LIFE OF DR. JOHNSON

a great lawyer, and wrote upon law; and ye many other things, and has written up Selden too.' SIR A. 'Very true, Sir; a But was not Lord Coke a mere lawyer?' J I am afraid he was; but he would have ta you had told him so. He would have pro scandal.' BOSWELL. 'Lord Mansfield is no JOHNSON. 'No, Sir. I never was in Lord pany; but Lord Mansfield was distinguishe sity. Lord Mansfield, when he first came champagne with the wits," as Prior says. H of Pope.' SIR A. 'Barristers, I believe, ar now as they were formerly. I fancy they h ago, and so were obliged to take to abuse time. Now they have such a number of] have no occasion for abuse.' JOHNSON. 'N more law long ago than they have now. A to be sure they will increase in course of more precedents there are, the less occasion that is to say, the less occasion is there f principles.' SIR A. 'I have been correcting accents in my friend Boswell. 'I doubt, Sir man ever attains to a perfect English pronun SON. 'Why, Sir, few of them do, because t severe after acquiring a certain degree of it. can be no doubt that they may attain to a pronunciation, if they will. We find how ne it; and certainly, a man who conquers ninet Scottish accent, may conquer the twenti when a man has got the better of nine to weary, he relaxes his diligence, he finds he his accent so far as not to be disagreeable, a desires his friends to tell him when he is w he choose to be told. Sir, when people watc and I do not watch myself, they will find m a particular county. In the same manner, be found out to be a Devonshire man. So m may be found out. But, Sir, little aberrat disadvantage. I never catched Mallet in a

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and yet Mallet, I suppose, was past five-and-twenty before he came to London.'

I again visited him at night. Finding him in a very good humour, I ventured to lead him to the subject of our situation in a future state, having much curiosity to know his notions on that point.

BOSWELL. 'I do not know whether there are any wellattested stories of the appearance of ghosts. You know there is a famous story of the appearance of Mrs. Veal, prefixed to Drelincourt on Death.' JOHNSON. 'I believe, Sir, that is given up. I believe the woman declared upon her death-bed that it was a lie.' BOSWELL. BOSWELL. This objection is made against the truth of ghosts appearing: that if they are in a state of happiness, it would be a punishment to them to return to this world; and if they are in a state of misery, it would be giving them a respite.' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, as the happiness or misery of embodied spirits does not depend upon place, but is intellectual, we cannot say that they are less happy or less miserable by appearing upon earth.' We went down between twelve and one to Mrs. Williams's room, and drank tea. I mentioned that we were to have the remains of Mr. Gray, in prose and verse, published by Mr. Mason. JOHNSON. 'I think we have had enough of Gray. I see they have published a splendid edition of Akenside's works. One bad ode may be suffered; but a number of them together makes one sick.' BOSWELL. 'Akenside's distinguished poem is his Pleasures of Imagination: but for my part, I never could admire it so much as most people do.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I could not read it through.' BosWELL. 'I have read it through; but I did not find any great power in it.'

On Tuesday, March 31, he and I dined at General Paoli's. Dr. Johnson went home with me to my lodgings in Conduit-street and drank tea, previous to our going to the Pantheon, which neither of us had seen before.

He said, 'Goldsmith's Life of Parnell is poor; not that it is poorly written, but that he had poor materials; for nobody can write the life of a man, but those who have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him.'

I said, that if it was not troublesome and presuming too much, I would request him to tell me all the little circumstances of his life; what schools he attended, when he came to Oxford, when he came to London, &c. &c. He did not disapprove of my curiosity as to these particulars; but said, 'They'll come out by degrees as we talk together.'

We talked of the proper use of riches. JOHNSON. 'If I were a man of a great estate, I would drive all the rascals whom I did not like out of the county at an election.'

We then walked to the Pantheon. The first view of it did not strike us so much as Ranelagh, of which he said, the 'coup d'œil was the finest thing he had ever seen.' The truth is, Ranelagh is of a more beautiful form; more of it, or rather indeed the whole rotunda, appears at once, and it is better lighted. However, as Johnson observed, we saw the Pantheon in time of mourning, when there was a dull uniformity; whereas we had seen Ranelagh when the view was enlivened with a gay profusion of colours. Mrs. Bosville, of Gunthwait, in Yorkshire, joined us, and entered into conversation with us. Johnson said to me afterwards, 'Sir, this is a mighty intelligent lady.'

I said there was not half a guinea's worth of pleasure in seeing this place. JOHNSON. 'But, Sir, there is half a guinea's worth of inferiority to other people in not having seen it.' BosWELL. 'I doubt, Sir, whether there are many happy people here.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir, there are many happy people here. There are many people here who are watching hundreds, and who think hundreds are watching them.'

Happening to meet Sir Adam Fergusson, I presented him to Dr. Johnson. Sir Adam expressed some apprehension that the Pantheon would encourage luxury. 'Sir, (said Johnson,) I am a great friend to publick amusements; for they keep people from vice. You now (addressing himself to me,) would have been with a wench, had you not been here.-O! I forgot you were married.'

Sir Adam suggested, that luxury corrupts a people, and destroys the spirit of liberty. JOHNSON. 'Sir, that is all visionary. I would not give half a guinea to live under one

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form of government rather than another. It is of no moment to the happiness of an individual. Sir, the danger of the abuse of power is nothing to a private man. What Frenchman is prevented from passing his life as he pleases?' SIR ADAM. 'But, Sir, in the British constitution it is surely of importance to keep up a spirit in the people, so as to preserve a balance against the crown.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I perceive you are a vile Whig. Why all this childish jealousy of the power of the crown? The crown has not power enough. When I say that all governments are alike, I consider that in no government power can be abused long. Mankind will not bear it. If a sovereign oppresses his people to a great degree, they will rise and cut off his head. There is a remedy in human nature against tyranny, that will keep us safe under every form of government. Had not the people of France thought themselves honoured as sharing in the brilliant actions of Lewis XIV, they would not have endured him; and we may say the same of the King of Prussia's people.' Sir Adam introduced the ancient Greeks and Romans. JOHNSON. 'Sir, the mass of both of them were barbarians. The mass of every people must be barbarous where there is no printing, and consequently knowledge is not generally diffused. Knowledge is diffused among our people by the news-papers.' Sir Adam mentioned the orators, poets, and artists of Greece. JOHNSON. 'Sir, I am talking of the mass of the people. We see even what the boasted Athenians were. The little effect which Demosthenes's orations had upon them, shews that they were barbarians.'

On Sunday, April 5, after attending divine service at St. Paul's church, I found him alone.

He said, he went more frequently to church when there were prayers only, than when there was also a sermon, as the people required more an example for the one than the other; it being much easier for them to hear a sermon, than to fix their minds on prayer.

On Monday, April 6, I dined with him at Sir Alexander Macdonald's, where was a young officer in the regimentals of the Scots Royal, who talked with a vivacity, fluency,

and precision so uncommon, that he attra attention. He proved to be the Honourabl kine, youngest brother to the Earl of Buchan risen into such brilliant reputation at the minster-hall.

Bo

Fielding being mentioned, Johnson exclain blockhead;' and upon my expressing my asto strange an assertion, he said, 'What I mean blockhead is that he was a barren rascal.' you not allow, Sir, that he draws very natu human life?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, it is of Richardson used to say, that had he not know was, he should have believed he was an ostler more knowledge of the heart in one letter of than in all Tom Jones. I, indeed, never rea drews.' ERSKINE. 'Surely, Sir, Richardson is JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, if you were to read R the story, your impatience would be so much you would hang yourself. But you must rea sentiment, and consider the story as only gi to the sentiment.'

We talked of gaming, and animadverted o verity. JOHNSON. 'Nay, gentlemen, let us the matter. It is not roguery to play with a ignorant of the game, while you are master of i his money; for he thinks he can play better tha think you can play better than he; and the s carries it.' ERSKINE. 'He is a fool, but you are JOHNSON. "That's much about the truth, Sir. considered, that a man who only does what eve society to which he belongs would do, is not a di In the republick of Sparta, it was agreed, that not dishonourable, if not discovered. I do n a society where there is an agreement that wha otherwise be fair, shall be fair; but I mainta individual of any society, who practises what i not a dishonest man.' BosWELL. 'So then, Sir