Life Of Johnson, Volume 5 - Boswell
Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45
He then said, 'I see a number of people bare-footed here: I suppose you
all went so before the Union. Boswell, your ancestors went so, when they
had as much land as your family has now. Yet _Auchinleck_ is the _Field
of Stones_: there would be bad going bare-footed there. The _Lairds_,
however, did it.' I bought some _speldings_, fish (generally whitings)
salted and dried in a particular manner, being dipped in the sea and
dried in the sun, and eaten by the Scots by way of a relish. He had
never seen them, though they are sold in London. I insisted on
_scottifying_[160] his palate; but he was very reluctant. With
difficulty I prevailed with him to let a bit of one of them lie in his
mouth. He did not like it.
In crossing the Frith, Dr. Johnson determined that we should land upon
Inch Keith[161]. On approaching it, we first observed a high rocky
shore. We coasted about, and put into a little bay on the North-west. We
clambered up a very steep ascent, on which was very good grass, but
rather a profusion of thistles. There were sixteen head of black cattle
grazing upon the island. Lord Hailes observed to me, that Brantome calls
it _L'isle des Chevaux_, and that it was probably 'a _safer_ stable'
than many others in his time. The fort[162], with an inscription on
it, _Maria Re_ 1564, is strongly built. Dr. Johnson examined it with much
attention. He stalked like a giant among the luxuriant thistles and
nettles. There are three wells in the island; but we could not find one
in the fort. There must probably have been one, though now filled up, as
a garrison could not subsist without it. But I have dwelt too long on
this little spot. Dr. Johnson afterwards bade me try to write a
description of our discovering Inch Keith, in the usual style of
travellers, describing fully every particular; stating the grounds on
which we concluded that it must have once been inhabited, and
introducing many sage reflections; and we should see how a thing might
be covered in words, so as to induce people to come and survey it. All
that was told might be true, and yet in reality there might be nothing
to see. He said, 'I'd have this island. I'd build a house, make a good
landing-place, have a garden, and vines, and all sorts of trees. A rich
man, of a hospitable turn, here, would have many visitors from
Edinburgh.' When we got into our boat again, he called to me, 'Come,
now, pay a classical compliment to the island on quitting it.' I
happened luckily, in allusion to the beautiful Queen Mary, whose name is
upon the fort, to think of what Virgil makes Aeneas say, on having left
the country of his charming Dido.
'Invitus, regina, tuo de littore cessi[163].'
'Very well hit off!' said he.
We dined at Kinghorn, and then got into a post-chaise[164]. Mr. Nairne
and his servant, and Joseph, rode by us. We stopped at Cupar, and drank
tea. We talked of parliament; and I said, I supposed very few of the
members knew much of what was going on, as indeed very few gentlemen
know much of their own private affairs. JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, if a man is
not of a sluggish mind, he may be his own steward. If he will look into
his affairs, he will soon learn[165]. So it is as to publick affairs.
There must always be a certain number of men of business in parliament.'
BOSWELL. 'But consider, Sir; what is the House of Commons? Is not a
great part of it chosen by peers? Do you think, Sir, they ought to have
such an influence?' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir. Influence must ever be in
proportion to property; and it is right it should[166].' BOSWELL. 'But
is there not reason to fear that the common people may be oppressed?'
JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. Our great fear is from want of power in government.
Such a storm of vulgar force has broke in.' BOSWELL. 'It has only
roared.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, it has roared, till the Judges in
Westminster-Hall have been afraid to pronounce sentence in opposition to
the popular cry[167]. You are frightened by what is no longer dangerous,
like Presbyterians by Popery.' He then repeated a passage, I think, in
_Butler's Remains_, which ends, 'and would cry, Fire! Fire! in Noah's
flood[168].'
We had a dreary drive, in a dusky night, to St. Andrews, where we
arrived late. We found a good supper at Glass's inn, and Dr. Johnson
revived agreeably. He said, 'the collection called _The Muses' Welcome
to King James_, (first of England, and sixth of Scotland,) on his return
to his native kingdom, shewed that there was then abundance of learning
in Scotland; and that the conceits in that collection, with which people
find fault, were mere mode.' He added, 'we could not now entertain a
sovereign so; that Buchanan had spread the spirit of learning amongst
us, but we had lost it during the civil wars[169].' He did not allow the
Latin Poetry of Pitcairne so much merit as has been usually attributed
to it; though he owned that one of his pieces, which he mentioned, but
which I am sorry is not specified in my notes, was, 'very well.' It is
not improbable that it was the poem which Prior has so elegantly
translated[170].
After supper, we made a _procession_ to _Saint Leonard's College_, the
landlord walking before us with a candle, and the waiter with a lantern.
That college had some time before been dissolved; and Dr. Watson, a
professor here, (the historian of Philip II.) had purchased the ground,
and what buildings remained. When we entered this court, it seemed quite
academical; and we found in his house very comfortable and genteel
accommodation[171].
THURSDAY, AUGUST 19.
We rose much refreshed. I had with me a map of Scotland, a bible which
was given me by Lord Mountstuart when we were together in Italy[172],
and Ogden's _Sermons on Prayer_; Mr. Nairne introduced us to Dr. Watson,
whom we found a well-informed man, of very amiable manners. Dr. Johnson,
after they were acquainted, said, 'I take great delight in him.' His
daughter, a very pleasing young lady, made breakfast. Dr. Watson
observed, that Glasgow University had fewer home-students, since trade
increased, as learning was rather incompatible with it. JOHNSON. 'Why,
Sir, as trade is now carried on by subordinate hands, men in trade have
as much leisure as others; and now learning itself is a trade. A man
goes to a bookseller, and gets what he can. We have done with
patronage[173]. In the infancy of learning, we find some great man
praised for it. This diffused it among others. When it becomes general,
an authour leaves the great, and applies to the multitude.' BOSWELL. 'It
is a shame that authours are not now better patronized.' JOHNSON. 'No,
Sir. If learning cannot support a man, if he must sit with his hands
across till somebody feeds him, it is as to him a bad thing, and it is
better as it is. With patronage, what flattery! what falsehood! While a
man is in equilibrio, he throws truth among the multitude, and lets them
take it as they please: in patronage, he must say what pleases his
patron, and it is an equal chance whether that be truth or falsehood.'
WATSON. 'But is not the case now, that, instead of flattering one
person, we flatter the age?' JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. The world always lets a
man tell what he thinks, his own way. I wonder, however, that so many
people have written, who might have let it alone. That people should
endeavour to excel in conversation, I do not wonder; because in
conversation praise is instantly reverberated[174].'
We talked of change of manners. Dr. Johnson observed, that our drinking
less than our ancestors was owing to the change from ale to wine.' I
remember, (said he,) when all the _decent_ people in Lichfield got drunk
every night, and were not the worse thought of[175]. Ale was cheap, so
you pressed strongly. When a man must bring a bottle of wine, he is not
in such haste. Smoking has gone out. To be sure, it is a shocking thing,
blowing smoke out of our mouths into other people's mouths, eyes, and
noses, and having the same thing done to us. Yet I cannot account, why a
thing which requires so little exertion, and yet preserves the mind from
total vacuity, should have gone out[176]. Every man has something by
which he calms himself: beating with his feet, or so[177]. I remember
when people in England changed a shirt only once a week[178]: a Pandour,
when he gets a shirt, greases it to make it last. Formerly, good
tradesmen had no fire but in the kitchen; never in the parlour, except
on Sunday. My father, who was a magistrate of Lichfield, lived thus.
They never began to have a fire in the parlour, but on leaving off
business, or some great revolution of their life.' Dr. Watson said, the
hall was as a kitchen, in old squires' houses. JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. The
hall was for great occasions, and never was used for domestick
refection[179].' We talked of the Union, and what money it had brought
into Scotland. Dr. Watson observed, that a little money formerly went as
far as a great deal now. JOHNSON. 'In speculation, it seems that a
smaller quantity of money, equal in value to a larger quantity, if
equally divided, should produce the same effect. But it is not so in
reality. Many more conveniences and elegancies are enjoyed where money
is plentiful, than where it is scarce. Perhaps a great familiarity with
it, which arises from plenty, makes us more easily part with it.'
After what Dr. Johnson had said of St. Andrews, which he had long wished
to see, as our oldest university, and the seat of our Primate in the
days of episcopacy, I can say little. Since the publication of Dr.
Johnson's book, I find that he has been censured for not seeing here
the ancient chapel of _St. Rule_, a curious piece of sacred
architecture.[180] But this was neither his fault nor mine. We were both
of us abundantly desirous of surveying such sort of antiquities: but
neither of us knew of this. I am afraid the censure must fall on those
who did not tell us of it. In every place, where there is any thing
worthy of observation, there should be a short printed directory for
strangers, such as we find in all the towns of Italy, and in some of the
towns in England. I was told that there is a manuscript account of St.
Andrews, by Martin, secretary to Archbishop Sharp;[181] and that one
Douglas has published a small account of it. I inquired at a
bookseller's, but could not get it. Dr. Johnson's veneration for the
Hierarchy is well known.[182] There is no wonder then, that he was
affected with a strong indignation, while he beheld the ruins of
religious magnificence. I happened to ask where John Knox was buried.
Dr. Johnson burst out, 'I hope in the high-way.[183] I have been looking
at his reformations.'[184] It was a very fine day. Dr. Johnson seemed
quite wrapt up in the contemplation of the scenes which were now
presented to him. He kept his hat off while he was upon any part of the
ground where the cathedral had stood. He said well, that 'Knox had set
on a mob, without knowing where it would end; and that differing from a
man in doctrine was no reason why you should pull his house about his
ears.' As we walked in the cloisters, there was a solemn echo, while he
talked loudly of a proper retirement from the world. Mr. Nairne said, he
had an inclination to retire. I called Dr. Johnson's attention to this,
that I might hear his opinion if it was right. JOHNSON. 'Yes, when he
has done his duty to society[185]. In general, as every man is obliged
not only to "love GOD, but his neighbour as himself," he must bear his
part in active life; yet there are exceptions. Those who are exceedingly
scrupulous, (which I do not approve, for I am no friend to
scruples[186],) and find their scrupulosity[187] invincible, so that
they are quite in the dark, and know not what they shall do,--or those
who cannot resist temptations, and find they make themselves worse by
being in the world, without making it better, may retire[188]. I never
read of a hermit, but in imagination I kiss his feet; never of a
monastery, but I could fall on my knees, and kiss the pavement. But I
think putting young people there, who know nothing of life, nothing of
retirement, is dangerous and wicked[189]. It is a saying as old
as Hesiod,
Erga neon, boulaite meson, enchaite geronton[190].
That is a very noble line: not that young men should not pray, or old
men not give counsel, but that every season of life has its proper
duties. I have thought of retiring, and have talked of it to a friend;
but I find my vocation is rather to active life.' I said, some young
monks might be allowed, to shew that it is not age alone that can retire
to pious solitude; but he thought this would only shew that they could
not resist temptation.
He wanted to mount the steeples, but it could not be done. There are no
good inscriptions here. Bad Roman characters he naturally mistook for
half Gothick, half Roman. One of the steeples, which he was told was in
danger, he wished not to be taken down; 'for, said he, it may fall on
some of the posterity of John Knox; and no great matter!'--Dinner was
mentioned. JOHNSON. 'Ay, ay; amidst all these sorrowful scenes, I have
no objection to dinner[191].'
We went and looked at the castle, where Cardinal Beaton was
murdered[192], and then visited Principal Murison at his college, where
is a good library-room; but the Principal was abundantly vain of it, for
he seriously said to Dr. Johnson, 'you have not such a one in
England.'[193]
The professors entertained us with a very good dinner. Present: Murison,
Shaw, Cook, Hill, Haddo, Watson, Flint, Brown. I observed, that I
wondered to see him eat so well, after viewing so many sorrowful scenes
of ruined religious magnificence. 'Why, said he, I am not sorry, after
seeing these gentlemen; for they are not sorry.' Murison said, all
sorrow was bad, as it was murmuring against the dispensations of
Providence. JOHNSON. 'Sir, sorrow is inherent in humanity. As you cannot
judge two and two to be either five, or three, but certainly four, so,
when comparing a worse present state with a better which is past, you
cannot but feel sorrow.[194] It is not cured by reason, but by the
incursion of present objects, which wear out the past. You need not
murmur, though you are sorry.' MURISON. 'But St. Paul says, "I have
learnt, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content."' JOHNSON.
'Sir, that relates to riches and poverty; for we see St. Paul, when he
had a thorn in the flesh, prayed earnestly to have it removed; and then
he could not be content.' Murison, thus refuted, tried to be smart, and
drank to Dr. Johnson, 'Long may you lecture!' Dr. Johnson afterwards,
speaking of his not drinking wine, said, 'The Doctor spoke of
_lecturing_ (looking to him). I give all these lectures on water.'
He defended requiring subscription in those admitted to universities,
thus: 'As all who come into the country must obey the king, so all who
come into an university must be of the church[195].'
And here I must do Dr. Johnson the justice to contradict a very absurd
and ill-natured story, as to what passed at St. Andrews. It has been
circulated, that, after grace was said in English, in the usual manner,
he with the greatest marks of contempt, as if he had held it to be no
grace in an university, would not sit down till he had said grace aloud
in Latin. This would have been an insult indeed to the gentlemen who
were entertaining us. But the truth was precisely thus. In the course of
conversation at dinner, Dr. Johnson, in very good humour, said, 'I
should have expected to have heard a Latin grace, among so many learned
men: we had always a Latin grace at Oxford. I believe I can repeat
it.'[196] Which he did, as giving the learned men in one place a
specimen of what was done by the learned men in another place.
We went and saw the church, in which is Archbishop Sharp's
monument.[197] I was struck with the same kind of feelings with which
the churches of Italy impressed me. I was much pleased, to see Dr.
Johnson actually in St. Andrews, of which we had talked so long.
Professor Haddo was with us this afternoon, along with Dr. Watson. We
looked at St. Salvador's College. The rooms for students seemed very
commodious, and Dr. Johnson said, the chapel was the neatest place of
worship he had seen. The key of the library could not be found; for it
seems Professor Hill, who was out of town, had taken it with him. Dr.
Johnson told a joke he had heard of a monastery abroad, where the key of
the library could never be found.
It was somewhat dispiriting, to see this ancient archiepiscopal city
now sadly deserted[198]. We saw in one of its streets a remarkable proof
of liberal toleration; a nonjuring clergyman, strutting about in his
canonicals, with a jolly countenance and a round belly, like a
well-fed monk.
We observed two occupations united in the same person, who had hung out
two sign-posts. Upon one was, 'James Hood, White Iron Smith' (_i.e._
Tin-plate Worker). Upon another, 'The Art of Fencing taught, by James
Hood.'--Upon this last were painted some trees, and two men fencing, one
of whom had hit the other in the eye, to shew his great dexterity; so
that the art was well taught. JOHNSON. 'Were I studying here, I should
go and take a lesson. I remember _Hope_, in his book on this art[199],
says, "the Scotch are very good fencers."'
We returned to the inn, where we had been entertained at dinner, and
drank tea in company with some of the Professors, of whose civilities I
beg leave to add my humble and very grateful acknowledgement to the
honourable testimony of Dr. Johnson, in his _Journey_[200].
We talked of composition, which was a favourite topick of Dr. Watson's,
who first distinguished himself by lectures on rhetorick. JOHNSON. 'I
advised Chambers, and would advise every young man beginning to compose,
to do it as fast as he can, to get a habit of having his mind to start
promptly; it is so much more difficult to improve in speed than in
accuracy[201].' WATSON. 'I own I am for much attention to accuracy in
composing, lest one should get bad habits of doing it in a slovenly
manner.' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, you are confounding _doing_ inaccurately
with the _necessity_ of doing inaccurately. A man knows when his
composition is inaccurate, and when he thinks fit he'll correct it. But,
if a man is accustomed to compose slowly, and with difficulty, upon all
occasions, there is danger that he may not compose at all, as we do not
like to do that which is not done easily; and, at any rate, more time is
consumed in a small matter than ought to be.' WATSON. 'Dr. Hugh Blair
has taken a week to compose a sermon.' JOHNSON. 'Then, Sir, that is for
want of the habit of composing quickly, which I am insisting one should
acquire.' WATSON. 'Blair was not composing all the week, but only such
hours as he found himself disposed for composition.' JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir,
unless you tell me the time he took, you tell me nothing. If I say I
took a week to walk a mile, and have had the gout five days, and been
ill otherwise another day, I have taken but one day. I myself have
composed about forty sermons[202]. I have begun a sermon after dinner,
and sent it off by the post that night. I wrote forty-eight of the
printed octavo pages of the _Life of Savage_ at a sitting; but then I
sat up all night. I have also written six sheets in a day of translation
from the French[203].' BOSWELL. 'We have all observed how one man
dresses himself slowly, and another fast.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir: it is
wonderful how much time some people will consume in dressing; taking up
a thing and looking at it, and laying it down, and taking it up again.
Every one should get the habit of doing it quickly. I would say to a
young divine, "Here is your text; let me see how soon you can make a
sermon." Then I'd say, "Let me see how much better you can make it."
Thus I should see both his powers and his judgement.'
We all went to Dr. Watson's to supper. Miss Sharp, great grandchild of
Archbishop Sharp, was there; as was Mr. Craig, the ingenious architect
of the new town of Edinburgh[204] and nephew of Thomson, to whom Dr.
Johnson has since done so much justice, in his _Lives of the Poets_.
We talked of memory, and its various modes. JOHNSON. 'Memory will play
strange tricks. One sometimes loses a single word. I once lost _fugaces_
in the Ode _Posthume, Posthume_[205].' I mentioned to him, that a worthy
gentleman of my acquaintance actually forgot his own name. JOHNSON.
'Sir, that was a morbid oblivion.'
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20.
Dr. Shaw, the professor of divinity, breakfasted with us. I took out my
_Ogden on Prayer_, and read some of it to the company. Dr. Johnson
praised him. 'Abernethy[206], (said he,) allows only of a physical
effect of prayer upon the mind, which may be produced many ways, as well
as by prayer; for instance, by meditation. Ogden goes farther. In truth,
we have the consent of all nations for the efficacy of prayer, whether
offered up by individuals, or by assemblies; and Revelation has told us,
it will be effectual.' I said, 'Leechman seemed to incline to
Abernethy's doctrine.' Dr. Watson observed, that Leechman meant to shew,
that, even admitting no effect to be produced by prayer, respecting the
Deity, it was useful to our own minds[207]. He had given only a part of
his system. Dr. Johnson thought he should have given the whole.
Dr. Johnson enforced the strict observance of Sunday[208]. 'It should be
different (he observed) from another day. People may walk, but not throw
stones at birds. There may be relaxation, but there should be no
levity[209].'
We went and saw Colonel Nairne's garden and grotto. Here was a fine old
plane tree. Unluckily the colonel said, there was but this and another
large tree in the county. This assertion was an excellent cue for Dr.
Johnson, who laughed enormously, calling to me to hear it. He had
expatiated to me on the nakedness of that part of Scotland which he had
seen. His _Journey_ has been violently abused, for what he has said upon
this subject. But let it be considered, that, when Dr. Johnson talks of
trees, he means trees of good size, such as he was accustomed to see in
England; and of these there are certainly very few upon the _eastern
coast_ of Scotland. Besides, he said, that he meant to give only a map
of the road; and let any traveller observe how many trees, which deserve
the name, he can see from the road from Berwick to Aberdeen[210]. Had
Dr. Johnson said, 'there are _no_ trees' upon this line, he would have
said what is colloquially true; because, by no trees, in common speech,
we mean few. When he is particular in counting, he may be attacked. I
know not how Colonel Nairne came to say there were but _two_ large trees
in the county of Fife. I did not perceive that he smiled. There are
certainly not a great many; but I could have shewn him more than two at
_Balmuto_, from whence my ancestors came, and which now belongs to a
branch of my family[211].
The grotto was ingeniously constructed. In the front of it were
petrified stocks of fir, plane, and some other tree. Dr. Johnson said,
'Scotland has no right to boast of this grotto; it is owing to personal
merit. I never denied personal merit to many of you.' Professor Shaw
said to me, as we walked, 'This is a wonderful man; he is master of
every subject he handles.' Dr. Watson allowed him a very strong
understanding, but wondered at his total inattention to established
manners, as he came from London.
I have not preserved in my Journal, any of the conversation which passed
between Dr. Johnson and Professor Shaw; but I recollect Dr. Johnson said
to me afterwards, 'I took much to Shaw.'
We left St. Andrews about noon, and some miles from it observing, at
_Leuchars_, a church with an old tower, we stopped to look at it. The
_manse_, as the parsonage-house is called in Scotland, was close by. I
waited on the minister, mentioned our names, and begged he would tell us
what he knew about it. He was a very civil old man; but could only
inform us, that it was supposed to have stood eight hundred years. He
told us, there was a colony of Danes in his parish[212]; that they had
landed at a remote period of time, and still remained a distinct people.
Dr. Johnson shrewdly inquired whether they had brought women with them.
We were not satisfied as to this colony.
We saw, this day, Dundee and Aberbrothick, the last of which Dr. Johnson
has celebrated in his _Journey_[213]. Upon the road we talked of the
Roman Catholick faith. He mentioned (I think) Tillotson's argument
against transubstantiation: 'That we are as sure we see bread and wine
only, as that we read in the Bible the text on which that false doctrine
is founded. We have only the evidence of our senses for both[214].' 'If,
(he added,) GOD had never spoken figuratively, we might hold that he
speaks literally, when he says, "This is my body[215]."' BOSWELL. 'But
what do you say, Sir, to the ancient and continued tradition of the
church upon this point?' JOHNSON. 'Tradition, Sir, has no place, where
the Scriptures are plain; and tradition cannot persuade a man into a
belief of transubstantiation. Able men, indeed, have _said_ they
believed it.'