one; they never said, 'Johnson is as good a scholar as such a one;' but such a one is as good a scholar as Johnson;' and this was said but of one-but of Lowe; and I do not think he was as good a scholar.”—Boswell.

We dined at Sir Alexander Gordon's. The Provost, Professor Ross, Professor Dunbar, Professor Thomas Gordon, were there. After dinner came in Dr. Gerard, Professor Leslie, Professor Macleod. We had little or no conversation in the morning; now we were but barren. The professors seemed afraid to speak.-Boswell.

We had a calm after the storm,* stayed the evening and supped, and were pleasant and gay. But Dr. Percy told me he was very uneasy at what had passed; for there was a gentleman there who was acquainted with the Northumberland family, to whom he hoped to have appeared more respectable, by showing how intimate he was with Dr. Johnson, and who might now, on the contrary, go away with an opinion to his disadvantage. He begged I would mention this to Dr. Johnson, which I afterward did. His observation upon it was, "This comes of stratagem. Had he told me that he wished to appear to advantage before that gentleman, he should have been at the top of the house all the time." He spoke of Dr. Percy in the handsomest manner. -Boswell.

Dr. Johnson was again all himself; and so civil to me!even admiring how I dress myself! Indeed, it is well I have so much of his favor; for it seems he always speaks his mind concerning the dress of ladies, and all ladies who are here obey his injunctions implicitly, and alter whatever he disapproves. When Dr. Johnson was gone, Mrs. Thrale told me of my mother's being obliged to change her dress. "Now,"

*For an account of this "storm," see page 113.

Mrs.

said she, "Mrs. Burney had on a very pretty linen jacket and coat, and was going to church; but Dr. Johnson, who, I suppose, did not like her in a jacket, saw something was the matter, and so found fault with the linen; and he looked and peered, and then said, 'Why, madam, this won't do! you must not go to church so! So away went poor Burney and changed her gown! And when she had done so, he did not like it; but he did not know why; so he told her she should not wear a black hat and cloak in summer! Last time she came she was in a white cloak, and she told Dr. Johnson she had got her old white cloak scoured on purpose to oblige him! 'Scoured!' says he; 'ay-have you, madam?" So he seesawed; for he could not for shame find fault; but he did not seem to like the scouring."-Madame D'Arblay.

On Wednesday, April 29th, I dined with him at Mr. Allan Ramsay's, where were Lord Binning, Dr. Robertson the historian, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and the Honorable Mrs. Boscawen, widow of the admiral. Before Johnson came, we talked a good deal of him. Ramsay said he had always found him a very polite man, and that he treated him with great respect, which he did very sincerely. I said I worshipped him. Robertson: "But some of you spoil him; you should not worship him; you should worship no man." Boswell: "I cannot help worshipping him, he is so much superior to other men." Robertson: "In criticism, and in wit and conversation, he is no doubt very excellent; but in other respects he is not above other men; he will believe anything, and will strenuously defend the most minute circumstances connected with the Church of England." Boswell: 66 Believe me, Doctor, you are much mistaken as to this; for when you talk with him calmly in private, he is very liberal in his way of thinking." Robertson: “He and I have been always very gracious. The first time I met him was one evening at Strahan's, when he had just had an un

lucky altercation with Adam Smith, to whom he had been so rough that Strahan, after Smith was gone, had remonstrated with him, and told him that I was coming soon, and that he was uneasy to think that he might behave in the same manner to me. 'No, no, sir,' said Johnson, ‘I warrant you, Robertson and I shall do very well.' Accordingly, he was gentle and good-humored and courteous with me the whole evening; and he has been so upon every occasion that we have met since. I have often said " (laughing) “that I have been in a great measure indebted to Smith for my good reception." No sooner did he of whom we had been thus talking so easily arrive, than we were all as quiet as a school upon the entrance of the head-master, and were very soon set down to a table covered with such a variety of good things as contributed not a little to dispose him to be pleased.-Boswell (abridged).

Dr. Johnson: "Come, come, have done with this now;* why should you overpower her? Let's have no more of it. I don't mean to dissent from what you say; I think well of it, and approve of it; but you have said enough of it." Mr. Murphy, who equally loves and reverences Dr. Johnson, instantly changed the subject.-Madame D'Arblay.

On the evening I have spoken of, at Mr. Vesey's, you would have been much gratified, as it exhibited an instance of the high importance in which Dr. Johnson's character is held, I think even beyond any I ever before was witness to. The company consisted chiefly of ladies, among whom were the Duchess-dowager of Portland and the Duchess of Beaufort, Lady Lucan, Lady Clermont, and others of note both for their station and understandings. Among the gentlemen

* Mrs. Thrale and Arthur Murphy had been urging Miss Burney to write a comedy; and Murphy had continued to talk about it till Johnson grew tired of the subject.

were Lord Althorpe-whom I have before named-Lord Macartney, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lord Lucan, Mr. Wraxalwhose book you have probably seen, "The Tour to the Northern Parts of Europe;" a very agreeable, ingenious man-Dr. Warren, Mr. Pepys-the Master in Chancery, whom, I believe, you know-and Dr. Barnard, the Provost of Eton. As soon as Dr. Johnson was come in and had taken a chair, the company began to collect around him, till they became not less than four, if not five, deep; those behind standing, and listening over the heads of those that were sitting near him. The conversation for some time was. chiefly between Dr. Johnson and the Provost of Eton, while the others contributed occasionally their remarks. Without attempting to detail the particulars of the conversation— which, perhaps, if I did, I should spin my account to a tedious length-I thought, my dear sir, this general account of the respect with which our valued friend was attended to might be acceptable. — Bennet Langton (abridged, from a letter to Boswell).

Mrs. Thrale: "I am sure I have had my share of scolding from you!" Johnson: "It is true you have; but you have borne it like an angel, and you have been the better for it.” Mrs. Thrale: "That I believe, sir; for I have received more instruction from you than from any man or any book; and the vanity that you should think me worth instructing always overcame the vanity of being found fault with. And so you had the scolding and I the improvement." Fanny Burney: "And I am sure both make for the honor of both!" Johnson: "I think so too. But Mrs. Thrale is a sweet creature, and never angry; she has a temper the most delightful of any which I ever knew." Mrs. Thrale: "This I can tell you, sir, and without any flattery-I not only bear your reproofs when present, but in almost everything I do in your absence I ask myself whether you would like it, and what you would say to it."-Madame D'Arblay.

Sir William Forbes writes to me thus:

"I enclose the Round-robin. This jeu d'esprit took its rise one day at dinner, at our friend Sir Joshua Reynolds's. All the company present, except myself, were friends and acquaintances of Dr. Goldsmith. The epitaph written for him by Dr. Johnson became the subject of conversation, and various emendations were suggested, which it was agreed should be submitted to the Doctor's consideration. But the question was, who should have the courage to propose them to him? At last it was hinted that there could be no way so good as that of a Round-robin, as the sailors call it, which they make use of when they enter into a conspiracy, so as not to let it be known who puts his name first or last to the paper. This proposition was instantly assented to; and Dr. Barnard, Dean of Derry, now Bishop of Killaloe, drew up an address to Dr. Johnson on the occasion, replete with wit and humor, but which it was feared the Doctor might think treated the subject with too much levity. Mr. Burke then proposed the address as it stands in the paper in writing, to which I had the honor to officiate as clerk.

"Sir Joshua agreed to carry it to Dr. Johnson, who received it with much good-humor, and desired Sir Joshua to tell the gentlemen that he would alter the epitaph in any manner they pleased as to the sense of it; but he would never consent to disgrace the walls of Westminster Abbey with an English inscription.

"I consider this Round-robin as a species of literary curiosity worth preserving, as it marks, in a certain degree, Dr. Johnson's character."

Sir William Forbes's observation is very just. The anecdote now related proves, in the strongest manner, the reverence and awe with which Johnson was regarded by some of the most eminent men of his time in various departments, and even by such of them as lived most with him; while it also confirms what I have again and again inculcated, that he was by no means of that ferocious and irascible character which has been ignorantly imagined.Boswell.