatham. — Oxford. — London Improvements. — Dedi- cations. — Mrs. Williams’s Miscellanies. — Mr. William Drummond. — Translation of the Bible into the Gaelic. — Case of Heely.—Dr. Robertson.—Cuthbert Shaw. — ‘ Tom Hervey.’ — Johnson’s Interview with King George III. — Warburton and Lowth. — Lord Lyttelton’s History. — Dr. Hill. —Literary Journals Visit to Lichfield. — Death of Catherine Chambers.— Lexiphanes.—Mrs. Aston. Page 1 CHAPTER II. 1768. State of Johnson’s Mind Visit to Town-mailing. — Pro- logue to Goldsmith’s “ Good-natured Man.” — Boswell publishes his “ Account of Corsica.”— Practice of the Law. — Novels and Comedies. — The Douglas Cause. — Reading MSS. — St. Kilda. — Oxford. — Guthrie. — Hume. — Kobertson. —Future Life of Brutes. — Scorpions. — Mau> CONTENTS. pertuis. — Woodcocks. — Swallows. — Bell’s Travels. Chastity. — Choice of a Wife Baretti’s Italy. — Popular Liberty. — Kenrick Thomson Monsey. — Swift Lord Eglintoune. — Letter on the Formation of a Library. — Boswell at the Stratford Jubilee. — Johnson's Opinion of the “ Account of Corsica.” - - Page S4 CHAPTER III. t7S<J. General Paoli. — Observance of Sunday. — Rousseau and Monboddo. — Love of Singularity. — London Life. — Artemisias. — Second Marriages. — Scotch Gardening. — Vails.— Prior.— Garrick’s Poetry History—Whitfield. The Corsicans.— Good Breeding. —Fate and Free-will.— Goldsmith’s Tailor.—The Dunciad.— Dryden.—Congreve. — Sheridan. — Mrs. Montagu’s Essay. — Lord Karnes. — Burke. — Ballad of Hardyknute Fear of Death.—Sym- pathy with Distress—Foote.—Buchanan.—Baretti’s Trial. — Mandeville. - - - - 71 CHAPTER IV. 1769—1770. Making Fools of one’s Visiters.” — Trade. — Mrs. Williams’s Tea-table.—James Ferguson—Medicated Baths “Cod- dling ” Children Population of Russia. — Large Farms. — Attachment to Soil. — Roman Catholic Religion. — Conversion to Popery Fear of Death. — Steevens. — “ Tom Tyers.”— Blackmore’s “ Creation.”—The Marriage Service. — “ The False Alarm.” — Percival Stockdale. — Self-examination. —Visit to Lichfield — and Ashbourne.—. Baretti’s Travels. — Letters to Mrs. Thrale, Warton, CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER V. 1770. Dr. Mar well's Collectanea. — Johnson’s Politics, and general Mode of Life Opulent Tradesmen. — London. — Black- letter Books. — “ Anatomy of Melancholy.”— Government of Ireland.— Love.—Jacob Behmen.— Established Clergy. — Dr. Priestley.— Blank Verse.— French Novels. — Pere Boscovich. — Lord Lyttelton’s Dialogues. — Ossian. — Woodhouse, the poetical Shoemaker. — Boetius. — National Debt. — Mallet. — Marriage. — Foppery.—Gilbert Cooper. — Homer.— Gregory Sharpe.— Poor of England.— Corn Laws—Dr. Browne.—Mr. Burke.—Economy.—Fortune- hunters.— Orchards.—Irish Clergy. - - Page 129 CHAPTER VI. 1771. “ Thoughts on the late Transactions respecting Falkland’s Islands.” — Lord George Grenville. — Junius. — Design of bringing Johnson into Parliament. — Mr. Strahan. — Lord North Mr. Flood.—Boswell’s Marriage.—Visit to Lich- field and Ashbourne. — Dr. Beattie. — Lord Monboddo.— St. Kilda Scots Church— Second Sight. — The Thirty- nine Articles. — Thirtieth of January. — Royal Marriage Act. — Old Families. —Mimicry. — Foote. —Mr. Peyton. — Origin of Languages.— Irish and Gaelic.— Flogging at Schools. — Lord Mansfield. — Sir Gilbert Elliot. - 151 CHAPTER VII. 1772. Sir A. Macdonald. — Choice of Chancellors. — Lord Coke.— Lord Mansfield. Scotch Accent.— Pronunciation.—Ety- mology — Disembodied Spirits —Ghost Stories Mrs viii CONTENTS. Veal. — Gray, Mason, and Akenside. — Swearing. —War- ton’s Essay on Pope. — Ranelagh.—Luxury. — Inequality of Livings. — Hon. Thomas Erskine. — Fielding and Richardson. — Coriat’s Crudities. — Gaming. — Earl 01 Buchan Attachment between Relations.—Feudal System. — Cave’s Ghost Story.—Witches. - - Page 186 CHAPTER VIII. 1772—1773. Dinner at General Oglethorpe’s. — Armorial Bearings. — Duelling—Prince Eugene.— Siege of Belgrade.— Friend- ships. — Goldsmith’s Natural History.—Story of Prender- gast. — Expulsion of Methodists from Oxford. — « In Vino Veritas.” — Education of the People. — Sense of Touch in the Blind. — Theory of Sounds. — Taste in the Arts. — Francis Osborne’s Works. — Country Gentlemen. — Long Stories. — Beattie and Robertson. — Advice to Authors.— Climate. — Walpole and Pitt. — Vicious Intromission. — Beattie’s Essay.—Visit to Lichfield and Ashbourne. - 215 CHAPTER IX. 1773. George Steevens Letters to Mrs. Thrale, &c. — Goldsmith and Evans the Bookseller.— Dalrymple’s History.— Actio? in Speaking.—Chesterfield and Tyrawley.— The Spectator — Sir Andrew Freeport Burnet’s Own Times. — Goc% Friday. — Easter Day.— A Dinner at Johnson’s. —Waga to Women Servants. — Keeping a Journal Luxury. — Equality The Stuarts Law Reports. — « The Gentle Shepherd.”—Whigs and Tories—Sterne.—Charles Towns- hend.— “Happy Revolution.”—“ She Stoops to Conquer.” — Short-hand Dedications. — James Harris, «•' Playing CONTENTS. on the Fiddle. — Duelling. — Lord Chatham’s Verses to Garrick Savage Life. — Suicide Eustace Budgell. — The Douglas Cause. - - Page 238 CHAPTER X. 1773. Dinner at Topham Beauclerk’s. — Boswell elected of The Club Goldsmith in Company, and in his Study. — His Roman History.— “Talking for Victory.” — Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. — Monuments in St. Paul’s. — Milton. — Butler. — “ The Whole Duty of Man.”— Puns. — Lay Patronage.— The Bread Tree.— Savage Life.—Reasoning of Brutes. — Toleration. — Martyrdom. — Doctrine of the Trinity. — Government of Ireland. — Invocation of Saints. — “ Goldy.” — Literary Property. — State of Nature. — Male Succession. — Influence of the Seasons on the Mind. — Projected Visit to the Hebrides. - - 279 APPENDIX. No. I. Argument in behalf of Hastie, the School- master, PROSECUTED FOR UNDUE SEVERITY. - 811 No. II. Argument in favour of the Scottish Law Doctrine of “ Vicious Intromission.” - - 314 No. III. Argument in defence of Lat Patronaue. 319 THE LIFE CF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. CHAPTER I. 1765—1767. Ifoswell’s Thesis.—Study of the Law.—Rash Vows.— Streatham. — Oxford. — London Improvements. — Dedications. — Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies. — Mr, William Drummond.— Translation of the Bible intA the Gaelic — Case of Heely. Dr. Robertson. — Cuth- bert Shaw. — ‘ Tom Hervey.’ — Johnsons Interview with King George III. — Warburton and Lowth. — Lord Lyttleton's History. — Dr. Hill. — Literary Journals.— Visit to Lichfield. — Death of Catherine Chambers. —Lexiphanes. — Mrs. Aston. After I had been some time in Scotland, I men- tioned to him in a letter that “ On my first return to my native country, after some years of absence, 1 was told of a vast number of my acquaintance whc were all gone to the land of forgetfulness, and I found myself like a man stalking over a field of battle, who every moment perceives some one lying dead.” I complained of irresolution, and mentioned my having made a vow as a security for good VOL. in. B LIFE OF JOHNSON. 1766. conduct. I wrote to him again without being able to move his indolence. noi did I hear from him till he had received a copy of my inaugural Exercise, or Thesis in Civil Law, which I published at my ad- mission as an Advocate, as is the custom in Scotland. He then wrote to me as follows: — Letter. 100. TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. “London, August 10. 1766. “ Dear Sir,—The reception of your Thesis put me in mind of my debt to you. Why did you . .(')? I will punish you for it, by telling you that your Latin wants correction. (2) In the beginning, Spei altera, not to urge that it should bepnwita, is not grammatical ; altera should be alteri. In the next line you seem to use genus absolutely, for what we call family, that is, for illustrious extraction, I doubt without authority. Homines nullius originis, for nullis orti majoribus, or nuho toco nati, is, as 1 am afraid, barbarous. — Ruddi- man is dead. (3) (1) The passage omitted alluded to a private transaction. (2) This censure of my Latin relates to the dedication, which comitiwas as followsMountstuart, :—“ Viro atavis nobilissimo, edito regibus, ornatissimo, excels* Joanni, familire Vice- de genusBute speiaequare altera; opibus labente aggrediuntur, seculo, quum sanguinis homines antiqui nullius et illustrisoriginis publicasemper populimemori, comitia natalium jam legatosplendorem ; in optimatium virtutibus veroaugenti: Magna? ad sitamBritanniae varia senate,doctrina jure promovente, ha;reditario, nec olim tamen consessuro: se venditante, vim in- insigni:praedito; inprisca Italia; fide, visitandae animo itinereliberrimo, socio et suo morum honoratissimo: elegantia vantiae,hasce jurisprudent;* monumentum, primitias, D. D. C. devinctissimae Q. Jacobus Boswell.”amicitia? et obser- former(3) He days says it was Ruddiman said that (a Priscian's great grammarian) head was broken. is dead—as Ruddi- in p.man. 246. who — Choker.was born in 1674, had died in 1757. See ante, Vol. I BOSWELL S THESIS. “ I have now vexed you enough, and will try to please you. Your resolution to obey your father I sin- cerely approve; hut do not accustom yourself to enchain your volatility