done by the refpect belonging to office, as among the Romans, where the dress, the toga, infpired reverence." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, we know very little about the Romans. But, furely, it is much easier to respect a man who has always had respect, than to respect a man who we know was last year no better than ourselves, and will be no better next year. In republicks there is not a respect for authority, but a fear of power." BOSWELL. "At prefent, Sir, I think riches seem to gain most respect." JOHNSON. "No, Sir, riches do not gain hearty refpect; they only procure external attention. A A very rich man, from low beginnings, may buy his election in a borough; but, cæteris paribus, a man of family will be preferred. People will prefer a man for whofe father their fathers have voted, though they should get no more money, or even lefs. That fhews that the refpect for family is not merely fanciful, but has an actual operation. If gentlemen of family would allow the rich upftarts to fpend their money profufely, which they are ready enough to do, and not vie with them in expence, the upftarts would foon be at an end, and the gentlemen would remain: but if the gentlemen will vie in expence with the upstarts, which is very foolish, they must be ruined."

I gave him an account of the excellent mimickry of a friend of mine in Scotland; obferving, at the fame time, that fome people thought it a very mean thing. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, it is making a very mean use of a man's powers. But to be a good mimick, requires great powers, great acuteness of obfervation, great retention of what is obferved, and great pliancy of organs, to represent what is obferved. I remember a lady of quality in this town, Lady who was a wonderful mimick, and used to make me laugh immoderately. I have heard she is now gone mad." BOSWELL. "It is amazing how a mimick can not only give you the geftures and voice of a person whom he reprefents; but even what a perfon would fay on any particular fubject." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, you are to confider that the manner and fome particular phrafes of a perfon do much to imprefs you with an idea of him, and you are not fure that he would fay what the mimick fays in his character." BOSWELL. "I don't think Foote a good mimick, Sir." JOHNSON. "No, Sir; his imitations are not like. He gives you fomething different from himself, but not the character which he means to affume. He goes out of himself without going into other people. He cannot take off any person unless he is very strongly marked, fuch as George Faulkner. He is like a painter, who can draw the portrait of a man who has a wen upon his face, and who, therefore, is easily known. If a man hops upon one leg, Foote can hop upon one leg. But he has not that nice difcrimination which

your

1772.

Etat. 63.

1772.

Etat. 63.

your friend feems to poffefs. Foote is, however, very entertaining, with a kind of converfation between wit and buffoonery."

On Monday, March 23, I found him bufy, preparing a fourth edition of his folio Dictionary. Mr. Peyton, one of his original amanuenfes, was writing for him. I put him in mind of a meaning of the word fide, which he had omitted, viz. relationship; as, father's fide, mother's fide. He inferted it. I asked him if humiliating was a good word. He said, he had seen it frequently used, but he did not know it to be legitimate English. He would not admit civilization, but only civility. With great deference to him, I thought civilization, from to civilize, better in the fenfe opposed to barbarity, than civility, as it is better to have a distinct word for each sense, than one word with two fenfes, which civility is, in his way of using it.

He feemed bufy about fome fort of chymical operation. I was entertained by obferving how he contrived to fend Mr. Peyton on an errand, without feeming to degrade him. "Mr. Peyton,-Mr. Peyton,-will you be so good as to take a walk to Temple-bar? You will there fee a chymift's shop; at which you will be pleased to buy for me an ounce of oil of vitriol; not spirit of vitriol, but oil of vitriol. It will coft three half-pence." Peyton immediately went, and returned with it, and told him it cost but a penny.

I then reminded him of the schoolmaster's cause, and proposed to read to him the printed papers concerning it. "No, Sir, (faid he,) I can read quicker than I can hear." So he read them to himself.

After he had read for fome time, we were interrupted by the entrance of Mr. Kriftrom, a Swede, who was tutor to fome young gentlemen in the city. He told me, that there was a very good History of Sweden, by Daline. Having at that time an intention of writing the hiftory of that country, I asked Dr. Johnson whether one might write a hiftory of Sweden without going thither. "Yes, Sir, (faid he,) one for common use."

We talked of languages. Johnfon obferved, that Leibnitz had made fome progress in a work, tracing all languages up to the Hebrew. Why, Sir, (faid he,) you would not imagine that the French jour, day, is derived from the Latin dies, and yet nothing is more certain; and the intermediate steps are very clear. From dies, comes diurnus. Diu is, by inaccurate ears or inaccurate pronunciation, easily confounded with giu; then the Italians form a fubftantive of the ablative of an adjective, and thence giurno, or, as they make it, giorno; which is readily contracted into giour, or jour." He obferved, that the Bohemian language was true Sclavonick. The Swede faid, it had some fimilarity

fimilarity with the German. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, to be fure, fuch parts

1772.

of Sclavonia as confine with Germany, will borrow German words; and fuch Etat. 63. parts as confine with Tartary, will borrow Tartar words."

He faid, he never had it properly afcertained that the Scotch Highlanders and the Irish understood each other. I told him that my cousin Colonel Graham, of the Royal Highlanders, whom I met at Drogheda, told me they did. JOHNSON. "Sir, if the Highlanders understood Irish, why translate the New Teftament into Erfe, as was done lately at Edinburgh, when there is an Irish translation?" BOSWELL. "Although the Erfe and Irish are both dialects of the fame language, there may be a good deal of diversity between them, as between the different dialects in Italy.-The Swede went away, and Mr. Johnson continued his reading of the papers. I faid, "I am afraid, Sir, it is troublesome to you." Why, Sir, (faid he,) I do not take much delight in it; but I'll go through it.”

We went to the Mitre, and dined in the room where he and I first fupped together. He gave me great hopes of my cause. “Sir, (faid he,) the government of a schoolmaster is somewhat of the nature of military government; that is to fay, it must be arbitrary, it must be exercised by the will of. one man, according to particular circumftances. You must fhew fome learning upon this occafion. You must shew, that a schoolmaster has a prescriptive right to beat; and that an action of affault and battery cannot be admitted against him, unless there is some great excess, some barbarity. This man has maimed none of his boys. They are all left with the full exercise of their corporeal faculties. In our schools in England, many boys have been maimed; yet I never heard of an action against a schoolmaster on that account. Puffendorf, I think, maintains the right of a schoolmafter to beat his scholars."

On Saturday, March 27, I introduced to him Sir Alexander Macdonald, with whom he had expreffed a wifh to be acquainted. He received him very courteously.

Sir Alexander obferved, that the Chancellors in England are chosen from views much inferiour to the office, being chofen from temporary political views. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, in fuch a government as ours, no man is appointed to an office because he is the fitteft for it, nor hardly in any other government; because there are so many connections and dependencies to be studied. A defpotick prince may choose a man to an office, merely because he is the fittest for it. The King of Pruffia may do it." SIR A. "I think, Sir, almost all great lawyers, fuch at least as have written upon law, have known only law, and

nothing

1772.

Etat. 63.

nothing else." JOHNSON. "Why no, Sir; Judge Hale was a great lawyer, and
wrote upon
law; and yet he knew a great many other things, and has written
upon other things. Selden too." SIR A. "Very true, Sir; and Lord Bacon.
But was not Lord Coke a mere lawyer?" JOHNSON. "Why, I am afraid he
was; but he would have taken it very ill if you had told him fo. He would
have profecuted you for fcandal." BOSWELL. "Lord Mansfield is not a mere
lawyer." JOHNSON. "No, Sir. I never was in Lord Mansfield's company;
but, Lord Mansfield was diftinguished at the Univerfity. Lord Mansfield,
when he came firft to town, drank champagne with the wits,' as Prior fays.
He was the friend of Pope." SIR. A. "Barrifters, I believe, are not fo
abufive now as they were formerly. I fancy they had lefs law long ago,
and fo were obliged to take to abufe, to fill up the time. Now they have
fuch a number of precedents, they have no occafion for abufe." JOHNSON.
"Nay, Sir, they had more law long ago than they have now.
As to pre-
cedents, to be fure they will increase in courfe of time; but the more prece-
dents there are, the lefs occafion is there for law; that is to say, the lefs
occafion is there for inveftigating principles." SIR A. "I have been cor-
recting feveral Scotch accents in my friend Bofwell. I doubt, Sir, if any
Scotchman ever attains to a perfect English pronunciation." JOHNSON.
"Why, Sir, few of them do, because they do not perfevere after acquiring a
certain degree of it. But, Sir, there can be no doubt that they may attain to
a perfect English pronunciation, if they will. We find how near they come
to it; and certainly, a man who conquers nineteen parts of the Scottish accent,
may conquer the twentieth. But, Sir, when a man has got the better of nine
tenths, he grows weary, he relaxes his diligence, he finds he has corrected his
accent fo far as not to be difagreeable, and he no longer defires his friends to
tell him when he is wrong; nor does he choose to be told. Sir, when people
watch me narrowly, and I do not watch myself, they will find me out to be
of a particular county. In the fame manner, Dunning may be found out to
be a Devonshire man. So moft Scotchmen may be found out. But, Sir,
little aberrations are of no disadvantage. I never catched Mallet in a Scotch.
accent; and yet Mallet, I fuppofe, was paft five-and-twenty before he came
to London."

Upon another occafion I talked to him on this fubject, having myfelf taken
fome pains to improve my pronunciation, by the aid of the late Mr. Love, of
Drury-lane theatre, when he was a player at Edinburgh, and alfo of old Mr.
Sheridan. Johnfon faid to me, " Sir, your pronunciation is not offenfive.”

With

1772.

With this conceffion I was pretty well fatisfied; and let me give my countrymen of North-Britain an advice not to aim at abfolute perfection in this refpect; Etat. 63. not to speak High English, as we are apt to call what is far removed from the Scotch, but which is by no means good English, and makes "the fools who ufe it," truly ridiculous. Good English is plain, eafy, and finooth in the mouth of an unaffected English gentleman. A ftudied and factitious pronunciation, which requires perpetual attention, and imposes perpetual constraint, is exceedingly difgufting. A fmall intermixture of provincial peculiarities may, perhaps, have an agreeable effect, as the notes of different birds concur in the harmony of the grove, and please more than if they were all exactly alike. I could name fome gentlemen of Ireland, to whom a flight proportion of the accent and recitative of that country is an advantage. The fame obfervation will apply to the gentlemen of Scotland. I do not mean that we should speak as broad as a certain profperous member of parliament from that country; though it has been well obferved, that "it has been of no small ufe to him; as it roufes the attention of the Houfe by its uncommonnefs; and is equal to tropes and figures in a good English speaker." I would give as an instance of what I mean to recommend to my countrymen, the pronunciation of the late Sir Gilbert Elliot; and may I prefume to add that of the present Earl of Marchmont, who told me, with great good humour, that the master of a shop in London, where he was not known, faid to him, "I fuppofe, Sir, you are an American." Why fo, Sir," (faid his Lordship.) "Because, Sir, (replied the fhopkeeper,) you speak neither English nor Scotch, but fomething different from both, which I conclude is the language of America."

JOHNSON. "

BOSWELL. "It may be of use, Sir, to have a Dictionary to ascertain the pronunciation." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, my Dictionary fhews you the accents of words, if you can but remember them." BOSWELL. "But, Sir, we want marks to afcertain the pronunciation of the vowels. Sheridan, I believe, has finished fuch a work." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, confider how much eafier it is to learn a language by the ear, than by any marks. Sheridan's Dictionary may do very well; but you cannot always carry it about with you: and, when you want the word, you have not the Dictionary. It is like a man who has a fword that will not draw. It is an admirable fword, to be fure: but while your enemy is cutting your throat, you are unable to use it. Besides, Sir, what entitles Sheridan to fix the pronunciation of English? He has, in the first place, the difadvantage of being an Irishman: and if he fays he will Aaa

fix