Life of Johnson Volume V Part 60

viii. 274), speaks of Spence as 'a man whose learning was not very great, and whose mind was not very powerful. His criticism, however, was commonly just; what he thought he thought rightly; and his remarks were recommended by his coolness and candour.' See _ante_, iv. 9, 63.

[855] 'She was the only interpreter of Erse poetry that I could ever find.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 134. See _ante_, p. 241.

[856] 'After a journey difficult and tedious, over rocks naked and valleys untracked, through a country of barrenness and solitude, we came, almost in the dark, to the sea-side, weary and dejected, having met with nothing but waters falling from the mountains that could raise any image of delight.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 170. 'It is natural, in traversing this gloom of desolation, to inquire, whether something may not be done to give nature a more cheerful face.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 136.

[857] _Ante_, p. 19.

[858] See _ante_, i. 521.

[859] See _ante_, p. 212.

[860] Sir William Blackstone says, in his _Commentaries_, that 'he cannot find that ever this custom prevailed in England;' and therefore he is of opinion that it could not have given rise to _Borough-English_.

BOSWELL. 'I cannot learn that ever this custom prevailed in England, though it certainly did in Scotland (under the name of _mercketa_ or _marcheta_), till abolished by Malcolm III.' _Commentaries_, ed. 1778, ii. 83. Sir H. Maine, in his _Early History of Inst.i.tutions_, p. 222, writes:--'Other authors, as Blackstone tells us, explained it ["Borough English"] by a supposed right of the Seigneur or lord, now very generally regarded as apocryphal, which raised a presumption of the eldest son's illegitimacy.'

[861] 'Macquarry was used to demand a sheep, for which he now takes a crown, by that inattention to the uncertain proportion between the value and the denomination of money, which has brought much disorder into Europe. A sheep has always the same power of supplying human wants, but a crown will bring, at one time more, at another less'. Johnson's _Works_, ix. 139.

[862] 'The house and the furniture are not always nicely suited. We were driven once, by missing a pa.s.sage, to the hut of a gentleman, where, after a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my chamber, I found an elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine sheets. The accommodation was flattering; I undressed myself, and felt my feet in the mire. The bed stood upon the bare earth, which a long course of rain had softened to a puddle.' _Works_, ix. 98.

[863] Inchkenneth is a most beautiful little islet, of the most verdant green, while all the neighbouring sh.o.r.e of Greban, as well as the large islands of Colinsay and Ulva, are as black as heath and moss can make them. But Ulva has a good anchorage, and Inchkenneth is surrounded by shoals. It is now uninhabited. The ruins of the huts, in which Dr.

Johnson was received by Sir Allan M'Lean, were still to be seen, and some tatters of the paper hangings were to be seen on the walls. Sir G.

O. Paul was at Inchkenneth with the same party of which I was a member.

[See Lockhart's _Scott_, ed. 1839, iii. 285.] He seemed to suspect many of the Highland tales which he heard, but he showed most incredulity on the subject of Johnson's having been entertained in the wretched huts of which we saw the ruins. He took me aside, and conjured me to tell him the truth of the matter. 'This Sir Allan,' said he, 'was he a _regular baronet_, or was his t.i.tle such a traditional one as you find in Ireland?' I a.s.sured my excellent acquaintance that, 'for my own part, I would have paid more respect to a knight of Kerry, or knight of Glynn; yet Sir Allan M'Lean was a _regular baronet_ by patent;' and, having giving him this information, I took the liberty of asking him, in return, whether he would not in conscience prefer the worst cell in the jail at Gloucester (which he had been very active in overlooking while the building was going on) to those exposed hovels where Johnson had been entertained by rank and beauty. He looked round the little islet, and allowed Sir Allan had some advantage in exercising ground; but in other respects he thought the compulsory tenants of Gloucester had greatly the advantage. Such was his opinion of a place, concerning which Johnson has recorded that 'it wanted little which palaces could afford.'

WALTER SCOTT.

[864] 'Sir Allan's affairs are in disorder by the fault of his ancestors, and while he forms some scheme for retrieving them he has retreated hither.' _Piozzi Letters_ i. 172.

[865] By Francis Gastrell, Bishop of Chester, published in 1707.

[866] _Travels through different cities of Germany, &c.,_, by Alexander Drummond. Horace Walpole, on April 24, 1754 (_Letters_, ii. 381), mentions 'a very foolish vulgar book of travels, lately published by one Drummond, consul at Aleppo.'

[867] _ Physico-Theology; or a Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of G.o.d from his Works of Creation._ By William Derham, D.D., 1713.

Voltaire, in _Micromegas,_ ch. I, speaking of 'l'ill.u.s.tre vicaire Derham' says:--'Malheureus.e.m.e.nt, lui et ses imitateurs se trompent souvent dans l'exposition de ces merveilles; ils s'extasient sur la sagesse qui se montre dans l'ordre d'un phenomene et on decouvre que ce phenomene est tout different de ce qu'ils ont suppose; alors c'est ce nouvel ordre qui leur parait un chef d'oeuvre de sagesse.'

[868] This work was published in 1774. Johnson said on March 20, 1776 (_ante_, ii. 447), 'that he believed Campbell's disappointment on account of the bad success of that work had killed him.'

[869] Johnson said of Campbell:--'I am afraid he has not been in the inside of a church for many years; but he never pa.s.ses a church without pulling off his hat. This shows that he has good principles.' _Ante_, i. 418.

[870] _New horse-shoeing Husbandry_, by Jethro Tull, 1733.

[871] 'He owned he sometimes talked for victory.' _Ante_, iv. 111, and v. 17.

[872] 'They said that a great family had a _bard_ and a _senachi_, who were the poet and historian of the house; and an old gentleman told me that he remembered one of each. Here was a dawn of intelligence....

Another conversation informed me that the same man was both bard and senachi. This variation discouraged me.... Soon after I was told by a gentleman, who is generally acknowledged the greatest master of Hebridian antiquities, that there had, indeed, once been both bards and senachies; and that _senachi_ signified _the man of talk_, or of conversation; but that neither bard nor senachi had existed for some centuries.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 109.

[873] See _ante_, iii. 41, 327

[874] 'Towards evening Sir Allan told us that Sunday never pa.s.sed over him like another day. One of the ladies read, and read very well, the evening service;--"and Paradise was opened in the wild."' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 173. The quotation is from Pope's _Eloisa to Abelard_, l. 134:--

'You raised these hallowed walls; the desert smil'd, And Paradise was open'd in the wild.'

[875] He sent these verses to Boswell in 1775. _Ante_ ii. 293.

[876] Boswell wrote to Johnson on Feb. 2, 1775, (_ante_, ii. 295):--'Lord Hailes bids me tell you he doubts whether--

"Legitimas faciunt pectora pura preces,"

be according to the rubrick, but that is your concern; for you know, he is a Presbyterian.'

[877] In Johnson's _Works_, i. 167, these lines are given with amendments and additions, mostly made by Johnson, but some, Mr. Croker believes, by Mr. Langton. In the following copy the variations are marked in italics.

INSULA KENNETHI, INTER HEBRIDAS.

Parva quidem regio sed religione priorum _Clara_ Caledonias panditur inter aquas.

Voce ubi Cennethus populos domuisse feroces Dicitur, et vanos dedocuisse deos.

Huc ego delatus placido per caerula cursu, Scire _locus_ volui quid daret _iste_ novi.

Illic Leniades humili regnabat in aula, Leniades, magnis n.o.bilitatus avis.

Una duas _cepit_ casa c.u.m genitore puellas, Quas Amor undarum _crederet_ esse deas.

_Nec_ tamen inculti gelidis latuere sub antris, Accola Danubii qualia saevus habet.

Mollia non _desunt_ vacuae solatia vitae Sive libros poscant otia, sive lyram.

_Fulserat_ illa dies, legis _qua_ docta supernae Spes hominum _et_ curas _gens_ procul esse jubet.

_Ut precibus justas avertat numinis iras, Et summi accendat pectus amore boni._ Ponti inter strepitus _non sacri_ munera cultus Cessarunt, pietas hic quoque cura fuit.

_Nil opus est oeris sacra de turre sonantis Admonitu, ipsa suas nunciat hora vices._ Quid, quod sacrifici versavit foemina libros?

_Sint pro legitimis pura labella sacris._ Quo vagor ulterius? quod ubique requiritur hic est, Hic secura quies, hic et honestus amor.

Mr. Croker says of the third line from the end, that in a copy of these verses in Johnson's own hand which he had seen, 'Johnson had first written

_Sunt pro legitimis pectora pura sacris._

He then wrote

_Legitimas faciunt pura labella preces._

That line was erased, and the line as it stands in the _Works_ is subst.i.tuted in Mr. Langton's hand, as is also an alteration in the 16th line, _velit_ into _jubet_.' _Jubet_ however is in the copy as printed by Boswell. Mr. Langton edited some, if not all, of Johnson's Latin poems. (_Ante_, iv. 384.)

[878] 'Boswell, who is very pious, went into the chapel at night to perform his devotions, but came back in haste for fear of spectres.'

_Piozzi Letters_, i. 173.

[879] _Ante_ p. 169.

[880] John Gerves, or John the Giant, of whom Dr. Johnson relates a curious story; _Works_ ix. 119.

[881] Lord Chatham in the House of Lords, on Nov. 22, 1770, speaking of 'the honest, industrious tradesman, who holds the middle rank, and has given repeated proofs that he prefers law and liberty to gold,' had said:--'I love that cla.s.s of men. Much less would I be thought to reflect upon the fair merchant, whose liberal commerce is the prime source of national wealth. I esteem his occupation, and respect his character.' _Parl. Hist._ xvi. 1107.

[882] See _ante_, iii. 382.

[883] He was born in Nordland in Sweden, in 1736. In 1768 he and Mr.

Banks accompanied Captain Cook in his first voyage round the world. He died in 1782. Knight's _Eng. Cyclo._ v. 578. Miss Burney wrote of him in 1780:--'My father has very exactly named him, in calling him a philosophical gossip.' Mme. D'Arblay's _Diary_, i. 305. Horace Walpole the same year, just after the Gordon Riots, wrote (_Letters_, vii.

403):--'Who is secure against Jack Straw and a whirlwind? How I abominate Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who routed the poor Otaheitans out of the centre of the ocean, and carried our abominable pa.s.sions amongst them! not even that poor little speck could escape European restlessness.' See _ante_ ii. 148.